Spencer Blair: Outtakes

Outtakes: Amy Sumpter

In these outtakes from Amy Sumpter's episode, we discuss the duplicitous toilets of Manhattan, working a day job, dating as a comedian, and a lot more. Timestamps: 01:00 – Dissecting Comedy at Open Mics 01:28 – “I love a good poop joke, but…” 01:58 – The Legend of Kyle Parris * Mentions of Doc Martins, Dad Jeans, Elbow Patches, ‘The Room’, Vaudeville 03:45 – Selling the Hell Out of a Dad Joke 04:38 – New York and L.A. 05:00 – The Toilets of New York 05:52 – Moving to Chicago to Wait Tables 07:38 – Reflect on Your Decade 08:19 – “If you want me, come and get me. You fly me out” 09:35 – No Shame in Having a Day Job 11:07 – I Do Not Run Las Locas Comedy (Janice Rodriguez Does) * Mentions of 2002, Frosted Tips, Anal Beads, Janice Rodriguez, Vanilla Ice 13:28 – Entitled White Women at Open Mics 14:36 – “Everyone feels this ownership of what is funny” * Mentions of George Carlin, Checking Your Privilege, Last Comic Standing 16:50 – Absorbing Positive Messages Before a Performance 17:54 – Rachel McCartney is a Genius 18:20 – Relatable Material? 20:40 – She’s Crafty 20:58 – “So, you’re famous, right?” 21:44 – Building Women Up * Mentions of The Kates, Public Speaking 23:00 – Wisdom vs. Age * Mentions of Non-Binary, Gender Norms, Feminism, Patriarchy 24:36 – The Weird Dating Cycle Redux 25:37 – Sex and Self-Respect 26:15 – You Deserve a Sexy, Famous Gentleman * Mentions of Jason Momoa, Idris Elba, #metoo, ‘Luther’, ‘Cats’, The Rocky Horror Picture Show 27:45 – I Spill Water on Myself 28:25 – Brittany Meyer’s ‘Cats’ Story 28:50 – A Kid Keeps Farting During ‘Beauty and the Beast’ 29:38 – Gym Momentum 30:15 – Hair vs. No Hair * Mention of Winslow Dumaine 30:46 – Wait, You Found Love? 32:25 – I Don’t Want to be Objectified 33:00 – Tips for Going on a Date with a Comedian 33:40 – Kelsie Huff Kicks Ass * Mentions of Marilee, Laugh Factory, Robin Williams, St. Patrick’s Day, Zanies, Scott Duff 34:32 – “Scott Duff is magic”

