Curious Matter Aftershow - The Exile Part 1
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Hey, my name is Alison Hayslip. And I'm Sundeep Parikh. We are going to be your hosts for an amazing season of Curious Matter Aftershows. Yeah, tonight we are going to go behind the scenes of The Exile Part 1, One Way Ticket, and get the scoop of what it took to bring this amazing production to life. And of course, we're going to geek out on our collective love of science fiction and movies. Okay, let's get this show on the road and bring out our guests.

All right. Well, everyone, first off, let's welcome Jonathan Pezza to the show. This is the man. Yes. Hello, everyone. Hello. His name was in every aspect of credits that we read. Mostly. Except for maybe additional voices. Did you not do a voice in this episode, Jonathan? No, I did, but I just got sick of saying my own name. I'm like, I'm a ton of voices. I was going to say, I hear all your voices. You know everybody.

It's impressive. It's impressive how many different voices you can get out of that mug. With all your little sound wizardry that you do. I don't think most people notice, I assume, because I know you well enough that I notice. I try to hide it. Do people guess? There's a couple that I've just let myself be me, but the majority of them. I think in this episode, the sketchy guy in New Kinross is

is my favorite one in this oh yeah that was good i think that should be like a game like guess you have to like at the end of the episode list all the characters that jonathan played i know i should all you win a prize i love that being a game let's do that let's do that although some of them some of them i'm not necessarily in this one i am later episodes i'm in a lot i'm a lot of the minisodes

Well, that's like the trick question one. It's like people be like, oh, he was this than this. Like, no, this episode. You forgot about mini episode number five. Exactly. All right. Let's ask you some like actual questions. Okay. Let's do it.

Let's talk first about the story, because if anyone has listened to previous seasons of CMA, Jonathan picks already existing IP, but from what's the term I'm looking for? That's that's now in public domain, right? Yeah. And adapts them as audio podcasts. So why did you choose this story and what did it take to adapt it?

Yeah, I found this one about two years ago. Just look, you know, I basically don't get to read anything contemporary anymore. I just have to read all of like old like pulp magazines looking for stuff. So that's like the majority of what I read on the side. And yeah.

This one, I just, I was looking for something grittier than maybe we had done last season and came across this. It was, you know, it was written in 1953. Lester Del Rey. Interesting thing. Like Lester Del Rey is kind of like, was more famous for being an editor. Like he basically created the modern fantasy genre with Del Rey books, which he was the editor of. And that's named after him. And,

And his wife was like one of the head editors at Ballantine and helped set it up. And so they were famous for that. Like they basically created like the 70s fantasy genre. But early, early on, he was like writing all kinds of stuff. And he just wrote this novel that, you know, took place on Mars. It was really gritty. It was really real feeling. And I felt like he was trying maybe to –

It was 1953, so it was a little bit before the civil rights movement had gotten into the media and had become center of everything. But there was still a lot of stuff in the news going on. And I think part of the story was about trying to, like, qualify what he was reading and the things that were maybe going around – going on around him because he was living in New York. Yeah.

And he created this really interesting thing that like asked the question like, can we leave behind all of our prejudices and all the issues that we have when we decide to leave Earth and spread out into the stars? Or are we going to bring all that baggage with us? We're definitely bringing it with us. Yeah. And I found that to be a really interesting question. And so that was where I really hung my hat trying to adapt it was like,

what do we have to do to leave all of that behind? And what does it look like if we bring it with us by accident? So that's really the crux of it and everything else revolved around that and like taking the main character and making him not a James Bond in space, but more of a, a really earnest, real person who, who is disillusioned and finds themselves separated from everything they know.

And how does that really lead them on this journey? Okay, so I got to ask, you know, what's it like –

working with so many amazing voice performers like me and Allison. Yeah, especially you and Allison. No, but I mean, seriously, the cast this season is kind of out of control. I felt like every announcement you were putting out, I was like, you got that person? You got that person? What? That's the same thing I was thinking as I was making those posts.

