Dystopia Tonight With John Poveromo

As the lead guitarist and backup vocalist for Third Eye Blind, Kryz Reid was a blast to talk to! Joining us from a bar in Texas where he and the rest of TEB were taking a break from recording something in studio out there for the band’s upcoming anniversary he had a lot to say about their latest release, how their tour got cut short right when it was about to get started, his passion for photograp...

Mark’s one of those dudes and comics who’s comedy and point of view always leaves a lasting impression. We talk about his time growing up in the projects, his thoughts on the Chapelle special, comedy, politics, getting older, tech stuff and his new special he’s shooting at the Bell House. Enjoy!

Comedian, actor and author, Ron James was a blast to have on the show. Packed with stories from the road, his time at second city, befriending Mike Myers, leaving Canada and moving to LA, odd jobs in between acting gigs when he started out, his own talk show, and a slew of hilarious anecdotal life lessons kept us doubled over with laughter. Can’t wait to have him back on again! Enjoy!

Charles Fleischer pushes the term “renaissance man” to it’s limits by being an amazing comedian, actor, writer, musician, artist, inventor, and creator of MoLeeds! Best known as the voice of Roger Rabbit, Charles and I discuss his early days as a stand-up comic, meeting Robert Zemeckis, his trajectory as an actor and time at the Goodman School of Drama, his parents, and incredible artwork, and why...

Hailing from Rochester NY, the Roses and Revolutions duo Alyssa Coco and Matt Merritt join us to talk about their incredible upcoming EP, Midnight Monsters, which is the latest of two they’ve released during the pandemic. We also talk horror movies, the creative process, touring, working from home vs a studio, the benefits of being “Midnight Monsters” and more! Enjoy!   https://www.rosesandrevolut...

Emily Mu is a comedian and MIT PhD candidate in computer science as well as a world traveler based out of Boston MA. We had a blast with her on the show and cover her comedy career, type A personalities, world ending optimism, fake marriages, and the creativity behind mathematics! Enjoy!    

Paul “Silky” White is one of the most talented comics from across the pond I’ve come to know in the last year through all this pandemic insanity. Quick to improvise a song with his guitar seemingly coming out of nowhere, or if you’re a D&D fan, a bag of holding he stores at his side, he’s never without a clever riff to keep you laughing and in awe.   You can find him here: https://ko-fi.com/silky...

Camila Grey is a Los Angeles based musician who is best know for being the other half of her band, Uh Huh Her and also the supergroup Summer Moon composed of Nikolai Fraiture, Stephen Perkins, and Noah Harmon! She's currently touring with Adam Lambert but as of last week she joined us on Dystopia Tonight with special co-host for this episode, Joanne Filan! We talk about her gigs with Adam and deep...

Maziyar Jobrani is an Iranian-American comedian and actor who is part of the "Axis of Evil" comedy group. The group appeared on a comedy special on Comedy Central. Jobrani has also appeared in numerous films, television shows, including Better Off Ted, on radio, and in comedy clubs.   We talk about the passing of Norm MacDonald, the anniversary of 9/11, what it was like as an Iranian - American co...

Carole Montgomery is a force of comedic nature. With over two decades in the business she’s not only a comedian, but a producer, writer and actress. With over two dozen television credits to her name, Carole Montgomery is a respected veteran of the standup comedy scene nationwide. In addition to her numerous television appearances, Carole has headlined clubs and colleges across the USA and starred...

Susanna Harris is a science communicator and mental health advocate who earned her PhD in microbiology and immunology from Chapel Hill. More importantly she’s a great friend and conversationalist! We cover all the good stuff in this one from mental health, to how two people with ADHD communicate, gut health, the toxic environment that is grad school, managing social media engagement and how to eff...

Jackie Kashian is one of those rare comedians you meet in person and go, “Holy shit, she’s just as cool and funny off stage as she is on!”   A regular opener for heavy weights like Maria Bamford and Brian Regan, she’s also appeared on HBO’s Two Dope Queens, Conan, Maron, Women Of Marvel, Comedy Central and way more than we can list here.   Her podcast Dork Forest is a paradise for anyone who loves...

