Papa's Basement

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

"One day, Nick, you will die. And, on that day, your death will breath the heart of an old woman. And that, my son, is your truest victory."

Longtime listeners are well aware of "The Bit" - the delight I take in telling my mom that a celeb she's a fan of has passed on before she's heard elsewhere. Well, this week, Nick Buoniconti, of Miami Dolphins fame, has passed away. And, as I remembered from a childhood story she told me years ago, my mother knew him personally. Hear her reaction when I broke her the bad news, and other content that doesn't make me sound like a sociopath, on the latest episode of Papa's Basement. SHARE THIS EPISODE DAMMIT!!!

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

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

"One day, Nick, you will die. And, on that day, your death will breath the heart of an old woman. And that, my son, is your truest victory."

Longtime listeners are well aware of "The Bit" - the delight I take in telling my mom that a celeb she's a fan of has passed on before she's heard elsewhere. Well, this week, Nick Buoniconti, of Miami Dolphins fame, has passed away. And, as I remembered from a childhood story she told me years ago, my mother knew him personally. Hear her reaction when I broke her the bad news, and other content that doesn't make me sound like a sociopath, on the latest episode of Papa's Basement. SHARE THIS EPISODE DAMMIT!!!

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

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

Our youngest Papa's Basement fan, loving every minute of her time in studio with us!

My friend Kelly brings her baby in studio and I pretend to "voice" it, making it say all sorts of horrible things. Very cerebral stuff, but I think you'll figure out the laughs.

Follow this episode's cast on Twitter and Instagram!

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

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

Our youngest Papa's Basement fan, loving every minute of her time in studio with us!

My friend Kelly brings her baby in studio and I pretend to "voice" it, making it say all sorts of horrible things. Very cerebral stuff, but I think you'll figure out the laughs.

Follow this episode's cast on Twitter and Instagram!

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

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

The only Top Gun sequel any of us actually want.

Papa’s Basement is a comedy podcast, whose topics are free-ranging and really just there in the service of laughs. Sure, this episode we discuss mortality through the lens of Top Gun: Maverick, but it’s bigger than that. I just have to pick one thing to focus on to come up with an episode description, and it’s that. Happy? I’ve reduced one hour of amazing comedy to this BS. Hope you’re proud, iTunes fascists.

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

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 only Top Gun sequel any of us actually want.

Papa’s Basement is a comedy podcast, whose topics are free-ranging and really just there in the service of laughs. Sure, this episode we discuss mortality through the lens of Top Gun: Maverick, but it’s bigger than that. I just have to pick one thing to focus on to come up with an episode description, and it’s that. Happy? I’ve reduced one hour of amazing comedy to this BS. Hope you’re proud, iTunes fascists.

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

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

“Glenlivet, single malt. When you die, you’ll go to heaven, say hello to God. And when God says hello to you, this is what you’ll smell on his breath.”-Rip Torn as Artie, Larry Sanders Show. RIP.

There’s some great stuff in this episode, which is co-hosted by DC-area comedy stalwarts Mikael Johnson and Joe Gagliardi. We debate what my newfound love of the show POSE means for my love life, what Mikael’s love of pastel shirts say about his, and Joe reveals his tactics for mentally torturing the children that make his life a living hell when playing Call of Duty online. We wind things up with some love for Rip Torn, the great actor who passed away this week and whose voice has closed the show for over a decade. There’s a lot more, but that’s what I remember when typing this. Just listen and share. Listen. And. Share.

Follow this episode's cast on Twitter and Instagram!

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

Joe Gagliardi - Instagram - @devildawg0602

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

“Glenlivet, single malt. When you die, you’ll go to heaven, say hello to God. And when God says hello to you, this is what you’ll smell on his breath.”-Rip Torn as Artie, Larry Sanders Show. RIP.

There’s some great stuff in this episode, which is co-hosted by DC-area comedy stalwarts Mikael Johnson and Joe Gagliardi. We debate what my newfound love of the show POSE means for my love life, what Mikael’s love of pastel shirts say about his, and Joe reveals his tactics for mentally torturing the children that make his life a living hell when playing Call of Duty online. We wind things up with some love for Rip Torn, the great actor who passed away this week and whose voice has closed the show for over a decade. There’s a lot more, but that’s what I remember when typing this. Just listen and share. Listen. And. Share.

Follow this episode's cast on Twitter and Instagram!

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

Joe Gagliardi - Instagram - @devildawg0602

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

My cohosts for the episode, Eva Kriksciun and Hannah Wiers, stealing the "fake having a singular chin" pose I employ for photographs.

The 600th episode of Papa's Basement explores what A Star Is Born would have been like had Bradley Cooper been a food addict instead of an alkie, and if the activities depicted in Black Mirror's Striking Vipers episode count as "gay," "not so gay," or "gay as a mf." Let us know how you feel via email, Twitter, whatever, and we'll read it out on the next episode. Also, to anyone listening to this episode, thank you. Doing 600 episodes of this show wasn’t easy. If it weren’t for listeners, I would have stopped ages ago. Because, as fun as it is to do something, not doing something is way better.

Follow this episode's cast on Twitter and Instagram!

Hannah Wiers- Instagram - @H_Dubs8

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

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