The Matt Balaker Podcast

The Matt Balaker Podcast

By The Matt Balaker PodcastBusiness
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The Matt Balaker Podcast episodes

  • Greg Giraldo Author - Wayne Jones

    The two authors of Greg Giraldo: A Comedian's Story on one podcast!

    Wayne Jones, Canadian author of "Greg Giraldo: A Comedian’s Story" discusses his experiences as a writer, academic, and comedy fans.
    Wayne Jones is a writer and editor in Ottawa, Canada. My passions are writing, film, and standup comedy.
    https://www.waynejones.ca


    Greg Giraldo: A Comedian's Story

    49 min
  • Brian Jones on Cleaner Energy

    Instead of just talking about cleaner energy. Brian Jones made it his career. We talk too. Hear his story.

    Brian Jones, established Windmill Capital Management to broaden the commercial and industrial clean energy capital ecosystem. Mr. Jones spent more than 15 years on Wall Street as a real estate investment banker helping REITs and other real estate operators increase stakeholder value through access to new capital and strategic transactions. He later helped build a $30 billion asset manager where he led investment strategy innovation and served as Chief Financial Officer to two publicly-traded affiliate companies. Earlier in his career, Mr. Jones was a tax manager at a Big 4 accounting firm. 

    ⁠⁠⁠www.windmillcapitalmanagement.com⁠⁠⁠

    52 min
  • Brian Fishbach on Journalism, Music, & Entertainment

    Brian Fishbach grew up in Wisconsin. His knows sports and the ins-and-outs of music, politics, and entertainment. He left DC to follow his heart. Hear his story.

    MORE ABOUT BRIAN FISHBACH
    BRIAN FISHBACH is a music journalist, copywriter, and ghostwriter based in Los Angeles, California.
    Brian grew up in Wisconsin. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he earned a BA in Political Science. He earned a Certificate in Journalism from the University of California—Los Angeles (UCLAx).
    He began his career in writing in the halls of the U.S. Capitol as a staffer in the U.S. Senate. After fixing some of the country’s problems, Brian left the government to be a music journalist in Los Angeles.
    Brian produced The Truth Barrel Podcast on the PodcastOne Network and was the lead researcher for the Webby Award-winning true-crime podcast, To Live and Die in LA—which spent 13 consecutive days on the top of the iTunes podcast charts. Brian was also a researcher and editor for Kevin Hart‘s New York Times-bestselling memoir, I Can’t Make This Up: Life Lessons. Between 2016-18, Brian was also the researcher for six articles published in Rolling Stone.
    Brian is the entertainment reporter for The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Some of his work at the Jewish Journal includes exclusive interviews with Washington Post investigative reporter Carl Bernstein, documentarian Ken Burns, actress Jennifer Grey, Members of Congress, Grammy-winning composers and actor Jason Alexander. Brian has bylines in Forbes, Newsweek, Israel21c and Gather DC.
    Brian also hosts special events, live interviews and Q&A’s, including the 25th Anniversary Screening & Cast Reunion for the film Con Air.
    You can find his stories about rockstars at www.BrianFishbach.com.
    https://www.rockmusiclife.com/
    TW: @BrianFishbach
    IG: @BrianFyeah

    41 min
  • Dave Brett Wasser

    Dave was born and raised in New York City, and now lives in Austin, Texas. In his professional career he has worked in the non-profit arena, and in sports research and journalism. Dave created Cruelty Free Investing because he saw a glaring need for research on companies that have the ethical treatment of animals as part of their corporate philosophy. Dave originally took an interest in animal rights after reading some of the best literature on the subject:

    • Peter Singer’s Animal Liberation
    • David DeGrazia’s Taking Animals Seriously
    • Evelyn Pluhar’s Beyond Prejudice

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      39 min
    • Ryan Niemiller on AGT, Comedy, Parenting

      Comedian and wrestling aficionado Ryan Niemiller grew up in an Indiana trailer park. He ended up in LA to pursue standup comedy. A unique handicap helped him stand out. Now he's an AGT finalist, national headliner, and new father. Hear his story on the Matt Balaker Podcast.

      Check out his special Ryan Niemiller: Unarmed and Dangerous: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0BX9F5GMZ
      To learn more go to his website:
      https://www.cripplethreat.com/

      58 min
    • Animal Advocacy - Rochelle Jordan

      Rochelle Jordan grew up in Alaska. A reference from Paul McCartney motivated her to become an animal advocate. But her approach is different. Tune in to discover how she turned her passion into a profession.

