Shows
The GAG: A SpoopcastWe Die First: A CROSSOVER EVENT (Part I)Seynique Smythe and Andrew Baldwin are comix from Chi-town with their *own* spoopy podcast, called WE DIE FIRST. Listen to us gag on an array of horrors as we talk about the representation, influences and tropes that made us the anxious gremlins (or cool comedy people) we are today. Then join the Spooky Squad over at WDF!
Follow @wediefirstpod and its hosts (@seynique, @andrew_on_drums)!
And moi: @joshuasimonsays
TW: Discussion of both fictional and real-world violence and racism, including brief mentions of current events. Mild Spoilers for GET OUT, SOCIETY, HELLRAISER, EVE'S...2021-04-231h 06The GAG: A SpoopcastAyatollah You So... (w/ Annam Choudhry!)The haunted hijab from Babak Anvari's UNDER THE SHADOW (2016) scared the pants off both myself and my wonderful guest, Louisville comedian Annam Choudhry. Perhaps this is why the first few minutes of our chat revolve around our bladders instead of the film we covered?
But then we get right into it! Kind of.
Follow Annam! on Twitter @AnnamLaughs and IG @annamnms
And Me! on Twitter/IG @joshuasimonsays
The Patreon: www.patreon.com/gagpod
TW: discussions of fictional and real-world violence/trauma. AKA: The Usual.
Finally: Thanks for...2021-04-091h 21The GAG: A SpoopcastParker Posey is a Gift (w/ Ely Kreimendahl!)Queer Millennial Mom Comic (Momic?) and all around bada$$ Ely Kreimendahl talks about Creed, stimmies, and The Wilds, before we gag on horror cinema's intro to the new millennium: SCREAM 3 (Wes Craven, 2000).
Follow Ely on Twitter and IG: @elykreimendahl
Follow Me: @joshuasimonsays
Support the Show! www.patreon.com/gagpod
Lol, remember the year 2000?? Fun times. What day is it today???
2021-03-091h 05The GAG: A SpoopcastEvery Wrong Choice (w/ Yamini Nambimadom!)Is CATS a horror film? Technically no, but it IS a horrifying film. Comedian and volunteer feline researcher Yamini Nambimadom discusses why Tom Hooper's 2019 Xmas release was a warning of the nonsense year that followed.
Not that 2021 is shaping up to be much better... this episode was obviously recorded well before recent events at the Capitol.
But hey, at least he can't tweet anymore, right?
Follow Yamini on IG @yaminidoescomedy and Twitter @showmetheyamz
Follow Moi @joshuasimonsays and subscribe to my Patreon!
www.patreon.com/gagpod
2021-01-1159 minThe GAG: A SpoopcastThe Rocky Horror Clip Show (w/ Christian Luu!)This episode was a long time coming (recorded BEFORE November, omg) but I had so much fun gagging on THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975) with comic and writer Christian Luu (@christiandluu)!
Also lots of distractions, including Controversial Broadway Opinions, our favorite Action Heroes (and their d*cks), and the reason I wore an underwire bra nearly every night for a whole month.
Follow me! @JoshuaSimonSays
Support the Pod! www.patreon.com/gagpod
Stay safe and stay sane. You can do this.
And finally, send Matthew Morrison to Gitmo (or...2020-12-181h 22The GAG: A SpoopcastMy Father, John Waters... (w/ BJ Colangelo!)Writer/Director/Polymath of Scares BJ Colangelo ("POWERBOMB") drops in to talk about father-of-filth John Waters' PINK FLAMINGOS (1972). We only go off track to discuss important things like finding queer- and trans-friendly doctors, how to do a B'more accent, and trashy reality shows!
Plus plenty of fangirling over Mink Stole, Divine, Dracula's Daughter, and more.
Follow BJ @bjcolangelo for more of her writing and film news, and check out her and Harmony's pod, "This Ends at Prom."
Follow ME @joshuasimonsays or www.patreon.com/gagpod and rate and subscribe and junk! Don't be...2020-11-261h 35The GAG: A SpoopcastVitamin Cuck (w/ Arielle Dundas!)It's that time of year again (Fall). The kids are back to school (not really!) and suburban life remains pristine (incredibly untrue!). New Amsterdam's own Arielle Dundas zooms by to talk Patriarchal Horror THE STEPFORD WIVES (Bryan Forbes, 1975).
Plus: The similarities between Florida and New Jersey! Organic vs. Store-Bought Women! And, most importantly: Can men grow and develop as humans if they are born straight?
All this plus the 2004 remake, which is too gay not to mention. Bette Midler is there, for crying out loud!
Follow Arielle @ArielleDundas !!!
