Papa's Basement

What did I say that shocked this cat?? Find out by listening to the episode!

Click here to listen to the latest episode of Papa's Basement in your browser or here to open and listen in iTunes (you can also use the embedded player below). And, if you want to see our faces that very clearly are fit for radio, you can watch videos of our episodes on YouTube

Shane Gillis was hired and fired by SNL over the span of three days over his use of a racial slur on his podcast ("They can't take away your living in comedy for using horrible language on your podcast if you never had a living in comedy to begin with," thinks a relieved me to myself). As with all complicated current events deserving of nuanced takes, the Papa's Basement team is here to tell you exactly how you should think and feel about the matter.

Follow this episode's cast on Twitter and Instagram!

Eva Kriksciun - Twitter - @OrchardEva, Instagram - @OrchardEva

Joe Gagliardi - Twitter - @TheMightyJoeyG, Instagram - @TheMightyJoeyG

John Papageorgiou - Twitter - @PapasBasement, Instagram - @PapasBasement

Colin Quinn, 2019.

Colin Quinn is one of the greatest comedy minds to ever grace a stage. I was lucky enough to see him interviewed by my favorite radio host, Ron Bennington, at the Village Underground comedy club in NYC last week. Hear all about that, a real "only in New York moment" (ugh), the death of Ric Ocasek, and why I'm skipping my high school reunion on the latest episode of Papa's Basement!

Click here to listen to the latest episode of Papa's Basement in your browser or here to open and listen in iTunes (you can also use the embedded player below). And, if you want to see our faces that very clearly are fit for radio, you can watch videos of our episodes on YouTube

Follow this episode's cast on Twitter and Instagram!

Eva Kriksciun - Twitter - @OrchardEva, Instagram - @OrchardEva

Joe Gagliardi - Twitter - @TheMightyJoeyG, Instagram - @TheMightyJoeyG

Sam Rogers - Instagram - @SamOleRogers

John Papageorgiou - Twitter - @PapasBasement, Instagram - @PapasBasement

Colin Quinn, 2019.

Colin Quinn is one of the greatest comedy minds to ever grace a stage. I was lucky enough to see him interviewed by my favorite radio host, Ron Bennington, at the Village Underground comedy club in NYC last week. Hear all about that, a real "only in New York moment" (ugh), the death of Ric Ocasek, and why I'm skipping my high school reunion on the latest episode of Papa's Basement!

Click here to listen to the latest episode of Papa's Basement in your browser or here to open and listen in iTunes (you can also use the embedded player below). And, if you want to see our faces that very clearly are fit for radio, you can watch videos of our episodes on YouTube

Follow this episode's cast on Twitter and Instagram!

Eva Kriksciun - Twitter - @OrchardEva, Instagram - @OrchardEva

Joe Gagliardi - Twitter - @TheMightyJoeyG, Instagram - @TheMightyJoeyG

Sam Rogers - Instagram - @SamOleRogers

John Papageorgiou - Twitter - @PapasBasement, Instagram - @PapasBasement

I'm not asking if you WANT to beat a chimpanzee. Just, if it came down to it, you or him...could you beat up Bubbles?

Click here to listen to the latest episode of Papa's Basement in your browser or here to open and listen in iTunes (you can also use the embedded player below). And, if you want to see our faces that very clearly are fit for radio, you can watch videos of our episodes on YouTube

The main bulk of this episode is dedicated to a simple premise: Could you, if need be, physically rise to the challenge of beating a chimp in one-on-one combat? We debate how exactly a man-on-chimp fight would pan out, then explore what else Joe (the only person behind the mic who thinks he could beat a chimp) thinks he could take on. 9/11? JFK’s assassination? Pearl Harbor? It’s a fascinating plunge into the depths of his psyche.

Follow this episode's cast on Twitter and Instagram!

Mikael Johnson - Twitter - @MikaelLJohn, Instagram - @MikaelLJohn

Joe Gagliardi - Twitter - @TheMightyJoeyG, Instagram - @TheMightyJoeyG

John Papageorgiou - Twitter - @PapasBasement, Instagram - @PapasBasement

I'm not asking if you WANT to beat a chimpanzee. Just, if it came down to it, you or him...could you beat up Bubbles?

