Stand Up Scuttlebutt

AJ joins Rick to talk about his years working the New England stand-up circuit, the evolution of the local comedy scene, and the experiences that come with making a career out of making people laugh. AJ also discusses Paperback Comedy and his work producing live shows. And when he's not entertaining audiences, he's helping couples tie the knot as a marriage officiant. Turns out, comedy clubs and w...

Kathy Gilmour has spent much of her life on the water—and now havigates the Boston comedy scene. Kathy joins Rick to talk about working on the open water, from New England all the way down to the Florida Keys. With a degree in marine biology, she’s done everything from sightseeing tours and fishing charters to ferrying boats up and down the East Coast during the offseason. With this comes great re...

Jay “Tank” Renaud joins Rick to talk about his years in Hollywood as an actor and comedian who, ironically, never landed comedic acting roles. From appearances on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Boston Public to touring with Gallagher, opening for Brian Regan, and partying at Donnie Wahlberg’s house, Tank has plenty of stories from his time in the business. Now back in New England, Tank is putting hi...

Lahna Turner joins Rick while she’s in Boston for the screening of Come What May at the Boston Film Festival. The deeply personal documentary tells the story of her late husband, comedian Ralphie May, from his rise in comedy to his battle with addiction and the complicated reality of loving someone through it all. Rick and Lahna talk about grief, love, family, forgiveness, and her decision to tell...

Rickey “Fish” Fennell is a Massachusetts guy through and through—and if you somehow miss that fact, his accent should clear things up pretty quickly. This guy has stories! Rick can’t get off the subject of Rickey’s former career working as a unit guard overseeing 70 inmates at Boston’s maximum-security Nashua Street Jail. During his time there, the jail housed some nationally notorious inmates, in...

Mona Forgione enters the Scuttlebutt Studio for a conversation that proves stand-up comedy might not even be the most interesting thing she does. Mona performs singing telegrams, which can mean showing up to tap dance for a complete stranger or arriving dressed as Jesus and leaving an unsuspecting recipient dazzled, amazed. Then there’s her former life as a roller derby skater, where the list of i...

On a very special 300th episode, Rodney Norman sits down in the Scuttlebutt Studio for a wicked fun conversation. You might know him as that hippie on Instagram who interrupts your doom scrolling with daily affirmations delivered with equal parts sincerity and absurdity. Or maybe you’ve caught his stand-up somewhere around the country. Either way, if you’ve ever watched Rodney and wondered what he...

PJ Thibodeau returns to the studio, and things get weird right out of the gate with funeral plans and taxidermy—two topics that somehow become intertwined. From there, Rick and PJ talk about embracing ADHD, PJ’s liberating approach to getting things done without lists, and their very strong opinions on keeping a calendar. Then PJ gets down to business with some perspective from his years coaching...

Aaron “Tiny” Smith joins Rick to talk about the grind of performing stand-up comedy and the challenge of finding new material at 50. Tiny also looks back at his years as the singer for punk rock band The Thickness and how his time in music compares with life in comedy. Along the way, Rick and Tiny discover they’re both members of the increasingly exclusive no-tattoo club, weigh in on the popularit...

Hattrick! Mark Riley is back for the third time! Beyond stand-up, he's host of Chirping Zebras, and a former NHL referee. Normally, you're not supposed to like refs but Mark is the rare exception. He shares hilarious stories from the rink and what it takes to control a hockey game when tempers flare. On a personal level, we discuss the questionable decisions we all made growing up in the late 1900...

Stand-up comedian Rich Condon has built a reputation for finding the funny in everyday life, but offstage he's just as passionate about something else: bringing old, forgotten machines back from the dead. In this episode, Rich shares his love of rescuing everything from cars and mopeds to just about anything with an engine. Armed with patience, know-how, and an eye for a bargain, he buys unwanted...

Andrew Della Volpe is a New England stand-up comedian, host of The ADV Show podcast, and a former collegiate catcher whose baseball background still shapes the way he approaches comedy today. We talk about his meticulous restaurant research before a night out, celebrate his first wedding anniversary with stories from dating through married life, revisit his days behind the plate as a power-hitting...

Uncle Yak has spent decades blending comedy and magic into a one-of-a-kind act. On this episode of Stand-Up Scuttlebutt, he talks about what first drew him to magic, dealing with skeptics, and why comedy became an essential part of his performances. Along the way, he leaves Rick completely baffled with impossible card tricks, reveals personal information he seemingly couldn't have known, lights a...

