25 Minutes of Silence with Joey Clift

William Denton is a scholarly analytics and mathematics and statistics librarian at York University in Toronto. He is also a man interested in the music of everyday sounds. He created STAPLR, which is a program that takes all of the noises around the reference desks of his library and live converts them into synthesized music that anyone in the world can listen to at staplr.org. There are a lot of questions I could have asked him about his time as a librarian at York University, his thoughts on songification, or his passion for all things sound but instead, we just sat in silence for 25 minutes.

On this, our 26th episode of 25 Minutes of Silence we go on a retrospective of the best moments from our first 25 episodes and boy, have there been some good ones. In just 25 episodes we’ve had everyone from a New York Times best selling author, to a former astronaut to a former presidential candidate, to an Emmy Award winning writer to the lead singer of The Presidents of the United States of America and many others. These are all important, accomplished people who chose to sit in silence with me for 25 minutes. Was your favorite moment not included in this episode? Let me know by shooting me an e-mail at 25minutesofsilence@gmail.com.

Ken Bone’s life changed on October 9, 2016 after asking Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump a question about energy policy during the second presidential debate. His bright red sweater, glasses, disposable camera and genuine demeanor skyrocketed him to “internet meme” status within hours. The internet obsession with Ken Bone lead to endorsement deals, merchandise, and guest spots on some of the nation’s most prestigious talk shows. Through all of that, Ken has maintained being the same “normal guy” that just wanted to ask a question. Before recording this episode, Ken and I talked about his rise to stardom, the internet’s tendency to obsess over the weirdest things, and how “it’s possible for anyone to get used to anything.” During the episode, we just sat in silence for 25 minutes. Ken used that time to reply to letters from fans.

Matt Besser is one of the founding members of the Upright Citizen’s Brigade sketch group and theater. Together Besser, Amy Poehler, Matt Walsh and Ian Roberts helped revolutionize sketch comedy in the 1990s with their Comedy Central series and with the thousands of students that walk the halls of the UCB Theater each year, the UCB Four have become some of the most influential voices in modern comedy. I could have talked to Besser about the creation of “game philosophy”, his hilarious improv podcast Improv 4 Humans on Earwolf, his comedy special Besser Breaks The Record, the UCB Show Season 2 on Seeso, or his thoughts on the future of comedy. Instead of talking about any of that, we sat in silence for 25 minutes in his office in Los Angeles. Matt used that time to silently take me on a journey through his and his family’s shared history. It was both interesting and maybe the weirdest thing I’ve ever experienced.

In 2016, Cartoon Network rebooted the classic 90s series The Powerpuff Girls. Today’s guest isn’t one of the show’s writers or one of the show’s artists, it’s nine of them! The series writers, Jake Goldman and Haley Mancini as well as many of the artists that create the Emmy nominated series each week joined me in this Powerpuff spectacular. I could have asked the team about what it’s like creating cartoons, the struggles of updating such a beloved brand, how to get a job in animation, or literally any fan question you can think of about The Powerpuff Girls. Instead of doing any of that, the ten of us sat in silence for 25 minutes. They used that time to draw or read.  

Emmy award winning comedy writer Mike Upchurch literally wrote the book on sketch comedy. His University of Nevada master’s thesis, “The Poetics of Sketch Comedy” acts both as a history lesson, and a how to guide on all things sketch. Besides his Emmy winning stint in The Chris Rock Show writer’s room, he’s also written for classic sketch comedy series Mr. Show With Bob And David, MadTV and Blue Collar TV among other places. He currently teaches sketch comedy writing at The Pack Theater in Los Angeles. I can’t think of a better person to talk to about sketch comedy history, what it was like to be a part of some of the best sketch writer’s rooms in television, or what his thoughts are on the future of sketch comedy. Instead of talking about that, we just sat in silence in my car for 25 minutes. It was raining out, so that’s something at least.

