The Blackout Diaries

Sammy Hardwood shares some stories about what it's like to be a male stripper before our live audience in Chicago. Sammy then joins CJ and Sean in the studio to tell a few more stories and detail all the questions you get when you work as a male stripper. CJ and Sean share their own stories about strippers and strip clubs, like the time a stripper used her implants to nearly concuss a man a breakf...

CJ and Sean talk about the recently-departed Ted Turner, an old-school billionaire who seemed like he'd be fun to have a beer with. We laugh about how he ran the Braves as almost a barnstorming gag team in the early 1980s and his confidence that the American public did not have sophisticated taste in television. CJ shares some stories about Derek Stevens, the official billionaire of The Blackout D...

Nick Vatterott, one of our favorite comedians, joins us for the whole hour and we mostly talk about robots. CJ, Sean and Nick joke about recent news where robots broke two bus shelters in Chicago, a robot police officer was attacked in California, and some cities are banning food-delivery robots on sidewalks. We also talk about robot taxis, which Nick and CJ ride in LA and Nick's new, award-winnin...

Comedian Jayson Cross tells the story about the time he went out clubbing with a pinched sciatic nerve in his back, one of the myriad struggles of drinking in old age. Jayson joins CJ and Sean in the studio and tells an additional, crazy story about the time he stopped a hate crime while walking the streets of New York City. Jayson's night out with sciatica inspires of a theme of drunken injuries....

A special St Patrick's Day episode! Recorded on the weekend where Chicago dyes the river Green, CJ and Sean discuss some of their favorite St Patrick's Day traditions, including The almost-hilariously-dangerous Cheltenham Horse-Racing Festival which is held in Ireland on St. Patrick's Day. That is compared to other, wildly dangerous horse races throughout the world before CJ and Sean re-read their...

Comedian Nick Cartwright tells our live audience about the time he and a buddy did acid only for his friend to think Nick was controlling his brain to make him covet Nick, eventually leading to a half destroyed house and visit from the police. It's a great Blackout Diaries story in that its equal parts (like all perfect cocktails) scary and funny. Nick joins CJ and Sean in the studio to share more...

Sean is frozen inside his house so CJ and Sean do an episode about the cold weather. We talk about the first-ever warning for exploding trees and how its so cold bars often take pity upon weary drunks, thirsty enough to brave the elements. CJ talks about how stadium security in Chicago, in this weather, lets you bring almost anything into the game. We discuss the legendarily cold Chiefs playoff ga...

Comedian, and lawyer, Charles Star comes to Chicago and tells the story about totaling his car, after leaving a winery, during his honeymoon- even though he was stone sober. Charles joins CJ and Sean to talk about what its like to be a lawyer, when every drunk you meet has a thousand questions for you. Charles also talks about some times when he was younger and his friends drove drunk which leads...

An episode devoted to the ups-and-downs, risks-and-rewards of Holiday Parties. CJ and Sean discuss some historically-famous holiday parties, like the First Ward Ball in Chicago, a corrupt, drunken political party thrown every Christmas time; the classic tradition of Saturnalias, which are winter parties with debauched drinking that a Lord of Misrule heads. We share some of our own stories, includi...

An episode on one of our favorite kinds of, highly-successful, functioning ne'er-do-wells: drunk coaches. Sean remembers Kevin Mackey, a visionary basketball coach who had been sober for 40 years before dying, but was an old fashion hell-raiser in Cleveland prior to getting sober. We also talk about some of our favorite drunk-coaching disasters from Alabama to Iowa State and Louisville and how dru...

Comedian Cameron Gillette shares a story recorded at our live show, where he had to leave a music festival, drunk and high out of his mine, shotgun in an ambulance after his girlfriend passed out in the heat. Cameron meets his girlfriend's mom for the first time at the hospital but isn't sure if he fooled her, or hospital staff, into thinking he was sober. This leads to a theme on how hard it is t...

An episode on one of our favorite kind of national news stories: cop embellishments. The FBI arrested NBA coaches plus "Italian Mobsters" this week, making some ridiculous claims on how these groups schemed to cheat poker players. We talk about this story along with some of our favorite examples of cop embellishments over the years like the time The Chicago Police accused jack ass home brewers of...

