Pauly On The Pod

Someone tells you “I want a divorce” across a restaurant booth before the queso even lands, and you realize you’re sitting next to a full-on human meltdown while you’re just trying to eat dinner. That’s the kind of whiplash we lean into with our guest Ricky Pernice: stand-up comic, skater, and a naturally sharp crowd-work brain who can turn everyday chaos into a bit on the spot.

We start with Ricky’s background, from skateboarding in high school to getting thrown into stand-up because a friend signed him up. From there, we bounce through comedy influences, what makes certain comics feel timeless, and the practical reality of making content now, including how platforms treat language and why creators even worry about getting clipped or buried in the algorithm.

Then we hit a darker, viral corner of the internet with our “Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes” run, and we talk through what those clips reveal about impulse, risk, and basic safety, especially around machines and real-world consequences. The stories keep coming: fireworks mishaps, the strangely specific rules around what’s “legal,” and family memories that get so awkward you can’t forget them.

We wrap by getting nerdy about stand-up craft: crowd work vs written jokes, what “organic” really means, and why some performers kill by responding to the room instead of chasing a perfect script. If you like comedy podcasts, skate culture talk, open mic stories, and the kind of storytelling that feels like hanging with funny friends, this one’s for you. Subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review with your vote: crowd work or tight set?

You ever start a conversation about an inflatable hot tub and end up talking about touring Europe, skateboarding through airports, and why learning a trade might save your future? That’s the energy here. We’re hanging with Billy Winfield again, swapping stories about new-crib upgrades, pool life in Florida, and the kind of “small” purchases that quietly improve your day-to-day more than any flashy flex.

Then the music talk gets real. Billy breaks down how he’s building a career as an independent artist, from London, Manchester, Birmingham, and Bristol shows to throwing a Denver event that pulled a crowd without major promotion. We talk networking, features, and how momentum is earned when you’re not backed by a machine. If you care about the music hustle, this is the unglamorous side that actually works: consistency, relationships, and showing up.

Travel stories turn into culture shock fast: food differences, finding weed abroad, CCTV everywhere in the UK, and the awkward moment when strangers overseas want your stance on American politics. From there, we shift into construction, the value of blue-collar work, and why society’s obsession with “easy money” leaves people without real skills. The plumbing disaster stories are funny, but the takeaway is serious: problem solving and hands-on competence still matter.

Subscribe for more conversations like this, share the episode with a friend who’d appreciate the chaos, and leave a review if you want more guests like Billy. What’s one skill you wish you learned sooner?

A 17 year break from skating can either turn into a permanent goodbye or the start of a better chapter. We sit down with Jacksonville skater Marty McFly, plus our third chair and co producer Blake North, and talk about what it actually takes to come back as an adult and make it stick. The conversation starts with first boards, street skating roots, and the messy reality of growing up, then quickly turns into the moment Riverside Skate Park helped light the spark again. 

We get specific about the stuff every returning skater feels but rarely says out loud: your back does not forgive you just because your brain remembers the trick, frontside comfort can flip to backside safety after an injury, and “warming up” becomes a real skill. Marty also breaks down why his skateboarding content works on Instagram and beyond, how he blends skating with video editing and audio work, and what it’s like when strangers walk up mid session to say they’ve been watching. If you care about skate progression, authentic content creation, and building confidence on a board again, this one is packed with real talk. 

Then we zoom out into community and conflict: skate park etiquette, random public beef, the weird tension that can happen in shared parks, and why taking pride in clean public spaces matters. Along the way we share a chaotic Chick fil A traffic story that turns into a lesson about patience, mental health, accountability, and not letting someone else’s bad choices hijack your whole day. We wrap with skate travel dreams, from Charleston DIY spots to Lot 11 in Miami and the kind of day trip sessions that keep skating fun for life. 

Subscribe for more conversations about skateboarding, Jacksonville skate spots, adult skater comebacks, and creative life behind the camera, then share this with a friend who’s been thinking about picking the board back up and tell us what park we should hit next.

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A missed co-host, a surprise stand-in, and two brothers who make skateboarding and music feel like the same sport. We sit down with Quinn (15) and Holden (11) of Johnston Brothers Music to talk about growing up around the Fernandina Beach scene, learning at Poe Pinson Skate Park, and why that first spark matters more than having the “right” gear. If you care about skate culture, youth recreation, or how kids actually get good at something, this conversation goes straight to the point: repetition, community, and the courage to look awkward while you improve. 

