The Nerdologues Present: MBSing

Post law school, Ed wasn't sure how he was supposed to make and maintain adult friendships without the benefit of forced socialization with other lawyers. So, he decided to organize a(n unfortunately large) 12" softball team to add an activity to at least one night of his week (even though he didn't really know much about softball). Now, he's been in enough softball, kickball (?), floor hockey, and 3v3 and full ice hockey leagues that he should probably stop referring to himself as "not an athlete." MBS and Ed uncover the biggest victories, defeats, and revelations of starting to play a sport as an adult, especially when a lot of the people you're up against feel like they have something to prove. 

Notes:

Ironrise Games. Get on board now and Kickstart later!

Go Nordiques! (MBS is waaaaay biased on this one as her betrothed is a member, too)

Doppelgängers R Us

Thanks to CAH for sponsoring and the Chicago Podcast Cooperative for continued support.

Claire Linic has never been calmer than when she is watching middle-aged women foster friendships, fight, host events, and try to sell things on the shows in the Real Housewives franchise. She tells MBS about all of the best and worst wives, the plethora of series and spinoffs, and how she found Keeping Up With the Kardashians to be a gateway into the world of Bravo reality television (and continues to watch Kim's silent contouring videos as a form of relaxation). There's talk of Skinnygirl, the Countess, Kelsey Grammar's ex-wife, NeNe and Kenya, Ramona Singer, Lisa Vanderpump, Andy Cohen, and the reunions. Plus MBS's favorite part, the burgeoning music careers across the board.

Notes: 

Check out Our Perfect Marriage, cowritten with husband Alan from episode 214. She also cowrote The Awkward Phase.

Claire's Real Housewives Spotify playlist

Ever since she witnessed the aura surrounding Tilda while sitting across the aisle from her on a plane, Erin McGathy has not been able to shake her fascination with Swinton's presence, lifestyle, and approach to art. Admittedly a fairly casual fan of Tilda's film work, Erin still cites the way Swinton discusses acting as a collaborative effort and less selfish endeavor as an inspiration to not be too hard on herself as a creator and performer. She even credits Swinton's ability to live happily in Scotland as a working actor for inspiring her to take the leap and move to Dublin from LA. We needed to talk about Kevin, David Bowie, and Michael Clayton, as well as a bit about how Tilda became a character in Erin's upcoming Edinburgh/Dublin Fringe festival show, MurderTown.

Notes:

Erin's one-woman murder mystery, MurderTown at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Dublin Fringe Festival

This Feels Terrible, Erin's relationship podcast on Feral Audio

If you're looking for a DM, send a DM to Alan Linic. He's only gotten into D&D in the last few years, but his childhood knack of adding environmental elements to every playground game has paid off in spades both as an improviser and a dungeon master. After unloading how the structure of gameplay unfolds, Alan speaks to how he and his friends make D&D a unique adventure each time they convene, the gymnastics he may have to perform if a group is being particularly probing in an area he may not have fleshed out pre-game, and how many of the instincts used in playing D&D and DMing are similar to those used to find the most fun game in an improv set. There's also a long conversation about The Cheesecake Factory for some ungodly reason.

Notes:

Alan and Tyler's D&D live play and discussion podcast, TL;DM

Brad Pike finds a morbid curiosity in exploring books and documentaries about cults at least in part because he believes he's a part of one. After spending a lot of time discussing Jonestown and the Order of the Solar Temple, Brad and MBS dig into the cult of improv comedy, Chicago style. Get ready to give up your possessions, pledge your loyalty to the leader, and be reminded that there are people who had to help their parents self-immolate.

Notes:

Devil's Daughter at iO Chicago

Thanks to Cards Against Humanity for sponsoring and the continued support of the Chicago Podcast Cooperative.

