Jeff Has Cool Friends

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. This month, Dre and Jeff are joined by the star of our episode's subject, the incredible Nic Cowan, as they wrap up their season on Unfortunate Martial Arts Properties with thecult classic 1993 film Surf Ninjas. There's a lot to unpac...

My latest Cool Friend, the amazing and hilarious Chris Calogero, is one of the most criminally underappreciated comics and creators out there. I’ve known him for quite some time, and have been waiting for this specific moment to have him on the show, as he’s just released his amazing comedy special/album “Husky Boy,” which you can listen to RIGHT NOW! Of course we talk about the album, because it’...

My next Cool Friend, the amazing Alex Schmidt, is an incredibly accomplished and kind person. Like, to the point where it makes me mad. But not really. Maybe. Anyways, you might know Alex from his incredible podcast, Secretly Incredibly Fascinating , or from his multiple victories on the television show Jeopardy! Or you might not know him at all. Who am I to know what you know? Y'know? But hey...

My latest Cool Friend, the incredible and vibrant Kirk Thatcher, has one of the most insane and varied collection of credits I can imagine. Special effects on Return of the Jedi? Yes. Director of Muppets Haunted Mansion? Absolutely. Famous Star Trek pest? Naturally. Badass Monster Hunter in the MCU? You bet! But honestly, this barely scratches the surface. I seriously don't have enough space o...

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. This month, Dre and Jeff are joined by the amazing Logan Trent as they continue their season on Unfortunate Martial Arts Properties with the insane WMAC Masters syndicated television show. There's a lot to unpack about this weird American...

Oh man, this one is so cool! I've "known" Taffeta Darling online for like, 10-15 years, but we've only just met in person for the first time at SDCC a couple of weekends ago! That's crazy! I'm fascinated by the parallels between the two of us, from jobs we've had to hobbies we share to the things that interest us. We're honestly very much like the Spider-Man point...

My latest Cool Friend has had one heck of a few years since we last spoke on air! The amazing Todd Stashwick might just be one of the most popular actors in the current Star Trek milieu due to his landmark role as Captain Liam Shaw on Picard. (And let's not forget his other appearances on shows like Gotham, Supernatural, and the fascinating 12 Monkeys) He's also published the incredible My...

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. This month, Dre and Jeff begin their season on Unfortunate Martial Arts Properties with the infamous Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi for the Sony Playstation. There's a lot to unpack about this totally missed slam dunk of a game, so let&...

My Cool Friend, James Wojtal Jr. is one fascinating dude, and I'm so excited to introduce you to him! It's hard to find a better way to describe what he does besides "he does stuff with puppets," but that feels unbelievably incomplete. James is legitimately amazing, and might have my favorite origin story of any guest I've had on the show up to this point! You may have seen h...

My Cool Friend John Hastings is one of the most prolific and hilarious comedians I've ever met. A frequent performer on Mint on Card, I absolutely love watching him work! And now you can, too, as he's just released his first of three(!!!) specials this year on his youtube, which you can watch for free right HERE ! Now, do I talk about his insane comedy career, his appearances on America&#3...

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. This month, Dre and Jeff finish their season on Toy Reboots with special guest David Igo (Sideshow and Tweeterhead's Masters of the Universe lines, Monstors, Kaiju Doom) as they dive into the universally beloved Masters of the Universe 20...

My Cool Friend, David Silverman, is one of the most significant contributors to the world of modern animation you could imagine. His history with The Simpsons is obviously what people first think about, as he's one of the architects of the style and direction of the show, starting in the Tracy Ulman days in 1987, directing the Movie in 2007, and still being a member of the crew to this day. Bu...

OK, so this Cool Friend, the hilarious Jono Zalay, is one of the first people I ever met in comedy. Like, I met him BEFORE I was ever a comic. On the night he became a LITERAL BRAIN SCIENTIST, no less! Crazy! We have since moved to different places, and ended up back in LA, where I see him nearly every Sunday when we play comedy softball! Jono has had an incredibly wild ride, and along the way has...

