Between 2 Butts: The Podcast That Lets Nothing Slip Between The Cracks

The Between 2 Butts crew is all a-flutter because Becca's about to get married to her beloved (and often-mentioned on the podcast) Bryan. Jay plays around with Becca's possible new name and edits everyone's middle names to suit his liking, insulting Tice when he forgets that Tice already IS his middle name. 
We are then joined by guest Jasmine Michelle: actor, writer, cosplayer, and more, who started her theatre journey as an audience volunteer during a travelling production of "Stomp!". From that, she went on to a  production of the intense witchy story "Reunion on Gallows Hill" in high school, and later became the "theatre mom" in her crew of friends at NoVa. She also tells us about directing a play she wrote herself, acting in "Man of La Mancha",  "Murder on the Nile", and "Sherlock Holmes & the West End Horror". In addition, she talks about her own writing in a genre a friend dubbed "murder fiction", fed by a love of Agathe Christie and Edgar Allen Poe, and her experiences in cosplay, including her love of characters with red hair and her subsequent discovery of an allergy to synthetic wigs.
What follows is perhaps our most-contentious-ever round of Family Feud Fast Money, in which Tice rules (in a moment that sadly did not become the episode title) that "the tits are not the lips". 

In an episode that could have been titled "Slawin' Down", "Hobo: Origins", or "Uranus Spins Backwards", Jay, Becca and Tice talk with actor and space expert Pam Sabella about her theatre, TV and film experiences both locally and in LA, including her middle school theatre teacher almost talking her out of acting (and later eating her words), doing Shakespeare without knowing what it all means, playing Mary Warren in The Crucible, and surviving as an actor in LA, including doing audience work on "Let's Make a Deal". But multi-faceted Pam is also a connoisseur of things space-related, and so the conversation includes rocket parts, Mars colonization, Elon Musk, the sounds of black holes, life in space, and whether they would rather watch game shows than us. Then we go all go to nose-to-nose in a round of Space Trivia!

After we open with some final(?) laughs at the expense of Becca's surname before her wedding, we greet Jay's and Tice's former improv teacher, as well as Dungeon Master and podcast host Dave Rockwell! Dave takes us through his introduction in elementary school to Dungeons and Dragons, his introduction to improv via ComedySportz, his return to D&D after a 25-year hiatus following the demise of DC ComedySportz, and the launch of his D&D podcast (Leaders N Legacies) when Covid forced us all to hunker down at home.  After we chat with Dave about improv, D&D, and what they have in common (a lot), Dave puts on his D.M. hat and leads us through a mini-campaign in which Jay imagines himself as a fusion between Keanu Reeves and The Mountain from Game of Thrones, and I imagine myself as a wizard Abe Vigoda as we seek shelter in a very crowded inn.

It's a casual no-guests episode! Tice and Jay exchange loving beard compliments and, as we are approaching the date of Becca's nuptials  we talk about nebulous wedding dress codes, and dress-pant sweatpants. Becca and Jay reflect on their recent performances in The Sound of Music (as the Baroness and Captain von Trapp) and their character choices-- how the Baroness is NOT just a bitch, how Jay got to show some range and explore the Captain's psychology, and...IS there a secret throuple in the Von Trapp mansion? Then Jay makes a tribute to co-star and professional opera singer Kelly Glyptis with a very metal take on "Phantom of the Opera",  aaaaand we conclude our 6-part series in reaction to "Don't Hug Me, I'm Scared", at least until it starts its new series on BBC-4. To conclude we play an improv game Tice made up before the podcast, called "Back to One". DO NOT WEAR SWEATPANTS WHILE LISTENING TO THIS EPISODE! Becca expects better. 

Nightwish Phanton of the Opera
Don't Hug Me, I'm Scared WEB FINALE

It's an unusual Between Two Butts, in which Jay and Becca turn the spotlight on producer-of-few-words Tice Rust! We find out about his name origin, his start in improv, his forays into stage acting, his job history (including DC's very fancy Willard Hotel), and even some discussion of lumbersexuality. But this is the podcast you know and love, so we also have talk of matrimonial tandem toilets and a cautionary restroom story from Jay about feet under the stalls. Plus, an awkward error in Becca's wedding programs! Parents forbidding the Simpsons but not Ren & Stimpy! And everybody taking a turn guessing previous jobs as in the classic gameshow "What's My Line?" 

