Casual Yelling

I'm One Of You With Oliver Jetts Sr. was originally part of the Unaired Podcast Pilot Project series I'm doing on Substack, where I release podcasts I recorded in the past that never saw the light of that. This was recorded in mid-2023 with comedian Matt Drufke as an improv comedy series. The trailer was released but the episode was never cut together because I felt it wasn't good by any means. Af...

On July 8, the New York Times' Threads account returned--we didn't know it was gone. Upon coming back to the Meta-owned social media stive, NYT posted, "👋 Threads, we’re back. We did not deactivate our account, and are working to understand what happened here." The response was pretty funny and completely fair. For this very brief episode, I'm reading a few comments to the Times. This isn't a hig...

Here's the last Jack Baker episode, for now. We're doing the whole "Breakfast Lasagna" thing. It's a short episode, but you may actually enjoy it. This will most likely be the final Breakfast Lasagna episode, since there's no place better to end it then with J-Bakes. Jack Baker links: Watch Jack at the Comedy Vault live: https://www.comedyvaultbatavia.com/ Jack Baker's Disease comedy special: http...

In the third, and kinda final interview with Jack Baker, we talk about doing charity shows, Jack's book he was writing, and specific jokes we used to tell on stage. Did you know Jack is working on a children's book? Well, you do now. Jack Baker links: Watch Jack at the Comedy Vault live: https://www.comedyvaultbatavia.com/ Jack Baker's Disease comedy special: https://youtu.be/WYaU1ApQZoA?si=xuf1Xn...

In part two of the "way-too-many episodes with Jack Baker saga," Baker (Who I also call J-Bakes and Jackie B) returns and we discuss some personal things, like Jack being allergic to milk, Capri Sun, talk about each other's bits, weird character work, Jack's wedding, how I lost my mind after losing my job--because of course we do--and what we want to do with our bodies when we die. Anyway, go see...

Comedian Jack Baker and I have a long history together. We did comedy together for years, and he was my intern during our shows Barely Watchable and the podcast Mat & Lewis Vs. The Internet, which became Vs. The Net. This is a multi-part episode as the conversation took place over the course of two and a half hours. This week's primarily revolves around podcasting and creating videos in the Ch...

After randomly running into each other at Adepticon, Ross Thompson and I decided to do an episode of Casual Yelling together. If you like talk about gaming conventions or conversations about TTRPGs, then this is probably the episode for you. If you don't, just listen anyway. Ross is good people. Ross Thompson links: Tabletop Game Jobs : https://www.facebook.com/groups/250255155496061 Links: Patreo...

WWE 2K24 gameplay producer Bryan Williams returns to the show, but he's not talking about the cool features or improvements 2K Games has made this time around. Williams returns to judge wrestlers I created for the new game. This is an episode where the video version does all the heavy lifting, so there is a link below to the free version on my Patreon. Williams judges great, memorable wrestlers I...

Disclosure: This is an episode originally uploaded in December 2023 for this show, previously called "I Just Wanna Talk To Friends." Since then, you have not been able to download it, so this is a new/old episode. Xalavier Nelson Jr. and I met when I interviewed him while I worked at Meow Wolf—as he has an incredible game called  Dreamfather Loves You  in Meow Wolf’s Grapevine location....

The mind behind some of the funniest and weirdest toys I've ever seen comes on the show this week. I'm talking to Dan Polydoris of Death by Toys. The first time we met was at a local toy show, where he was buying the Ghostbuster firehouse playset. Now, he makes toys like "Me Trying To Fix Something But Injuring Myself in the Process While Also Making the Problem Worse: The Action Figure" or "The W...

Wrestlemania XL was a fun, wild WWE event, but the aspect of being surrounded by people that also love wrestling was a little tough, for me, as I didn't have anyone to share the joy with. In past years, I relied on Twitter to engage with that community. Now, Twitter is dead to me, so where do I go next? For this year's Wrestlemania, I decided to try out Threads to see what the community had to off...

Years ago, there was an ongoing bit in comic book journalism where Van Jensen and I hated each other, which went on for years. However, in the background, we were buds. Van is a comic book writer and now a novelist. His novel Godfall is out now, where ever you buy books, and it's getting made into a TV series by Imagine Entertainment and will be directed by Ron Howard. Throughout this episode, we...

During the course of recording the Breakfast Lasagna episode of Casual Yelling, Mat and Chris Hayner kept talking--because we're close friends. So, Mat decided this is a full episode, recorded a couple months prior to release. They discuss using Streamyard, why LinkedIn is a bad place, losing work, and how the journalist's relationships with PR can get kind of weird at times. Chris links: Big Kid...

