On this edition of The Best Stuff in the World my guests and I are diving into our collective love of MAD Magazine! 

For decades, MAD skewered politics, pop culture, advertising, television, and almost anything else you can think of. Joining me to discuss MAD and the "usual gang of idiots" who wrote and drew it are two of The Best Stuff in the World’s usual gang of idiots, returning guests Kevin Eldridge from the great podcast The Flopcast and Michael Brousseau, who I co-host the skateboard movie podcast Gleaming the Tube with and who wrote and sang this very podcast’s theme song!

You can find Kevin Eldridge over The Flopcast!

You can find Michael Brousseau co-hosting Gleaming the Tube with me!

I was a guest on the GIMMICKS podcast to talk all about the series finale of Pee-Wee's Playhouse! Check it out here: Pee-Wee's Playhouse: Playhouse for Sale!

You can email me at [email protected]

Theme music by Mister Michael Brousseau

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I am BACK ON MY BULLSHIT talking to a former cast member of SLEEP NO MORE - I am delighted to welcome the great Tori Sparks to the podcast this week.

I first saw Tori perform in the Boston production of Sleep No More, which is the show that sparked my interest in immersive theater and, in my opinion, was the big bang for what we call “immersive theater” in the U.S. If you’re a person who follows that art form it’s hard not to notice that Tori has been possibly the most significant performer in that space, especially on the East Coast. In addition to her work with Punchdrunk she’s done amazing work with Third Rail Productions on a number of their shows (which we get into), she was one of the people who helped build Life & Trust (Emursive’s attempt to follow up Sleep No More with another big sprawling show that you could lost in), she worked on Kelly Bartnik’s HERE, one-off Punchdrunk shows at MIT, and was the "immersive specialist" on MASQUERADE, the new promenade version of Phantom of the Opera that’s running in New York. She’s everywhere, and I think the reason why is that she’s one of the most gifted and intuitive performers in that space. Her Lady Macbeth in Sleep No More is up there with the greatest performances I’ve seen anybody do in any medium - I genuinely consider her one of the best immersive theater performers in the world. We get into all of that - there is a lot to cover and this could have easily been a three hour conversation because Tori has done so much - as well as the Sleep No More episode of Gossip Girl, her work in horticulture and our shared background in DIY punk scene and how that world informs her work.

Find out more about Tori and the amazing things she is doing and has done and will do at her website: Tori Sparks

You can email me at [email protected]

Theme music by Mister Michael Brousseau

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We're joined by R. Alex Murray, a cast member of Dungeons & Dragons: The Twenty-Sided Tavern!

Dungeons & Dragons: The Twenty-Sided Tavern bills itself as a live, onstage game of Dungeons & Dragons where YOU control the action. By calling out suggestions and making decisions on your smartphone, you’ll determine which heroes appear, where they explore, and ultimately how their story ends. The show is now on tour after an off-Broadway run - I caught it in Boston last month and I had a total blast seeing it and I had a total blast talking to Alex about it. This is one of those conversations that could have easily gone three hours between all the D&D talk and the talk of what it’s like to perform a show like this. If it comes to your town GO AND SEE IT!

You can find out more about the the show (including the tour schedule) here: https://thetwentysidedtavern.com/

You can find R. Alex Murray on his Instagram: @ralexmurray

Alex's podcast Childz Play is the world's premiere Kidz Bop review podcast! Go and listen: Childz Play

You can see Alex roll two natural Twenties in Boston here: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1457830815331327

You can email me at [email protected]

Theme music by Mister Michael Brousseau

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The time out we’re discussing the films of Alfred Hitchcock!

For over half a century, Hitchcock reshaped how we experience fear, tension, and surprise in movies. He was able to turn ordinary setting (a shower, a staircase, a crop-dusted field) into unforgettable cinematic nightmares. At his best, he made us complicit in our own voyeurism, could make us laugh at danger, and had audiences at the edge of their seats wanting to know what would happen next. His title as THE MASTER OF SUSPENSE was totally earned.

So today, we’re going to talk about why Hitchcock still matters. Why the best of his films (Psycho and Rear Window and Vertigo and North by Northwest and Rebecca and Shadow of a Doubt and my personal favorite Notorious) continue to haunt, thrill, and inspire. And we’ll explore how a man once dismissed as a “mere entertainer” became one of cinema’s defining artists.

I’m delighted to be joined for this discussion by podcaster and book editor Michael Gordon and by Heather Stephenson, one of the volunteers at the Brit Track at Dragon Con, the big Atlanta pop culture convention. This was a really fun discussion and obviously with a career that was as long and filled with as many high points as Hitchcock’s it would be impossible to get to everything in the roughly 90 minutes we chatted but I had a blast and I hope you enjoy listening as well. I’ve got some fun stuff lined up for upcoming episodes, both interviews with people who make weird art and discussions like this about art that we love.

