Hot Gazpacho

  Bay Area comedian and Komedio member Stephen Ku joins me to discuss comic books. Having taught a class on graphic novels at UC Berkeley, Stephen taught me also sorts of rad stuff about comic art and design, cross-cultural tropes in comic book narratives, and representation in graphic novel artists and writers. This was a fun, interesting episode, and I really hope you guys like it!   Stephen can be found at: Twitter: @thesuperku IG: @komediocomedy      

  This week, on Hot Gazpacho, I sat down with Bay Area comedian and former amateur boxer Jesse Hett to discuss a subject that is near and dear to my heart - boxing. We talk about the good (hitting people) the bad (getting hit by people) and the ugly (also getting hit my people). It's pretty much the first time i've interviewed someone on a subject that I had some prior knowledge of; give it a listen!   Jesse: IG: @jessethehett Twitter: @jessethehett

  While I was last up in Seattle, I was lucky enough to sit down with Vee Chattie, who is a PNW comedian, photographer, and sex worker. They were kind enough to answer all my dumb questions about sex work, as well as educate me about all the bureaucratic and governmental horseshit that parades itself as being sex worker-friendly, but is actually designed to remove the agency and rights of sex workers all across the United States. This episode is particularly topical, as the FOSTA/SESTA bill was recently passed by the House, which would criminalize many practices sex workers use to keep themselves and their colleagues safe and informed.    For more information on FOSTA/SESTA, go here. To sign a petition against FOSTA/SESTA, go here.   Vee can be found at: IG: @thecomedywhore // @dionaeaphoto Twitter: @VeeChattie

This week on Hot Gazpacho, Matthew Banks, NY-turned-SF comedian, joins me to talk about his job refurbishing and tuning pianos! We talk about the intricacies of tuning a piano (if you thought it was basically like tuning a guitar, you're super wrong), and what it was like for Matthew, being a concert tech at Carnegie Hall.    Matthew can be found at: Twitter: @matthewbankspodcast Instagram: @mbankspodcast

Welcome back to Hot Gazpacho! While up in Seattle, I had the absolute honor to sit down with PNW comedian and all-around rad human being Alyssa Yeoman! Alyssa tells me all about her day job working at Year Up, a nonprofit working to overcome the opportunity divide by giving underprivileged individuals the foundation they need to succeed in the tech industry. Alyssa teaches me all about what it really means to have diversity in the workplace, and we commiserate on how hard it is to learn how to advocate for yourself, as well as how much imposter syndrome sucks. Article about imposter syndrome Year Up's Website Alyssa can be found at: IG: @alyssaYEO Twitter: @alyssaYEO

This week I had the honor to sit down with the delightfully charming Bay Area comedian Vince D'Amico, and discuss the time he spent working as a ballroom dance instructor. We discuss the different types of ballroom dancing, the pros and cons of teaching dance, and the weird, weird stuff Vince saw during his time in that field.    Vince: IG: @vincethedamico Twitter: @vincethedamico

Happy New Year! For the first episode of 2018, I sat down with my brother, Jake Cihla, to discuss his love of pipe organs. We talk about the history of pipe organs (first as church organs, and then their transition to theater organs), how these monstrous instruments work (think bagpipes, but with enough oomph to shake your bones), and why pipe organ music is so much cooler than a lot of people realize. Also, check out the links below for some extremely cool examples of what these babies can do.   Star Wars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2S72eajLzw Indiana Jones: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBTAJQnUkw0  

  Happy holidays! This week, I had the absolute honor to sit down and chat with local improviser and opera singer Emily Markoe! We discussed the best operas, the worst operas, what it's like to sing in a language you don't speak, and SO MUCH MORE. I learned so much about opera in this episode, and it was an absolute BLAST.    Emily is at: Instagram: iamememisme & postitsurprise

    Join me and Bay Area comedian Aviva Siegel as we discuss the time she spent working for a Private Investigation firm. She fills me in about the type of people who become PI's, what her work entailed, and why she eventually had to leave.   Aviva is at: Twitter: @livinlavivaloca Instagram: @livinavivaloca

  Bay Area comedian and food connoisseur Kristee Ono comes on Hot Gazpacho this week to discuss her one true love - burritos. We discuss her 100-day burrito challenge, how to make the perfect burrito, and the fact that we're unabashedly into novelty burritos. Kristee can be found at: IG: rabidpixie Twitter: @rabidpixie

This week, SF comic and Bay Area bombshell Aivy Cordova joins me to discuss her volunteer work as a sex educator. We discuss sex toy stigma, rude porn, and how great the chode-like Yeti mic is. BUT ALSO (TW): In this episode, we cover sexual assault, living as a survivor of abuse, and trauma awareness and mitigation. Proceed with caution

The delightful, charismatic Yogi Paliwal joins me all the way from NYC to discuss his homemade pecan butter, crooked FDA agents, and every type of paprika known to mankind.  Yogi: Twitter: @Yogi_Paliwal Instagram: yogipaliwal

This week, Oakland comedian and math-degree-haver Erik Krasner joins me to answer all of my stupid, juvenile questions about math. We discuss why people think math is scary (and why they really shouldn't) and the beauty of proofs. Erik also walks me through how to prove the pythagorean theorem. Check out his diagrams below, which are presented in chronological order. When drawn on a sphere, the sum of the interior angles of a triangle add up to greater than 180 degrees. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spherical_geometry] - The Pythagorean Theorem [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagorean_theorem] - The relationship between sine and cosine. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trigonometric_functions#Sine,_cosine,_and_tangent] - Proving the Pythagorean theorem.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagorean_theorem#Pythagorean_proof]

LA comic and all-around great human being Jordan Doll joins me to discuss his favorite yet-undiscovered critters of legend and lore. We discuss Bigfoot, the Hodag, the Loch Ness monster, and whether or not the aforementioned creatures can shred. Jordan: Twitter: @RazorLou Instagram: razorlou