Thanks to model home furnishings in the house she grew up in, Susan Glynn has rebelled against the status quo of design from a young age. After accomplishing her Limited Too-fueled dream of having a room with bright orange walls, yellow trim, and a blue clouded sky ceiling, she was set off on a journey of thrifty vision and bold choices. Having graduated to living with roommates and now to a significant other, adult Susan finds herself curating her living spaces as a middle ground with her cohabitants while using ways to keep it all affordable and aesthetically pleasing for her. And yes, she will judge your apartment, especially if there are far too many design relics from your college dorm room.

Notes:

Shebeast at the Annoyance Theatre, check out MBSing episodes from team members Becca Slack, Mary Catherine Curran, and Jacqueline Felker

Thanks to Cards Against Humanity for sponsoring and the Chicago Podcast Cooperative for coordinating sponsorships.

Nicole may not be a lifelong, generations of season tickets Cubs fan, but she is a lifelong baseball fan and she does cite the first time she turned the corner in Wrigleyville to stumble upon Wrigley Field as the moment that cemented her move to Chicago and kick-started her journey to being a Cubs devotee. She swaps dads who love baseball stories with MBS (including the first time they each took their old man to Wrigley), cites all the tiny oddities and large unknowns that make baseball fun for her, and gets into the nitty gritty on each of the NLDS, NLCS, and World Series games she attended (and how she dealt with watching the others in bars). It gets teary, yelly, and giggly in spades.

Notes:

All of MLB's walk off balks

Man in headdress - Sad

Nicole's comrades in improv and baseball fandom, Big Spoon

Nerdologues 7th Anniversary Show and Party 6/24/17

Savannah Million has put in so much time farming, harvesting, and upgrading you'd think she'd have some fields to show for it. WHICH SHE DOES, but they're all of the digital variety. A longtime fan of the admittedly-flawed Harvest Moon franchise and newer convert to the Animal Crossing games, Savannah unpacks what it is that makes these game mechanics so satisfying and even how the min-maxing of certain traits of the game makes them less fun to traverse though more easily conquered. Stick around for a breakdown of MBS's Pokémon Go habits as well as the influence Harvest Moon and Animal crossing have had on her cartooning and web development.

Notes:

Listen to Savannah and past MBSing guest Alex Cox talk robots and feminism on fellow Chicago Podcast Cooperative show, Roboism.

Tawny Newsome has left behind the world of relaxers and weaves in favor of her naturally curly black hair, and she's here to extoll the virtues (and explain the difficulties) of a natural hair life. From how it's affected the roles she's called in to audition for to how strangers interact with her, Tawny's cosmetic choice to assimilate less to the general cultural ideal of straight hair has pervaded her day to day life in ways one may not expect. There's also some dissection of how LA's public interpersonal vibe differs from Chicago's, how most fans of comedy are sweethearts who understand boundaries, and how white people figuring out and dispersing the info that it's rude to ask to touch someone's natural hair is like kids realizing that cats don't like to be petted against the direction their fur grows.

Notes:

There are some Get Out spoilers for a wee minute or two at around the 35:30 mark

All three seasons of Bajillion Dollar Propertie$ are available at Seeso.com and all the ways you stream TV

Tawny's appearances on the Earwolf network

Eric Garneau's Blank Cassette with comic writer Kieron Gillen

Elizabeth Cambrige's Random Conversations, fellow member of the Chicago Podcast Cooperative

Due to a background of study ranging from psychology to physical theater, Mary Cait Walthall has become incredibly mindful of how people communicate with one another. She actively works to impliment nonviolent communication and restorative practices in Chicago Public Schools, and she is always using the wisdom she gleaned from LISPA to be aware of nonverbal communication as a performer, teacher, and restorative justice specialist. The conversation ranges from doing improvisational theatre with ESL actors using their first language to acknowledging privilege within conversations about social justice to the can of worms that is communicating on the Internet.

Notes:

Mary Cait is a member of the Improvised Star Trek and Superhuman.

Thanks to Field Notes Brand for sponsoring and the Chicago Podcast Cooperative for coordinating sponsorships and providing a recording facility.