Seeing how I enjoyed many other View Askewiniverse Podcasts I decided to give Tell ‘Em Steve-Dave a chance. The show features Walt Flanagan, Bryan Johnson and Brian Quinn.
Walt Flanagan is a long time friend of Kevin Smith. He runs Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash, a comic book store in Red Bank New Jersey. Bryan Johnson is also a long time friend of Smith. He was in charge of the Secret Stash in California and both men have appeared in numerous Kevin Smith films.
My initial listening turned me off to these two guys. I don’t know what it was, but I turned off the cast before finishing it. Then I heard that Kevin Smith would be producing a television show called Comic Book Men. It features Johnson, Flanagan, Ming Chen and Mike Zapcic. After watching the first two episodes of edited conversation by the two principles I decided to give the podcast another shot.
Flanagan is enjoyable on many levels. He has a level of morality that is admirable and at times confusing. In one episode he is giving Johnson a hard time about his drug use. A preceding episode featured Flanagan talking about how he would purchase an action figure from a store and return an inferior one from the same set to the store in order to turn a profit.
His laugh is infectious. At first it was off putting, but it really grew on me. It is sincere and open. To put myself on a personal psychiatrist’s couch what is probably most endearing to me about it is that he seems to use it often. While I find many things amusing it takes some doing to get me to laugh.
Bryan Johnson plays the role of introverted malcontent, rather it seems that way at first. When he gets comfortable during the cast he is very interesting. I find his voice to be similar to Mosier’s from Smodcast and it melds well with the other voices.
When I started listening to the Podcast it was from the most recent to older. Now that I have decided I like the show I am starting from the earliest point in the catalog that is available. The third person is Brian Quinn. In the current format he has a much larger role. He is delegated to “tech guy” for the most part in the early episodes.
If you enjoyed Comic Book Men or just want to get a dose of dorky, vulgar comedy give Tell ‘Em Steve-Dave a shot.
The second Podcast that I am listening to regularly is Hollywood Babble On. It features, yes you guessed it Kevin Smith and Ralph Garmin. It is a podcast that has a format of bits that are done every week.
Shit that Should Not Be is probably better there in person (yes they have a live studio audience). It highlights mistakes in movies that shouldn’t have made it by editors. One that always stands out is a scene in Wildcats where a black player runs andgets tackled but Woody Harrelson gets up from the ground.
And then nerd nirvana when it comes from Star Wars
And finally, at least from me, Belloq eats a fly
This was a wedding at Cana sort of introduction to the show because it is not the best part. Ralph Garmin is a master impressionist. He does all sorts of voices. Here are some of my favorites.
David Bowie-
Al Pacino-
The Govenator-
And his greatest Ed Wynn-
They have many other bits. I enjoy 90 percent of what they do. They often bring me to laughter so this one is here to stay. Everyone can use more laughing. The main issue for anyone would be vulgarity and how you feel about Kevin Smith. He really seems to shine when interacting with Ralph Garmin. They have a great back and forth.
SITM 