The Slade Ham Experiment

I spent the last week on the road with my good buddy Jerry Wayne Longmire in Louisville, KY. In a break from format, I've peppered the episode with a couple of clips from the shows. You can also hear me walk through my own methods for managing my writing process, and how I sometimes have to jury-rig my dopamine release in order to maintain productivity. And, of course, I find a tangent about peopl...

I return from a trip to Patuxent River, MD, which brings up memories of an old bar in Bahrain. I also take Jerry Wayne Longmire through Washington DC. A chocolate chop in San Francisco has problems with local crime and begin a new program to combat it, and I veer off in to a sidebar about chocolatier extraordinaire, Amoury Guichon. And finally, my brother's parenting skills are off the charts.

As I reflect upon the finger I injured in an altercation with a blanket, I decide to air my feelings on shared beds. Also, the history of the necktie and my feelings on tattoos. Plus, a fact 90% of you definitely didn't know because even I didn't know it until recently. C'mon in. The water's fine.

I get a free avocado and it reminds me how much I love my Mexican neighborhood, Beyonce and Lizzo drop a word from their albums, and I recall a less-than-well-handled situation at an Anime convention. Also, I try to explain my absence from social media in a way that makes sense.

I saved a story to discuss the one part of the story that isn't a story anymore. We do it anyway, so I can yell at journalists. Also, little known facts about expiration dates, a show at a motorcycle rally, and why you shouldn't accept favors from people.

I spend some time talking about what it's like directing a comedy special in Houston. There are also a ton of dead cows in Kansas for some reason, and I find the story hilarious. Plus, why you should never date an Influencer.

Comedian Paul Oddo is a stand up comedian and artist living in Austin, TX. He released his debut standup comedy album, "Lost In Thought" and his first book, "Nothing Too Fancy" which he wrote and illustrated. Paul has performed at The Boston Comedy Festival and Competition, which he won in 2012 taking home a prize of $10,000. He has also been featured at SXSW, The Out Of Bounds Comedy Festival, Br...

I'm making a comedy special for a friend and I lead with it. Soon I am venting about tow truck drivers and an old car, call centers, my neighborhood growing up, kids on Fortnite, my current relationship with the PS5, and what happens when we die. Plus I weigh in briefly on whether or not video games cause violence. More information on the curiosity of Tetris at these links: https://tinyurl.com/44c...

I have been shame eating to feed my inner fat person. Also, a tangent into my favorite coffee and how to get stuff for free at Starbucks.

I usually rely on summer blockbusters to get me through. I am an unapologetic nerd for all things comic book or sci-fi. Well, not all of them. I do, however, believe that the MCU is mankind's single largest, most impressive art endeavor.

I walk almost every day, sometimes multiple times a day. Neighborhoods are weird things. Mine is no exception. Walking today made me realize how all these yappy dogs have really gotten out of their lane. We beat them. We de-wolfed them or whatever we did. Also, how to survive if a dog decides to chase you.

With my flagship podcast dropping to a reduced schedule over the summer and my tour schedule intentionally light while I finish a film project, I am looking for what's next. I will likely bring guests back, but for now enjoy short, bite-sized servings of my life as I figure it out.

Chingo Bling built a successful hip-hop persona, and a sizeable social media following.  He's collaborated with artists including Mike Jones, Paul Wall, Fat Pat, and Pitbull, and the success of his YouTube channel led him to the stand up stage, which is where I first met him. It's important to note that he didn't come to stand up comedy expecting instant success.  I watched him start at the same o...

Most of stand up comedy works the road.  Comedy clubs, cruise ships, military bases, colleges, and corporate gigs. These are the comics who go where the people are. JR Brow is one of those comedians, and one of my favorites. Appearances on Comedy Central and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson only solidify the obvious. JR Brow is a rock-solid comedian with the added flair of being able to play...

In stand up comedy there is a lot of talk about finding your voice. The conventional wisdom says it takes 7-10 years, but that's just to your first voice.  Who we are on stage, or as artists in general, changes constantly.  I am certainly not any of the previous versions of me anymore.  My guest on this episode has reinvented himself multiple times. Billy D Washington is a stand up comedian, playw...

At any given moment there are approximately 100 living bladesmiths as certified by the American Bladesmith Society. My guest on this episode is one of those 100. Jason Knight might be familiar to you if you watched History Channel's Forged in Fire where he served as a judge on multiple seasons. Recognizing that his heart was in making cool things rather than just being on television, Jason now own...

Michael Duff is multi-talented.  As a musician he's released several albums, both as a solo artist and as the front man for bands like the 90's rock outfit, Chalk FarM. He now runs Duffweb, a full-service marketing agency that specializes in creatively marrying effective websites with explosive promotion. There's a lot to consider when you make the transition from mere artist to functional, profes...

In 2016 I had the privilege to join the cast of the third film in Jordan Brady's I am Comic trilogy. Jordan is a commercial director now, and he's a seasoned documentarian, but he's also directed Hollywood features, hosted MTV game shows, and in a lesser known piece of trivia, is the inventor of the phrase "bow chicka bow wow," which was a signature piece in a very successful stand up comedy caree...

An original member of the famed Texas Outlaw Comics and a recent stand out on America's Got Talent, Andy is one of the most diligent writer-performers in the game.  Andy has, by far, the longest career of any artist on this season. He began in Virginia in 1977 – that's basically my entire life - before heading to Los Angeles later that year, a brazen move in an industry that was barely an industry...

If you don't know Ali Siddiq yet, it's okay. You will. It's inevitable. I met Ali a year or two into his career, just a few months before I began stand up myself, and I remember watching him take a standing ovation as a support act for another very successful comedian at he time. It was magic. What I didn't know was that I was watching a kid freshly released from prison, before apprearances on BET...

There are a lot of characteristics that can help move us down the line a bit more quickly.  There are things like innate talent and charisma, and practiced skills like patience. I'm not sure where grit falls on that list, but Tammy Pescatelli has plenty. Her story runs from road comic to television regular, most notably including Season 2 of Last Comic Standing and multiple Tonight Show appearance...

In this episode I'll talk with mathematician turned comedian, Matthew Broussard. His credits are many from MTV and the late night circuit to various sitcom appearances and a constant slot in Comedy Central's stable. He's also frustratingly good looking. I'd argue that his real success is not the product of luck or looks but of diligently working out how comedy works. I believe that a huge part of...

I like disruptive personalities. Usually when we do something we look at the way everybody else is doing it and then we attempt to replicate that. Sure we put our original flourishes on it, but that's only in the creative process itself. What about how we present everything? Steve Hofstetter is a disruptive personality. You know Steve. If you have the internet his "Comedian Owns Heckler" videos ha...

My guest on this episode is Christopher Titus. You might recognize him from his roles on television where he co-starred in ABC's "Big Shots" and helmed the eponymous FOX sitcom, "Titus." I had the privilege of touring with him a decade ago and was fortunate to observe his process along the way. He just wrapped production on his 8th stand up comedy special "Chasing Monsters,"and I feel like I need...