1000 w/ Ron Placone

David Whitney is a London-based actor and comedian. He helps run one of my favorite comedy clubs in the world, not an exaggeration, the Backyard Comedy Club in London. Turns out David went from Drama School, to getting booked to do stand-up in LA, only problem was, David had never done Stand-up. What? We go through it, buckle in for a wild creative journey!

Mary Houlihan is a comedian, writer, and artist. She’s the host of the Mary Houlihan Show and she paints live on Twitch. She had an interview with Martin Shkreli that I thought was hilarious and exposed and unmasked him.

Sara Kay Godot is an actress, comedian, and producer. Her and I have collaborated on an awful lot. She was in Loner, Left At Wall, and Termination Fee. Termination Fee began as a read through at a pizza place. It went on to do the Hollywood Fringe, sold out 60% of the run, got nominated for an award, and its film version is currently in post-production. Sara was a driving force behind all of that,...

Tim Warner is a comedian, podcaster, and filmmaker. Most importantly, though, he’s Tim Warner. I’ve known Tim for a long time. We did comedy together in Seattle when I was first starting out, he had been doing it in New York a few years prior. Tim released a short film on YouTube called Quitter. I loved it. It captured what I was trying to do in a short film we did (also on YouTube), Loner, but, a...

Chris Liatsis is an artist and illustrator. He is the other half of Lucy & Ron . I would write them, Chris would draw them. Lucy & Ron was a labor of love for us for a long time, out of necessity, it was an on-again off-again pursuit. At one point in our professional and personal relationship, I messed up. Fortunately, we were able to reconcile, and we revisit that time in this interview....

Andrew Saxena. You’ve heard that name before on this show, Andrew does the music for 1000. Andrew Saxena is a filmmaker, musician, actor, and podcaster. Andrew and I met a few years back in the lefty creator space in San Pedro. He was a huge part of Left At Wall, Frank Azurri, Termination Fee, and there’s another project we’re working on that has to do with cats. Also, we’ve become close friends o...

Jesse Case is a comedian, writer, and podcaster. Jesse’s one of the best comedians I know, and he’s a good friend. We spent our early comedy days in Seattle, Jesse went off to LA, and then, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 Colon Cancer in his late 20s. He documented the whole thing in a podcast series called Jesse vs. Cancer, it’s absolutely brilliant. His journey’s wild, and we go through it.

Steve Cerulli is an Italian-American Historian. Like Steve, I’m an Italian-American, too. The Italian-American identity seems to be very right-wing-presenting, at least in the mainstream. But, that is far from reality. Steve’s work has exposed why that is the case in the contemporary United States, the scam that is Columbus Day, and so much more. In a landscape where all of the most powerful Itali...

Leila Leigh is an actress, writer, and podcaster. We first met amidst the online Lefty Bernie Movement. She’s the co-host of one of my favorite Lefty YouTube Shows, PunchUp Pod. In addition to podcasting, she’s done a ton in the indie film space, some of it with her husband, Josh Stolberg, who was Episode 98.

Dave Chawner is a speaker, comedian, and anorexia survivor. I first met Dave at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival because we had a similar timeslot and our venues were near each other. I think most people don’t understand how anorexia works, or even what it actually is. I include myself in this. Well, I wanted to learn more...

Hank Thompson is a video editor, writer, and comedian. Hank and I both worked at The Jimmy Dore Show, and overlapped a little bit. Hank also worked at The Young Turks, and was heavily involved in the Union efforts there. Hank was laid off. The TYT Union effort was a national story. For the past 2 years and counting, Hank’s been fighting to get his side of the story out there. This one’s a deep div...

Christian Reilly is a musical comedian and self-proclaimed "MMT lover." Are you familiar with Modern Monetary Theory? Honestly, I don’t even know if it’s accurate to call it a 'theory' because it’s basically just the actual way money works. Christian breaks it down, and shares what got him into MMT in the first place. More MMT Stuff: (5-min read) Explainer: what is Modern Monetar...

