Off the Clock w/Jon Eks

On this very special episode of Off the Clock, I’m joined by my pals Jeff, Jeff and Jeff to bring you the finest in Jeff-related content: The Summit of the Jeffs! Unfortunately my other friend Jeff would have made this a 5-way conversation, but he had to bow out at the last minute due to circumstances beyond his control. Here’s some of what we talk about:

First Question: What impact has this scene from 22 Jump Street had on your life, and how often does it come up?

• it’s the back end of the show, but I cannot wait for you to listen to us talk about famous Jeffs and be sure to check out the full matrix on the OTC Jon Facebook page
• why each Jeff is actually named Jeff
• who is the youngest Jeff you know? how would you feel if one of your friends named a new baby Jeff? and do the aging demographics of the name concern you?
• is Geoff a real Jeff?
• semi-related: how does each them pronounce the word gif
• Halftime of the show is brought to you by our sponsor (not really a sponsor, but I’d take their money if they offered): Malort! Because these Jeff pants aren’t going to sh*t themselves!
• how common is the nickname “hefe” for each of them (spoiler: quite!), the evolution of nicknames, the worst derivation of the name Jeff, and the strangest Jeff nickname I have personally ever heard
• how we feeling about Jeffy from the Family Circus?
• having the name Jeff: ultimately good or bad?
• at what age do you go from Jeffrey to Jeff?
• what is each Jeff’s favorite brand of peanut butter?
• and you’ve got to stick around for each Jeff’s concluding thoughts

Please check out Jeff's band All Waffle Trick.

Please give some money to Jeff's preferred charity Project Angel Heart.

Theme song by Sorry Sweetheart.

Logo by Nebulus Visions.

Produced by Deft Communications.

Engage with the show on Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky. 

Recorded live at my house.

Jeff.

On this episode of Off the Clock, I’m joined by my new pal and host of my favorite YouTube channel MrWrestleTrivia, Kevin J. Kalis. Look, if you’re a dude in his 40s, the entire sensibility of Kevin and me will be firmly in your wheelhouse. Here’s some of what we talk about:

First Question: You get to pick anyone living or dead to guest host an episode of Wrestling Jeopardy! Who would it be?

• we remember some game show hosts, some MTV personalities, some wrestling programs and some old TV shows – this will be a theme throughout this episode
• my all-time favorite Wrestling Jeopardy! category 
• Kevin’s first YouTube channel and the insane analog way he used to record wrestling entrance themes – this dovetails into our shared love of wrestling themes
• our favorite eras, our wrestling origin stories, and how we both don’t like Hulk Hogan
• the Cameos we’ve gotten and bought from wrestlers
• Fred Willard going “Hey, wha’ happened?!” in A Mighty Wind and how that’s demonstrative of the incredible Venn diagram of our sensibility 
• we share a background in radio because of course we do
• the architecture of how to create a game, how he dialed in the difficulty level
• the importance of creating content that you’d enjoy and continuing to plug away even when your product sucks at first

You can find Mr. WrestleTrivia at his website and his YouTube channel

Theme song by Sorry Sweetheart.

Logo by Nebulus Visions.

Produced by Deft Communications.

Engage with the show on Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky. 

Recorded via Google Meet.

On this episode of Off the Clock, I’m joined by my pal (and first repeat guest on the show!), an incredibly talented creator, and all-around great guy, Alan. Here’s some of what we talk about:

First Question: Desert Island: You get the collected works of one comics creator to take with you, who you bringing?

• we discuss the award-winning short film Alan wrote Always. Most of the Time and his previous appearance on the show, which you can find here.
• Alan is turning that film project into a graphic novel and has a Kickstarter up and running that you should support and that you can find here.
• a remarkable story about Alan’s high-profile literary agent that discovered the industry only wants one type of Black experience that they can sell and how Alan isn’t necessarily creating that.
• this leads me to talk about the character of Claudia Kishi from “The Babysitter’s Club” and how diverse representation matters to people who never see themselves represented, or only represented one way
• how authorial intent only takes you up to a certain point, but once a product is released to the public it belongs to them, which might change its meaning
• “What’d I Miss?” Alan’s comic in The Colorado Sun, the joys and pressures of a weekly project
• Alan shares a couple of stories about how racism manifests in the weirdest ways from even well-intentioned people
• the paradox of self-promotion and how creators like Alan and myself recognize that we don’t necessarily want the spotlight, but how the spotlight is necessary to continue to do work that we enjoy and that we’re good at. and how you’re going to take heat for that no matter what you do or what you say
• I talk about why I started this show and how I just want to put good into the world
• pro tip: if you win an award and you want the statue, you gotta pay for it.

You can find all of Alan’s stuff at his website.

Support his Kickstarter for Always. Most of the Time RIGHT HERE.

Theme song by Sorry Sweetheart.

Logo by Nebulus Visions.