Amy Sumpter

Co-founder of The Kates on Broadway and acclaimed Chicago comedy vet Amy Sumpter goes over her amazing 2019 set at Strip Joker in this season 3 finale! We discuss making space for women in stand-up (and in the world), the time her breast ended up in an old lady's mouth on the subway, and what not to do when your gynecologist shows up to a pelvic exam dressed as a pirate. Timestamps: 01:00 – Set from Strip Joker 14:00 – “I come from a pretty funny family” * Mentions of 7th Grade, Mean Girls, High School, Medieval Times, Jewel Osco, Bennigan’s 16:35 – “I want to be the weirdo; I want to be the character actor” * Mentions of College, Chicago, Second City 17:45 – “…And that’s where I met Kelsie Huff” * Mentions of Kelsie Huff, The Kates, Bear (The Nephew), Columbia College, Second City Conservatory 18:55 – The Kates Origin Story * Mentions of Frankie J’s on Broadway, Methadone Clinics, One-Woman Shows, ‘Huffs’, Tragedy Plus Time, ‘Enough is Enough’ Webseries 21:40 – “Chicago is very small” 22:25 – “Whenever I have issues [with someone], it’s usually a white dude” (SPOILER ALERT) 22:55 – “I have been getting onstage since I was twelve” 23:21 – “Open mics just make me want to quit comedy” 24:37 – “Talk about what you know” 24:54 – “Don’t try to emulate your favorite comics” * Mentions of Eddie Murphy, Lilly Tomlin, Amy Schumer 25:30 – Bad Sitcom Writing vs. ‘The Office’ 26:10 – Amy’s First Open Mic Story * Mentions of Chicago Trolley, Corona Beer, Withered Lady-Boners, Eric Estrada, ‘Chips’, The Comedy Hole of Shame 32:02 – Moving to Chicago vs. LA 32:42 – ‘The Kates’ Begins * Mentions of Female Representation, Edgewater, Kate The Great’s Book Emporium, The Book Cellar, Facebook, Feminism 35:11 – Getting into the Set 35:13 – The High Kick * Mentions of Cartwheels, Counseling, Therapy, Macho Man Randy Savage 36:57 – Underwear Covered in Pubic Hair * Mentions of Gen-X, Shaving, Litmus Test 37:54 – 3-Year Old Nephew, Bear, Trying to Swear * Mentions of Child Psychology, Teaching, Testing Limits 40:11 – The L-Cup and “You’re Welcome!” * Mentions of Strip Joker, Specialty Bras, Motifs, X-Treme Commercials, Body Positivity, Believe Women 43:40 – Midwestern Politeness 44:20 – The Subway Incident * Mentions of Rebirth, Mid-Life Crisis, Hindsight, Turkey Dogs 46:27 – Mom Is Taller Than Dad 48:30 – The Tom Green Digression * Mention of ‘The Tom Green Show’ * Season 1, Episode 9: ‘Parent Statues’ * Season 2, Episode 11: ‘Best of Special’ * Mention of Drew Barrymore 50:20 – “I’m not a virgin and that’s sad” * Mentions of Pound Town, Self Esteem 52:11 – “Why do some people just get to live in Pound Town?” * Mentions of Hot Privilege, Serial Monogamy, Relationship Baggage, Chemistry 54:57 – The Gynocologist * Mentions of Halloween, Speculums, Tinder, Salvatore Dali, Empowered Vaginas 57:10 – Revealing The Pasty 59:58 – Reviewing the Set 1:01:21 – “I don’t necessarily believe in ‘suffer for your art’” 1:01:45 – Advice for Aspiring Comedians 1:03:18 – Where Can We Find You? * Podcast: ‘Shaped’ * She’s Crafty: Chicago’s All-Female Beastie Boys Tribute Band * The Kates @ The Book Cellar * Upcoming Comedy Album 1:04:28 – Final Words

Outtakes: Brittani Ferguson

In these outtakes from Brittani Ferguson's episode, we discuss the queer coding within 80's and 90's action films, 'Little House on the Prairie', and, of course, the 'X-Files'. Timestamps: 00:00 – “The Burbs” 00:48 – Del Close and Sharna * Mentions of Second City, Improv, Todd Barry, Steven Wright, Mu 02:18 – All 80’s and 90’s Action Films Were Softcore Gay Porn * Mentions of Tom Cruise, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chuck Norris, Dolph Lundgren 03:16 – “I published an essay in college about all action films as gay romcoms” 04:32 – Telling Inside Jokes Onstage 04:56 – The Kyle Parris Story * Mentions of Jerry Seinfeld, Trigger Warning Open Mic 06:47 – “Generally people around the age of thirty just seem to be kind of sad” 07:08 – “Nobody got their porn from Tumblr” 07:38 – Little House on the Prairie * Mentions of Twitter, Doc Baker, Kevin Hagen, Charles Landon, Winger 09:36 – A Sexual Awakening to the X-Files * Mentions of Divorce, Halloween * References to The X-Files Season 2, Episode 7: ‘3’ (1994) 12:50 – “What do you call fans of Gillian Anderson? Lesbians” 13:28 – What Happens in Florida Laundry Rooms