John Cage was an experimental composer famously called “one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde.” Perhaps one of his most known works is 4’33”, a music piece where the composer sits at a piano in complete silence for the duration of the piece. Since John Cage is no longer with us, I figured it would be a great idea to have the John Cage Professor of Performance Arts at Bard College and the executive director and co-founder of the John Cage Trust, Dr. Laura Kuhn on the show. I could have talked with Dr. Kuhn about her experiences working with the late John Cage, any advice she has for would be composers, or questions about her professional experiences in music. Instead of doing any of that we just sat in silence for 25 minutes.

Marques Ray is an actor and comedian who has performed stand up on Conan on TBS as well as Montreal’s Just for Laugh’s Comedy Festival. You may also know him from Fox’s sketch comedy series Party Over Here or as Juan Julio in the ABC series Dr. Ken among other places. Marques’ subtle character choices are nothing short of genius and he is easily one of the funniest performers I know. He would be a great person to talk to about audition advice, career longevity in the entertainment industry, and what it takes to create a truly unique comedic persona. Instead of discussing any of those things, we sat in silence for 25 minutes. Marques used that time to quietly show me funny pictures on the internet.

Live theater originated in ancient Greece nearly three thousand years ago. Since then, an uncountable number of entertainers have done everything from comedy to drama and everything in between to delight and mystify an audience. Instead of doing any of that, I sat in silence with an audience for 25 minutes at Pack Theater in Los Angeles on December 23rd, 2016 during the show “Go Sketch Yourself.” I used that time to build a small metal Star Wars figurine while most of the audience looked at their phones. This episode features a live performance of the 25 Minutes of Silence theme song by Joseph Porter. He used his 25 minutes to quietly practice his fiddle in the back of the theater.

 “Dude, you’re getting a Dell” is one of the most recognizable commercial catch phrases of the early 2000s. That line was performed by actor, yogi and musician Ben Curtis. The “Slacker Steve” commercials aired from 2000 to 2003. Since then, Ben’s appeared in Law & Order, The Jack and Triumph Show on Adult Swim among other productions. When he isn’t acting or performing with his band Full Moon Party, Ben teaches yoga and spreads wellness with his company Soul Fit NYC. Ben and I spoke for nearly an hour about the healing power of yoga, his recent career resurgence and the natural ups and downs of working as a professional entertainer. That was before we started recording. After we started recording we sat in silence for 25 minutes. Ben used that time to meditate while I took a short nap.

Katie Willert is one of the stars and writers of the long running, Webby Award nominated series After Hours on Cracked.com. Founded in 2010, the series is an institution of online culture and Katie’s stern, yet charming character is one of the series many highlights. With multiple web series and hundreds of millions of views under her belt, Katie is an expert when it comes to acting and writing for the internet, dealing with internet trolls, and achieving something that is very rare in the internet space. Career longevity. Katie and I could have talked about that, or our experiences coming up at the same time in the Los Angeles sketch comedy scene in the early 2010s, but instead we sat in silence for 25* minutes. Katie used that time to clean her apartment while I Facebook chatted with a friend from high school. Note – Due to a glitch in my stopwatch app, Katie and I technically sat in silence for 28 minutes.

Ron Gilbert is a legend in the video game industry. He designed the PC classics Maniac Mansion, The Secret of Monkey Island and other successful point and click adventure games and created the SCUMM scripting language. Arguable the best thing about Ron’s games is his strong comedic voice. Ron’s games ooze humor. I could have spoke with Ron about his several decades long career in gaming, his comedic influences or his upcoming game, Thimbleweed Park due out in early 2017, but instead we sat in silence for 25 minutes. Ron used that time to work on Thimbleweed Park while I folded my laundry.

As of 2015, Lindsey Beer is one of only two female screenwriters to contribute to the multi-billion-dollar Transformers film franchise. Besides writing for the upcoming “Transformers: The Last Knight”, Lindsey is also writing the upcoming films “Barbie” staring Amy Schumer, “The Kingkiller Chronicle” and “Dungeons & Dragons” among many other films. Lindsey and I talked for nearly an hour about everything from 90s professional wrestling, to her experiences working in some of the most high pressure writers rooms in Hollywood before we started recording the episode. During the episode, we just sat in silence for 25 minutes. She used that time to read a sci-fi novel.

