Sup Doc: A Documentary Podcast

Did you watch Jawline? Liza Mandelup's 2019 Hulu documentary was a Sundance hit, capturing a scene of teenage influencers and influencer kingmakers, and to a lesser extent the girls that pay to interact with them. Without a heavy-handed narration it's all shot in a gauzy dream-like way. Protagonist Austyn Tester is from a small Tennessee town and plays the naive foil to media shark Michael Weist. It all makes one wonder who this film is targeted at, and does it warrant the attention it got? Will you do what it takes to become a living meme, including drop out of high school? And is this still better than the Travis Scott documentary?

George's guests are a young couple who watched this film together, possibly an awkward date night.

Elijah Katz is a Los Angeles born and bred comedian who runs “Margaret: a mid-city comedy show” every other Wednesday at a vintage shop. The rest of the time no one is sure what to do with him. He loves Sophie very much.

Sophie Klem is a recent graduate of Pratt Institute in New York. She works in fashion in Los Angeles. She loves Elijah very much.

*Will this film help build up Austyn's social media numbers? Refinery29 thinks not.

*What is TanaCon?

*The George Torres/Numero Uno story that should be made into a documentary

*Caroline Calloway The Cut article

Follow Elijah on:

Twitter: @elijahkatz

Instagram: @kingkatz

Follow Sophie on:

Instagram: @creativeplay_er

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Facebook: @supdocpodcast

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Paco and George are joined by magician Andy Deemer to discuss both of the Amazing Johnathan documentaries out now: Always Amazing (Steve Byrne 2018) from All Things Comedy and The Amazing Johnathan Documentary (Ben Berman 2019) on Hulu.

Whether sawing into his arm with a butcher’s knife or pulling pranks with audience members, The Amazing Johnathan was a reliable source of manic energy at many a ’80s and ’90s stand-up show. The Amazing Johnathan described himself as the “Freddy Krueger of Comedy,” and used that manic energy to regularly catapult his way onto Late Night With David Letterman and Comic Strip Live. His gory, smart and silly deconstructions of magic and coked-up circus geek tricks eventually earned him Las Vegas headlining gigs for a decade or longer. Then, in 2014, he announced that he’d been diagnosed with a serious heart condition, saying doctors had given him only a year to live. The Amazing Johnathan retired, seemingly destined to fade into the annals of cult comedy and the memories of ’80s kids who watched too much cable. But then came the kicker: Johnathan kept on living. And after a while, he grew bored and anxious to return, even if it meant dying on stage. Literally. And this is where both documentaries pick up the story. And the story of the two competing documentaries become a story within the story.

Andy Deemer has been a screenwriter, magazine editor, product manager, and now Macaulay Culkin’s personal Magician. We learn all about Andy’s crazy lives while also getting to the bottom of the Berman Vs. Byrne controversy, documentary ethics, and behind-the-scenes info on Jonathan’s condition.Follow Andy on:

Twitter: @andydeemer

Instagram: @andy.deemer

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Instagram: @supdocpodcast

Facebook: @supdocpodcast

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Dropping Monday Oct 14th!

There are two documentaries out about The Amazing Johnathan, the magician/comedian who rose to drug-fueled heights throughout the '80s-'00s.

The Ben Berman-helmed The Amazing Johnathan Documentary was on the scene before comedian Steve Byrne's Always Amazing but the saga gets twisted when both film crews start running into each other at the extremely-ill Johnathan's comeback tour.

Joining Paco and George on the twisty walk through the funhouse mirror of these dueling docs is raconteur and magician Andy Deemer. In addition to working for Macaulay Culkin's comedy brand, Andy has been the producer of fast food horror film Poultrygeist, a China-certified taxidermist, and probably even more weird stuff we have yet to discover.

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On episode 126 Paco is joined by comedian Jesse Hett to recap the 2019 Netflix documentary Westside vs The World. This documentary tells the history of the Westside Barbell Powerlifting Club and its founder Louie Simmons. The doc is narrated by Ron Perlman and focuses on Louie’s youth, his discovery of the Culver City Westside Barbell club, his journey into powerlifting and his accomplishments. Plus a lot of powerlifting drama. If you follow the sport you’ll be sure to recognize many of the club’s famous names and accomplishments. The doc follows Westside from its origins to its its domination through the 90s and early 2000s and to relative obscurity in the era of raw powerlifting.

Our guest is comedian Jesse Hett. Jesse is a stand-up comedian based in Oakland, California. He has appeared on the front page of the Wall Street Journal doing comedy while wearing a virtual reality helmet. That sounds made up but it's true, you can look it up. He has performed in SF Sketchfest and the Savage Henry Comedy Festival; Rooster T. Feathers, the San Jose Improv, and the San Francisco and Sacramento Punch Lines. His style has been described as "observational absurdism" and one newspaper reviewer wrote that he "says very smart things in a very dumb way" which is kind of mean but print media is dying so Jesse Hett will have the last laugh.

Follow Jesse on:

Twitter: @JesseTheHett

Instagram: @JesseTheHett

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Twitter: @supdocpodcast

Instagram: @supdocpodcast

Facebook: @supdocpodcast

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Paco talks with Bay Area comedian and baseball coach Ben Kolina about the 2018 Netflix documentary Screwball. Screwball Recounts the high-profile doping scandal that rocked Major League Baseball. This entertaining doc takes us into the surreal Miami underworld that provided performance-enhancing drugs to Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez and other star players. They say South Florida is a sunny place for shady people and this is certainly true of steroid peddler Anthony Bosch. While Bosch's medical credentials may be lacking, his storytelling skills are first rate. The documentary also raises serious questions about doping and ethics in sports.

