On The Record

Though sports is always a relevant topic (especially in Wisconsin), each autumn seems to bring about a competitive crescendo of sorts. But it's never been quite like this. The Brewers are in the NLCS and have their sights set on the World Series. Next week, the Bucks will start the 2018-19 season with a new arena, a new coach, and the Eastern Conference's best player. The Packers are, um, trying to figure it out after five inconsistent games.

Ramie Makhlouf—co-host of "The Big Show" on 105.7 The Fan—is familiar with all this. The sports talk radio personality and stand-up comedian returned to Milwaukee Record headquarters to tell host Tyler Maas his thoughts on the Brew Crew's playoff chances, make some predictions for the Bucks' upcoming campaign, and to tell Packers fans to "chill the fuck out." Along the way, Makhlouf and Maas talk about the bad baseball team they both play on and they try to pronounce the name "Equanimeous St. Brown."

This episode is brought to you by Surly Brewing, a Minnesota-based brewery and the official beer of On The Record. Music used in this episode comes courtesy of Piles ("Blue Glue") and Vinz Clortho ("Endless Road").

After yet another long, fun, and exhausting summer of entertainment in Milwaukee, fall has come. Historically, autumn's arrival has been a time in which things slow down in the city, as residents retreat inside and prepare from another harsh and uneventful winter. However, recent years have brought an uptick in post-summer events, including new festivals like Beet Street, Abby Jeanne's Cosmic Weekend, and Fuel Cafe's Doomsday event. That's not even counting the countless concerts, comedy shows, film screenings, and random one-off events taking place between now and late December.

To help find the best, weirdest, and most interesting events taking place in Milwaukee this fall, host Tyler Maas enlisted the expertise of Milwaukee Magazine and Shepherd Express music writer Kevin Mueller. From his dining room, Mueller and Maas ran through some standout shows, talked about the handful of autumn festivals happening in the city, weighed the appeal of Napoleon Dynamite and Jake "The Snake" Roberts live shows, and talked about the odd pairing of punk rock and craft beer at Burnhearts' annual Punk House Kegger.

This episode is brought to you by Surly Brewing, a Minnesota-based brewery and the official beer of On The Record. Join Surly at Somerset Amphitheater for the brewery's annual Darkness Day on Saturday, September 29. Music used in this episode comes courtesy of Piles ("Blue Glue") and Slow Walker ("Ride").

This week's On The Record is a rare out-of-town episode that features an extra special guest. Host Tyler Maas traveled to Madison to spend some time chatting with the incomparable Brooks Wheelan. The accomplished comedian, former Saturday Night Live cast member, and Iowa native took some time before his pair of shows at Comedy On State last Friday to tell Maas about his Midwestern roots, his love of Madison (and other experiences in Wisconsin), his stressful stint on SNL, themes his new material touches on, and his awesome Entry Level podcast.

This episode is brought to you by Surly Brewing, a Minnesota-based brewery and the official beer of On The Record. Join Surly at Somerset Amphitheater for the brewery's annual Darkness Day on Saturday, September 29. Music used in this episode comes courtesy of Piles ("Blue Glue") and WORK ("As It Turns Out, He Didn't Actually Have Tuberculosis").

Since starting in 2008, Mondo Lucha! has brought high-flying wrestling action, burlesque dancers, and live music to its annual Turner Hall showcase. Along the way, the variety show has managed to work with renowned pro wrestlers, sell out numerous shows, and become a must-attend Milwaukee event. Just how big has Mondo Lucha! become? This year's 10th Anniversary Spectacular sold out within a month of being announced, despite there being absolutely zero information about who'd be wrestling and who would be playing (at least until this week) at Turner Hall on September 7. Even without any details, the show sells itself.

Prior to the 10th Anniversary, host Tyler Maas joined Mondo Lucha! founders Andrew Gorzalski and Jay Gilkay to talk about the incomparable show's origin, standout moments from its decade-long run, some behind-the-scenes anecdotes, what's planned for this year's Spectacular, and where the show is headed.

