Tony was born with poor vision and lost what remained by 15. He is now the assistant vice president of communications at the America Foundation for the Blind, a producer and voice talent for the new documentary Possibilities, and an expert on the life of Helen Keller. He also sails. Like, on an actual boat. If you want to figure out how he manages that, you'll just have to listen to this episode.

Did you know that ventriloquism goes back 3000 years? For a given definition of "ventriloquism", that is. For a more modern one, you're looking at the 1700s. You know what else happened in the 1700s? The year 1776. That's right - America and ventriloquism were born out of the same cultural zeitgeist, which is why Americans are still at it today.

You can learn more about April's book (250 Years of American Ventriloquism) or April herself at http://aprilbrucker.tv/!

This guest was booked using PodMatch! Interested in being a guest on the show? Reach out to us at https://www.podmatch.com/member/tombarnardpodcast.

It's Twitter's 20th birthday. It goes by X now, because it's going through an identity crisis as it reaches adulthood, but we'll always remember it as Twitter. We'll also always remember when WB was a juggernaut of the entertainment industry, rather than the bargaining chip it is today. How you mess up DC and Bugs Bunny, we'll never know.

Ethan got his first stitches today. Alex has gotten stitches ten times. Not ten stitches - ten different times getting stitches. One of us has also had the cops called on us because some busybody thinks we're abusing our spouse. Don't worry, it was just a minor rock throwing incident.

Also, Andy was on a podcast! It's called Phantom Electric Ghost, and you can find his appearance here: https://found.ee/tCNvi7

Robert DeNiro is worth over 500 million dollars. That's a lot of money, but it's child's play compared to some of the higher paid athletes. They're making $700,000,000 across a single contract sometimes. They're also winning, so I guess that's what it takes these days. Hint hint.

Sam Neill and Josh Grisetti both died within the past few days. Jack Nicholson is 89, but he remains alive. Barry Manilow is a sprightly 83. Why did we bring those two up? To be honest, I don't remember.

You've probably heard your fair share of bad news. War, famine, that sort of thing. All the horsemen are involved. But it's easy to become desensitized to run of the mill apocalyptic visions. Today we've got some stuff that'll really make you say "why are you telling me this". Don't worry, we pepper in some positive stuff too. We're not doomers.

Episode discussion: https://completedisaster.live/2026/07/10/july-10th-2026/

They're taking fictional characters and making them real, like with Moana. They're also taking real actors and making them into fictional AI versions, like James Earl Jones. It's a madhouse. A madhouse! At least we can remain secure in our knowledge that they will never stop making Evil Dead movies, ever.

Episode discussion: https://completedisaster.live/2026/07/10/july-10th-2026/

Netflix is reporting massive drop-offs on season 2 of its shows. Why? Is it the gap between seasons? The binge watching making content more forgettable? Where have all the viewers gone, and where are all the fans? Where's the die-hard group of friends who always makes watch plans? Oh yeah, speaking of which, Bonnie Tyler died.

Episode discussion: https://completedisaster.live/2026/07/10/july-10th-2026/

In part one of today's show, we talked about shows that brand themselves as "dark humor" to position themselves more favorably. In part two, we talked to someone who wrote a book of actual dark humor about his time in the military. Now, in part three, we're talking to someone who became a stand-up comedian as a way to channel his anxiety and bipolar disorder into - you guessed it - dark humor. I didn't set the whole day up this way. It just kind of happened. Maybe the universe is telling us something.

You can find Dave's books at https://davemowry.com.

This guest was booked using PodMatch! Interested in being a guest on the show? Reach out to us at https://www.podmatch.com/member/tombarnardpodcast.

Episode discussion hub: https://completedisaster.live/2026/07/08/july-8th-2026/