Click here to listen to the latest episode of Papa's Basement in your browser or here to open and listen in iTunes (you can also use the embedded player below). And, if you want to see our faces that very clearly are fit for radio, you can watch videos of our episodes on YouTube

The main bulk of this episode is dedicated to a simple premise: Could you, if need be, physically rise to the challenge of beating a chimp in one-on-one combat? We debate how exactly a man-on-chimp fight would pan out, then explore what else Joe (the only person behind the mic who thinks he could beat a chimp) thinks he could take on. 9/11? JFK’s assassination? Pearl Harbor? It’s a fascinating plunge into the depths of his psyche.

Follow this episode's cast on Twitter and Instagram!

Mikael Johnson - Twitter - @MikaelLJohn, Instagram - @MikaelLJohn

Joe Gagliardi - Twitter - @TheMightyJoeyG, Instagram - @TheMightyJoeyG

John Papageorgiou - Twitter - @PapasBasement, Instagram - @PapasBasement

I would pay $50 a mile if this dude would Uber me.

Click here to listen to the latest episode of Papa's Basement in your browser or here to open and listen in iTunes (you can also use the embedded player below). And, if you want to see our faces that very clearly are fit for radio, you can watch videos of our episodes on YouTube

A few months ago, as I walked out of a GameStop at 10:15 am on a weekday (ladies, I’m not single, I’m available), I came across a car that commanded every bit of my attention. It was a jet black Chevy Impala, and emblazoned upon it was the URL “IAmBlackVelvet.com,” along with the picture of an African-American gentleman in formalwear. I immediately photographed the car from every angle and shared the images on social media, but soon forgot about my encounter with Mr. Black Velvet.

Fast forward to today, and I pulled up alongside the one and only Black Velvet. This time, I actually visited the URL, as well as his social media, and was exposed to the man’s art, his poetry, and everything else there is that makes Black Velvet quite so black and velvety.

Here’s where the story gets weird: While talking about Black Velvet in studio today with Joe Gagliardi and Mikael Johnson, we were joined by none other than White Velvet, a man every bit the poetic ladies’ man that his contemporary, Black Velvet, is. Listen as we learn life wisdom at the feet of this enigmatic intellectual titan on the latest episode of Papa’s Basement.

Follow this episode's cast on Twitter and Instagram!

Mikael Johnson - Twitter - @MikaelLJohn, Instagram - @MikaelLJohn

Joe Gagliardi - Twitter - @TheMightyJoeyG, Instagram - @TheMightyJoeyG

John Papageorgiou - Twitter - @PapasBasement, Instagram - @PapasBasement

I would pay $50 a mile if this dude would Uber me.

Click here to listen to the latest episode of Papa's Basement in your browser or here to open and listen in iTunes (you can also use the embedded player below). And, if you want to see our faces that very clearly are fit for radio, you can watch videos of our episodes on YouTube

A few months ago, as I walked out of a GameStop at 10:15 am on a weekday (ladies, I’m not single, I’m available), I came across a car that commanded every bit of my attention. It was a jet black Chevy Impala, and emblazoned upon it was the URL “IAmBlackVelvet.com,” along with the picture of an African-American gentleman in formalwear. I immediately photographed the car from every angle and shared the images on social media, but soon forgot about my encounter with Mr. Black Velvet.

Fast forward to today, and I pulled up alongside the one and only Black Velvet. This time, I actually visited the URL, as well as his social media, and was exposed to the man’s art, his poetry, and everything else there is that makes Black Velvet quite so black and velvety.

Here’s where the story gets weird: While talking about Black Velvet in studio today with Joe Gagliardi and Mikael Johnson, we were joined by none other than White Velvet, a man every bit the poetic ladies’ man that his contemporary, Black Velvet, is. Listen as we learn life wisdom at the feet of this enigmatic intellectual titan on the latest episode of Papa’s Basement.

Follow this episode's cast on Twitter and Instagram!

Mikael Johnson - Twitter - @MikaelLJohn, Instagram - @MikaelLJohn

Joe Gagliardi - Twitter - @TheMightyJoeyG, Instagram - @TheMightyJoeyG

John Papageorgiou - Twitter - @PapasBasement, Instagram - @PapasBasement

Since Popeye's chicken sandwich is out of stock everywhere, you get a photo of the terribly unhealthy thing that I was actually able to put in my body before the show.

