Good Times, Noodle Salad

This week on Good Times, Noodle Salad, we're joined by stand-up comedian Rachael Willis, who drove up from Lima, Ohio, to hang out with us. Rachael brings the energy, the rage, and absolutely no shortage of stories.

We talk about her journey into stand-up, growing up feeling like an outsider, navigating childhood trauma, and learning to stop apologizing for taking up space. Rachael opens up about how therapy helped her understand herself, the importance of boundaries and self-worth, and why she wants to use comedy to help people forget about the outside world for a few minutes.

We also get into parenting, autism and ADHD, working in the restaurant industry, corporate greed, music, psychedelics, and the realities of putting in the work as a comic. Plus, we get into comedy's unwritten rules, open mics, crowd work, and why you should never think you're above practice.

Rachael is loud, honest, hilarious, and unapologetically herself. This one's got plenty of laughs, some heavy moments, and a reminder that being a good person doesn't mean you have to make yourself smaller for everyone else.

Follow Rachael Willis and check out her upcoming shows!

New episodes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Follow Good Times, Noodle Salad for more conversations with comedians, musicians, and people with vastly different lives.

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Comedian Vedaul Peters joins Matt and Paige for a two-and-a-half-hour conversation about the Detroit comedy scene, bombing on stage, getting heckled, and trying to make a name for yourself in stand-up. Vedaul talks about his first experiences with mushrooms and acid, writing movie scripts and skits, experimenting with improv, and preparing for the Detroit to Austin comedy competition.

Plus, we talk about bizarre open mic performances, accidentally turning conversations into bits, getting names butchered, and why sometimes the funniest thing you can do on stage is completely fuck up your own joke.

It's Episode 81 of Good Times, Noodle Salad. Enjoy!

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For Episode #80 of Good Times, Noodle Salad, Matt sits down with members of Funderbird to talk music, skateboarding, Detroit-area venues, getting older, and somehow still finding time to make shit happen.

Funderbird started out playing covers before moving into their own original music, and they're now up to 14 original songs and several years of playing shows around Southeast Michigan. The conversation gets into how the band came together, their first shows, the challenges of keeping a band going when everyone has jobs and families, and what it's like to start playing live music later in life.

Things inevitably spiral into a massive skateboarding rabbit hole, including Metrotrend, old Pontiac venues, Detroit's skate scene, building skate parks, and the DIY mentality that carried from skating into music.

It's a very Good Times, Noodle Salad episode: music, local history, parenting, skateboarding, bad decisions, and a whole lot of malarky.

Follow Funderbird and check out their music on Spotify, and as always, thanks for listening to Good Times, Noodle Salad.

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In Episode 79 of Good Times, Noodle Salad, Matt sits down one-on-one with James Christiani, the creator behind No Flock in Troy, to talk about the growing controversy surrounding Flock Safety cameras and automatic license plate readers.

James breaks down how Flock cameras work, why he believes they represent a major threat to privacy and personal freedom, and what he's uncovered while pushing back against their use in Troy and communities across Michigan. The conversation covers police misuse of surveillance technology, tracking people's movements, warrantless searches, false identifications, government accountability, hidden cameras, drones, and the potential expansion of mass surveillance far beyond simply reading license plates.

Matt and James also get into the political divide surrounding surveillance, the Patriot Act, abortion and interstate travel, cannabis, the role of private companies in government surveillance, and whether technology designed to prevent crime can ultimately give authorities too much power. They also discuss some of the victories communities have already had in getting Flock cameras removed and why James believes public pressure can actually make a difference.
It's a conversation about privacy, technology, government power, and the uncomfortable question of just how much surveillance we're willing to accept in the name of safety.

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For Episode 78 of Good Times Noodle Salad, Paige sits this one out as Matt is joined by guest host Devin and special guest Bobby Caine, better known as Motorcitymoto313.

Bobby talks about why he stepped back from riding motorcycles after getting a little too comfortable doing 150+ mph and lane splitting, the crashes that changed his perspective, and why he still isn't done with bikes. From there, the conversation takes a hard left into skateboarding, snowboarding, camping, Detroit's outdoor scene, and Bobby's mission to get more people outside and experiencing what Michigan has to offer.

They also get into the insanity of Isle of Man racing, MotoGP, Group B rally cars, motorcycle crashes, social media hate, content creation, and why going viral isn't always the goal.

It's motorcycles, outdoor adventures, Detroit, questionable life decisions, and three dudes arguing about things they probably should have researched beforehand.