Many people know today’s guest as classic Conan characters “Tony The Cameraman” or “Comic Khan” but I know him as Andres Du Bouchet. In his time writing for Conan on TBS as well as its precursors The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien and Late Night With Conan O’Brien, Andres particular brand of comedy has been a part of the late night world for nearly a decade. With life experiences from writing for the White House Correspondents Dinner in 2013, to his Emmy nomination, to the release of his two hilarious stand up comedy albums “Naked Trampoline Hamlet” and “20-Sided Guy” Andres would be an amazing person to talk to about writing for late night television and finding humor in the absurd. Instead of covering any of that, we sat in silence* for 25 minutes. * – We recorded this episode in a bustling coffee shop.

Ariana Lenarsky has lived an interesting life. As a former professional lullabyist she sang people to sleep for a living. Articles she’s written have appeared on McSweeney’s, Elle and The Huffington Post among other places. Under her twitter handle @aardvarsk, she was named one of the”48 funniest women on Twitter according to some of the funniest women on Twitter” by someecards.com. Instead of talking about any of those things, we just sat in silence for 25 minutes. We used that time to quietly write poems that we read out loud at the end of the episode.

Jerry M. Linenger is a former NASA astronaut who flew on the Space Shuttle and Space Station Mir and a retired Captain in the United States Navy Medical Corps. In 1997 he spent 132 days, 4 hours and 1 minute in space. This was at the time the longest duration flight of an American male. While aboard Mir, he faced many harrowing circumstances including the most severe fire ever aboard an orbiting spacecraft, a near collision with a resupply cargo ship and a failure of Mir’s onboard oxygen generator. I’m a huge fan of space travel and I could have talked to Captain Linenger for hours about his experience as one of the only 536 people who have ever rocketed into the cosmos. Instead, we sat in silence for 25 minutes. Captain Linenger used that time to read a book and clean out his rain gutter while I flipped through book one of The Walking Dead.

Founded by Amanda Meadows and Geoffrey Golden, The Devastator Press is the only all-comedy book publisher in America. Amanda and Geoffrey created “The Devastator” in 2010 as a means to promote comedy books and writers that they love. Since then, their books have been reviewed by Publishers Weekly, Wired, The A.V. Club, Bleeding Cool and ComicsAlliance among other places. If you’re looking to create literary comedy, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone more knowledgable and passionate than Amanda and Geoffrey. Instead of talking about their growing comedy book empire, Amanda’s new book “We Don’t Think You’re Racist!” or Geoffrey’s “Dream It! Screw It!” we just sat in silence for 25 minutes. They took that time to read while I drank a coconut LaCroix.

Ahmed Bharoocha is a stand up comedian and actor who has performed on Conan, Tosh.0 and Adult Swim’s Dream Corp LLC. He recently released a very funny Comedy Central half hour stand up special as well as his debut stand up album “Almond Badoody” on Comedy Central Records. From his times touring the road, to his days ruling the internet with his sketch comedy group “Dead Kevin” Ahmed would be a great person to talk to about success in the different schools of comedy. Instead of discussing any of that, we just sat in silence for 25 minutes. Ahmed used that time to read one of the Harry Potter books.

Sovereign Syre is a stand up comedian that has opened for Marc Maron. She is host of the podcast “Observations” on iTunes and also a former adult film actress. We spent close to an hour talking about the struggles of transitioning between entertainment mediums, male privilege and the difference between the sketch and stand up comedy scenes in Los Angeles after we recorded the episode. While we recorded the episode we sat in silence for 25 minutes. Sovereign used that time to work on her novel.

Zoltan Istvan is journalist and entrepreneur who is running for President of the United States of America under the Transhumanist Party ticket. He currently writes the blogs “The Transhumanist Philosopher” for Psychology Today as well as “Transhumanist Future” for Vice’s Motherboard. He even gave a TED talk called “The Beauty of Being Alive” about life extension and Transhumanist science. Zoltan would be a great person to interview about science, politics and Transhumanist philosophy. Instead of talking about any of that, we sat in silence for 25 minutes. Zoltan used that time to work on an article about “The Venus Project.”