Nunn Better Podcast

Comedy, Chaos & Things You Probably Shouldn’t Say 😂

What happens when you put a touring comedian in a room with a couple of podcast hosts and just let the conversation roll? 😂

This week on Nunn Better Podcast, we're hanging out with comedian Bill Bull-Ohse for a conversation packed with comedy stories, heckler encounters, life on the road, fatherhood, faith, and the things that happen when you make a living trying to make people laugh.

From the realities of performing in front of unpredictable crowds to the difference between comedy clubs and church stages, Bill shares what life behind the microphone is really like. And underneath all the laughs, there's a more personal side to the story, too.

It's funny, it's honest, and it's a reminder that comedians have plenty of stories when they're not the ones holding the microphone on stage.

Grab a seat and come hang out with us!

👇 YOUR TURN: What's the funniest thing you've ever witnessed at a comedy show? Tell us in the comments!

👍 Like the video if you enjoyed it.
🔔 Subscribe for more conversations, good stories, and Nunn Better vibes.

#NunnBetterPodcast #ComedyPodcast #StandUpComedy

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From Dog Walking to Stand-Up Comedy: Bob Holden's Journey to Building a Comedy Scene

In Episode 16 of the Nunn Better Podcast, we sit down with comedian, comedy producer, and entrepreneur Bob Holden for a hilarious and surprisingly honest conversation about stand-up comedy, building a business, bombing on stage, and creating a comedy scene from the ground up.

Bob takes us through his journey from working a traditional job and eventually moving to Florida, to walking dogs, producing comedy shows, performing stand-up, and ultimately building what has become St. Pete Stand Up.

We talk about what it really takes to make it as a comedian—and why being funny on stage is only part of the job. Bob explains the business side of comedy, including booking comedians, selling tickets, promoting shows, working with venues, and dealing with all the things that happen behind the scenes.

And then there's the part every comedian knows all too well...

💣 BOMBS.

Bob shares some brutally funny stories about bombing on stage, reading an audience, trying new material, and those moments when you realize a joke absolutely did NOT work.

We also talk about the unique comedy scene in the Tampa Bay area, the early days of performing at kava bars, learning from established comedy operations, and how Bob modeled St. Pete Stand Up after Capital Laughs in Washington, D.C.

Plus, Bob reveals his plans for what could be the next major step in his journey: opening his own comedy club in downtown St. Petersburg.

It's a conversation about comedy, entrepreneurship, persistence, friendship, failure, and figuring out how to build something of your own.

🎙️ IN THIS EPISODE:

• Bob Holden's journey into stand-up comedy
• Moving to Florida and starting over
• Working jobs while pursuing comedy
• Walking dogs to make ends meet
• Learning the business side of comedy
• Building St. Pete Stand Up
• Capital Laughs and Bob's inspiration
• The Tampa Bay comedy scene
• Kava bars and open mic nights
• What it's like to completely bomb on stage
• Dealing with difficult audiences
• The funniest and craziest things comedians experience
• Comedy roasts and roast battles
• Producing and promoting comedy shows
• Booking comedians and working with venues
• Building a sustainable comedy business
• The challenges of keeping venues and schedules consistent
• Bob's plans for opening a comedy club in St. Petersburg

If you've ever wondered what really happens behind the scenes of stand-up comedy, this episode is for you.

Follow the Nunn Better Podcast for more conversations with comedians, musicians, entrepreneurs, creators, and interesting people doing things their own way.

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SWAT, Snakes & Survival: The Incredible Life of Tom Downs

Tom Downs has lived one hell of a life.

After 42 years in law enforcement—including 21 years on a SWAT team—Tom Downs has experienced some of the most intense and traumatic situations imaginable.

In this episode of the Nunn Better Podcast, Tom takes us inside the world of SWAT, police work, martial arts, trauma, and the unexpected ways his Christian faith shaped how he dealt with people at their absolute worst.

He shares incredible stories from his career, including a 14-hour SWAT standoff, violent encounters, being stabbed during an arrest, and a confrontation involving a massive man that ultimately revealed a heartbreaking personal struggle.