This episode is brought to you by Surly Brewing, a Minnesota-based brewery and the official beer of On The Record. Join Surly at Somerset Amphitheater for the brewery's annual Darkness Day on Saturday, September 29. Music used in this episode comes courtesy of Piles ("Blue Glue") and Indonesian Junk ("When I Find You").

Back in 2015, we decided to help informally kick off the Milwaukee Comedy Festival by asking eight comedians to take the stage at Bremen Cafe and gently (or, in some cases, straight-up viciously) make fun of the city they love in our inaugural Roast Of Milwaukee event. Following the wonderful response to those verbal punches thrown in the direction of Milwaukee, we decided to do it again with an even bigger and better event at Club Garibaldi the following year. Then a standing-room-only affair last August. Since there's no shortage of material about Milwaukee out there, we figured we'd do it again.

On Monday, July 30, a sold-out crowd at Club Garibaldi enjoyed a ton of jokes, plenty of jabs, and unofficially kicked off the Milwaukee Comedy Festival at the 4th annual Roast Of Milwaukee. Comedians Dana Ehrmann, Patrick Tomlinson, Matt Werner, Carter Deems, Jeff Wheatley-Heckman, and Kaitlin McCarthy all lambasted the city (and each other). Milwaukee Comedy Festival founder Matt Kemple and other media personalities—including Ramie Makhlouf (105.7 The Fan), Tarik Moody (88Nine Radio Milwaukee) and host Jon Adler (FM 102.1)—joined in on the biting-but-loving roasting action. Oh, and we raised a bunch of money for the Milwaukee Women's Center in the process. King Eye & The Squirts, meanwhile, blew the house down (and somehow offended one or two people in attendance) before the show.

This episode is brought to you by Surly Brewing, a Minnesota-based brewery and the official beer of On The Record. Join Surly at Somerset Amphitheater for the brewery's annual Darkness Day on Saturday, September 29. Music used in this episode comes courtesy of King Eye & The Squirts ("Squirm," "When The Sun Goes Down").

Originating long before the city had anything even resembling a sustainable comedy community, Milwaukee Comedy Festival has grown and evolved in kind with Milwaukee's humor scene. From August 1-5, the Milwaukee-curated undertaking will offer an eclectic blend of stand-up, improv, and sketch comedy in its 13th year. In addition to the festival itself, which boasts the likes of Colin Quinn and the Lady Parts Justice League, there are also some pre-MCF kickoff shows (including our Roast Of Milwaukee event).

Before the fun kicks off, host Tyler Maas went to The Underground Collaborative—the site of the vast majority of the weekend's shows—to talk about all things Milwaukee Comedy Festival with founder Matt Kemple, along with co-producers Kaitlin McCarthy and Greg Bach. Together, they discussed the festival's origin, ways it's grown and evolved through the years, what to expect at the 2018 Milwaukee Comedy Festival, and how they (through their work at Milwaukee Comedy) are working to improve stand-up in the city all year long.

This episode is brought to you by Surly Brewing, a Minnesota-based brewery and the official beer of On The Record. Join Surly at Somerset Amphitheater for the brewery's annual Darkness Day on Saturday, September 29. Music used in this episode comes courtesy of Piles ("Blue Glue") and Amanda Huff ("Gravetalking").

This isn't our first podcast about beer and it probably won't be the last. The reason for the topic repetition is simple: Milwaukee brewing is continuing to grow, change, evolve, and improve. Recently, Milwaukee's reputation as "Brew City" has been bolstered with a steady string of new breweries, taproom expansions and relocations, limited bottle releases, increased acceptance from local consumers and area businesses alike, interesting collaborations, and unique events happening all around town. There's still work to be done and lots of room to grow, but Brew City is on the rise once again.

It's impossible to keep tabs on everything happening in and around the realm of Milwaukee brewing, but Kathy Flanigan does one hell of a job trying to keep up. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter and author of Beer Lover's Wisconsin has been on the front lines of the city's (and state's) recent brewery boom and has spent years on the beer beat. She took time away from the newsroom—and the taproom—to meet host Tyler Maas at Company Brewing. They shared a few pints and some thoughts on the burgeoning beer scene in Milwaukee. Together, they talked about the rapid growth, the so-called "brewery bubble" that may or may not be on the verge of bursting, newcomers like Component and Vennture, how Milwaukee's breweries stack up against others in Wisconsin and throughout the Midwest, and some things happening during the upcoming Drink Brew City Week (July 26 to August 5).

