Brendon Walsh [Interview]

Hello Folks, and Happy Holidays to some of you out there. Today we are kicking our week off with some incredible words from an even more incredible comedian, podcaster, leading George Washington scholar, the great Brendon Walsh, Everyone! He’s an extremely hilarious man who has done some amazing work. He’s had late night sets on Conan & Kimmel, worked alongside some of our old friends like Greg Grabianiski and Johnny Pemberton on the hilarious series Pickle and Peanut, starred in our friend Henry Phillip’s film Punching Henry, and has done acting roles as a meth head, porn video clerk, and “scuzzy trucker”.

I first came to love Brendon when I was first introduced to a little podcast he did with comedian who will not respond to our emails, Nick Thune, entitled Do You Know Who Jason Siegel Is? By title alone I was hooked, and have become a huge admirer of his work beyond DYKWJSI. We talk a bit about it in the interview below, but I need you all to know that following Walsh on Twitter is one hell of an experience that I would highly recommend to you all. I’ve never learned so much about a renowned president who died from bloodletting. And that’s just some of the fun! Brendon also has a new podcast out, which we will discuss below as well, entitled World Record Podcast, and I am being told that it is the best thing to hit the internet, ever.

So Folks, please enjoy some incredible words from the brilliant comedian, Brendon Walsh! Enjoy!

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When did you first discover you were a hilarious human being and that the world would be a better place if you worked professionally to make people laugh for a living? 

When I was in the first grade, my teacher was reading a story to the class, but all the students were being crazy and getting on her nerves, so she closed the book and said she wasn’t going to finish the story. I stood up and started fake crying and said “Please! Please don’t stop reading the story, or I don’t know what I’ll do!” Then I pulled a handkerchief out of my back pocket (I carried a hankie on me when I was a kid because my dad did) and I wiped my fake tears with it, then blew my nose crazy loud into the handkerchief. The class lost it. It was like they were blown back by a sonic boom. They were all leaned back in their chairs cracking up. I remember my friend Brian Coughlin’s face was dark red and he couldn’t breathe, he was laughing so hard. 

I have to say that following you on Twitter is quite an experience. A phenomenal experience, If I may. You have somehow managed to make a bland yet excruciatingly addicting social media platform just a bit more interesting. I don’t mean to make this a “How Do You Do It?” type question, but I am curious to know what your overall thought process is whilst posting material to a site like Twitter? What would you say your ultimate goal is in the social media realm? 

If I think of the dumbest, most inappropriate, or tone deaf thing that makes me laugh, I tweet it. I just want to be funny on twitter, but mostly make myself laugh by how people respond to whatever dumb shit I said. I’m also an expert on George Washington and will conduct George Washington Q&A’s on Twitter regularly. 

Quick somewhat follow up question to the last one…..if you were able to do so, and were paid an ungodly amount of money, who would you pick to be your partner in a WWE style tag team match that would pit you and one other person against Todd Barry and Duncan Trussell….who would it be?

I don’t think I’d want to tag team with anyone. The arguments I get into with those two “people” are very personal. 

We always like to ask comedians who are kind enough to grace our digital pages who tend to hit the road a bit this one question: What are some places across the country that many people may not realize are actually great places for comedy? Maybe some of those clubs located in “flyover states” that may surprise people to know that they are wonderful places to see live comedy? 

How about the worst club? There’s a place called Off The Hook Comedy Club in Naples, FL. If you’re a comedian just starting out, try to get booked there just for the story. It’s basically a seafood restaurant where people are trying to eat and have conversations. The comedy seems to be an annoyance to them, if they stop talking long enough to realize there is a comedian onstage. I did a weekend there with Blaine Capatch and Drew Carey a few years ago and nobody was paying attention to any of us. It was surreal- we were just talking to each other from the stage at a certain point. It was almost like we were on a hidden camera prank show. I also know two comedians who quit drinking after doing a weekend there. 

I have to admit that I originally became a big fan of yours through the short lived Do You Know Who Jason Segel Is? podcast. It was such a blast to listen to during its time. I am curious to know what your favorite moment from this show was? All of this time later, what really sticks out as a truly wonderful moment from doing this project? 

That podcast was an off-shoot of my first podcast The Bone Zone, which is probably the best comedy podcast to ever exist. Do You Know Who Jason Segel Is? started after Nick Thune was a guest on The Bone Zone and said he thought everyone knows who Jason Segel is. We called a bunch of places on the podcast and proved him wrong. My favorite moments from DYKWJSI are the silliest stuff. The “Secret Garden” stands out where we would call nurseries and tell them we needed plants and vines and stuff to create a secret garden. But the secret garden was very sneaky and secretive so we needed soil I could lie down under then sit up to surprise people, and we needed various hiding places and places we could be sneaky in. Spaghetti sandwiches was an ongoing funny bit. Oh, and when we called Lazik places asking if they can laser off hemorrhoids with their lasers. There are tons of great moments. 

I have recently become privy to a new podcast you have going on known as World Record Podcast, which happens to feature a past guest of ours on just the second episode, the great Shane Mauss. Can you give our readers some details on this new venture? 

The idea for the podcast was to talk about world records, but so far it’s just as silly as everything else I’ve done. In the first episode, me and my wife Amanda call stores looking for salamais for us to use for “weird insertions” then we play the five steps from the New Kids on the Block song “Step By Step” for the person on the phone to make sure we’re doing it right. I guess you just have to listen. We’ve created a new TV show on the podcast called “Urkel’s House” that we’re trying to get off the ground by calling production companies and realtors. Shane and I do an epic prank call to a bridal shop on his episode where I complain that the last bridal shop we were dealing with said my wife (Shane) sounds like a man. It’s currently the funniest podcast in production. 

What else does the future hold for you? Anything you would like to plug to our readers? 

I’m working on a children’s book called Stinkalicious. I’m also involved with a celebrity gossip show called Trash Day with René Fabregé. 

What was the last thing that made you smile? 

A comedy special by a comedian I’m not supposed to like anymore.