Produced by Deft Communications.

Engage with the show on Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky. 

Recorded at Prodigy Coffeehouse.

On this episode of Off the Clock, I’m joined by my pal and ace reporter John. Here’s some of what we talk about:

First Question: What is your favorite song and why?

• imparting your taste onto your kids and why we do that
• kids destroying the cultural world of their elders, building it in their own image, and nostalgia
• the paranoia of early fatherhood
• the current state of news media and how he views his place inside it – is it still his dream job?
• how do you prepare for interviewing someone as high profile as Ringo Starr?
• why journalism should comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, and why arts journalism still matters in times of large scale crisis
• we spend some time talking about the one and only Lynn Bartels (R.I.P.) at about the 31 minute mark
• the ethics of covering people you have a friendly relationship with, influencers, and the like
• how does John maintain his joie de vivre?
• falling asleep to horror movies and/or punk rock

Theme song by Sorry Sweetheart.

Logo by Nebulus Visions.

Produced by Deft Communications.

Engage with the show on Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky. 

Recorded at Prodigy Coffeehouse.

On this episode of Off the Clock, I’m joined by my ex-work spouse and good buddy Rich. Here’s some of what we talk about:

First Question: What is the best thing you’ve done since you got laid off?

• we talk about problems with authority (surprise, surprise) and being self-employed vs being employed as part of an organization
• we cover our shared history and paranoia, and discuss the organization we both worked for
• what did we both like best about working with the other one?
• we share war stories of working for PR agencies early in our careers
• how to deliver honesty and tough feedback to business leadership and the most amount of grief he’s ever taken in a role
• if Rich could design his own role from carte blanche, how would he do it?
• do we love what we do? for one of us it’s complicated, for the other not so much
• a lamentation for the lack of institutional support for entrepreneurs
• how do you handle someone who you have to work with who may not be acting in good faith?
•  what are Rich’s plans for the rest of his severance?

Theme song by Sorry Sweetheart.

Logo by Nebulus Visions.

Produced by Deft Communications.

Engage with the show on Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky. 

Recorded at Barquentine Brewing.

On this episode of Off the Clock, I’m joined by my pal Tor who I know because he bought the Hangar Bar and turned it into venerable punk rock clubhouse East Fax Tap. Here’s some of what we talk about:

First Question: Who is your least favorite Dallas Cowboy of all-time?

• for some reason we end up talking about Duke basketball and remember some guys
• Swedish vs Norwegian
• Tor tells me the whole story of how he came to buy the Hangar Bar – this is WILD as he deals with fixing this sh*thole’s reputation, meeting with cops and elected officials who practically begged him to buy other public nuisance properties, navigating COVID and more
• I tell a story about the first and only time I’ve ever seen someone smoke meth
• Rob Rover Rushing of Punk Rock Saves Lives enters the story and completely changes the trajectory of East Fax forever
• we take a small detour into talking about country music and how much Kris Kristofferson hated Toby Keith and how old country artists hated cops
• Tor talks about getting acquainted with the punk scene and how it both fundamentally changed him, and ultimately gave East Fax new life
• we got a shot of Malort delivered to us mid-interview which leads to a lot of talk about how East Fax put Denver on the Malort map
• how to build the scene you want to be a part of – his booking practices are INSANE compared to the predatory d*cks who populate other parts of a scene
• we end with gratitude as we wish Tor a safe and prosperous journey on his new adventure

Theme song by Sorry Sweetheart.

Logo by Nebulus Visions.

Produced by Deft Communications.

Engage with the show on Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky. 

Recorded at East Fax Tap.

On this episode of Off the Clock, I’m joined by my least favorite (kayfabe) professional wrestler, former Champion of Lucha Libre & Laughs, and your friendly neighborhood REALTOR Cody Devine. He’s on the card at the 13th Anniversary of Luch Libre & Laughs this Friday and Saturday at the Oriental Theater, which is SOLD OUT. Here’s some of what we talk about:

First Question: When I tell you you’re my least favorite professional wrestler, how does that land?

• we dig into why Cody got inspiration from Jinder Mahal’s WWE Championship run, of all places
• how an off-the-cuff character beat led to him having a crippling nicotine addiction
• how Cody is trying to rid his life of microplastics
• we talk about Cody’s obsession with The Whitest Kids U’Know and the time he got to meet Timmy Williams
• we talk parenting from a lot of different angles
• we share our wrestling fandom origin stories and how it evolved and grew, and why wrestling fans are the worst, and how Cody sucks at wrestling trivia
• we take a detour talking about Chris Jericho and how I accidentally ended up a Christian heavy metal show
• Cody talks about the tension between being a total d-bag in character and a real sweetheart in real life
• one of my favorite stories in the history of this show features Cody Devine antagonizing a child and that child’s mother taking a swing at him – this dovetails into a conversation about wrestling being a work
• which moves actually hurt? and which ones are a total picnic to take?
• and then just wait for the last few minutes of this chat to understand the depths of what a sweetheart Cody Devine actually is, notably through his work with Project I See You

Follow Cody Devine on Instagram.