This episode is brought to you by Surly Brewing, a Minnesota-based brewery and the official beer of On The Record. Music used in this episode comes courtesy of Piles ("Blue Glue") and Soup Moat ("Navel Gaze").

Summer is here! Yes, today officially marks the first day of the best season in the best city for festival fun. Milwaukee earns its "City of Festivals" nickname every summer with dozens upon dozens of block parties, outdoor celebrations, weekly concert series, and a myriad of other events ending with "fest." All the while, traditional venues are still hosting great concerts and comedy shows with regularity. It's tough to keep a handle on everything happening between mid-June and the end of September, but dammit if we won't try.

In the waning hours of spring, host Tyler Maas invited WMSE radio personality Sid McCain (aka Squid Inc.) to the sweltering Milwaukee Record office to discuss how Milwaukee summers differ from those in the various other North American places she's called home, what festivals are their personal favorites, events they're especially excited for, things their media companies are doing, and Warped Tour. Yes, a ton of things were missed, but this is a pretty good start!

This episode is brought to you by Surly Brewing, a Minnesota-based brewery and the official beer of On The Record. Music used in this episode comes courtesy of Piles ("Blue Glue") and Paper Holland ("Milpool").

For readers of a certain age and sensibility, Edgar Cantero's Meddling Kids will go down as easy as a bowl of sugar-coated cereal on a Saturday morning. In the summer of 1977, a group of Scooby-Doo-esque teen detectives—Andy, Peter, Kerri, Nate, trusty dog Sean—crack their biggest mystery yet, exposing the infamous Sleepy Lake monster for what it really is: a guy in a mask trying to get his hands on the treasures buried beneath old Deboën Mansion. But something doesn't sit right; thirteen years later, the so-called Blyton Summer Detective Club reforms to put to rest lingering doubts about the case. Lovecraftian horror, pop culture panache, and slapstick set pieces all figure into an animated romp about growing up, letting go, and the inherent dangers of the Necronomicon.

During his recent tour to promote the paperback release of Meddling Kids, Cantero stopped by Boswell Book Company for an "in conversation" event with Milwaukee Record's Matt Wild. The two talked the genesis of the book, its "double-nostalgic" time period, how Scooby-Doo would have looked different if the gang had taken on human traffickers, and much more. A huge thanks to Cantero, Boswell's Daniel Goldin, and everyone who came out for the talk.

This episode is brought to you by Surly Brewing, a Minnesota-based brewery and the official beer of On The Record. Music used in this episode comes courtesy of Piles ("Blue Glue") and Paper Holland ("Milpool").

The way Milwaukee—and Wisconsin as a whole—prepares and appreciates food has evolved in countless ways over the last decade. Few (if any) people have had a closer, better, or higher resolution view of the state's all-encompassing culinary growth and improvement than Arthur Ircink. As owner, executive producer, and director of Wisconsin Foodie, Ircink has been instrumental in documenting much of that dining development over the course of 10 seasons of his Emmy-winning TV series. Along the way, he became co-owner, publisher, and editor in chief of Edible Milwaukee, which gives his ardent food appreciation another platform to be displayed.

With an 11th season of Wisconsin Foodie on the way, a new issue of Edible Milwaukee set to be released this week, and local dining showing no signs of slowing down, Ircink has no shortage of work ahead of him. However, he took some time out of his schedule to welcome host Tyler Maas into his production office to have a beer and talk about just some of the astounding things going on in Milwaukee cuisine. Ircink talked about his foray into a life in food, how the term "foodie" has changed since starting the program, some standout local chefs and restaurants, where both Milwaukee and Wisconsin dining are headed, and his love of gas station Mexican food.

This episode is brought to you by Bofferding—Milwaukee's new favorite import—and Surly Brewing, a Minnesota-based brewery and the official beer of On The Record. Music used in this episode comes courtesy of Piles ("Blue Glue") and Paper Holland ("Milpool").