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Cameron Buchholtz celebrates 100th podcast (with a podcast!)
Lucas Molandes (?!) photo
Comedy podcasting has taken off in the last few years, with standup veterans like Marc Maron, Greg Fitzsimmons, Bill Burr and others jumping into the field and creating a ton of great (and free) content.
Rolling Stone traced the phenomenon back to The Ricky Gervais Show in 2005, calling it a “Velvet Underground-like lodestar of inspiration” for others.
Locally, standup comic Cameron Buchholtz has interviewed an impressive array of guests on his own CB Radio podcast - Henry Rollins, Paul F. Tompkins, Maria Bamford and Todd Barry, to name a few.
To celebrate his 100th podcast, Buchholtz is holding a live taping at 11 p.m. Friday at Coldtowne Theater. It’ll be taped roundtable-style with Matt Bearden, sideshow performer (and comic) Erik “The Lizardman” Sprague, and others.
I talked with Buchholtz about podcasting and some of his favorite moments:
How did the podcast get started?
Comedy podcasts are what originally inspired me to start performing stand up comedy. I had always been a comedy nerd, but it wasn’t until I started listening to podcasts like “Never Not Funny with Jimmy Pardo” or “Jordan, Jesse, GO!” that I actually wanted to perform it myself. Because of that stand up and podcasts have always gone hand in hand in my mind, so when I really got into performing stand up, it was a no brainer that I would start my own podcast. I initially co-hosted a podcast another with comedian from Oklahoma City, James Nghiem, that lasted about nine months before I split off and started CB Radio on my own.
You’ve gotten some big-name comics on this thing - what’s your secret?
I have no secret, I just ask them. You’d be surprised at how willing people are, regardless of stature or fame, to sit down and do these types of things. Comedians, especially when on the road, are rarely all that busy and are most likely looking for things to pass time. And it probably helps that comedians are known to be a bit on the self-centered side, so for many I assume the opportunity to talk about themselves for 30 minutes is fairly attractive, especially when they know it’s going to go out to a few thousand people.
And the more successful comedians I have on, the more likely others are going to be willing to come on as well.
Favorite interview so far?
It’s hard to say what my favorite interview has been. I initially met Doug Benson by having him on CB Radio, and since then he’s helped me get shows and had me open for him numerous times, so that was one was pretty valuable. I interviewed New York comic Sean Patton here in Austin only a few days before I moved to New York, and he sort of became my guide to comedy in NYC my first few weeks living there. I suppose my most memorable interview was with Eddie Pepitone. I met up with him right after he had an audition. Upon meeting me, he realized that he had accidentally kept the microphone from the audition, so I had to go with him to take it back.
After returning the microphone, Eddie’s cell phone was dying, so he had to stop by an AT&T store to buy a charger. While in the store, his alarm went off, telling him it was time to take his daily pills. He got out a pouch of pills and immediately dropped them all on the floor. So there I was, in the middle of a crowded Manhattan AT&T store, on my hands and knees, helping Eddie pick up his dozen or so pills. I don’t even know what they were. It was all hilarious and a bit surreal. And I think the interview after remains one of my best.
You started out in the comedy hotbed of Oklahoma, right ? How have you liked the Austin scene so far? I’m guessing it’s been an improvement.
Yeah, coming from Oklahoma to Austin has definitely been an improvement, but I’m still glad that I started where I did. I was able to perform in Oklahoma City a few times a week with zero pressure and start to get real work. I’ve been away from from Oklahoma for nearly a year and have lived in two different cities since, but I still consider the Loony Bin Comedy Club in OKC my comedy home.
But that’s not taking anything away from the Austin scene; it’s where I have chosen to be for a reason. Everyone here is so supportive and open to all kinds of comedy, and there are fantastic places to perform. I’ve been a part of three very different comedy scenes: the small but growing Oklahoma scene, the giant industry minded NYC scene, and the mid-sized, supportive and creative scene here in Austin, and I’ve definitely enjoyed my time in Austin the most.
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