Episode 78 of Good Times Noodle Salad is here.

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Comedian Nicole Melnyk joins Matt and Paige for a wild, funny, and occasionally heated conversation that goes everywhere from stand-up comedy and podcasting to Joe Rogan, Kill Tony, wealth, politics, surveillance, AI, and why Nicole might be the only person capable of turning a podcast appearance into a full-on debate.

Nicole and Matt clash, agree, argue, and somehow keep the conversation hilarious as they discuss comedy influences, whether famous comedians inevitably become terrible people, the Saudi comedy festival, SNL, Flock cameras, privacy, misogyny in comedy, and the weird ways society reacts differently to men and women.

Plus, Nicole gives us her thoughts on the Good Times Noodle Salad origin story, Matt explains why he avoided stand-up for years before finally becoming obsessed with it, and by the end of the episode, Nicole and Matt are already pitching Melnyk vs. Matt as a potential monthly debate series.

It’s chaotic, opinionated, funny, and exactly the kind of conversation where nobody completely agrees—but everybody keeps talking.

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For episode #76 of Good Times, Noodle Salad, Matt and Paige sit down with comedian Griffin Daniel for a nearly four-hour conversation that goes absolutely everywhere.

Griffin shares wild stories from more than two decades working in restaurants, including dangerous kitchen accidents, gas leaks, grease disasters, meat slicer injuries, terrible bosses, and the strange reality of being a skilled cook while servers can sometimes make more in a weekend. Matt and Griffin compare the chaos and safety culture of restaurant kitchens and construction sites, debate whether getting yelled at can actually keep people alive, and talk about the people who show up to a job thinking they know everything.

The conversation also gets into Flock cameras and privacy, government overreach, workplace surveillance, weird hospital experiences, scars, comedy, music, Chef, Dave Matthews Band, GWAR, and the search for purpose in whatever you do.

It’s a long one, a funny one, and full of the kind of stories that probably shouldn’t be told on a podcast—but we’re glad they were.

Good Times, Noodle Salad is a Metro Detroit podcast hosted by Matt and Paige, featuring comedians, musicians, creators, and interesting people with stories worth telling.

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On the 75th episode of Good Times Noodle Salad, Matt and Paige sit down with The Wild Life, a Michigan band from Frankenmuth made up of musicians who somehow managed to actually follow through on the classic “we should jam sometime” conversation. They talk about how the band came together, finding the right lineup, writing and releasing music, the struggle of being confused with another similarly named band, and what’s next as they gear up for a bigger push and new music.
Of course, it wouldn’t be GTNS without the conversation going completely off the rails. The group gets into music recommendations, Dungeon Crawler Carl, teachers with side hustles, micro-sponsorships, Juggalo wrestling, old internet nostalgia, weird animals, gardening disasters, and the long saga of Gerald the duck. It’s over three hours of music talk, ridiculous stories, and the kind of conversation that starts with a band interview and ends somewhere completely unexpected.

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On episode 74 of Good Times, Noodle Salad, Matt and Paige sit down with comedian Stephanie Ann for a conversation that goes just about everywhere. Stephanie shares the incredible story behind her massive weight loss, becoming a mom, finding comedy, getting sober, and rebuilding her life along the way.

They also talk about navigating the Detroit comedy scene, comedy drama, Stephanie's Diva Cup stand-up improv competition, her growing social media following thanks to her Downriver and Michigan content, appearing on Kill Tony, GLP-1 medications, documentaries, and plenty of the kind of stories that somehow get more ridiculous the longer the conversation goes.
It's a funny, honest, occasionally unhinged episode with one of the most interesting stories we've had on the show.

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Willie Page joins Matt and Paige for one of the most unhinged episodes of Good Times, Noodle Salad yet. Willie talks about coming up in the Detroit comedy scene, his approach to storytelling, raising seven kids, and the wild life experiences that give him plenty of material on stage.

The conversation gets real when Willie and Matt bond over growing up with asthma and dealing with the brutal effects of Canadian wildfire smoke on their lungs. They also swap stories about probation, DUIs, sobriety, and the absurd situations that can come with being on the wrong side of the law.

From Willie's garbage truck accident and his pre-comedy career to Matt's ongoing weight-loss journey, Ozempic, and the disastrous attempt to dress like Jazzy Jeff at a 90s-themed party, absolutely nothing stays on topic for long.

It's Detroit comedy, ridiculous true stories, asthma, probation, weight loss, 90s nostalgia, and a whole lot of malarkey with comedian Willie Page.

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