Dystopia Tonight With John Poveromo

Day 67 - Jody Duncan

Jody Duncan has served as editor of Cinefex magazine since 1992 until they recently shut down due to covid. She is the author of 10 books covering the making of blockbuster films, including Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, Avatar, Nolan’s Batman trilogy, and many more!

 

Jody was so much fun to talk to! Right off the heels of Netflix’s “The Movies That Made Us” series where she discussed the making of Jurassic Park (one of my favorite movies/books of all time) we get the inside scoop from her time on the set of the film from day one of shooting until the end, and also some behind the scenes gossip from her Netflix appearance. We also talk about the directors she’s worked with James Cameron, Chris Nolan and Steven Spielberg in particular and the time she xeroxed a copy of the Star Wars Prequel script so she could get her book done on time. This is definitely making it into one of my top ten favorite interviews so I hope you guys enjoy it!

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Day 66 - Layne Montgomery

Layne Montgomery is the charismatic musician, singer/songwriter and frontman for his band The Great American Novel and creator of the theme song to another popular podcast Blank Check with Griffin and David! His new album with GAN, “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Online” was released August 27th and we talk about his writing process, his hilarious and somewhat abusive group chat with his band mates, creating music during covid, touring and the pains of self promotion, the revival of great 90s bands, his influences, growing up with parents who are both entertainers (his dad’s a musician and his mom is comedian, Carole Montgomery, who is currently filming her third Showtime special) growing up in Vegas, and our mutual love for the show Scrubs. Enjoy!

 

Check out their new album here: https://thegreatamericannovel.bandcam...

Day 65 - Billie Webb

Billie Webb is a TikTok star known for living the Van Life! Struggling with homelessness for a time may have put her on the path to living in a Van but just from talking to her on the show and watching her videos you can plainly see she’s gotten more genuine life experience out of it than most people ever will living in a house or apartment.

In this episode of Dystopia Tonight we talk about her travels, some wild experiences with people being, well…people, plus Billie’s ingenuity and drive that have helped her make a truly beautiful home and all the tips and tricks for anyone curious about trying out her way of living. She’s doing all that while following her dreams by attending film school, and making TikToks for over 500k followers who have embraced her wit, humor, and candor about the ups and downs of living the Van Life. Enjoy!

 

Follow Billie!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/billiewebbb/?hl=en

 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@billiewebbb?lang=en

Day 64 - Ed Asner

I had the great fortune of having Ed Asner on my show in early July. It was an absolute honor to have him on and get to speak with him for over an hour about his life, his charity poker games, comic books, his voice over work, his role as Santa on ELF, his activism and how Chicago makes you a rebel, and as always any advice he'd give to his younger self if he could go back in time. I got to speak to him over the phone several times before and after his appearance on Dystopia, and as you'll see here he was honest, sharp, funny, and curmudgeonly playful every step of the way. The interview has been edited down to 25 minutes due to some audio and Wifi problems on his end since he was in the mountains at the time. I'm forever grateful for getting to spend some time talking to one of the greatest Hollywood legends of our time. Enjoy!

Day 63 - JoAnna Beckson

Absolutely loved having JoAnna Beckson on Dystopia Tonight. I had the pleasure of taking her Meisner class when I was a young comic and what I learned from her is invaluable both as a teacher and now as a friend. We discuss how she got into acting/directing, having the neighborhood kids put on a show she directed at the age of 5, to back packing through Europe, falling in love with another actor in her troupe, being trained by Sanford Meisner, auditioning, diving into teaching and directing, and working with comedians like myself, Joe Starr, Rob Bartlett, Ted Alexandro, Jim Gaffigan, Ray Romano, Dave Attell (the list goes on!) and how the business has and will continue to reshape itself after covid. Enjoy!

