Nate Craig, one of our favorite comedians and a long time friend, joins us in the studio to promote his latest album, "MARRIED TO IT". Nate's album is out starting today online! We play a clip from the album and Nate talks about how the recording went and what it was like to celebrate afterwards after not drinking for a nearly a full year. We further talk about reunions, as having Nate as a guest is a reunion of our old podcast, The Visitors Locker Room. We talk about how most reunions are a disaster, but none more so than rock band reunions or men getting back together for fantasy football drafts. We list some of our favorite rock band reunion debacles and CJ details the debacle that was his fantasy football draft.
Semi-autobiographical podcast on drinking and the Catholic Church, inspired by the new Chicago-raised pope! CJ and Sean tell stories about growing up in the Catholic Church and how common drinking was at all religious ceremonies. Comedian Joe Kilgallon, one of our regulars at the live show, joins us in studio to also share some of his own stories about attending a Catholic, all-boys highschool. In recent news, and still on the subject of religion, Sean talks about the historical importance of Jimmy Swaggart, a grifting preacher who died this week. And, most importantly, the new Big Man Himself, 'Da Chicago Pope calls into the studio to answer some questions and give The Blackout Diaries an official blessing. Checkout Joe's latest comedy album, "Life & Death", on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNVc-f4Z3KM 'Da Chicago Pope can be followed on Instagram via our buddy Mick Betancourt's profile: https://www.instagram.com/mickbetancourt/?hl=en Mick is a hilarious writer and performer from Chicago.
Comedian Carolyn Dickey shares a few hilarious stories at our live show, each showing how much her sister defends her when they party together. Carolyn's sister always has her back. Carolyn joins CJ and Sean in the studio and discuss what its like to drink, eat and live with sisters and brothers. This leads to a theme on siblings. We share some funny stories about our siblings either partying too hard, and us having to monitor them, and a few with the reverse happening. We also share some studies on the effect siblings have on your drinking and a couple funny news stories about drunk siblings. Check out Carolyn's weekly comedy show, every Thursday in Chicago at My Buddy's
Summer block buster / Fourth of July Episode where we talk about how people spend the holiday week. Sean recaps seeing the newest Tom Cruise movie, where an old couple was more entertaining than the movie itself. CJ and Sean discuss fireworks, the fourth of July and the hilariously unsafe rules most lakes have around boating, where the consensus seems to be : if rich people want to kill themselves, so be it. CJ talks about how he might grade a hot dog eating contest and how, in general, those contests have become to specialized and commercial.
Comedian Manny Petty makes his debut at our live show and tells the hilarious story of when he accidentally took his parents to a nude gay play, a week after coming out to them. Manny then joins CJ and Sean in the studio and we talk about the play and how people used to attend more blind features -- where you know nothing about the play or bar back then. This is also Pride month so we talk about the Chicago Pride Parade, which is one of the best in the country and which Manny has marched in several time. CJ and Sean tell some of their favorite stories around Pride month, including the time CJ and a drinking buddy won a couple contests because so loving couple will ever know trivial details about each other, as well as drinking buddies know each other. If you are in Chicago- make sure to get to Zanies on Thursday June 26th to see Manny Petty do his first headling set there as well.
The Blackout Diaries talks golf! Comedian Jason Burke joins us in the studio to share the story about his bachelor party, which was at The Waste Management Open in Phoenix, a golf tournament that is closer to a whiskey fest than an athletic event. Jason talks about some of the dos and donts to planning a good bachelor party in the sun and how his party was mostly "donts". CJ and Sean then tell some golf stories, including an insane John Daly one, some of their own golf stories and a news story about a famous LA course that was raided for also running a prostitution ring. We also share some studies on alcohol's role in golf injuries, particularly head injuries.
Special Blackout Diaries Memorial Day Weekend Episode. CJ and Sean talk about how the start of summer always sneaks up on a people and they realize their alcohol tolerance is not what it was at during the close of last summer, which is one of the reasons why Memorial Day Weekend is the busiest DUI weekend in most states. We also talk about summer blockbusters , specifically the new Mission Impossible movie and how CJ and Sean both love Tom Cruise, to the point where Sean has been ejected from parties for defending him. CJ shares a story about his uncle who loved to get drunk and watch the Yankees on Memorial Day- how his uncle ruined a Bob Hope show during the Vietnam War. We also talk flags and flag rules and why Trump's warm wishes on solemn holidays are always hilarious.
An episode on our favorite sport- horse racing! Comedian Sohrab Forouzesh tells a story from our live show about accidentally giving a horse drugs, along with accidentally receiving some himself. CJ and Sean talk about horse racing before that, sharing some of their own stories about bets gone awry and why the Preakness is The Blackout Diaries preferred stretch of the Triple Crown. We share some stats on horse racing and CJ details a famous incident he saw when a drunk guy got on the track at The Preakness years ago. https://www.instagram.com/sohrabisbrown/?hl=en
Comedian Victoria Flynn shares some stories at our live show about all the times she probably should have been kidnapped while drinking. Victoria joins CJ and Sean in the studio and shares what it was like to attend college in Montreal along with some other kidnapping-inducing drinking stories. CJ and Sean then share stories on the only two kinds of kidnappings that are objectively funny: men who stage a fake kidnapping to stay out later and men who drunkenly steal a college mascot. Former Blackout Diaries sweetheart and Jeppeson's Malort marketing guru Sam Mechling also tells a story about being kidnapped during the Kentucky Derby and having to be ransomed for the loose change his friends had.