Follow MEE @joshuasimonsays...2020-09-181h 19The GAG: A SpoopcastJustice 4 Midge (w/ Rebecca Kaplan!)Quarantine Queen Rebecca Kaplan (Glass Houses Comedy, every Tuesday!) talks the ART of comedy, Hitchcock, and (of course) the rampant misogyny of both! Oh boy is VERTIGO (1958) a wild ride...
CW: Spoilers for this classic gag start at ~25:00, plus murder, mayhem, and a dizzying fear of heights.
FOLLOW Rebecca on Twitter and IG @RebbecaTKaplan
and moi @joshuasimonsays
Rate and Subscribe and junk! And VOTE. Don't sit this one out, gremlins.
And finally: MADELINE KAHN 4 EVA.
2020-09-041h 05The GAG: A SpoopcastSpell "Perineum" (w/ Elani Cooper!)Yes, I had to look up how to spell it. Electric kitty Elani Cooper chomps on Stuart Gordon's RE-ANIMATOR (1985) with me. Also: I talk to your pets! We talk about Curt the Russian! And str8 men remain an utter mystery to all!
Watch Lovecraft Country and tell me what yall think?
CW: The usual: spoilers, violence, oppression, p*ssy-eating. My PATREON:
www.patreon.com/gagpod
Follow me @joshuasimonsays and Elani @ElaniKitten (Twitter) and @electricrosekitten (IG). Rate and subscribe and junk!
I love all my Russian Bear Fans!
2020-08-211h 00The GAG: A SpoopcastNIGHTBREEDERS: The Lost Episode (w/ Carl Williams!)Hold onto your tear-away Faces! Big Tyme Gaymer Carl Williams gags on Clive Barker's NIGHTBREED (1990) in an episode recorded about five weeks (or eight Quarantine Years) ago!!! Hence, enjoy this Lost Episode of a bygone era!
We discuss gaming, gayness, and why "Johnny Get Angry" is bursting with Broadway potential.
TW: discussions of real world and fictional violence, assault, and oppression (fun!). Also some sexy spoilers!
Follow Carl & Co on FB at Too Brown Gaymers, or check out their twitch stream at www.twitch.tv/toobrowngaymers and my patreon at patreon.com/gagpod!2020-08-1050 minThe GAG: A SpoopcastMy Kink? A Healthy Back. (w/ Jay King Wack!)Tear me apart, Puzzle Daddy! Professional kinky comic Jay King Wack shares her unique perspective on Clive Barker's HELLRAISER (1987).
I Fixed My Patreon!!!!!: www.patreon.com/gagpod
Plus, Cottagecore! Nipple Burning! Abarat! Jay explains how kinksters invented CrossFit and I push for MORE thrusting, but FEWER white guys.
CW: Spoilers for Hellraiser, and discussion of BDSM, torture, and both real and fictional violence (including violence of a sexual nature, as the Cenobites prefer...)
Follow moi @joshuasimonsays and Jay @therealkingwack !!!
And r...2020-07-241h 11The GAG: A SpoopcastLifting Flaps (w/ Megan Pope!)DONATE to The Okra Project! theokraproject.com
Thirst Trap Scientist and Dancing Bareillesbian Megan Pope dissects the ultimate fusion of horror and sci-fi: Ridley Scott's ALIEN (1979).
How queer is Alien, really? The answer: Yes.
We also gag on Tik-Tok, being creative during a pandemic, coming out at Six Flags, and Finding Nemo's lasting impact on trans youth.
CW: We spoil most of Alien, and there's some discussion regarding racism, transphobia, and England's most magical TERF.
Follow Megan (they/them) on Twitter: @mpopetweets and Insta: @megspope
Follow ME @j...2020-06-271h 21The GAG: A Spoopcast17. "Virgin" Blood? (w/ Alison LoPresti!)So, this episode was recorded about seventy years ago I think, and LoPresti and I talk across the board about the small-town feminist horror show that is JENNIFER'S BODY (Karyn Kusama, 2009).
We talk about the amazing women who made this movie, why men just did NOT get it, and we also bring in Machine Gun Kelly, My Chemical Romance, and Terrible Handjobs (two of these are musical acts, apparently!)
We also briefly discuss the shitty police and the state of the country, because silence is NOT an option. So. Yeah.
We ALSO get...2020-06-121h 16The GAG: A Spoopcast16. Big Honey (w/ Lida Darmian!)Comedy's very own Lida Darmian (UCB, Kids These Days) discusses the most buzzworthy bits from INVASION OF THE BEE GIRLS (Denis Sanders, 1973), a sci-fi spooper from the very sexy, VERY pale early 70s.
Also: SURVIVOR, INSECURE, funeral boners, and making that First Pancake movie.
TW: This episode discusses real world and fictional violence, animal cruelty, and sexuality. We also SPOIL this movie, so watch it for free on Y**T*BE!
