This week's Focus Group edition of Arts & Crass included me and fellow Minneapolis comic Anil Bandhakavi. We talk with Jesse Irvin and John Dick Winters of the Race to the Coffin Comedy crew from Pittsburgh. We talk jokes, suicide, white guy comedy, race, and more. It's a good one!

Arts and Crass

Race to the Coffin

Australian superstar comedian and relentless podcaster Wil Anderson comes to Arts & Crass! Wil is one of the best comedians in the entire world. And a genuinely generous and kind man. We are lucky to have him. 

Wil Anderson

Peace and kindness, mostly puppies, and good thoughts

Focus Group 8 (aka VI.iii)

Join the comics of Minnesota while they drink beers and talk

Focus Group 7

Group Conversation at its most chaotic, brought to you by Minneapolis comedy

Focus Group 6

This podcast features the late great Bill Young and the very much alive Nick Piontek. Unless you're listening to it in the far future, in which case Nick is also dead. Everyone's dead. Spoiler: Everyone was dead all along. Brought to you by geekiana.com

Stepdaddy Issues

Leah Mansfield came to the Casket Arts studio for a funny and serious chat. We also welcome local bilingual labor mediator James Wells! Leah takes time from her busy road schedule to mix it up with local Minnesota comedians, share comedy insights, and get us into a serious conversation about child rearing. This show was recorded right after comedian Adam Richmond was charged with sexual assault here in Minnesota. So trigger warning, the subject of rape comes up. Leah also shares a great Adam Richmond story.Today's podcast is sponsored again by Geekiana. Crasstians can support the show when you visitGeekiana.com or geekiana.etsy.com and save 20% with the coupon code CRASS.

Say You Want A Revolution

This week we tried a new experiment. Instead of the usual focus group, I asked the question:  what if comedians could have a conversation with each other's ideas through sets? So a few brave souls came to the Casket Arts Studio 314 for a special edition of Arts & Crass where we played a kind of game. The winner is YOU. Guests include Patrick Ryan  Bauer, Justin Colucci, Jun Sung, and David Sitrick.Arts & Crass is still sponsored by Geekiana. Use the coupon code CRASS to save 20% at Geekiana.com or on etsy at Geekiana.etsy.com.

Field Trip 1

Phil Kolas and David Harris join us for a night of classic Borscht Belt humor and magic.*This was a really fun episode as we get deep with two of Minneapolis' truly funny guys who also happen to be nice (being nice without being funny is basically the worst thing you could ever be, take it from your host).This episode is again sponsored by Geekiana. *podcast contains no Borscht Belt humor, nor magi

The Power of Positive Thinking

Spoiler: the twist ending was simply breaking the episode into two parts so we could include the complete Alvin Irby performance and interview. It's a good one, so get into it!

Here I Stitch

The Arts and Crass studio stage is seized this week by Alvin Irby, Kait Varkados, and Benjamin Hoffman. We get to laugh, get to know the limits of medical diagnostic terminology, and get to catch up with an old friend. Kait sets the appearances record for the show's short history, and Ben says farewell after we just barely meet. It's a night of dichotomies... and THEN we make a groundbreaking format leap!We're still proud to be sponsored by Geekiana.com where listeners can use the coupon code CRASS to save 20%.

Paging Doctor Bro

In this episode we probe the comedic brains of two of Minnesota's hottest young standup comics. Robert Fones steps in for an absent friend and gives us a good show, after which we go deep on the subject of our youthful shames. Turner Barrowman Casey relates his terrifically awful roommate experience and waits patiently for Jon to stop gushing about his family. This episode is sponsored by Geekiana.

Sleeper

In this stunning edition of Arts and Crass, Sid Oxborough and Justin Colucci drop by the Dancing Fork Studios for back to back joke-telling-and-a-chat. We get deep on comedy, impvov vs. standup, and the places performers come from. And Justin Colucci gets serious. Strap yourself in, this one is a little like how it must feel being in heaven with all the angels.

Woe Begone Boys

More Focus Group follies--group conversation among comedians. Friend of the show Matt Kohr returns, bringing with him Mike Linden and Laura Westley-Williams. We talk immigration, celebrity self-help, and lessons for pedestrians. Time for your Arts & Crass: Focus Group report! This episode's interstitial music is "Metal" by The Rainy Saturdays.

Focus Group 2

Arts and Crass welcomes Xchel Hernandez and Carly McMenomen to the Casket Arts stage. We talk sexual Everests, passive aggression, behavior in the women's undergarment industry, and how to love what (or WHO) you're doing. It's good stuff, so get your house in order and enjoy today! This episode is again sponsored by Geekiana.com. Use the coupon code CRASS to save 20% on your order!