But perhaps the most fascinating part of Tom's story is what happened after the badge.

He became a filmmaker and eventually returned to the Everglades to participate in python hunts, including encounters with snakes reaching 14 feet long.

That experience eventually helped inspire "The Campfire", a documentary centered around veterans, faith, conversation, and dealing with trauma. The film has already received festival recognition and is being explored as a tool for conversations surrounding spiritual readiness and trauma within military communities.

Tom's story is ultimately about much more than law enforcement.

It's about faith, purpose, trauma, forgiveness, helping broken people, and finding meaning in the darkest situations.

This is a conversation you won't want to miss.

**Listen to the full episode of the Nunn Better Podcast with Tom Downs.**

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He Built a Racing Empire, Electrified a DeLorean… Then Changed His Entire Life | Matt White

What happens when an aerospace engineer, entrepreneur, race car driver, motorcycle enthusiast, and electric vehicle innovator sits down and tells the REAL story behind his life?

In Episode 14 of the Nunn Better Podcast, we sit down with Matt White—and this conversation goes everywhere.

From getting kicked out of the University of Florida and finding his way into aerospace engineering… to building a business that would eventually help capture approximately 80% of the U.S. market alongside the company that acquired his business… Matt's entrepreneurial journey is anything but ordinary.

We talk about:

🏎️ Building and racing cars on a shoestring budget
⚡ Turning an iconic DeLorean into an electric vehicle
🔧 Starting businesses simply because someone asked, “Want to build one?”
🏁 The wild world of grassroots and endurance racing
🏍️ Custom motorcycles and high-performance machines
💼 Building a business from inventory stored in his garage
🎣 The Hooked on a Cure fishing tournament and the fight against Type 1 diabetes
🙏 Faith, personal transformation, and finding a completely different direction in life
💪 Sobriety, recovery, and why helping others has become one of his most important missions

Matt is the kind of person who doesn't seem to know how to do anything halfway. If there's a car to race, a machine to build, a business idea to explore, or a challenge that sounds completely unreasonable… chances are he's interested.

But beneath all of the race cars, engineering projects, businesses, and wild stories is a much deeper conversation about change, purpose, recovery, faith, and rebuilding your life.

This is an episode about taking chances, learning from failure, chasing big ideas, and understanding that sometimes the greatest accomplishment in your life isn't the business you built or the race you won.

Sometimes, it's changing yourself.

🎙️ Episode 14 — Matt White: Racing Engineer & Entrepreneur

If you enjoy conversations about entrepreneurship, engineering, motorsports, electric vehicles, personal transformation, recovery, and people who aren't afraid to take chances, this is an episode you don't want to miss.

👉 Subscribe to the Nunn Better Podcast for more real conversations, incredible stories, and people who are doing things differently.

#NunnBetterPodcast #MattWhite #Entrepreneur #RaceCars #Motorsports #Engineering #ElectricVehicles #DeLorean #Sobriety #Recovery #Entrepreneurship #Podcast

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He started playing guitar at just 7 years old—and decades later, Craig Blackwell is still pushing himself as a guitarist, songwriter, producer, recording engineer, and creator.

In this episode of the Nunn Better Podcast, we sit down with Craig Blackwell for an incredible conversation about music, guitar, recording, production, and the evolution of technology in the music industry.

Craig takes us back to the beginning—from learning guitar before YouTube tutorials existed to playing in bands, winning local guitar competitions, teaching young musicians, and eventually becoming deeply involved in music production and recording.

We also discuss the old-school recording days of Fostex tape machines, early Pro Tools systems, ADAT, professional studios, microphones, preamps, plugins, guitar amplifiers, and how technology has completely changed the way music is made.

Craig also shares the story behind working with Todd La Torre and the creation of Rejoice in the Suffering, including songwriting, recording, production, and working with renowned producer Zeuss.

🎸 PLUS... we go FULL GEAR NERD.

SM57 vs. other microphones.
Recording guitar amps.
EVH and Marshall amplifiers.
Waves plugins.
Neural DSP.
Mic placement.
Guitar tone.
Bass tone.
Mixing.
Mastering.
And why musicians and producers hear music completely differently than everyone else.

