The Seattle Files

Before Seattle had the Mariners it had the Pilots.  Seattle’s first major league baseball team was a disaster, the stadium was a wreck, they lasted one season and finished in last place.

Today’s Guest:

Justin Sund is a Seattle based (former) improv comedian, director and producer. He was a performing member with Jet City Improv and Twisted Flicks from 2000 to 2010 and directed (co or otherwise) several shows at Jet City, including CUT!, D.R., Lease: Seattle’s Own Rock Opera, Lovetanic, Goin’ Steady and Dirty Laundry. Justin performed and toured with the internationally acclaimed and “politically irreverent” Election Show, as well as the raunchy cult-hit two-man stroke-fest Cupcake. He has performed at over a dozen comedy festivals, including the Del Close Marathon, Chicago Improv Festival and, of course, the Seattle Festival of Improv Theater, which he helped get off the ground in 2001. Maybe it was 2002? It’s been around for a while, he knows that. Justin is currently working behind the scenes on John and Ryan’s Half Hour Comedy Hour.

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The Mercers were one of the first families to homestead in Seattle.  On the frontier there was a severe shortage of women, and young Asa Mercer decided to take matters into his own hands and solve the problem personally.  It did not go well.

Today’s Guest:

With more than 20 years of undetectable radio experience, Gregr hosts mornings on 1077 The End. He loves nerdy stuff like NASA and rubik’s cube, animals like boston terriers or cats with (or without) thumbs, and sports – Sounders, F1, Mariners. A long time podcaster, listen to So, You’re In Seattle or Our Dumb Podcast on iTunes or whatever far superior podcast provider you prefer!

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America has a history of institutionalized racism and the Northwest is no exception.  After the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 a large portion of the white population of Seattle decided to take matters into their own hands and drive Chinese immigrants out of town once and for all.

Today’s Guest:

Zak Nelson is a Seattle based improvisor, actor, sketch comedian, and soccer enthusiast. He writes and performs with Drop the Root Beer and Run, Babyfin, and Specific Northwest. In addition, he can also be seen performing improv with Duck Duck Scissors. When not performing Zak is usually playing soccer, music, or video games.

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Chief Seattle was a young boy when white explorers made first contact with the natives on Puget Sound.  Over the course of his life he saw the complete transformation of his ancestral homeland and displacement of his people to small reservations.

Today’s Guest:

Adina Gillett is a Seattle-based Improvisational Comedy Actor and Director. She has been a company member of Jet City Improv since 1999, and can tell you stories about the past century while gently rocking on a porch swing. She has had her hands in creating and directing many improvised plays such as ‘Lovetanic’, ‘Lease – Seattle’s Own Rock Opera’, ‘Inferno’, ‘CUT!’, and others. When Adina isn’t doing the aforementioned things, she is a Hypnotherapist and owner of Bear Creek Hypnotherapy, helping people conquer fears and achieve health and happiness goals. If you set a spell on her porch swing, she’d be tickled to tell you all the surprising and wonderful ways that Improv and Hypnotherapy are connected.

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The fight for women’s suffrage in Washington was always one step forward, two steps back.  In the 1880s the right was granted, only to be taken away of few years later.

Today’s Guest:

Laura Turner is a local improviser who performs regularly with Jet City Improv and occasionally in other places.  Most recently, she directed the long-form show Very Special Episode.  You can see Laura perform this summer with the Lost Folio, an improvised Shakespeare show at the Seattle Outdoor Theater Festival.  She has lived in Seattle just long enough to be considered a native by everyone except actual Seattle natives.

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Vic Meyers was a successful band leader and vaudeville entertainer.  His joke candidacy for Seattle mayor led to a career in politics and a five time stint as Lieutenant Governor.

Today’s Guest:

Jim Stewart Allen is a stand up who found his comedic groove and voice in Bellingham, Washington while getting his history degree at Western Washington University. He now performs all over the Pacific Northwest, delighting audiences with his excitement and enthusiasm. Hell bent on making the strangest of topics hilarious to everyone, you can usually hear Jim ranting about 18th century battle tactics, NFL punters, and even the ever so famous educational computer game, “The Oregon Trail.” Jim has performed in the 2014 Seattle International Comedy Competition, and his historical video recently won “fan favorite” in Comedy Central’s Drunk History video competition. He is a featured comedian on RooftopComedy.com and you can hear his podcast, “Historiography!” on iTunes.

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Dave Beck worked his way up from abject poverty to become president of the most powerful union in the country.  He shaped the city the way he wanted it to be, until he abused his power and lost it all.

Today’s Guest:

David Gordon was raised on Vashon Island, learned improv in Tacoma, and now performs with groups around Seattle including ComedySportz, Split Second Improv, and Jet City Improv. Sometimes he improvises from the sound booth and calls himself a technical improviser. Sometimes he writes plays and calls himself a playwright. Once he had a “wizard rock” band and called himself ‘Alas Earwax!’.

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Alexander Pantages ran away from his home in the Greek Isles at age 9.  He wandered the world, worked hard, and became one of the most powerful men in the history of show business.

Today’s Guest:

Brandon Felker is a local Seattle actor and improviser. He has been a part of all improv company, Unexpected Productions, for nearly twenty years, and is a co-founder of the horror movie improv group Blood Squad.

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Marion Zioncheck grew up as a dirt poor Polish immigrant in Seattle’s Skid Road district.  He pulled himself up by his bootstraps, became a lawyer, and was elected to congress from Washington’s first district.  The future looked bright, but an undiagnosed mental illness proved to be his undoing.

Today’s Guest:

Jacob Burgess is a Voice Actor currently based in Seattle. He feels weird about providing bios and writing in the 3rd person but he think’s you’re pretty great for giving this podcast a shot. If you are interested in his work you can find him at www.makewordshappen.com and in a bunch of video games like Baldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear, Infinifactory, Glitchhikers, and Guns of Icarus Online.

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William Ballard was Captain of a small ship in Puget Sound’s mosquito fleet.  A losing coin toss left him in possession of 160 acres of land north of Seattle which came to bear his name.  A contentious battle over water left the young city of Ballard annexed into larger and more powerful neighboring Seattle.

Today’s Guest:

Matt Hatfield is a founding member of sketch comedy group, “Drop the Root Beer and Run” and has been an improviser with ComedySportz Seattle as well as the improv groups “Matt-a-Graham”, “Whattabout” and “Matt-enee”. He is also a board member for the Pocket Theater and the creator and manager of Seattle’s online comedy database seattlecomedy.org. Matt has an armadillo tattoo, is an avid TV watcher, monster enthusiast, and a cat co-father who really enjoys drinking juice.

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