      MORE ABOUT ROCHELLE JORDAN
      She holds a Bachelors of Arts in Biological Sciences from Lewis and Clark College and worked in both the veterinary and human medicine fields prior to joining GWS. She is a longtime vegan and her work is driven by a deep passion for animal welfare, public health, and environmental sustainability. In her spare time, Rochelle hikes with her dog, plays in a recreational soccer league, and serves as volunteer for the Humane Society of the United States. She currently splits her time between her hometown of Anchorage, Alaska and Portland, Oregon.

      https://www.linkedin.com/company/glasswall-syndicate/

      https://www.linkedin.com/in/rochellejordan/

      https://glasswallsyndicate.org/

      35 min
    • Montana Comedy - Levin O'Conner

      Improv comedy helped Levin O'Conner find purpose, love, and a career. Now he's shaping the Montana comedy scene. Hear his story on the Matt Balaker Podcast.

      Levin fell backward into improv in winter of 2002. In spite of his shy nature he enrolled and attended an improv class at iO Chicago. One class led to two and a year later he graduated the program a better, happier person convinced that improv can change the world for the better.

      In 2005 he moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career and voice over career. He continued to perform, coach and teach improv at iO West, Westside Comedy Theater and American Music and Dance Academy (AMDA).
      In 2009 Levin & Annie teamed up to create the show NOW? and toured internationally at theaters, festivals, universities and schools and in 2013 NOW Improv opened a studio of its own. NOW Improv thrived during its two years, but due to the demands of their growing family, they decided to shutter NOW and were hired as Co-Directors of Education for Mi’s Westside Comedy Theater where they were tasked with writing and designing a unique improv curriculum, training the faculty and helping grow the community.
      Most recently Annie & Levin have moved again, this time to Bozeman, MT where they have teamed up with local performer and teacher Molly Hannan to create Last Best Comedy. Together they are thrilled and honored to share their improv and comedy experience with this incredible town.

      The Last Best Comedy Fest is open for submissions for both improv & standup details and info here: https://www.lastbestcomedyfest.com

      https://www.lastbestcomedy.com/

      48 min
    • Shrinking’s Matt Knudsen

      Shrinking actor Matt Knudsen had a non-traditional path to showbiz success. Hear his story.

      Matt Knudsen was born in Hawaii, raised in the Midwest and sailed around the world as a merchant marine. After trips to Europe, Africa and the Far East, he eventually put down his sea bag, picked up a microphone and began performing stand up comedy all across the country.

      As an actor, Matt has shared the screen with Oscar winners Michael Douglas, Alan Arkin, Sean Penn and more, and has appeared in dozens of Emmy and Golden Globe winning television shows like Key & Peele, Workaholics, The Big Bang Theory, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The League, NCIS, Big Love, Boston Legal and Malcolm in the Middle.

      As a comedian, he’s been on Conan, The Late Late Show, Last Call, ASX Live and Comics Unleashed. His latest stand up special Good News was produced by Dry Bar Comedy and currently has millions of views throughout their distribution network. Festival appearances include Montreal Just for Laughs (Best of the Fest), The San Francisco Sketchfest, Bridgetown, High Plains, Limestone and he’s even entertained at The White House for President and Mrs. Obama.
      His critically acclaimed albums The Comedy Stylings of Matt Knudsen, American, and Yes And are top downloads on iTunes and heard regularly on SiriusXM and Pandora radio. They “Mix droll observation with a dry, almost hypnotic delivery,” (The Onion A.V. Club) and with Knudsen’s unique style, “The personal feels universal, and the universal feels personal. The only explanation for this phenomenon is that it’s all finely crafted comedy from a strong central voice…a great stand up album.” (The Huffington Post)


      46 min
    • Troy Dayton - Elevating the World’s Consciousness

      Troy Dayton has spent his career working to get people out of physical prisons to getting them out of mental, emotional, and spiritual prisons. He helps people experience more joy, connection, and vitality. Hear his story on the Matt Balaker Podcast.

      MORE ABOUT TROY DAYTON
      Co-Founder and former Board Member OF Students for Sensible Drug Policy
      FounderFounder the Arcview Group
      Recently created Be Well Be Free

      35 min

    About The Matt Balaker Podcast

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    We interview experts in business, comedy, and literature in hopes of free riding off their knowledge.