Craig also discusses his instrumental album Clarity, his EDM project under the name Vacarro, and his upcoming solo album, Retrospect.

If you're a guitarist, musician, producer, recording engineer, or just love rock and music production, this episode is packed with stories and insights you don't want to miss.

👇 LET US KNOW IN THE COMMENTS:

What's the one piece of music gear you absolutely cannot live without?

And if you're a musician—are you someone who plays by ear, reads music, or both?

🎙️ FOLLOW THE NUNN BETTER PODCAST

Subscribe for conversations with musicians, creators, entrepreneurs, and interesting people doing extraordinary things.

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🎸 CONNECT WITH CRAIG BLACKWELL

YouTube: Craig Blackwell Music
Instagram: @CraigBlackwellOfficial
Facebook: Craig Blackwell Artist

Music: Search for Craig Blackwell and Vacarro on your favorite streaming platform.

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ABOUT THIS EPISODE

Craig Blackwell is a guitarist, songwriter, music producer, and recording engineer with decades of experience in the music industry. In this episode, we discuss his musical journey, guitar playing, music production, recording technology, Todd La Torre's Rejoice in the Suffering, studio gear, mixing, mastering, and what's next for Craig.

#CraigBlackwell #Guitar #MusicProduction #Podcast #RockMusic #ToddLaTorre #RecordingStudio #MusicProducer #Guitarist #NunnBetterPodcast #NeuralDSP #ProTools

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The “Raw Florida Energy” Behind FloRaw’s Explosive Live Shows

What happens when **family, faith, competition, loss, and rock ’n’ roll collide?

In Episode 12 of the Nunn Better Podcast, Johnny Nunn and Kelly Nunn sit down with Bobby and Ty of FloRaw for one of the most energetic and personal conversations yet.

FloRaw isn't simply another band playing the usual songs. Their philosophy is built around **raw Florida energy, live musicianship, crowd interaction, athleticism, and giving everything they have when they hit the stage. The result? A live show that feels less like watching a band and more like being part of the experience.

But there's a much deeper story behind the music.

Bobby talks about growing up around ’80s metal, discovering guitar through Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana, Green Day, Van Halen and other influential artists, and eventually building a musical family of his own. Ty shares what it's like following in his father's footsteps, developing as a guitarist, and bringing the same competitive mentality he learned through football into music.

The conversation goes far beyond music.

We talk about:

🎸 The story behind FloRaw and what that “Raw Florida energy” really  is about!
🔥 Why their live performances are so explosive
🏈 How football and competitive sports translate into performing music
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Building a band around family
❤️ Turning personal loss into motivation and purpose
🙏 Faith, gratitude and finding meaning through music
🥁 The importance of musicianship, preparation and “owning” your instrument
🎤 How Carly helped FloRaw discover and develop its identity
🏆 Winning awards for **Best Rock Band, Best Live Performance and Best Original**
🌎 The band's expansion beyond the Tampa Bay area
🎶 Playing more than 100 songs and learning how to read a crowd in real time
⚡ The difference between simply playing a song and actually performing it
🤘 Their unforgettable Ozzy tribute experience
🚀 What comes next for FloRaw as they continue to grow

One of the most powerful moments comes when Ty talks about performing **“Bark at the Moon”** during an Ozzy tribute and the deeply personal connection the song had to his late uncle. What started as a performance became something much bigger—a moment he describes as a full-circle experience involving music, family, faith and memory.

And then there's the bigger question:

What happens when you stop chasing opportunities and start becoming the kind of band that opportunities chase?

That's exactly where FloRaw finds itself.

With a growing schedule, major opportunities outside Florida, and a reputation for bringing serious energy to the stage, this family band is showing what can happen when you combine **talent, discipline, accountability, family and an unwillingness to settle.**

If you're a musician, music fan, aspiring performer, parent, athlete, or just someone who enjoys hearing the story behind people who are chasing something bigger, this episode is for you.