Nate Craig, one of our favorite comedians and a long time friend, joins us in the studio to promote his latest album, "MARRIED TO IT". Nate's album is out starting today online! We play a clip from the album and Nate talks about how the recording went and what it was like to celebrate afterwards after not drinking for a nearly a full year. We further talk about reunions, as having Nate as a guest...

Semi-autobiographical podcast on drinking and the Catholic Church, inspired by the new Chicago-raised pope! CJ and Sean tell stories about growing up in the Catholic Church and how common drinking was at all religious ceremonies. Comedian Joe Kilgallon, one of our regulars at the live show, joins us in studio to also share some of his own stories about attending a Catholic, all-boys highschool. In...

Comedian Carolyn Dickey shares a few hilarious stories at our live show, each showing how much her sister defends her when they party together. Carolyn's sister always has her back. Carolyn joins CJ and Sean in the studio and discuss what its like to drink, eat and live with sisters and brothers. This leads to a theme on siblings. We share some funny stories about our siblings either partying too...

Summer block buster / Fourth of July Episode where we talk about how people spend the holiday week. Sean recaps seeing the newest Tom Cruise movie, where an old couple was more entertaining than the movie itself. CJ and Sean discuss fireworks, the fourth of July and the hilariously unsafe rules most lakes have around boating, where the consensus seems to be : if rich people want to kill themselves...

Comedian Manny Petty makes his debut at our live show and tells the hilarious story of when he accidentally took his parents to a nude gay play, a week after coming out to them. Manny then joins CJ and Sean in the studio and we talk about the play and how people used to attend more blind features -- where you know nothing about the play or bar back then. This is also Pride month so we talk about t...

The Blackout Diaries talks golf! Comedian Jason Burke joins us in the studio to share the story about his bachelor party, which was at The Waste Management Open in Phoenix, a golf tournament that is closer to a whiskey fest than an athletic event. Jason talks about some of the dos and donts to planning a good bachelor party in the sun and how his party was mostly "donts". CJ and Sean then tell som...

Special Blackout Diaries Memorial Day Weekend Episode. CJ and Sean talk about how the start of summer always sneaks up on a people and they realize their alcohol tolerance is not what it was at during the close of last summer, which is one of the reasons why Memorial Day Weekend is the busiest DUI weekend in most states. We also talk about summer blockbusters , specifically the new Mission Impossi...

An episode on our favorite sport- horse racing! Comedian Sohrab Forouzesh tells a story from our live show about accidentally giving a horse drugs, along with accidentally receiving some himself. CJ and Sean talk about horse racing before that, sharing some of their own stories about bets gone awry and why the Preakness is The Blackout Diaries preferred stretch of the Triple Crown. We share some s...

Comedian Victoria Flynn shares some stories at our live show about all the times she probably should have been kidnapped while drinking. Victoria joins CJ and Sean in the studio and shares what it was like to attend college in Montreal along with some other kidnapping-inducing drinking stories. CJ and Sean then share stories on the only two kinds of kidnappings that are objectively funny: men who...

Comedian Joe Fernandez tells some stories, at our live show, from when he and his ex shared the same apartment after a breakup so he had to improvise whenever he had a one night stand, often leading to stupid lies or bad hotels (or both). Joe joins CJ and Sean in the studio and we talk about those nights and how difficult your social life becomes when your roommate situation is awkward or bad. Thi...

The Blackout Diaries Podcast is back after a break spent on filming the TV Pilot. Unfortunately we received some tragic news that a dear friend of the show, Mike Polino, passed away from a rare auto-immune disorder. Mike owned The High Hat Club, which is where the Blackout Diaries performed for two years while The Lincoln Lodge was moving. He was a great dude and a hilarious presence behind the ba...

CJ Sullivan and Sean Bair-Flannery talk spring break! We share some personal stories: Sean details how traveling with your kids on spring break can somehow land you in more troubling embarrassment than drunks and CJ shares a story about driving straight through the night to meet friends with no plans. We share some stats on how much money spring break generates for destination towns but, despite t...

Comedian Hannah Belmont tells three, short, hilarious stories at our live show, ending with how she went on a date with her older manager at a Mexican restaurant while in college. Hannah joins CJ and Sean in the studio and they discuss her story in more details, everything from the COVID vaccine to Lalapalooza and bad bosses. CJ and Sean discuss the theme of 'bad managers' for the episode, detaili...