My latest Cool Friend is voice actor Aaron LaPlante (Primal, Resident Evil Village, Spider-Ham) and man, what a cool ride he's been on lately! Seemingly coming out of nowhere, Aaron has quickly become an incredibly sought after voice in animation and gaming. In this episode we take a deeper dive into how that ride's been, including being John Mulaney's arch nemesis, weird con stories, odd side-quests, changing characters on the fly, being offered the role of Primal's Spear without having to audition at all, and SO much more.

Tim Macuga, this episode's Cool Friend, and I have been friends since high school, making him the longest friendship I've had with a guest so far. Tim is, without a doubt, one of the smartest and most talented people I know. A high school history teacher and animal husbander, he also just happens to be half of one of the most popular shoegaze (I had to look it up because I, myself, am very uncool) bands on the planet, Have a Nice Life. You may have read about them in Vice, heard them on The Rookie, sampled by now-passed Soundcloud rapper Lil Peep, or seen them in any number of Best Of lists.

I recently met Joe Dragunas (aka Joseph Michael) at Motor City Comic Con and am legitimately flabbergasted that we hadn't known each other up until then. Joe is a masterfully detailed artist who has been a mainstay at cons across the country for the past decade. He's an incredible creator with a dedicated fanbase of nearly 200,000 Instagram followers, and yet here I am meeting him for the first time in 2021. I'm honestly astounded at this, especially because we clicked ALMOST instantly (more on that in the episode). Normally I go through a few individual points of the pod, but let's just say we talk about a lot of nerdy stuff and also his incredible art style and history.

When last we spoke (on that other show), my very Cool Friend Shelby Young had already made quite a name for herself in the acting world. Since then, she has gone on to become one of the most recognizable voice actors on the planet, with a TikTok that boasts 2.4 million subscribers, several more Star Wars series (Visions, Bad Batch, Terrifying Tales) under her belt, and even an appearance on Good Morning America! And you bet your sweet rump we talk about all of that! We dive deep into the unknown factors of viral stardom, the absolute wonder of voicing so many characters in the Star Wars Universe, and all the comes with your life becoming a whirlwind of hard-earned success over the past two years.

Please enjoy and then follow Shelby on all the socials because she's the best.

Another one of my frequently requested Cool Friends, comedian/actor/podcaster Matt Lieb (Good Mythical Morning, Frotcast, Pod Yourself a Gun, The Star Wars Show) is one of my favorite people on the planet. We talk about a lot of stuff in this one. Hard to summarize if I'm being honest, as we pinball our way through one of the most fun and engaging podcasts I've ever recorded. Matt is legitimately one of the funniest people I've ever met and I couldn't wait to be able to do an episode with him, and I hope you enjoy it. Please feel free to follow Matt at @mattlieb on Twitter and @MattLiebJokes on IG when you get a chance.

Artist/Writer/Podcast host Reilly Brown (Batman/Fortnite, Deadpool, Amazing Spider-Man) is my very cool friend and I'm stoked to sit down and talk with him a little bit about a lot of things, like, I don't know, being the artist on the most surprising and fastest selling comic of 2021, being known as one of the "Deadpool guys", just what the hell he was doing at a He Man convention when he hasn't drawn any He Man comics, his podcast Hypothetical Island and so much more! Reilly is one of the most down to earth and likable dudes on the planet and I'm so glad I got to spend some time talking with him and I get to share it with you!

Kym Kral is not only my cool friend, she's also the MOST REQUESTED guest since I started this show! Kym, a comedian, host, actor, model and author, and I have known each other for almost as long as I've been in Los Angeles. With that comes a deep, often complicated, always fun history. Kym has recently written and published her first book, Confessions of a Recovering Party Girl, and obviously we talk about that. Beyond that we dive deep into so many different subjects, including some fantastically awkward ones (yeah, why WON'T I host a podcast with her?) and we travel down some fantastic tangents.

Please enjoy this moment in time with one of my favorite people on the planet!

And if this isn't enough for you, we take a minute or twenty to record BONUS CONTENT exclusively for Patrons that highlights a chapter in the book that she wasn't comfortable publishing. Check out Patreon.com/JeffMay for more!

Holy smokes, my Cool Friend Cory Privitera is one of the leading names in the Sofubi world (I had to look it up too). You might now him as Science Patrol, you might not know him at all. You're going to want to, though. Joining me remotely from Tokyo, Cory has quickly become one of the most prolific creators of vinyl toys out there, consistently selling everything he makes out in record time. The story of how we met is incredibly serendipitous, rooted back to DesignerCon (remember cons?) and we've become fast friends. Listen to me grill him about the path that would lead a dude from Buffalo to pack up and move across the globe to make toys. I'm so stoked we got to schedule time to talk and now I'm excited to share that conversation with you. Don't forget to follow Cory on IG at @science_patrols after you listen. Or before, I'm not your boss or anything.

My Cool Friend today is the amazing Khoi Pham! Not just content with being a superstar artist in his own right, he's also an art mentor and all around good guy to know. We talk about everything from giving up his previous careers as a lawyer and venture capitalist for comic art, our long-rooted history in comic conventions, the amazing work he does for local comic shops, his rad new mentoring program, and so much more!

OH MY GOSH my very cool friend this week is comedian/podcaster Adam Tod Brown (Unpopular Opinion, Conspiracy the Show, Pretty Scary, You Don't Even Like Sports)!!! Join us as we talk about everything from how to make money on the internet, their preferred Death Row meals, getting fired, bad pizza, good chicken, the sports that neither of them even like, and so much more! It's so fun to be able to do a more free-form style show with Adam and I absolutely LOVE this episode!