Zed Cutsinger [Interview]

Hello Folks! Welcome back to another wonderful interview here at Trainwreck’d Society. Today we have an absolutely wonderful guest. It’s Zed Cutsinger, Everyone! Zed is a former amateur wrestler, and current podcast co-host of the brilliant shows Views From the Vista & The Male Gaze, both alongside our dear friend and past guest Steve Hernandez, as well as the latter being co-hosted by another past guest of ours, the great Allen Strickland Williams. They are two of my favorite podcasts for very different reasons, both of which I never miss each week.

Zed is an absolutely hilarious human being and we are so excited to have him grace our digital pages. He’s just an overall sweet man, and it is an absolute joy to have him with us. He is also delightfully devoted to his wife, and also co-host of Views From the Vista, Honor Nezzo. So I offer my sincerest apologies if the above photo of Zed might have gotten you all riled up. Please try to control yourselves.

So Folks, please enjoy some wonderful words from the brilliant Zed Cutsinger!

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What inspired you to get into the world of entertainment? Was it something you have aspired to do since your youth, or did you just happen to find yourself in this world one day?

My first tastes of “entertainment” were in high school. When I was a freshman I ran for class treasurer. I was thirsty for power. For my speech I just wrote a few minutes of inane drivel. Just a laundry list of reasons I should be elected: how I treated old ladies nicely, I always tied my shoes, etc. Really stupid stuff. It got a reaction and from that point forward my thirst for power could only be clenched by laughter. I never thought it was something I could do beyond the audience of a classroom until I lived in New York and took an improv class at UCB in 2006.

What was your first paid gig in the world of entertainment? And were there any sort of lessons learned from this project that still affect your work to date?

The first I can recall was in NY, it was an anti-piracy PSA commercial ~2010. During the audition I was supposed to be peddling bootleg DVD’s and I made some joke about Leslie Nielsen (he had died that day). At least one of them must’ve loved The Naked Gun as much as I did. The video was shot in Union Square during a cold period (Fall?) and I sat in a van with crew members waiting to do my “scene”. (It was just a couple lines.) There was some bigger name talent that had to go first and the whole ordeal took so long I never ended up doing my part. I still got paid. My big lesson: Pirating is good.

Can you tell us a bit about one of my new favorite podcasts, Views From The Vista? How did you link up with our new friend Steve Hernandez to create one of the best movie podcasts in the game right now?

The Vista Theater is the Greatest Movie Theater Ever. (GMTE). Their matinees were $6.50 so every friday I’d see the first showing of whatever was playing there because why the hell not. I kept running into Steve Hernandez (I liked to save money, I’m not sure what his excuse was). During one of our run ins, I was making him laugh an average amount (LOTS) and when he finally caught his breath he said, “We should do a movie podcast together.” At this point I had never podcasted but something about Steve made me say, “Yes.” We had my girlfriend on for episode ten and from that point forward she, Honor Nezzo, has been a co-host and eventually my wife. When we first started I liked movies but now I love them more than anything (including Honor by a LOT).

What would you say are some of the most difficult genres of films you have covered on VFTV?

Comedies. My natural inclination is to break down the jokes like math and figure out what and what didn’t work about them but I can see that being boring to listen to. And It’s hard to joke about jokes? If that makes sense. Also, since we’re in the world of comedy, belittling/criticizing a movie might come off like we’re better than it. I’m not better than anything (including Honor by a LOT). Then there are movies that are SO humorless and serious (AND NOT GOOD) that it can be a struggle to discuss. (2016’s The Birth of a Nation comes to mind.) We try not to review movies that we dislike. I’d rather recommend something than push someone away from something they might enjoy. I straight up feel bad when someone asks me what I thought about a movie and I say something bad to find out they loved it.

You also co-host another podcast, also with Steve Hernandez, as well as other former guest Allen Strickland Williams, entitled The Male Gaze? Same question as before, sort of. How did this show come to life, and what could our readers expect to hear on it?

Steve and Allen were trying to make a horny podcast with a focus on the news. Honor guilted Steve into having me co-host it with them. She was my girlfriend at the time. But she should’ve been my wife. Since day one. Then we asked Brodie Reed to join us. We do discuss what’s going on in the world but it’s mostly us just gabbing. We’re four dudes… but we’re sensitive. That’s the hook. The only sensitive guys ever. We have a lot of fun. And you will too. Just listen to us already.

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

That’s the question! Watching movies and making people laugh by accident. Hopefully by then (tomorrow) I’ll figure out why they laughed. Check out my two podcasts, Views From The Vista & The Male Gaze, and my Letterboxd as well: @zedcutsinger.

What was the last thing that made you smile?

When I was answering your questions, Honor was watching Bridgerton on Netflix. She got my attention during an intense sex scene. (“Zed! Look!”) That made me smile. And it’s the last thing that’ll ever make me smile. I’m done.