Brittani Ferguson

In the Before Times of Yore, comedian and cast member of The Lincoln Lodge, Brittani Ferguson stopped by to discuss her interesting set at Strip Joker. We have a fascinating conversation about her military upbringing, reciting Mel Brooks films as a child, the context of the words "gay" and "queer," her childhood (and current) obsession with Gillian Anderson, and a lot more. Timestamps: 01:00 – Opening Set @ Strip Joker 13:45 – ‘History of the World: Part I’ * Mentions of Madeline Khan, Mel Brooks, Gregory Hines, Premature Ejaculation 16:33 – Moving to Chicago 17:10 – A Military Kid * Mentions of K-Pop, Abu Dhabi, Da Burbs 18:50 – Improv Classes at Second City 19:13 – “I wish you were a diversity candidate” 19:55 – “They will forgive any crime that anyone commits” * Mentions of Cults, Scientology, Del Close, iO, Sharna, Object Work 21:25 – “Stop playing” 21:55 – “You need to go do stand-up” 22:20 – Kelsie Huff and Fem Comique * Mentions of Alex Cumin, The Kates University, Robin Williams, The Laugh Factory 25:01 – “A lucky idiot” * Mentions of The Lincoln Lodge, Strip Joker, Bobby’s World 27:13 – Getting into the Set * Mentions of Le Aboav, Strip Joker, Sigmund Freud 28:32 – The Graveyard at Clark & Irving * Mentions of Murphy’s Irish Pub, Yelp, Bucktown, Uber, HP Lovecraft, The King In Yellow 31:33 – Gay vs. Queer * Mentions of LGBTQ, Safe Spaces, Homophobia 34:49 – ‘Top Gun’ * The topic of homoeroticism in action films is addressed in the outtakes episode 35:26 – All Comics Are Recently Single * Mentions of April Fools Day, Valentine’s Day, Vitamin B12, Celiac Disease 39:17 – Gay Christmas * Mentions of Pride, Gay Pride Parade, ‘Will & Grace’ 40:29 – Hosting Your Own Straight Pride Parade * Mentions of Quentin Tarintino, Inside Jokes 41:16 – A 90’s Kid is a Sad Adult * Mentions of Tumblr, Adderall, Antidepressants, Millennials, iPads 43:32 – The Need to be Validated 43:47 – “I’ve already met all the people I want to meet” * Mentions of Introverts, Extroverts, The Kinsey Scale 45:10 – “I don’t know what a healthy, intimate relationship looks like” * Mentions of Therapy, Alcoholism, Negative Reinforcement 47:38 – Old-Timey Doctor * Mentions of Kristen Toomey, ‘Little House on the Prairie’, Doc, Plague Doctors, Morphine, Vibrators, Leeches, Country Clubs, Twitter 50:07 – Factory-Made Lesbian * Mentions of Bob Dylan, Lilith Fair, Christian Slater 51:13 – An Incredible Gillian Anderson Fetish * Mentions of ‘The X-Files’, Italy, ‘Friends’, ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’, ‘Seventh Heaven’, David Duchovny, Keanu Reeves, Coding, Katatonia, ‘Mulder and Scully’, ‘The Bad Touch’, The Bloodhound Gang 55:32 – “I would put on ‘The X-Files’ instead of music to f*ck a guy” * Mention of Masking 56:30 – The Cheerleader Circle Jerk * Mentions of Being Closeted, Male Cheerleaders, Gymnastics, Korea, ‘Bring It On’, Gillian Anderson 1:01:33 – Set Review 1:03:43 – Advice for Aspiring Comedians 1:05:33 – Where Can We Find You? * The Lincoln Lodge * Instagram: @BJJFerguson 1:06:23 – Parting Words

Spencer Blair: Outtakes

In these outtakes from Spencer Blair's episode, we discuss the unceremonious closing of Uptown Underground, how he used to cheat audience members into the Chill As Fuck show at Second City, the time I learned about secondary sex mattresses, gay dating app etiquette, and more.