Theme song by Sorry Sweetheart.

Logo by Nebulus Visions.

Produced by Deft Communications.

Engage with the show on Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky. 

Recorded at The Farm House at Breckenridge Brewing.

On this episode of Off the Clock, I’m joined by my Punk Tacos amigo Swanny. Here’s some of what we talk about:

First Question: What was your very first ever punk or ska show?

we talk about anxiety and when we choose to be the center of attention and when we want to blend in

Swanny shares his unusual journey to being on the radio as we also talk about the horrors of working a corporate HR job

we review each other’s Punk Tacos breaks and share what we think of them

we then give a little peek behind the curtain about how the process of getting new songs on Punk Tacos goes – we take it more seriously than you might guess

our shared love of live, local shows in dive bars

Swanny takes me through the origin, and composition, of the “A-OK Bomb,” an alcoholic beverage you can impress all of your friends with

we talk about his new band LMS and I take my guess as to what that stands for

self-awareness among artists and why local music, as a general rule, is better now than it was in the past

why you should go see the damned opening band

hipster takes: Who is a huge band you saw as an opener?

Follow Swanny on Instagram or at his website.

Theme song by Sorry Sweetheart.

Logo by Nebulus Visions.

Produced by Deft Communications.

Engage with the show on Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky. 

Recorded at Hooked on Colfax.

On this episode of Off the Clock, I’m joined by my friends Henry and Brian of Sorry Sweetheart, who recently signed to Bad Time Records, created the theme song for this show, and are one of my favorite bands. Here’s some of what we talk about:

First Question: How did the signing to Bad Time Records come to pass?

• I make a bunch of guesses about what the song “IK4ND” stands for and they tell me the real meaning
• Henry tastes some new coffee and I ask them about “getting into character” before they play a show because their stage presence is so different than them in real life
• the metalcore vocals, how to do them, and how I’m never ready for them
• how Days of Thunder is actually Top Gun 2 and why Henry is like Cole Trickle
• how do Sorry Sweetheart songs actually get composed? 
• we talk about the creation of this show’s theme song and give a special shout out to the band Good Clean Fun
• some dated NBA playoffs talk as we pontificate about teams that have already been eliminated
• some talk about the song “Touch Grass” and its origins
• a story of Sorry Sweetheart seeing an All Waffle Trick shirt completely out of context at a festival in Western Massachusetts (this was partially my doing)
• could Sorry Sweetheart open for Slipknot? we debate. and which times have they been a mismatch on a bill?
• smart guys that we are, we share all the ways one can use their teeth
• what does success look like for Sorry Sweetheart?
• theme bars “Shot Topic” and “The Squared Circle”

Theme song by Sorry Sweetheart.

Logo by Nebulus Visions.

Produced by Deft Communications.

Engage with the show on Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky. 

Recorded at Town Hall Collaborative.

On this episode of Off the Clock, I’m joined by my new pal Rich who’s written movies like Airheads, all 3 xXx movies, Glory Daze, and a bunch more. He also conned his way onto the Warped Tour and made a documentary called Punk Like Me. Here’s some of what we talk about:

First Question: Where did you come up with “The Clydesdale Scale” in Airheads?

why comedies aren’t made nearly as much these days as they were in the 90s

I give Rich some background on my own personal history with Airheads and why I love it so much

I invite my daughter Grace into the interview and she asks Rich two questions herself:

why did you choose the same set as Die Hard for Airheads? (my follow-up: which is the more direct inspiration for Airheads: Die Hard or Dog Day Afternoon?)

 how did you get so many famous people to be in that movie?

how the movie Glory Daze feels like the story of why I ended up going to grad school

we run down a whole list of unique insults from Airheads and I gauge Rich’s reaction to them (e.g. “you look like half a buttpuppet” or “listen, you shaved ape.”)

how did he come up with the two questions (“Whose side did you take in the big Van Halen/David Lee Roth split?” and “Who’d win in a wrestling match, Lemmy or God?” to discern if Harold Ramis’s character was a cop?

we debate punk orthodoxy, gatekeeping, the fallow period of the late 80s and how we both still go to local shows

how Rich ended up in the Punk Rock Museum twice (the story of how he stole the Sex Pistols shirt is worth the price of admission to this episode alone)

the story of the Glory Daze soundtrack is so freaking cool

why you should buy a shirt at a local punk show

the blessing and curse of “cult movies.”

the insane amount of unmade stuff he has in the pipeline

some surprising thoughts about A.I.

Check out Rich on Instagram.

Theme song by Sorry Sweetheart.

Logo by Nebulus Visions.

Produced by Deft Communications.

Engage with the show on Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky. 

Recorded via Google Meet.