What is baking? That's a silly question. You know what baking is. This week, Wyatt Sinclair comes on the show to talk about baking things and sending them to people. I met Wyatt on BlueSky, and he seemed pretty cool, so why not talk to him? This week, we discuss his company, his favorite food-based video games, and why some weird woman yelled about his food without ever having tasting it. Wyatt Li...

WWE 2K24 arrives on the console of your choice (PC/PS4,PS5/Xbox One/Xbox Series) on March 7. Casual Yelling go an early copy of the game for review. Instead of trying to review the entire game, which feels impossible with the amount of time I had to do it, I played just Showcase Mode. There are some ups and downs for the Showcase Mode, focusing on 40 Years of Wrestlemania, but it's mainly "ups." T...

During a gaming session of Pulp Cthulhu, my friend, Dan Jackson, found his character on the dining car of a train in the 1930s. He was asked what he would like for breakfast. Jackson yelled, "Breakfast Lasagna." This led to a conversation between the six of us playing: What is Breakfast Lasagna? With that thought in mind, I decided to ask my guests the same question. This first episode of Breakfas...

AEW's Nyla Rose recently purchased ad space in PWI as an attack on fellow wrestler/former best friend Serpentico. Given that he hasn't had a chance to respond, he comes on Casual Yelling to discuss what happened and his plans for revenge. Serpentico links! Pro Wrestling Tees: https://www.prowrestlingtees.com/serpentico Twitter: https://twitter.com/KingSerpentico Instagram: https://www.instagram.co...

Bryan Williams of the WWE2K24 development team comes on Casual Yelling to discuss the upcoming WWE game, which arrives on various consoles on March 8 or March 5 with the 40 Years of WrestleMania Edition Release. Video version available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/agw_ZgtDrWQ?si=Pc9dRKeawmaunbA0 Casual Yelling links! Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/casual-yelling/id1723929468...

It's time to talk about tabletop roleplaying games. Did you know there's a wide array of them, and it's not just Dungeons &/or Dragons? John Santana of the 2 Legit 2 Crit podcast comes on Casual Yelling to politely discuss TTRPGs with Mat. They go through a litany of different games and their likes and dislikes about specific games. 2 Legit 2 Crit links! Acast: https://www.facebook.com/snfcome...

Also known as "Papa Suburbs," comedian Matt Drufke had a large hand in building the Chicago Suburbs Comedy scene in the early 2010s. He showed up to my house early in the morning with coffee and donuts, and we talked fondly of our memories of the early years of the scene and what it was like to grow said scene over the years. Links! Still Not Friday comedy showcase: https://www.facebook.com/snfcom...

I spent a lot of time doing stand-up comedy, from 2007-2018, roughly. Ok, so it’s not that long, but one of the friends I made along the way was Jordan Holmes. This week, Jordan and I reunite, and no it’s not on his Twitch stream. We discuss the suburban comedy scene during the late-’00s and how it started to grow, how stand-up comedy can be weird, and a bunch of other things. Go listen to things...

Xavier Lamont has been involved in the stand-up comedy scene for well over a decade. He got his start at an open mic in my hometown, where I was apparently very nice to him. He's travelling the country telling jokes on stage. Now, he's moved into a YouTube series called What Had Happen News, which is an animated series featuring commentary on whatever is happening in the country. Below, you'll fin...

The singer of Death Pose, Jason Thompson, comes on the first official episode of Casual Yelling. It's a bit of a bouncy interview as we discuss Thompson's band and his transition from full-time guitarist to singing, along with his evolution as an artist. On the flip side, Thompson and I discuss the Tri-Cities punk scene between 1998-2004, a bustling scene of DIY bands in the western suburbs. Links...

This is a reupload of an episode of I Just Wanna Talk To Friends When I was in film school, a band called Cealed Kasket found me on MySpace. After going to a couple of shows, I became obsessed with the pageantry, costumes, over-the-top stage show, and fake blood. I became the band’s videographer, and eventually, I became a character who was part of the mythos and stage show. Reunited after almost...

In an off-the-cuff, unscripted video, I discuss the current state of layoffs and what we can do to endure this problem. Writers, game devs, artists: We're all facing uncertainty, so how to you weather the storm?  I don't know, but I discuss my experience of being laid off more than a year ago and how I tried to weather the storm myself.