First of all, rest in peace Andrew Albert - a longtime Canadian comic I had the pleasure of meeting only once but had an enormous reputation for kindness, empathy, selflessness, and of course, humour.

In this episode, Al talks her chronic neck pain, people who have taken an odd amount of credit for her accomplishments, a little bit about weed and CBD, sweat stink and hormonal changes to it, and she closes strong by going after Olympic events like 'speed walking' and the 'clean and jerk'.

Here Al is, on the other side of her whirlwind weekend at the "Just For Laughs" Festival in Montreal! Al recaps her adventures in the beautiful city of Montreal, taking you through the weekend: the man on the plane with separation anxiety from his wife, the fine art gallery, the "New Faces Showcase" itself and one particular adoring fan, and the concluding Flair airlines disaster.

In this episode, Al comes hot out the press with a BIG announcement about a show she's in on Friday July 30th! She has been selected for Just For Laughs' annual "New Faces Showcase", a very prestigious and high-profile show for breakthrough comics. As such, she reflects for a bit on her career before moving on to the regularly scheduled programming of silliness, talking about violent games she used to 'play' with her older brother, texts with mom, and domesticated animals and their future.

HUSKY ATE A BABY BYE

We're back to the usual antics! "You can't stop my antics" - that's what I always say!

In this episode, Al Val talks about her shitty memory (forgive her if she's spoken about this before), swallowing pills, time travel in movies and tv, funny air instruments, more complaints about movies, tv and Batman, wrangling children/the Harambe incident, and a brief story about Al's brother and a carpet store.

IT'S THE PSYCHOLOGY EPISODE! This episode's got a new flavour to it, so put on your snuggest pants and firmest thinking cap! We're getting all academic on your ass, dudes!

In this episode, Al Val dives into the deepest recesses of her memory bank to pull out one intellectual nugget after another, drawing upon her University degree in Psychology in order to explain various social psychological phenomena. Some parts are dark, some parts are funny, but most parts are informative - and PodGis is all about surprising listeners at every turn! So sit back and enjoy Al Val's particular brand of... 'edutainment'... as she talks about The Bystander Effect, Phineas Gage, The Stanford Prison Experiment and the Milgram Experiment. It sounds dry, but come on! You know Al Val is almost as entertaining as Brian Smith, the most interesting man in the world.

Since Algis' frenetic delivery on the last PodGis, she's decided to slow it down as much as her attention span will allow, breezing through such silly and personal topics as memories triggered simply by the word "Hello"; reintegrating as a non-passing trans woman in society; European national anthems, and how to write one; wearing spandex around the house; and Jason Statham movies.

I know nobody asked, but this episode is THE most strem of consciousness episode of PodGis, EVER! Hang on for dear life as Al Val sorts through her conflicted emotional state in real time, soaked in true crime documentaries and canned peach juice!

Al Val bounces all over the place, discussing through the theme of her debilitating childishness: online age checks for 'mature' content; her first set of business cards; people who wait for days in line outside Apple stores for the latest phone, and belligerent, passionate 'Android vs. Apple' brand loyalty; "The Bowl Cut Laser Helmet That Does Not Work but Refuses to Quit"; a brief aside about the film "The Mummy"; then a sober, insightful concluding reflection on Al's relationship with you, the audience.

Strap in, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

*If you are religious (mostly specifically Catholic), fair warning: Algis goes a little harder on this one!*

In this delightfully rambunctious episode, Al Val talks about being forced by his fanatic grade 3 teacher to dress as a saint for Halloween; the online gaming community's hard-to-interpret adoption of gay culture; the world's biggest poop, which somehow tangentially turns into reflections on heaven itself, which then tangentially spirals into the pope, Catholicism, and church music.

Yeah, I guess this one flew off the topical rails. But it's like the sign on Al's front door (written in lamb's blood, of course) reads: "Don't get me started on religion".

HAPPY PRIDE MONTH! Al Val is once again back after life knocked her down for a bit; HOWEVER, this episode is sure to delight and make you giggle into your cold beverage!

In this triumphant return of an episode, Al Val talks about this year's Euro Cup, along with a couple soccer stories from her teen years (don't worry non-sports-fans, they're not too 'sport'-y); Pride month, corporate pandering and people who hate on queerbranding; and then Al closes with her thoughts on the French Prime Minister's relationship with his former high school teacher. WARNING: gratuitous French accent.

Fresh out of a hot cry session, Al Val gets right into the issues that matter in another episode that mixes the deeply personal and profound with the silly and irreverant.

Al advises on the many things that make a dick pic ineffective; tells a poignant, deeply poetic and personal story about homophobia, repression, and redemption (AKA the time she got suspended from her University Improv Troupe); the simple additive-subtractive nature of bravery vs. fear; then she ends on another vivid personal tale - this one about the time she performed Tom Green's "Bum Bum Song" in front of her Grade 5 Class to woo her hot teacher.