justEricson

It finally happened. Only took me being on the road trying to hit as many open mic scenes as possible to get me so far from having enough control over circumstances to get my podcast out on time.

It's a little refreshing really. Kind of when you get one missed payment mark on your credit score and it takes you down twenty points. You can rebuild the credit but you'll always have that deliquent payment on your history. And you can lose yours hit about not having a perfect history, or you can move forward and just make sure you don't miss anymore payments.

Anyway, enough with the life advice: in this ramble I talk about the financial toll this trip has put on me, the benefit of seeing so many different mic scenes in rapid fire success, and make too many references to Apple Products.

Real recognize real and Willie Macc is familiar as fuck.

I can't even begin to convey to you the grounded realness Willie brings to any mic he's in front of. Even as I write this I am listening to him be interviewed on another podcast retelling a story that literally send shivers down my spine. He's so good he turns that podcast back on me more than once by asking the more interesting questions. My point is I love Willie. Which may come as no surprise by the title of this episode: the greatest compliment I can receive from anyone.

I cut so much out of this episode. I wish I could have spend more time with it. But it's literally 15 minutes before the air date and I have to get this episode up.

In this interview we talk about dating white girls, my style, and — of course — saying the n-word on stage.

This is definitely another one of those episodes I wish I could re-record but will be grateful I posted and when it's five years ago and doesn't matter.

I'm touring people! This is uncharted territory! Recording a podcast of personal reflections as I'm on the move with two other comics: Ellen Doyle and Sasha Boggs. All while trying to maintain a career as a freelance graphic designer and editor. What I'm trying to say is I'm exhausted and it's not helping that my equipment keeps getting damaged every step of the way.

In this ramble I go backwards as I talk about my current mental state, the experience of playing to a Scranton crowd, and how getting stuck in Philadelphia lead to me admitting I'm not as courageous as everyone things.

For at least twenty years I spelled Michael: "Micheal". I feel like that's the best thing to start with.

I feel like Michael Blaustein is a dangerous guy for me to be around because we're both guys with some serious intensity and that usually means if we were to have a long enough conversation I'd most likely end up crying. I don't even think I got all the questions out this round. Almost instantly we started digging into the deep shit. This is one of those episodes that I'm scared to post because I fear it's not only revealing too much but in a way that's a not as compelling as my narcissism wants it to be.

In this conversation we talk A LOT about my upbringing, my social insecurities, and why I seem to lean into my bully persona.

By the time this airs I'll be up in it myself. I'm flying to Scranton, PA in less than six hours and I'm already behind in my work, still need the pack, and just freshly came from a show that didn't go as well as I'd like.

In this ramble I talk about bombing and how you really can't say you have this early in the game because the reality is the shit that sucks now will pale in comparison to the shit that you'll endure as you get better.

Yeah, it's another uplifting episode.

It's funny how so much of my memories of Andy when I first met him returned to me once I started editing this episode. Andy use to make the second half of Yard Work, a bi-weekly open mic, which is one of the reason's I wanted to bring him on but he has since quit that mic and is now focusing on other things.

In this interview I finally repeat the same question twice to humorous degrees, my openness to feedback, and Malcolm Gladwell.

These never feel as special as they should. I guess it's part pressure to make an exceptional milestone but also part a genuine love for just being able to continue making a podcast. I don't think this episode is any more important than the last one and it's certainly not as impressive as the next one because the next one proves I continued to do it.

And yet, I decided to do something different for the 100th episode to memorialize it. Because… you know… it's kind of a big deal for me. I did this.

In this ramble I talk about when I really started comedy, why this podcast is my proudest achievement and why you should be grateful for your nemesis.

I'm gonna be honest, I feel like Rob Banks got a better interview out of Greg two weeks ago. Not that this episode isn't good: in fact, Greg has a hilarious way of describing the feeling of being an audience member when I'm on stage. It's just that apparently Greg's first year doing stand-up isn't half as fascinating as his first time ever doing stand-up.

That said I love Greg. The one guy I can always count on to truly be listening and catching what I'm dropping down.

In this conversation we talk about the sacrifices needed towards getting what you want, the stress of crowd work, and how simple things can often be grossly misunderstood.

If this episode was an Instagram post I'd be certain I was gonna lose some followers after it goes up.

It's actually not that bad an episode but I'm figuring out my rhythm with this whole "going-solo" format and I shot myself in the foot this time by trying to create a set of notes to follow and avoid going on tangents only to have it be the cause of the entire episode going off the rails.

In this ramble I talk about my first time using notes on stage, Paramore's decision to stop singing their number one hit, and of course 9/11.

People always give me props for being so honest and not caring what people think and I immediately think they have me confused with Matty Chymbor. Not only is he so fun to watch but just as fun to have a candid conversation with even if it's being recorded.

In this interview we talk a lot about what people do on stage that annoy us, the kind of jokes we like, and try to remember the one funny thing I ever said on stage.