It's big episode Six-O! As we push into the sixties, Jay, Becca and Tice hang out with actor/musician Laura Mills, the Lucy to Jay's Snoopy, and maybe even a voice you have heard on the phone without knowing it.  During this episode, Laura shares tons of glorious info with us, including  her experiences playing Mrs. Potts in Beauty and the Beast, Doralee in 9 to 5,  and moms in so many productions from her youth. She also gives us the story of her meeting and courtship with her husband, her voice changing when she really did become a mom, transitioning into songwriting, and her work in local elections and mental health. In this episode you can hear "We are Virginia", Laura's tribute to Virginia Tech from the aftermath of 2007 shooting along with the story behind its creation. And in addition to all that, Laura drops a bombshell on Jay when she reveals she has recorded voiceovers for automated phone menus, which leads to her giving us a brief course in different styles of pleasant robotic voices. To cap it all off, we play an intensely competitive game of Musical Theatre Trivia, with everyone making their own custom ring-in noises! Buck-KAW!!

P.S. Laura wants you to vote! So do we! Go here if you need help getting started!

Tice, Becca and Jay have a chat with one of the inspirations for this very podcast, a performer of many talents, Liz Colandene, aka Lizzy Pasta! Liz is the performing arts coordinator at the Workhouse Arts Center in Northern Virginia, an actor, musician, visual artist, and host of the Workhouse's Chat & Sip video series. In this episode, Liz talks about how she got named Lizzy Pasta, her performances in Little Shop of Horrors, Rocky Horror, and Anne of Green Gables, playing bassoon and contrabassoon, and being proposed to onstage during a curtain call. Meanwhile, Jay is dealing with laryngitis, Becca is dealing with invading hornets, and Tice is helpfully suggesting new pasta-themed nicknames for Liz. It all comes to a head as the gang plays Pyramid. Will Liz out-perform the home team on their home turf? Listen and find out!

 Check out Lizzy's art on Instagram, and her Twitter feed. Also, here's the clip discussed in the podcast of Liz dancing while playing bassoon!

Huzzah! Jay, Tice, and Becca are joined by seasoned Renaissance festival performers Tony and Mark Korol-Evans! In this installment of the show you'll meet two actors who have played as characters in the Maryland Renaissance Festival. Find out anything you want to know about Renaissance festivals from the people who wrote the book on it (literally!) You´ll hear which Renaissance festival was designed by Escher (all uphill!), which is the hottest Faire, perks of small Faires and large Faires, unique traits of Faires all across the country, and, most importantly...what's the gold-star-standard faire! Plus, fainting queens, privy shrouds, ways to beat the heat in costume, opera, baritone-tenor jealousy, and..what if Queen Elizabeth and Mary Queen of Scots had met? In addition, we got a look into Tony and Mark's work with sexual assault victims and in intimiacy choreography for theatre, and also how Tony and Mark's son is carrying on their tradition! It's also a highly eventful episode for our hosts, with Jay and Tice both needing mid-show pee breaks, Becca muting herself while her husband-to-be moves furniture, and Jay and Becca warming up to be in "The Sound of Music". All this PLUS "Match Game" in episode 58!

Find more of our guests on Facebook and support them on Patreon!
 

Becca, Tice and Jay welcome an old-improv-buddy-turned-New-York-actor Shravan Amin, whose career now includes shadowy gigs with limousines and non-disclosure agreements. Join us as we remember his origins as a dance recital DJ, his beginnings in improv, his first theatre roles, and his move to New York. Along the way, we touch on the improv game Freeze, why Shrave loves doing Shakespeare, and resume hacks. Also in this episode, excitement builds for Becca's upcoming nuptials and Jay tries to insinuate unwholesome things about the handfasting ceremony. Also also in this episode is a chat with another guest, a super-villain known as the Truth-Seeker, who isn't above torture and is generally quite testy. Loyal Butt-fans, please note...just by listening, you are already a member of the Between 2 Butts House Team.

In this episode, Tice, Jay and Becca talk to performer-hair and makeup artist-cosplayer-writer Ahryel Tinker! She takes us back to her garage performances for friends and family, demonstrates her amazing Britney Spears impression, remembers how seeing "Chicago" changed her life, discusses dream roles and dream cosplays, and writing horror. We also have a running discussion in this episode about whether Jay and Ahryel are close enough in age to flirt without it being creepy. You be the judge. We round off the episode with Box of Lies, Stock Photo Edition, as requested from Ahryal and borrowed from The Tonight Show.

Check out Ahryel on Instagram at tinkertotcosplay!