Follow Lida on Insta: @lidapida and Twitter: @leeduh
And me: @joshuasimonsays
CHECK MY PATREON OUT: www.patreon.com/u...2020-05-291h 02The GAG: A Spoopcast15. He Loves a Silhouette! (w/ Amy Maniscalco)Ba ba ba dook dook DOOK, baby. She of the Many Scallops, Amy Maniscalco, takes us into the basement of the gay icon itself, THE BABADOOK (Jennifer Kent, 2014). We discuss the well-documented and NOT so well-documented evidence that the monstrous manifestation of past trauma is ALSO just a messy bitch who loves drama.
Speaking of DRAMA, this recording experience was done in ACTS, as technology was also being a messy bitch last week!
Also Also we discuss the virus a little (duh), bagels from Boston, French shampoo commercials, Alice, Ariel, Adele, and A-12/Kyle. Plus...2020-05-151h 15The GAG: A Spoopcast14. The Style is the Substance (w/ Frank Britton!)Welcome back to my Daria Nicolodi Appreciation podcast. Frank Britton is back by popular demand (mostly mine) to gag on our gay fave: Dario Argento's SUSPIRIA.
We also talk about plenty else before the main event: From Wes Craven's INVITATION TO HELL, to locating John Travolta, to the Canadian Film Mafia!
Plus, we blow the CGI Butthole Conspiracy wide open. And much more!
CW: spoilers for SUSPIRIA (1977) as well as the 2018 REMAKE (watch em both!!!), discussions of fictional and real world violence, misogyny, and gross lil bugs.
Follow Frank! @frankbrittonactor
2020-05-011h 17The GAG: A Spoopcast13. Josh Listens to the Rain (feat. Dane Figueroa Edidi!)Artist, poet, and truthsayer Dane Figueroa Edidi virtually drops by to discuss THE HOUSE AT THE END OF TIME (Alejandro Hidalgo, 2013), a movie that (prepare yourselves) I had not heard of yet!
I am so glad Lady Dane brought this Venezuelan haunted house flick to my attention because it was BEAUTIFUL. And unless scares aren't your thing, I would recommend watching it before we start dropping spoilers after the first half hour.
BUT OH what a first half hour it is! Patricia Arquette goes too hard for Easter! Yemi Alade and Simu Liu! PLUS, I...2020-04-171h 10The GAG: A Spoopcast12. Genderless Cat God (with B.J. Tindal!)It's a weird time we live in. Almost as weird as when, in 1998, SCOOBY DOO ON ZOMBIE ISLAND shockingly changed the formula for the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon, sending America, nay, THE WORLD, into a tailspin from which we never recovered.
B.J. Tindal (playwright: Goodnight, Tyler) helps unpack the far-reaching consequences of the darkest chapter in Mystery Incorporated's history. ALSO: one of the AVATARS (the not-in-space one)! Third Eye Blind! Adrienne Barbeau! An actual dog interrupts me again (I hope that becomes a pattern)!
CW: This ep spoils the 1998 feature-length SCOOBY movie. For those who p...2020-04-1057 minThe GAG: A Spoopcast11. These Tampons are Yelling at Me (w/ Britt A Willis!)WELP. Here's the last episode I was able to record before the 'rona. I hope you are all staying safe and I'm already figuring out a plan for remotely recorded episodes. Luckily Podcasts are simple! (Er, just kidding they are very complex. That's why there are SO FEW OF THEM.)
Anyways. GINGER SNAPS (2000) is a fantastic film about our beautiful, weird, transforming bodies. Author/Playwright Britt A Willis ("This Vessel is a Fragile Thing") explains why they believe 'Canadian Werewolf Carrie' is more canonically trans than E**ie R*dm*yne or J*red L*to could...2020-04-031h 02The GAG: A Spoopcast10. My High School Coven (w/ Shawn Banks!)Remember when there were OTHER things in the news? Sherry Pie, Aaron Schock, other dumb things?
Yeah, me neither.
Fear not! Comedian Shawn Banks stops by to discuss THE CRAFT, the perfect allegory for finding your fellow weirdos to survive high school. Unless, of course, they're the ones trying to kill you.
Unsurprisingly this episode is mostly about how amazing Fairuza Balk looks.
We also gag on DRAG RACE, BON APPETIT, AHS and CHARMED, the Mowry acting dynasty, pumpkin spice coachella, Nic Cage (of course), and something called 'conde nast.'2020-03-2759 minThe GAG: A Spoopcast8. Oh, My Genitalia! (w/ Emily Sucher!)Trigger Warning at the jump for this one: We are discussing the R*pe and Revenge genre of horror. But it's Women's History Month gahdammit so we are doing so via Coralie Fargeat's REVENGE (2017)!
Along for the journey is professional intimacy choreographer Emily Sucher, who brings her expertise of staging sexy moments onstage to discussing the sexy (and VERY unsexy) aspects of this amazing/gross movie.