From there we dig into music: early lessons, picking up guitar and bass, getting inspired by what you can’t do yet, and how theory starts to click when you stop treating it like homework. They explain writer’s block in the most skater way possible, take a break and go skate, and they share how open mics at Disco Witch turned into real bookings around Jacksonville and Neptune Beach. Along the way we talk jam band energy, covers vs originals, building a catalog, and meeting their drummer through the skate park. 

We also get honest about the stuff that affects real life goals: homeschooling flexibility, crowded parks, Florida heat, and injuries that can change how you approach a session when you have gigs on the calendar. And yes, we vent about skate park funding getting shaky while pickleball seems to win every budget meeting. 

If you enjoy stories about young musicians, skateboarding progression, and building a creative life in North Florida, hit play, then subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review. What’s the bigger teacher for you, the board or the instrument?

We hit record with a wild premise: we just found a long-lost “D Lo” tape from the gap years, and it’s the kind of raw, messy, hilarious snapshot you can’t fake. From the jump, we talk about why the show went quiet, what it feels like to rebuild after a computer crash and real-life stress, and why skating and creating content can be the last thing you want to do when you’re going through it.

Then we get into the stuff that keeps us plugged in to skateboarding culture. Dr. Jones breaks down the reality of needing another hip replacement, how he’s thinking about timing surgery around family life, and what it means to accept limits without giving up your identity. We also talk skateboarding news and progression, including the impact of a woman landing a 900 on vert, plus the videos, skaters, and weird trick obsessions that keep the stoke alive. If you care about skate parks, we also get local: Monument, Emerson, Riverside, what’s fun, what’s frustrating, and why cities somehow finish parks before they let anyone skate them.

And because we can’t help ourselves, we spiral into culture talk too: election-year noise, the Trump conviction headlines, and our very unromantic take on party politics. We also ask the question that started an argument in the room: what happened to hip hop performances, and why are so many artists just rapping along to the track? If you like skateboarding podcasts with actual personality, plenty of laughter, and real opinions, tap in. Subscribe, share the episode, and leave a review telling us what topic we should go after next.

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A skateboarder comedian walks into a podcast and the conversation immediately starts swerving. We’re joined by Blake North, an Ohio-born skater who builds his life in Jacksonville and learns the hard way that stand-up comedy can feel a lot like learning tricks: you eat it in public, you laugh it off, and you try again tomorrow.

We get the skate talk out early (regular vs goofy, kickflips vs heelflips, DIY skate parks in Ohio), then jump into how Blake gets into the Jacksonville comedy scene and why performing in dive bars and weird rooms makes you tougher. He shares what it’s like hosting shows, running promotion, and trying to win over crowds who just wanted cheap drinks and got an open mic instead. Along the way we hit neighborhood stories, travel and “how is this beer $15?” moments, and the eternal truth that a good burger deal feels like a miracle now.

Then we go full culture blender: Bengals vs Jaguars fandom, comfort TV and movie quotes, DJ side hustles, and a surprisingly serious stretch on the WNBA spotlight, Caitlin Clark discourse, and the Sophie Cunningham flashpoint that’s pulling politics into women’s sports. If you like skateboarding, stand-up comedy, Jacksonville stories, and honest opinions with zero filter, you’ll feel right at home. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review with your hottest skate or sports take.

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Two years disappears fast until you try to hit record again. We’re back at Kona Skatepark in Jacksonville with BC in the background and a lot to catch up on: why the show went quiet, what it felt like to come back, and how we’re rebuilding this thing with better gear, clearer intentions, and way more consistency.

We talk through the real behind-the-scenes of a podcast relaunch, from video plans that kept breaking to the budget reality of doing it yourself. You’ll hear our thinking on posting the core skateboarding conversations publicly on YouTube, then possibly putting the longer, goofier, more unfiltered cuts behind a small Patreon paywall so the show can fund itself without turning into a clout chase.