 

Check out her official bio below:

 

JoAnna Beckson was trained as an actress and teacher by Fred Kareman, William Esper and Sanford Meisner of the Neighborhood Playhouse. She has worked extensively as an actress and director both Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway in such theaters as The Ensemble Studio Theater, Intar II, The Working Theater and Woman’s Interart. She is also a founding member of New York City’s prestigious Circle Repertory Company’s LAB. Along with being a consultant for Disney and Paramount Studios, JoAnna has maintained the dual career of Actress/Director and Teacher of acting in New York City for many years. “Say Something Funny”, an original dramedy she conceived, directed and co-produced at the Criterion Center-Broadway, was optioned for sitcom development by Nelle Nugent, a five-time Tony Award winning producer, and by Dick Clark Productions. JoAnna’s involvement in the daily “business” of acting gives her special insight toward helping actors develop their craft and solve the problem of finding work. For the past fifteen years, JoAnna has also been an Adjunct Professor at New York University’s School of Professional Studies as well as the Graduate Film Department at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. JoAnna also leads workshops at the School of Visual Arts, and the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts.

Day 62 - Jay Kogen

Legendary Emmy award winning, writer and producer of The Tracy Ullman Show, The Simpsons, Frasier, and the new upcoming reboot Punky Brewster, Jay Kogen joins us on Dystopia Tonight to talk about his his start as a stand-up comic at the age of 17, writing jokes for Harvey Korman at the age of 10, selling his first jokes to his to his legendary father who wrote for Mad Magazine, his proudest joke from his days writing on The Simpsons, The direction TV is headed in, and why movies that show Hollywood depicted by extras running around in Lobster Suits are sus. Enjoy!

 

Follow Jay on Twitter for Philosophy Friday’s here: https://twitter.com/jaykogen?s=11

 

Day 61 - Lewis Black

Lewis Black is one of my absolute favorite comedians of all time, a legend, and one of the nicest guys in the business. When you watch Lewis perform you never feel alone with your rage, and general disgust for the powers that be, and as it turns out talking to him for an hour is no difference. Incredibly smart, hilarious and genuine to the core it was a true joy to have him on Dystopia Tonight. We talk about the current state of the world and the morons running it, touring during covid, the "joys" of zoom shows, failed pilots, Disney, forgetting everything from names, and faces to literally what we just said a minute ago...to uh....wait, what was I saying? Oh well, anyway, check out the links below to follow Lewis Black on all social media and check out his hilarious Rant Cast where he reads rants in his inimitable fashion from fans that send them in! Enjoy!

 

www.lewisblack.com

 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheLewisBlack?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3FbbI6zNALJhHAhwOJhEyg

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelewisblack/

TIkTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thelewisblack?

 

Day 60 - Peter Asher

Peter Asher, CBE is a legendary English guitarist, singer, manager and record producer. He came to prominence in the 1960s as a member of the pop music vocal duo Peter and Gordon before going on to a wildly successful career as a manager and record producer.

We talk about his upcoming tour, the “NY is back concert” that had end halfway through due to a hurricane, his time spent with the Beatles, touring with Robin Williams and producing his Grammy award winning comedy album, working with Cher, Diana Ross, James Taylor, Cait Taylor, how music and the industry has changed for better or worse and some hilarious stories of fans chasing him through the streets. Enjoy!

Day 59 - Hugh Fink

Hugh Fink joins us on the show to talk about starting out in Standup comedy, his days writing for SNL from ‘95 - 2002, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and the Showbiz Show with David Spade where he also served as executive producer and the current state of the world.

 

He’s also got himself a new show coming up on All Things Comedy where he takes on celeb culture! Enjoy!

Day 58 - Shannen Michaela

Shannen Michaela is an Australian contortionist, aerialist, and busker who has trained under Ben Nicolodi, a 7th generation circus performer, and Marissa Burgess, the longest standing member of Moulin Rouge. Thanks to Covid she’s taken her incredible talents to the virtual realm, becoming a TikTok star with over 400k followers!

 

We talk to her about how she got started, her favorite stunts to perform, how she trains and pushes herself to the next level, and have a ton of laughs along the way! Enjoy!

 

Visit her link tree! https://linktr.ee/Shannenmichaela

Instagram: https://instagram.com/shannenmichaela?utm_medium=copy_link