We also yell at Joa*uin Phoenix! Then Emily lays out the important pillars of staging scenes of intimacy and sexual assault. Then I dream of becoming a stripper...2020-03-131h 07The GAG: A Spoopcast7. Sluts for Archaeology (w/ Danny Baird!)Don't let the dumb title I chose fool you: This episode is all about SPACE. Or rather, it's about my special guest Danny Baird and how THE FIFTH ELEMENT made us both a couple of queer space cadets. We also tackle the tough questions:
Is Bruce Willis daddy?
Is the director of this film a creep?
Is gay porn racist?
The answer to all of these questions...... is YES. But listen to the episode anyway and find out why!
CW: This episode contains discussions of real world and fictional...2020-02-2857 minThe GAG: A Spoopcast6. Tits, in General (w/ Tracy Lynn Olivera!)I got to interview my boss! DC performer, director, and badass Tracy Lynn Olivera gags on New Jersey's greatest superhero, THE TOXIC AVENGER (1984), and how to translate Tromaville's pure lunacy onto the stage as we begin performances on the MUSCIAL (yes, MUSICALE) based on the beloved and repulsive flick.
We are only interrupted twice by her Saint Bernard.
We talk blood, guts, boobs, trauma porn, Bea Arthur, BURLESQUE (2010), BODY WITHOUT SOUL (1996), Jersey's penchant for smelling its own farts, and the concerning lack of fat asses in Reagan's America.
And of course I shit...2020-01-3051 minThe GAG: A Spoopcast5. Go to Hell, Linda (w/ Greg Atkin!)T*ts the season! Greg Atkin joins us on the comfy couch to talk CHOPPING MALL, a true Christmas Classic.
Maybe.
We dive into why shopping malls made us gay, and how they were the pinnacle of 80s excess all the way through 2006.
We talk gay dads, lousy first dates, Bong Joon-ho's PARASITE (no spoilers), and Nicolas Cage.
CW: spoilers for Chopping Mall (watch it anyway), discussions of body dysmorphia, the most upsetting and unnatural forms of heterosexuality, and (again) Nicolas Cage.
You can follow Greg the Macaroni on...2019-12-1958 minThe GAG: A Spoopcast4. Power Bottom Jesus (w/ Caroline Dubberly!)It's a bountiful harvest of gags this week, as we have a special HOLIDAY episode for you. At this time of year we eat our weight in cranberry sauce and pie and give thanks that we no longer live in Puritan New England like the unfortunate characters in THE VVITCH (Robert Eggers, 2015).
Considering how difficult it was to survive the harsh terrain in those days, it's no surprise that special guest Caroline Dubberly and I needed a little help from "nature's greatest gift" to get us through a late night recording sesh. Hence, the occasional sound of...2019-11-271h 09The GAG: A Spoopcast3. The Tighter the Better (w/ Miss Buffy Wilde!)Drill baby drill! DC drag star-to-be Miss Buffy Wilde is on the comfy couch to talk about a real classic (finally...): SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE 2. Before smearing ourselves in hot takes, however, we also chat AOC, Sasha Velour, and Pissi Myles, and why drag will always be a political statement.
Follow the gay, anxious gremlin @joshuasimonsays and Buffy @missbuffywilde
CW: this podcast contains discussions of fictional and real world violence, as well as queer trauma, systems of oppression, and PIMPLES (yikes).
Enjoy your spoops, you greasy ghosts.
2019-11-251h 10The GAG: A SpoopcastEncyclopedia Brittonica (w/ Frank Britton!)On this latest episode of The Gag, Frank Britton, the dear heart of DC, stops by to demonstrate his VAST knowledge of all things cinematic. We chat about the genre-defying GANJA & HESS (Bill Gunn, 1973) an unlikely horror standout in the era of blaxploitation. We show our respect to legends like Lou Gossett, Jr. and Pam Grier (among MANY others) and discuss why JAWS 3D is just a REALLY great time.
CW: This podcast contains discussions of real-world and fictional violence, racism, sexism, and homophobia. It totally spoils Ganja & Hess (which we HIGHLY recommend, so yeah) and contains...2019-11-141h 15The GAG: A SpoopcastHaus of Torrance (w/ Rebecca Ballinger!)On this, the VERY special VERY first VERY episode of The GAG, Rebecca Ballinger stops by to discuss why THE SHINING (1980) made us very anxious but also a little bit gayer. I also dismiss Stephen King and Stanley Kubrick right away so I can stan Shelley Duvall and Scatman Crothers. And hedge mazes. I love hedge mazes.
CW: This episode contains discussions of real-world and fictional violence, mental health, and abuse. It also spoils The Shining, and contains mild spoilers for PIECES (Juan Piquer Simon, 1982). Watch Pieces anyways though. I implore you.
You can follow...2019-10-301h 06