🎧 Listen to the Nunn Better Podcast on Spotify
▶️ Watch on YouTube
🎸 Follow FloRaw and check out their music

FloRaw:
YouTube: FloRaw Music
Instagram: @FloRawBand
Facebook: FloRaw
Spotify: FloRaw
Apple Music: FloRaw

Subscribe to the Nunn Better Podcast for more conversations with musicians, creators, entrepreneurs, performers and people building something worth talking about.

#NunnBetterPodcast #FloRaw #LiveMusic #RockBand #TampaBayMusic #FloridaMusic #LiveBand #RockMusic #Musicians #FamilyBand #MusicPodcast #Podcast #TampaBay #FloridaRock #LivePerformance

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GREEN DAY’S “AMERICAN IDIOT” HITS TAMPA – MEET THE LOCAL ROCKER BRINGING IT TO LIFE LIVE ON STAGE

What happens when a Green Day super‑fan, a seasoned theater performer, and a hard‑hitting frontman collide in Tampa Bay’s music scene? You get Mathew “Matt” Morris – Baby Chimps member, Diver Down frontman, and one of the voices powering Jobsite Theater’s production of “American Idiot” at the Straz Center in Tampa, FL.

In Nunn Better Podcast – Episode 11, we go behind the curtain of American Idiot: The Musical and into the life of a working musician grinding through final rehearsals, tech runs, and high‑energy shows, while still hitting the stage with his band at First Friday and venues around Tampa Bay.

Inside “American Idiot” at the Straz – Tampa, FL

• How Jobsite Theater built American Idiot into their 2025–2026 season lineup at the Straz Center in downtown Tampa.
• The audition grind: unified pro theater auditions, surprise casting calls, and the email that changed Matt’s year.
• Why this 90‑minute, no‑intermission, song‑driven show with minimal dialogue is a full‑throttle experience for Tampa Bay theater fans.

From Baby Chimps to Diver Down – Tampa Bay Rock

• Matt’s journey fronting Diver Down and tearing up stages across Tampa, St. Pete, and First Friday.
• Balancing band life, theater life, and that “good kind of busy” hustle without burning out.
• How growing up on Green Day’s American Idiot album led straight to the stage version of the record he grew up blasting.

Why You Need to Watch This Episode

If you’re into:

• Green Day, pop‑punk, alt‑rock, and rock‑driven musicals
• Tampa Bay theater, Straz Center shows, and local live music
• Real stories from working artists instead of polished highlight reels

…this episode is your backstage pass to Tampa’s rock‑and‑theater crossover scene.

You’ll hear about:

• The hero’s journey arc at the heart of American Idiot and why Bush‑era angst still hits hard today.
• What it’s really like to have the songs tell the story in a high‑energy, 90‑minute sprint with choreography and minimal talking.
• How one email and a one‑minute clip of “Jesus of Suburbia” turned into a full role in a pro theater production.

Search‑Friendly Highlights (Built Into the Story)

This episode is a must‑watch for people searching for:

• American Idiot musical in Tampa
• Straz Center shows 2025–2026
• Jobsite Theater American Idiot cast and behind‑the‑scenes
• Tampa Bay local bands, Diver Down, and Baby Chimps
• Green Day’s American Idiot live stage adaptation

We’re shining a spotlight on Tampa, St. Pete, Jobsite Theater, the Straz Center, First Friday, and the Tampa Bay music and theater scene so local fans can actually find this episode and plug into what’s happening right now.

Hit Play and Plug In

Hit play to:

• Go behind the scenes of American Idiot at Jobsite Theater.
• Meet one of the real musicians driving Tampa’s rock‑and‑theater crossover.
• Grab ideas and inspiration if you’re a local artist, actor, or band trying to break into Tampa Bay stages.

Subscribe to Nunn Better Podcast for more raw, unfiltered conversations with Tampa Bay creators, musicians, entrepreneurs, and storytellers.

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Is “van life” just a trend… or is it becoming a real answer to the housing affordability crisis?

In Episode 10 of The Nunn Better Podcast, Kelly Nunn sits down with Ethan Hunter to talk about converting a RAM ProMaster into a livable home, how mobile living is changing for younger generations, and what it really costs (money, time, and comfort) to build a life on the road.