Is Jordan The Stallion a TikTok star with over 5 million followers on the platform? YES he is. BUT he’s not your average TikTokker. He’s developed an incredibly unique delivery, combining a natural comedic timing with palpable frustration that really resonates with his audiences. And whether they agree with him or not, he’s got something to say and we’re all listening. Enjoy!

Jeremy Clyde is an English actor and musician who, during the 1960s, was one-half of the folk duo Chad & Jeremy! It was awesome getting to speak with Jeremy about his friendship with his now touring buddy Peter Asher who was on the show a few weeks ago, how he and Chad Stuart started working together which lead to their first hit song in the UK with "Yesterday's Gone". That became a hit in the Uni...

Chris Smither is an American folk/blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter whose music draws deeply from the blues, American folk music, and modern poets and philosophers. Chris was such a blast to talk to about life, his career, his influences and his love for music and the road. We discuss his journey back to New Orleans after some time away and he plays us one of my favorite songs, being the fir...

Jody Duncan has served as editor of Cinefex magazine since 1992 until they recently shut down due to covid. She is the author of 10 books covering the making of blockbuster films, including Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, Avatar, Nolan’s Batman trilogy, and many more!   Jody was so much fun to talk to! Right off the heels of Netflix’s “The Movies That Made Us” series where she discussed the making of...

Layne Montgomery is the charismatic musician, singer/songwriter and frontman for his band The Great American Novel and creator of the theme song to another popular podcast Blank Check with Griffin and David! His new album with GAN, “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Online” was released August 27th and we talk about his writing process, his hilarious and somewhat abusive group chat with his band mates...

Billie Webb is a TikTok star known for living the Van Life! Struggling with homelessness for a time may have put her on the path to living in a Van but just from talking to her on the show and watching her videos you can plainly see she’s gotten more genuine life experience out of it than most people ever will living in a house or apartment. In this episode of Dystopia Tonight we talk about her tr...

I had the great fortune of having Ed Asner on my show in early July. It was an absolute honor to have him on and get to speak with him for over an hour about his life, his charity poker games, comic books, his voice over work, his role as Santa on ELF, his activism and how Chicago makes you a rebel, and as always any advice he'd give to his younger self if he could go back in time. I got to speak...

Absolutely loved having JoAnna Beckson on Dystopia Tonight. I had the pleasure of taking her Meisner class when I was a young comic and what I learned from her is invaluable both as a teacher and now as a friend. We discuss how she got into acting/directing, having the neighborhood kids put on a show she directed at the age of 5, to back packing through Europe, falling in love with another actor i...

Legendary Emmy award winning, writer and producer of The Tracy Ullman Show, The Simpsons, Frasier, and the new upcoming reboot Punky Brewster, Jay Kogen joins us on Dystopia Tonight to talk about his his start as a stand-up comic at the age of 17, writing jokes for Harvey Korman at the age of 10, selling his first jokes to his to his legendary father who wrote for Mad Magazine, his proudest joke f...

Lewis Black is one of my absolute favorite comedians of all time, a legend, and one of the nicest guys in the business. When you watch Lewis perform you never feel alone with your rage, and general disgust for the powers that be, and as it turns out talking to him for an hour is no difference. Incredibly smart, hilarious and genuine to the core it was a true joy to have him on Dystopia Tonight. We...

Peter Asher, CBE is a legendary English guitarist, singer, manager and record producer. He came to prominence in the 1960s as a member of the pop music vocal duo Peter and Gordon before going on to a wildly successful career as a manager and record producer. We talk about his upcoming tour, the “NY is back concert” that had end halfway through due to a hurricane, his time spent with the Beatles, t...

Hugh Fink joins us on the show to talk about starting out in Standup comedy, his days writing for SNL from ‘95 - 2002, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and the Showbiz Show with David Spade where he also served as executive producer and the current state of the world.   He’s also got himself a new show coming up on All Things Comedy where he takes on celeb culture! Enjoy!

Shannen Michaela is an Australian contortionist, aerialist, and busker who has trained under Ben Nicolodi, a 7th generation circus performer, and Marissa Burgess, the longest standing member of Moulin Rouge. Thanks to Covid she’s taken her incredible talents to the virtual realm, becoming a TikTok star with over 400k followers!   We talk to her about how she got started, her favorite stunts to per...