From there it turns into what we love most: skateboarding community life. The Kona concrete vert ramp restoration is a huge win, and we shout out the people who put in the work to make it smooth, fast, and scary in the best way. We also get into the stuff that keeps a skatepark healthy long-term: basic respect at events, why we don’t want smoking around kids and families, and how leadership matters when the crowd gets excited. Along the way we hit contest culture, sponsor drama, sobriety and role models, aging and acceptance, and BC’s view of skateboarding as a tree with endless branches.

If you’re into skate culture, DIY spots, vert ramp talk, and honest conversations that still make you laugh, press play. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs a comeback story, and leave a review with the one part you want us to go deeper on next.

We disappeared for a while, and when we finally hit record again we knew we had to come back with something that actually means something. This drop is that lost conversation we filmed with BC, a true Southeast skateboarding original with stories that stretch from Louisiana flatground to Pensacola indoor parks to the Jacksonville scene and Kona Skatepark energy.

BC breaks down the early days in a place where you had to push forever, then the moment everything changes when you see an ollie and can’t stop chasing it. We get into classic parking lot skate demos, building ramps way too big when you’re way too young, and why the best skate sessions feel like you stepped out of real life for a minute. He also gives his own definition of “Search For Animal Chin” that hits harder than any trivia: it’s the feeling of being fully locked in with your friends and your board, and spending the rest of your life trying to find that feeling again.

From there we bounce through skate travel and skate history, including San Francisco routes, Chinatown, and skating the China Banks, plus the behind-the-scenes reality of keeping scenes alive before social media. BC talks SCU TV and South Coast Uprising, trading tapes, highlighting skaters with real stoke, and the way skateboarding can hand you friendships, work, purpose, and even your family. There are also some wild stunt stories, tour miles, and a few throwback gifts that’ll make any skater nostalgic.

If you care about skateboarding culture, DIY skateparks, Florida skate history, Gulf Coast scenes, and what keeps older skaters rolling, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a skate friend, and leave us a review with the most “Animal Chin” moment you’ve ever had.

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A stack of donated concrete turns into the kind of motivation every skater understands: you see the missing piece of your setup and suddenly you cannot stop thinking about the line. We’re back as the duo today, talking through how we’re upgrading my driveway “alleyway” spot with a new quarter pipe and a proper fun box so there’s real speed, cleaner flow, and a safer way for our daughters to build confidence. It’s part DIY skatepark build, part dad life, and part proof that local skate communities still look out for each other when someone posts a project and actually follows through.

Then we zoom out to what’s happening around Jacksonville. We hit revitalization, the impact of fixing a food desert with new grocery and retail options, and why the city’s art and counterculture feel more welcomed lately. And yes, we go full skate nerd on the under-I-95 skatepark plans near Riverside, breaking down what the renderings show and why the “JAX” features could be an all-time landmark for Jacksonville skateboarding.

After the break, it’s “News With Idiots” and “Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes.” We react to Steve Harwell and Smash Mouth nostalgia, wade into messy political hypocrisy, and then close with a run of wild decisions that range from darkly tragic to painfully funny. If you like unfiltered conversation, local Jacksonville talk, skate culture, and headline chaos with real opinions behind it, this one’s for you. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

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The clearest way to understand an adult is to meet the people who made them. For Episode 50, we bring on my dad, Pop Walnuts, and the result is equal parts heartfelt, hilarious, and unexpectedly deep.

We start with his South Florida origin story: born in Vero Beach in 1960, family ties stretching from Miami Beach to the Northeast, and the kind of childhood freedom that feels impossible now. Pop takes us onto the boat with the whole crew, out to empty little islands and Keys weekends, then straight into the soundtrack of his life. We talk Frank Sinatra Sundays, the Beatles changing the world, learning guitar by ear, classic rock on vinyl, and why a single song can time-travel you back to being 13 years old in an instant.

Then we get to the stories people always ask for the “where did you learn this?” moments. Getting hit in the head with an arrow right before First Communion. Setting a neighborhood garbage-can jump record until gravity checks the ego. A streaking dare that ends with friends stealing the clothes and a brutal walk home. Even skipping school for a stack of discounted records and getting caught in the most ridiculous way possible.

We also zoom out into bigger questions about American politics, media bias, term limits, negative campaign ads, and how schools can teach honest history while keeping conversations age-appropriate and inclusive. If you love funny family storytelling, classic rock talk, and real-life perspectives on culture and politics, this one’s for you. Subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

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