Click here to listen to the latest episode of Papa's Basement in your browser or here to open and listen in iTunes (you can also use the embedded player below). And, if you want to see our faces that very clearly are fit for radio, you can watch videos of our episodes on YouTube

Popeye's has released its own chicken sandwich, designed to go to battle with the likes of Chick-fil-A (the McChicken rolls over in all sandwich-on-sandwich combat like the French), and co-host Eva Kriksciun learned the hard way that it's difficult to even find the damn thing in stock, much less eat it and then crow about its merits online. Hear all about Popeye's horror stories, embarrassing stories from both Eva and Mikael about my legendary cheapness (I call it frugality, but whatever), and all sorts of other fun that you will want to listen to at work (WITH YOUR HEADPHONES ON!!) on the latest episode of Papa's Basement.

Follow this episode's cast on Twitter and Instagram!

Mikael Johnson - Twitter - @MikaelLJohn, Instagram - @MikaelLJohn

Eva Kriksciun - Twitter - @OrchardEva, Instagram - @OrchardEva

John Papageorgiou - Twitter - @PapasBasement, Instagram - @PapasBasement

Since Popeye's chicken sandwich is out of stock everywhere, you get a photo of the terribly unhealthy thing that I was actually able to put in my body before the show.

Click here to listen to the latest episode of Papa's Basement in your browser or here to open and listen in iTunes (you can also use the embedded player below). And, if you want to see our faces that very clearly are fit for radio, you can watch videos of our episodes on YouTube

Popeye's has released its own chicken sandwich, designed to go to battle with the likes of Chick-fil-A (the McChicken rolls over in all sandwich-on-sandwich combat like the French), and co-host Eva Kriksciun learned the hard way that it's difficult to even find the damn thing in stock, much less eat it and then crow about its merits online. Hear all about Popeye's horror stories, embarrassing stories from both Eva and Mikael about my legendary cheapness (I call it frugality, but whatever), and all sorts of other fun that you will want to listen to at work (WITH YOUR HEADPHONES ON!!) on the latest episode of Papa's Basement.

Follow this episode's cast on Twitter and Instagram!

Mikael Johnson - Twitter - @MikaelLJohn, Instagram - @MikaelLJohn

Eva Kriksciun - Twitter - @OrchardEva, Instagram - @OrchardEva

John Papageorgiou - Twitter - @PapasBasement, Instagram - @PapasBasement

Mt. Rushmore of DC's improv studs.

The past three years of my life have been defined by immersing myself in DC’s improv comedy scene, and I have spent the large majority of my time in that scene in some way, shape, or form with Shawn Westfall. He’s been my teacher, my friend, and his theater’s toilet was one of the few places I knew I could crap in sanitary peace if my day job took me into DC.

Sadly, Shawn has shuttered his Unified Scene Theater as of this August, and is moving to Portland, OR with his wife, Kathy, pretty much as I write these words. Like most members of DC’s comedy community, I’m both heartbroken to lose the guy and excited for the awesome new opportunities the future has in store for him. But most of all, I’m really gonna miss that goddamn toilet.

It was my distinct pleasure to play host to Shawn Westfall one final time in the Papa’s Basement studios, flanked by his comedy wife, Mikael Johnson, and the latest in his long line of bastard improv children, Joe Gagliardi. Shawn, from all of us, all the best. And, if you can remember, what toilet paper did you stock the theater with? That stuff felt like you were wiping with a double-ply dream.

Follow this episode's cast on Twitter and Instagram!

Shawn Westfall - Twitter - @ShawnWestfall, Instagram - @ShawnWestfall

Mikael Johnson - Twitter - @MikaelLJohn, Instagram - @MikaelLJohn

Joe Gagliardi - Twitter - @TheMightyJoeyG, Instagram - @TheMightyJoeyG

John Papageorgiou - Twitter - @PapasBasement, Instagram - @PapasBasement

Click here to listen to the latest episode of Papa's Basement in your browser or here to open and listen in iTunes (you can also use the embedded player below). And, if you want to see our faces that very clearly are fit for radio, you can watch videos of our episodes on YouTube