The incredible nuttiness of “Screwball” could someday be adapted into an award-winning feature film a la “I, Tonya.” It has that same kind of out-there, Coen-esque feel in which people’s greed and stupidity lead to national news. There are plenty of dumb people out there, but only a select few that end up playing on as big a scene as Tony Bosch and Porter Fischer, who arguably changed the trajectory of one of the most popular sports in the world.

Ben had his first experience getting laughs at the expense of visiting outfielders in Bleacher seats of the Oakland Coliseum. Ben is co-producer of the popular weekly comedy showcase at the Night Light in Oakland and is a regular at the Punch Lines in San Francisco & Sacramento.

Follow Ben on:

Twitter: @BenKolina

Instagram: @BenKolina

Follow Sup Doc on:

Twitter: @supdocpodcast

Instagram: @supdocpodcast

Facebook: @supdocpodcast

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And you can show your support to Sup Doc by donating on Patreon.

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George welcomes back three-time guest Wayne Federman (comedian, author, adjunct professor at USC, comedy writer, musician) to talk about his History of Standup podcast. Straight comedy nerd talk!

We talk about music documentaries on David Crosby (Remember My Name), Dylan (Rolling Thunder Revue), and Laurel Canyon (Echoes In the Canyon). Also Hannah Gadsby, Gary Gulman, Bob Newhart, The Holy City Zoo, Tom Petty, standup in Asia, and Once Upon A Time in Hollywood.

Follow Wayne on:

Twitter: @federman

Instagram: @instafederman

Follow Sup Doc on:

Twitter: @supdocpodcast

Instagram: @supdocpodcast

Facebook: @supdocpodcast

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And you can show your support to Sup Doc by donating on Patreon.

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Trigger warning? It's about Ted Bundy. That's a lot of triggers.

Paco and George look at Joe Berlinger's double dip into Bundy on Netflix, Conversations With A Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes and this narrative version starring Zac Efron and Lili Collins, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile.

We also ponder what was considered handsome in the 70s, twitter Stan wars, Tarantino, John Wayne Gacy, James Hetfield, and what was the worst product of Phil Collins.

*The necrophilia movie George is thinking of is called Kissed.

*Rolling Stone article on the Manson/Bundy Stan twitter feud.

*Snopes on Debbie Harry's near abduction.

*BTK Killer aka Dennis Rader

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We recap the 2019 HBO documentary series I Love You, Now Die with comedian Florentina Tanase. 

I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth V. Michelle Carter centers around the suicide of Conrad Roy. Who was responsible, Conrad or his virtual girlfriend Michelle who encouraged him? This two-part series explores their complicated relationship drawing on thousands of texts exchanged over two years chronicling the courtship and its tragic outcome. 

We also get into The Staircase, Amanda Knox, historic Massachusetts misogyny, Romeo and Juliet, GLEE, plus a game of Cast This Doc.

Florentina is a San Francisco-based, Romanian-born comic who has performed at Cobb's, The Punch Line, and The Comedy Store. She produces a monthly show in San Francisco called "Bottomless Standards” at the MILK Bar on Haight.

Follow Florentina on:

Twitter: @florentific

Instagram: @florentific

Follow Sup Doc on:

Twitter: @supdocpodcast

Instagram: @supdocpodcast

Facebook: @supdocpodcast

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And you can show your support to Sup Doc by donating on Patreon.

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George talks to the director of 2018’s BATHTUBS OVER BROADWAY (2018) Dava Whisenant. Bathtubs Over Broadway (streaming now on Netflix) is the story of Letterman comedy writer Steve Young and his journey into an obscure sub-genre of theatre, Industrial Musicals. It starts off as a story about collecting weird records but turns into something much more emotionally involving. Along the way there are interviews with Don Bolles, Jello Biafra, Martin Short, Florence Henderson, and many other names that you'll know by the end of the film.

Dava Whisenant received the Albert Maysles Award for Best New Documentary Director at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival and the 2019 Writers Guild Award for Best Documentary Screenplay.

Follow Dava on:

Twitter: @davawhisenant

Instagram: @cactusflowerfilms

Follow Sup Doc on:

Twitter: @supdocpodcast

Instagram: @supdocpodcast

Facebook: @supdocpodcast

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And you can show your support to Sup Doc by donating on Patreon.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is the pilot episode of our new sidecar project Biopsy!

Our new show format recaps BioPics in a loose, funny way and we'll drop occasional episodes into your regular Sup Doc feed.

We think BioPics are the real life version of our game Cast This Doc. We hope you enjoy it and let us know what Bi-OP-Pics you want us to cover.

On the premiere episode we look at Rocketman (Dexter Fletcher, 2019) about the life and music of Elton John. Yes THAT Elton John. Both George and Paco agree that Rocketman is a formulaic, paint-by-numbers biopic. One glaring problem was that the musical numbers are not in order of when the songs were released. Rocketman begins oddly at a moment of a huge crossroad in Elton's career, then backtracks to show us how he ended up there—a narrative device that already was a cliché when “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story” parodied it back in 2007. Taron Egerton does an admirable job with what he's given.

Paco and George also talk about how Rocketman is seemingly prepackaged for the Broadway stage, packed with Elton John hits you’ve known and maybe loved for decades. And of course what self-respecting biopic would not have plenty of montages: the obligatory scenes of Elton hits rising up the charts and racking up, all the gold records and the sex and drugs that go along with the rock ‘n’ roll.

Correction: Not Bernie Maupin nor Armistead Maupin but Bennie Maupin and he's not a piano player but a reed player.

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