Comedian Joe Fernandez tells some stories, at our live show, from when he and his ex shared the same apartment after a breakup so he had to improvise whenever he had a one night stand, often leading to stupid lies or bad hotels (or both). Joe joins CJ and Sean in the studio and we talk about those nights and how difficult your social life becomes when your roommate situation is awkward or bad. This leads to a theme on bad roommates. CJ and Sean share some of their own stories, including the drug den CJ used to live in and how marriage did not make living together easier for Sean. We also share some stats on how people are keeping roommates longer post covid. Checkout Joe's comedy albums, DEMENTED and UGLY, online or if you are in Chicago stop by Will's Northwood on Sundays where he hosts the best open mike in the city.
The Blackout Diaries Podcast is back after a break spent on filming the TV Pilot. Unfortunately we received some tragic news that a dear friend of the show, Mike Polino, passed away from a rare auto-immune disorder. Mike owned The High Hat Club, which is where the Blackout Diaries performed for two years while The Lincoln Lodge was moving. He was a great dude and a hilarious presence behind the bar. We share some Mike stories -- including one he told at the live show about his attempt to fake an injury to avoid relationship trouble. Mike's bar The High Hat Club, was filled with characters and is sorely missed. This leads to a discussion on closed or dead bars- bars that closed up shop and that we miss. We share stats on how bar and restaurant closings are not nearly as common as people think along with some stories about our favorite closed bars.
CJ Sullivan and Sean Bair-Flannery talk spring break! We share some personal stories: Sean details how traveling with your kids on spring break can somehow land you in more troubling embarrassment than drunks and CJ shares a story about driving straight through the night to meet friends with no plans. We share some stats on how much money spring break generates for destination towns but, despite this, some towns despise spring breakers, including Miami Beach's "Breaking Up With Spring Break Campaign"
Comedian Hannah Belmont tells three, short, hilarious stories at our live show, ending with how she went on a date with her older manager at a Mexican restaurant while in college. Hannah joins CJ and Sean in the studio and they discuss her story in more details, everything from the COVID vaccine to Lalapalooza and bad bosses. CJ and Sean discuss the theme of 'bad managers' for the episode, detailing stories of some of their bad bosses- Sean's in IT and CJ's at a hilarious bar in Philly. We also share some stats related to bad managers, like how coworkers are dating more often, post-covid and the alarmingly high occurrences of sexual harassment in the food service industry.
An episode on The Super Bowl! CJ and Sean talk about their favorite moments watching America's funniest city, Philadelphia, win a Super Bowl and then party. People cooking pigs on trains, riding a top trains, maybe taking horses inside trains? We also talk about the city of Philadelphia's strategy for keeping cars and buildings safe and why anyone who says Kendrick Lamar's performance was a bad a halftime show is NO student of history- that Americans forget how hilariously mediocre the shows you used to be. We also share some mind-bendingly large Super Bowl stats, that the NFL shares with everyone and they are repeated as fact, but there's no way they are true, like how much money host cities make off the game and fans.
Comedian Jamie Shriner tells the story of her first road comedy gig where she drinks too much at the show, then goes to a strip where she is brought on stage. Jamie joins CJ and Sean in the studio to share some more details on the story (that was recorded at our live show) along with some of her tips with how to have a good experience at strip clubs. CJ and Sean then talk about strip clubs and their role in boozing. We discuss a Hollywood strip club where the dancers have unionized, a Detroit strip club mogul who built an offensive statue next to his ex wife's house and we bring up the recent Justin Tucker Rub & Tug controversy and how NFL stars can use technology to find masseuses who are willing to give them a handjob rather than assaulting people.
Comedian Chris Trani tells the story of when he was too drunk to enter Wrigley Field so, after security rejected him, he found a local Chicago softball game. Chris joins CJ and Sean in the studio to talk about the unique ways men plan a re-union weekend, versus women. We also discuss nicknames- the good and the bad. We share a study that suggests nicknames might be better to use if you have a very weird birth name and we tell some stories about some of drinking buddies who have great nicknames.
A Dry January Episode from The Blackout Diaries. Sean is doing Dry Jan with his wife and talks about how that began and CJ updates everyone on how he escaped the burning hills of Hollywood. The outgoing Surgeon General has announced that America should put cancer warnings on all bottles of alcohol and we discuss why that may not be effective and why getting people to quit drinking is much harder than quitting cigarettes- because alcohol is a lot more fun. We also share some articles about the warnings of Dry Jan and talk about how most of them do not apply to the kind of person that will consider taking 30 days off.
Comedian Kait Carmody tells a story at our live show about her recent trip to Ireland with her father, who was born there. Kait, who is also our newest coproducer at The Blackout Diaries, then joins CJ and Sean in the studio and we discuss everything from Ireland to how vacations are different with your family, versus your drinking buddies. This leads to a theme on family vacations. Sean tells some stories from his recent trip to Hawaii with his family and CJ shares some stories about his dead saving money on vacations by locating fly-by-night airlines.
An amazing standup comic and friend to many, Kenny De Forest, passed away a year ago this week. On this episode, we celebrate Kenny with a clip from his last appearance on our live show along with stories about Kenny from other comics. Comedian Aaron Weaver shares a great story about what it was like to hangout with Kenny and Matty Ryan talks about how much Kenny meant to everyone, as seen at the tribute show that was organized for Kenny. Cj and Sean add some of their own stories and impressions of Kenny, along with how standup comics tend to 'process' death (i.e. drink).
Comedian Kevin D Williams, a Chicago legend, stops by the studio as our first, post-election guest and shares his thoughts on the election. We play some live clips of Kevin and then talk Presidents. Kevin shares why he thinks Trump should have been banned from running for office, based on his experience at a McDonalds. And CJ and Sean share some of their favorite historical stories about hard drinking presidents.