Bill Conway is a comedian, writer, and co-founder of The Hard Times. The Hard Times is basically the Onion, but for punk rock. You’ve probably heard of the Hard Times, you’ve definitely seen one of their headlines. Recently, after over a decade, Bill decided it was time for him to step down from The Hard Times. How do we know when it’s time to say goodbye to a creative endeavor? Especially when it...

Betsy Cox is a comedian, writer, and solo performer. Her Fringe show, “Broke B*tch Got Rich”, was among the most popular and talked about shows of the festival. At the award ceremony, she wore a cape that said “ADHD is my Super Power.” At a time when Eugenics is on the rise in the United States, it was powerful and encouraging to see. We talk about what it means, how she got out of a difficult bac...

Chris Smith is a writer and performer. From a small farm in rural California to the movie business in LA, he’s had successes, failures, and has dealt with crushing loss. His Fringe show, Mine For the Tribe , tackles all of this, and takes a one-person deep dive into our search for meaning. I went to his show not really knowing what to expect. What is this tribe, anyway? I guess we’re all still sea...

Before Lady Gaga, before Madonna, there was Johanna Went. Johanna Went is a performance artist. She found her home in the LA punk scene of the 1970s after a run doing experimental theater. The Minutemen opened for her. I got to meet her in Vetura because she was on a panel I was moderating for a screening of the film Desolation Center. I was stoked when she agreed to do the show.

I’ve known Joy Marie Mann awhile now. We’ve collaborated on a ton of shows. We met amidst the Bernie Movement in 2016, which seems like a different life at this point. In many ways it was. In the time I’ve known Joy, among other things, she lost most of her eyesight. Despite that unexpected hurdle, she’s written a few books. Recently, Joy wrote a book about Temujin Kensu. Temujin was convicted of...

Jonathan Berman is producer, director, and academic. His documentaries include Calling All Earthlings, My Friend Paul, and Commune. Commune is coming up on its 20th Anniversary. It’s about a commune in California that started in the 60s, financed by rockstars, and still exists to this day. We dive into his origin story, and what made him want to chase the counterculture.

Kerri Van Auken is an actress, writer, and comedian. For a brief period of time, her, myself, and Joe Moran ran a show together at a punk shop in Pasadena. Then, the Pandemic happened. Kerri and I crossed paths again this past June at the Hollywood Fringe. Her show, Blackout, blew me away. It inspired me to write a solo theater show, and I knew I had to have her on.

Jon Bennett is a comedian and storyteller. He’s a Fringe warrior who does more festivals in a year than anyone I know. He’s hysterical, and he’s one of those guys on the circuit who you see and wonder, “how does he pull that off?” In this interview, he gives some insight into that. Also, due to complications at the border and Jon being Australian, he can’t leave the US right now out of fear he won...

Are you from the US? Have you thought about moving abroad? Many Americans have as of recent. I know I sure have. Jen is the co-founder of Expatsi, an organization that helps Americans move abroad. Several years ago, Jen and her partner found themselves wanting to leave the states, so they made it happen, and decided there was need for an organization that helped other people to do the same. Expats...

Will Wood is a musician, songwriter, and comedian. His show is part storytelling, part comedy, part music, and he can really wail on the piano. Will’s been open about his mental health and incorporates it into his art. We take a deep dive into all of it.

Sage Francis is an underground hip-hop legend. He’s won battles, toured the world, written everything from rhymes to poetry, runs Strange Famous Records, and he’s a dad. Also, he’s in my movie, Left At Wall, and we’re both big cat people, which is a big part of this episode.

Dale Dymkoski is a comedian, personal trainer, and he’s deaf. I saw his Fringe show, Feminist Ass Man, where he shares his story. He talks politics, and we talk politics. We have some different observations strategically, but we definitely want the same things. This was a really fun conversation about Dale’s life and the world at large.

Josh Stolberg is a Screenwriter and Director. The Saw Franchise, Avatar, Piranha 3D, and that’s just barely tipping the iceberg of his extensive resume. He has a new podcast called "Darren and Josh Make A Movie". It’s a must-listen for any writer slash filmmaker slash creative.