You can find Mike Gordon's books and podcasts at his Linktree: https://linktr.ee/newlegendmike

Heather Johnson runs the Dragon Con Collectibles Exchange

You can email me at [email protected]

Theme music by Mister Michael Brousseau

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The Best Stuff in the World is back from summer break! I’m talking to Taylor Stark, the founder and artistic director of Witch Hunt Theatre, a Boston-area company that specializes in immersive site-specific horror theater. Taylor and Witch Hunt have a new show called HER RITES opening in Brookline Massachusetts this month and it was great talking to her about the upcoming show and Boston-area theater in general.

Check out Witch Hunt Theatre and get tickets to HER RITES here: www.witchhunttheatre.com

You can email me at [email protected]

Theme music by Mister Michael Brousseau

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It's our season finale episode and I'm excited to be chatting about the glory days of public access television with two folks who have first-hand experience in that world. Writer Keith DeCandido is best known these days for his novels and comics but back in the early 90s he was one of the hosts of the New York City science fiction public access show THE CHRONIC RIFT and Calvin Watts has been talking about science fiction on Rhode Island cable access for the past 30 years, first as one of the cohosts of the legendary STAR TREK THE UNOFFICIAL FAN CLUB and later as one of the hosts of SCI-FI JOURNAL, a show he is still one of the hosts of TO THIS DAY. A little while back I was a guest on The Flopcast and we discussed public access tv shows in Rhode Island and I look at this episode as kind of a companion piece to that - we cover a little of the same ground but it was super interesting hearing from Keith and Calvin all about what it was like to produce one of these shows both back in the day and, in Calvin’s case, still.

You can find all things Keith R.A. DeCandido (books for sale, blog, etc.) at his website: http://decandido.net/

Check out an archive of classic 1990s Chronic Rift episodes here: The Chronic Rift

Calvin Watts' ongoing public access show Sci-Fi Journal can be found both on Rhode Island Interconnect A and on YouTube: Sci-Fi Journal

You can hear me reminisce about old Rhode Island public tv shows on the Flopcast here: Flopcast 670 - A Camcorder and a Dream

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I’m excited to talk to writer and musician Luke MacPherson! Luke’s work explores the connections between music, film and philosophy and one of his most recent books, PRIME FORCE DIRECTIVE, draws connections between four cultural forces that shaped his life - the science fiction franchise Star Wars and Star Trek and the heavy metal bands Metallica and Iron Maiden. Luke’s also the lead singer and guitarist in the music project Iron Reverb (who did the cover of our theme song that you hear opening and closing the show this week) as well as the author of several other books that we discuss during our talk. I’ve known Luke for years, ever since his old punk band The Toss-Offs would come and play on my old radio show and it’s been awesome seeing him have this renewed outpouring of creativity lately. We talk about all of that and more during our pretty free ranging conversation.

You can order Luke's books here: Author Page for Luke MacPherson

Check out Luke's music project Iron Reverb!

Kevin was a guest on The Flopcast talking all about the comic books of 1987: https://flopcast.net/687.html

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The second installment of our series of episodes focusing on a single album - I put out the call on social media for folks to get in touch with albums that changed their lives to possibly discuss on the show (with the caveat that I have to like the record as well) and the redoubtable Gary Mitchel (of A Podcask of Amontillado) suggested we discuss Portshead's Dummy. Naturally, I was delighted by this suggestion.

When Dummy came out I hadn’t really heard anything like it - the phrase trip-hop wasn’t really in my vocabulary but I loved it’s mixture of noir soul, spy movie static, and hip-hop style productions, with Beth Gibbons' voice floating above everything as she sang about heartbreak and wandering stars.

You can find the horror movie podcast Gary co-hosts (A Podcask of Amontillado) as well as his upcoming podcast on the Wheel of Time book series at Good to Be a Geek Media: https://www.goodtobeageek.com/

You can email The Best Stuff in the World at [email protected]

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We are talking to Emily Arkin and Bridget Duggan from Identical Cousins about their upcoming event THE FILTY FORMAL AND TRASH TALENT SHOW, an immersive tribute to the work of the film director John Waters!

The Filthy Formal is a dance party / variety show / excuse to wear your most vile, stupid, and repulsive formal fashions and it’s Saturday night, June 21st, in the Crystal Ballroom of the Somerville Theatre in Somerville Massachusetts!

You can get tickets to the Filthy Formal and Trash Talent Show here: https://www.crystalballroomboston.com/events/filthy-formal-trash-talent-show-a-john-waters-tribute/

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We are discussing one of the most famous and successful movies of all time - Raiders of the Lost Ark!

Do I even need to go into a little intro spiel about Raiders? Producer George Lucas, director Steven Spielberg, and star Harrison Ford team up to create one of the most iconic characters in the history of cinema - a swashbuckling archeologist named Indiana Jones who, in the 1930s, is in a race with the Nazis and his rival, the French archeologist Rene Belloq, to discover the lost ark of the covenant.

Joining us this week are some top men: returning guest Kevin Eldridge from the great podcast The Flopcast and Michael Falkner from the website Creative Criticality. We discuss the film (arguably the greatest adventure film ever made), its inferior sequels, and even touch on some of the ancillary video games and tie-in novels. It's a great episode. Trust me.

You can find Kevin Eldridge over at The Flopcast.

You can find Michael Falkner at the website Creative Criticality.

You can email this show at [email protected]

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