As the holidays approach, self-help influencers encourage us to reflect on the past year. I'll spare you the progress I've made on my vision board and instead tell you how our little podcast got started and where it's going.
I met David at an open mic at Spats Bar in Berkeley about a year Before Covid (BC). We shared a similar attitude towards performing comedy live, we enjoyed the rush and liked hanging out with the fun, weird, diverse, inclusive community of local standup comics. David's what this one friend of mine's sister would describe as a DOWN DUDE. He is down to try new things, meet new people, and experience life to its fullest.
Shelter in place killed all the in-person mics, leaving a void in the soul, and calendar, of attention-craving comics. We could no longer spend our weeknights trading stories with strangers about our dating life and personal inadequacies. So, like the millenials we are, we turned to the Internet to seek validation from strangers.
Around Christmas last year, I was in New York and I was stuck in an airbnb, bored out of my mind. One of the Covid offshoots was making the rounds, and the city was sheltering-in-place yet AGAIN. I think I literally texted David "Do you want to start a podcast?" And, like the down dude he is, he entertained the idea. We had a back and forth to figure out what to talk about. Honestly, we had no clue. But we agreed we didn't want to focus on:
I downloaded a sketchy app that recorded phone calls, and I started calling David every Tuesday night. We didn't publish the very early episodes, they were awful, but we slowly improved our voice recording quality and ability to keep the conversation going. We got the show to a point where it felt ready for general consumption and we started releasing on Spotify and then eventually to Apple Podcasts. Surprisingly our friends were actually listening to the episodes, the WHOLE episodes! That's good feedback and we really appreciate everyone who gives our show a listen, even it's not your cup of tea.
What's coming up for Bay Area Weekend in 2024? I'm hoping for more interviews. It takes more effort to coordinate with guests, but it grows our audience and keeps the show engaging. I'm also hoping to create some BAW patches and stickers to give away to listeners. If you want to help with designs or get more involved with the show, let me know.
This past year we recorded and released over forty episodes of Bay Area Weekend. Thanks for listening to Bay Area Weekend! Four more years! Four more years!
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