Ethan also shares how he met his wife Caitlin at SoulFest (a faith-based festival), why they got married fast, what it’s like living in tight quarters, and the real-world safety + maintenance side of life on wheels.

WHAT WE COVER

• Van life and the affordability/housing crisis
• Why they chose a RAM ProMaster over a Sprinter
• Build decisions: bed setup, bathroom/shower, space-maxing
• Real budgets: time vs money, rough build costs
• Solar/off-grid living + shore power basics
• Safety on the road (including a wild Clearwater story)
• Faith, marriage, and staying grounded while traveling

FOLLOW / LISTEN
Website: https://www.nunnbetterpodcast.com

Subscribe for weekly episodes.

HASHTAGS

#NunnBetterPodcast #VanLife #HousingCrisis #ProMaster #TinyLiving #OffGridLiving #Podcast

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When guns become click bait news, the story turns into a narrative—and facts get buried.

In Episode 9 of The Nunn Better Podcast, Johnny Nunn sits down with Craig Blackwell (music producer + firearms enthusiast) and Oscar Mouton (Marine vet, retired homicide, retired Special Forces) to break down how gun stories get framed, why certain terms are misleading, and what people keep repeating without understanding.

This is a facts + real-world perspective conversation—no fluff.

WHAT WE COVER

• How headlines and TV framing shape the gun conversation
• Where the term “assault weapon” came from (and why it confuses people)
• “Full auto” claims vs how civilian firearms actually work
• Background checks: what’s real vs what people assume
• Straw purchases and why enforcement matters
• Safe storage, training, and responsibility (especially with kids)
• Why violence clusters in certain cities (and the role of drugs + policy)

CHAPTERS (Episode 9)
0:00 When guns become click bait news

1:10 Meet Craig Blackwell + Oscar Mouton

3:00 Media framing + “assault weapon” terminology

6:40 “Full auto” myths and talking points

10:45 Background checks: reality vs narrative

15:20 Straw purchases + enforcement “teeth”

20:40 Safe storage + training kids responsibly

25:30 Cities, drugs, policy, and violence correlation

32:40 Wrap-up + final thoughts

FOLLOW / LISTEN
Website: https://www.nunnbetterpodcast.com

Subscribe for bi-weekly episodes.

#NunnBetterPodcast #MediaLiteracy #FirearmsEducation #GunDebate #Podcast #FloridaPodcast

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He went to jail five times… lived the “carny” life… became a successful businessman… and then everything changed.

In Episode 8, Pastor Kelly sits down with Pastor Bill Losasso to talk about redemption, recovery, and the real-world work of helping broken people—through Celebrate Recovery, the Florida Dream Center, and ministry efforts connected to Guatemala.

This is a serious, eye-opening conversation about human trafficking awareness, prevention, aftercare, and what parents need to understand about how predators operate—online and in real life.

In this episode

• Pastor Bill’s story: jail, the carnival world, business success, then faith & ministry
• Why Celebrate Recovery matters (and how it helps real people heal)
• Florida Dream Center: helping people who feel “unwelcome” everywhere else
• Human trafficking: what happens around major events, and what most people don’t see
• Prevention: internet safety, gaming/chat apps, and protecting kids
• Guatemala: how the mission work began and what it’s doing today

Chapters (Episode 8)

0:00 Welcome + who Pastor Bill is

2:10 Jail, the “carny” world, and early life

5:05 Business success → faith → seminary later in life

9:10 Becoming a pastor + church planting

12:40 Florida Dream Center: what it is and why it exists

16:30 Human trafficking realities + major event spikes

23:10 Prevention + parenting + online dangers

30:10 Guatemala work + Dream Center impact

34:00 Celebrate Recovery growth + closing

Connect / Learn More

• (Add your church link here if you want)
• Pastor Bill contact: [email protected]
• Nunn Better Podcast website: https://www.nunnbetterpodcast.com

If this episode helped you, share it with a parent, pastor, or leader who needs to hear it.

Hashtags

#NunnBetterPodcast #CelebrateRecovery #Faith #Recovery #HumanTraffickingAwareness #Parenting #InternetSafety #Ministry #StPete #TampaBay

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