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. This month, Dre and Jeff continue their season on Toy Reboots with special guest Ken Napzok (Author, "Why We Love Star Wars, Host, ForceCenter) as they dive into the SECOND Star Wars Power of the Force line, rebooting Kenner's 10-yea...

Holy hell, my latest Cool Friend, Rocom is like, the absolute coolest and best. You might know him from his amazing art and ridiculously popular indie toy line Mighty Maniax, which may have a VERY specific connection to a recent Cool Friend! Also, independent of that. his current kickstarter features a pin by one of my other Cool Friends! I'm serious when I say that Rocom and I are like, Forre...

My Cool Friend Ken Napzok is the COOLEST! He and I used to be next-door neighbors that love all the same stuff! Now we live slightly further away while loving the same stuff! You might know Ken from the innumberable amount of nerdy things he's been a part of, like ScreenJunkies, ForceCenter, and like, a skrillion other things. He even wrote a book called Why We Love Star Wars, and it's ama...

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. This month, Dre and Jeff begin their season on Toy Reboots with special guest Adam Tod Brown as they dive into GI Joe, A Real American Hero, the line rebooting Hasbro's 12" action figure (definitely not a doll) lasting from 1982-1994...

My latest cool friend, TV and comic writer Tom Krajewski, is one of my oldest friends in Los Angeles, and one of the most impressive dudes I know. Among his countless achievements, we find Primer, the absolute DC comics PHENOMENON that is one of the fastest, highest selling books since it's inception a few years ago (co-created with Jennifer Muro, see JHCF episode 23). Well guess what? They ar...

My Cool Friend Dan Bakkedahl has one hell of a resume under his belt. From movies like The Heat, Trumbo, and Action Point to television shows like The Daily Show, Legit, and Veep, Dan has proven himself to be filled to the brim with talent and charm. What you might NOT know, however, is that Dan is one of my best pinball buddies. Don't worry, we let you know ALL about it pretty quickly. On top...

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. This month, Dre and Jeff finish their season on Unfortunate Video Game Adaptations with the most unfortunate mainstream video game adaptation of all-time: 1994's Double Dragon! There's a lot to unpack about this absoulte violation of...

Oh boy is my latest Cool Friend a doozy! Honestly, I'm not sure how I even managed to snag Rey Taira for this long, as he was supposed to be getting ready for TF Con (Transformers) as his company, threezero, is going to have a HUGE presence there. But hey, I'm not complaining. Rey is one of the coolest, kindest, nerdiest nerds I know, and I'm so stoked to just geek out with him for a w...

My Cool Friend this episode is the amazing Jon Jabs of one of my favorite Youtube channels, The Past Is Alive. When I was researching card breakers a few years back in order to check out how it's done right, I stumbled onto his fascinating channel and it was just everything I could have hoped for. Jon is fun, knowledgeable, interactive, and charming as heck at every turn, and he's cultivat...

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. This month, Dre and Jeff are joined by John and Tom Reimann of the Screamplay podcast as they continue their season on Unfortunate Video Game Adaptations with 2005's Doom! There's a lot to unpack about this absoulte whiff of a film, s...

My latest Cool Friend is one of those friends that, when I met him for the first time, I kinda quietly geeked out. I grew up marveling at his images in secondhand Cracked magazines I got from my mom’s friend Cathy, and admiring his work from there on out at various points in my life. Bob is a master cartoonist, having credits all over the pop culture universe. From Cracked and MAD, to Marvel and D...

My latest Cool Friend is the immensely talented comedian/host/rabblerouser Bailey Norton. Bailey is not only a masterful comic (I mean, she’s done Mint on Card several times and co-hosts the amazing Femmes the Rules live show) and fantastic podcast host (Hot Topic with Pickle and Bailey is a delight!), but she’s often found going viral across social media with her delightful traps laid out for tox...