Mary Beth Collins is a comedian known for her sharp writing, self-deprecating style, and what she proudly describes as being "level 10 awkward." She also claims to be the oldest person living in Boston's Seaport neighborhood who occasionally gets mistaken for Owen Wilson. In this episode, Mary Beth joins Rick to talk about writing, refining, memorizing, and performing stand-up comedy. They also sw...

A well-established Boston comic with years in stand-up, Matt found himself at the center of one of the wildest scenes Boston has seen in a while when 60,000 Scottish fans—better known as the Tartan Army—descended on the city for the World Cup. Armed with his bagpipes, Scottish heritage, and larger-than-life presence, Matt became a central figure in the celebration, helping strengthen a bond betwee...

Ajay G is one of the most unique voices in New England comedy—a Boston-based stand-up comic, award-winning storyteller, startup mentor, and tech entrepreneur originally from Mumbai, India. Known for his clean, sharp storytelling style, Ajay has performed on PBS, ABC, NPR, and stages across the U.S., Canada, Singapore, Indonesia, and India. He’s also a multiple-time Moth performer, comedy festival...

Comedian Carolyn Plummer joins Rick for the first episode of the newly rebranded Stand-Up Scuttlebutt. Carolyn is one of New England's most recognized comics, having performed at TD Garden as part of Comics Come Home. Carolyn shares stories from her comedy journey, including performing at a nudist resort, which is as awkward as it sounds. Then Rick and Carolyn discuss the challenges of moving, the...

PJ Thibodeau is one of New England's most respected stand-up comics, a longtime basketball coach, and a guy who's somehow managed to shrug off two heart attacks and keep moving forward. PJ joins Rick for a conversation about life in your 50s, from AARP memberships and staying healthy to simplifying life and focusing on what really matters. They also pull back the curtain on stand-up comedy, sharin...

Rick and Steve Wheeler talk comedy scene personalities, the quirks comics all seem to have, and the social behaviors that probably shouldn’t happen in public. They also get into growing up playing sports and how that shaped their personalities, confidence, and approach to life. Steve shares what it’s really like splitting time between New England and Alaska — the endless daylight, what people actu...

Rick sits down with comedian, actor, and director Will Noonan for a wide-ranging conversation about stand-up, creative ambition, and trying to make sense of the world we’re living in. Will reflects on building his comedy career between Boston and New York, producing comedy specials — including his own special, Live in Boston — and the realities of pursuing a creative life. Along the way, the conve...

The U.S. Government just released files on UFOs and UAPs from a kitschy-looking website that seemingly trivializes the material. So what exactly is going on? Are we talking aliens, interdimensional beings, or demons? Rick and Evan Walsh dive into the latest conspiracy theories flooding social media while trying to separate reality from algorithm-driven insanity. But in a world where AI can fake au...

Rick sits down with Paul Gillespie of Cheap Laughs to talk about migration from city life to the suburbs. They get into what you gain, what you lose, and what just gets… more annoying. From adapting to a fast-moving, always-on world to the oddly specific frustrations of small-town living—it’s a mix of perspective, pettiness, and reality. They also dig into comedy: how their styles evolve, what aud...

Boston comedian Sarah Fitz (@notsarahfitz) joins us for a wide-ranging conversation covering today’s economy, the rise of AI, and how both are shaping everyday life. We also get into lighter topics like Jeep truck design and culture, what’s showing up in our social media algorithms, and a candid look at stand-up comedy—writing styles, process, and habits within the scene. To close it out, we talk...

Is forgetting your wife’s birthday an honest mistake… or grounds for immediate separation? Rick and Liz kick things off by putting one husband on trial and deciding whether this is a harmless oversight or a career-ending marriage move. Then it’s time for the listeners to take over—and they do not disappoint. We read emails that roast the show, demand a strong stance on cottage cheese, and ask for...

This week, Rick and Evan blast off into the world of conspiracy theories—starting with the viral claim that Artemis II mission is being faked with green screens (because apparently NASA mastered CGI but still struggles with livestream buffering). From there, they break down the greatest hits of space conspiracies: the moon landing hoax , flat Earth theory , alien cover-ups, and the idea that space...