The Blackout Diaries

Comedian Chelsea Hood shares the story of the time she backpacked across Europe with her boyfriend's sober, god-loving best friend- recorded at our live show. Chelsea then joins CJ and Sean in the studio and we talk about the special itineraries drunks have when they travel across a different continent. Chelsea also talks about what's its like to be a female construction worker and general contractor and how dudes react when she shows up to fix things. CJ and Sean share their own backpacking stories, along with some stories about how different EU airlines want to different policies on drunk passengers and a story about how European bullet trains confuse some people when they are on a bender.

A special episode celebrating the start of the World Series. CJ and Sean talk about the Dodgers vs Yankees matchup and how its causing Carmageddon in LA. We also talk about some of the funniest moments in World Series history, which include legendary drunk and slugger Babe Ruth ending game 7 on a hilariously bad stolen base attempt, George Steinbrenner claiming he was attacked by Dodgers fans- only to punch their teeth out. We also talk about drinking in the world series, including a Sox pitcher who entered the game drunk and how the Yankees may have punished Mantle and Ruth by making them play weird positions.

Comedian Tori Kilkenny tells two hilarious stories at our live show- one about the last time she blacked out and the other about an impromptu decision to tour her local fire fighting station. Tori then joins CJ and Sean in the studio and we talk about the joys of revisiting things you loved as a child , like fire engines and snow ball fights. This leads to a theme on firefighters- we share stats on how much firefighters drink compared to the average citizen and a story about a Wisconsin volunteer fire fighting crew that struggles to find a sober driver for the truck on weekends. We also share our own stories about dealing with Chicago fire fighters and what they will and will not respond to.

CJ and Sean talk about technology and drinking. Sean has recently been contacted by a bunch of people who have fallen victim to cyber scams and shares those stories, along with good advice on how to know if you are speaking to a scammer. We also talk about the Israeli operation that sold exploding pagers. CJ talks about the crazy tech theories he heard in North Carolina, between hurricanes. CJ and Sean end by discussing some recent ways science and technology has intersected with drinking, specifically the growth of sober influencers and how Ozempic is now being used to curtail drinking habits as well as eating habits.

The Blackout Diaries celebrates the start of college football! CJ and Sean talk about how college football tailgating parties are the some of the funnest, most-wild, yet somehow must-inclusive parties on earth. We share some stats on how allowing alcohol sales inside college stadiums has not lead to more binge drinking, along with some of our own stories about attending college games. And we close it out with a story by the hilarious Colby Dant of The Sports Gambling Podcast, on how he got banned from the Rose Bowl because cheering for the home team is illegal on the west coast.

Chicago bartender and musician Christian McGann explains the differences between the Front Of The House and The Blackout Of The House, to our live audience at The Blackout Diaries. Christian tells some stories about bartending in Chicago and concludes with a hilarious song about what it's like to hear the drink orders of customers all night long. Christian joins CJ and Sean in the studio and we discuss the demands of bartending, along with Christian's other tavern-based job- he is one half of a dueling piano duo. CJ and Sean discuss some stats about bartending and how much the service industry drinks, along with how some bars have adjusted to bad internet reviews in hilarious, albeit confrontational ways. Remember to subscribe to the podcast and leave a review- plus follow Christian to checkout more great piano tunes and live apperances.

Legendary Chicago comedian Joey Villagomez tells a couple of stories at the live show, about the time he got high at work during a polar vortex and then about the time in highschool when his buddy drank too much and had to be hosed down. Joey then joins CJ and Sean in the studio and shares some crazy stories about working for the city of Chicago, along with other drinking buddy tales. This leads to a theme on drinking buddies. We discuss the science of how drinking buddies impact our alcohol consumption, share some stories, and extend an open invite to a FL lawyer who got separated from his drinking buddies and entered the wrong car, naked.

Special episode where CJ and Sean talk about their favorite, world sporting event- The Olympics. We laugh about how an Australian professor might have danced so poorly her sport has been thrown out of any future Olympic consideration; how some swimmers are pounding Cokes to eat away at the polluted water; and the weird and often funny career opportunities that Olympic athletes have to jump on once the games are over.

Comedian Joe Kilgallon tells a story at our live show about the time he was the only man invited to a bachelorette party. Joe talks about being de facto security for the women, along with the funny differences between bachelor and bachelorette parties. Joe joins CJ and Sean in the studio and they talk more about how Joe is the perfect security layer for bar hopping friends. CJ and Sean also talk about how bachelorette parties are viewed as near locusts by some people, including a group of Boston researchers who say bachelorette parties are ruining gay bars and a town in Spain that is banning public displays of sex toys to try and discourage bachelorette party tourism.

Give it a listen, give us a review and check out Joe's comedy specials on youtube along with podcast Let's Get Dumb!

Comedian Ed Towns tells the story of how a woman ghosted him, while they were both inside her apartment. Ed, who is also a producer of the The Blackout Diaries live show, joins CJ and Sean in the studio to discuss the story in more detail and share his thoughts on everything from ghosting, and bartending to how open mikes should be run. CJ and Sean talk about ghosting in more details and share some studies that prove ghosting is on the rise, particularly with younger people.