So, you know, Tiffany will be joining us in a second. She's restarting her computer trying to connect again. But she... So last season, Sundeep really helped with cast and...

led us to Colin Ferguson and first introductions to Phil Lamar. And that led to meeting Tiffany. And then this season, you know, Tiffany had been such a big part of last season's Star Hunter. And I asked her if she would join and come in and be a producer and play this main character, which I thought was really a great

character for her voice and um and she came on board and i was like well if you can help with casting that'd be awesome you know maybe bring two or three of your friends in and we'll just have a great time and then all of a sudden kevin smith said yes and and it was like everybody was

joined in and it and it all of a sudden took on a life of its own and it's been i would never have guessed that like in 2019 when i started this in the basement that some of you will remember having recorded in that like moldy basement like having started this it wasn't bad it was a good basement it was okay it was a medium basement and uh and uh and the basement the basement where it all started the the

I would have never guessed that I would get to work with people that I was like in awe of and were my heroes. Like Kevin is, is a hero of mine. And so like I doing something like this, just trying to make, um, the audio, uh, audio storytelling kind of feel like the movies, um, has led to this just kind of taking this side door. And so I don't know where it's going to go from here, but this season has been so rewarding just being able to work with everybody, um,

I'm letting Tiffany in again. Yep. Let's try for Tiffany here. Here we go. Here we go. Everybody cross all your fingers. Roll the dice. 86 times the charm. Computer macrame. All your bets on the asteroid field. All your bets on the asteroid field. Three dots from hell. Oh, gosh. What is that symbol? How is she here the entire lead up?

Yeah, I don't know what... You know, this is the fun of tech. Yeah. Yeah. Well, Jonathan, why don't you tell us what people can expect for the rest of the season beyond amazing technical... Technical difficulties. Technical difficulties during the after show. I mean, this show...

I got a really amazing opportunity to do a first episode for this show that is about bringing you to Mars. It's about getting to feel what it's like to live on Mars. On TV shows, you wouldn't get this opportunity. You'd have to hit the plot really fast. And the last few seconds of this episode really are where the main story begin and where it really kicks off. And we...

We are about to end up at this epicenter of one of the largest events that has ever taken place in humanity. And we're going to be at the center of it with Bryce the entire time. That's a massive freaking statement. It's a big story. One of the most massive events to happen to humanity? Yeah. Like not even on Mars. Yeah, it's...

All of humanity. All of humanity. The whole thing. I have this real belief that like

Epic sci-fi is about one rule, and that's that the story needs to be essential. When you finish the tale, it has to feel like, how did I not know this story? How did this story ever not exist? And so when I look for stuff, I do look for things that have that component. Can you walk away from the end of this feeling like, whoa, that's where it all goes. This is where this had to happen. This moment was inevitable.

And so I think this story is going to take people to a really amazing place. I don't want to give too much away because there's so many, like last season, there's so many twists and turns on this roller coaster and we're just getting started. Yeah. It's funny. I, cause I do a ton of reading. Like if I could take you into my living room right now, the amount of books that I have stacked everywhere, it's like not quite hoarder style because I make it look good, but it's, it's,

I'm going to have to start finding new space. But I always say, I know when I've loved a book, when I finish it, and then days later, I'm like, oh, I wonder where those characters are now. Like when I'm still thinking about what's happening to everyone past the end of the story I was given. Right. And that sounds like...

Do you ever do this thing where like you start to get – because you know you're coming to the end of the book. I get a little sad that I'm going to leave this world and so I start reading more slowly. Yeah, and I like make sure that if I'm at a place where like I might finish it in the span of time I have to read that I'm like alone and it's quiet and no one's like fucking my shit up. Yeah.

Yeah. No ads are popping up. Yeah. Or no one's like, well, I'm not like sitting in an airport. You know what I mean? Right. This is years ago, but I read The Time Traveler's Wife. And like the last three pages are like the most heartbreaking thing I've ever read. And I get to the end, I read them and I am sobbing, like audibly sobbing. And my roommate at the time came home and like walked in the front door and she's like,

what's wrong? And I was like, don't talk to

Like it just like killed the mood, you know? Right. Right. You ruined it. Never again. And I think, I think, I mean, good audio drama does that too. Like, I mean, I find that, you know, listening to audible books and stuff like that, it has the same effect. Oh, for sure. Your stuff in seasons past, you know, Jonathan, it's like, oh man, I don't want to leave the world. And I, and I hope that's how people feel about the exile. I think they will. I really do. Especially since this is like a full season in one world, like,

Um, I think that folks will really fall in love with it. And we got some folks in chat here already, you know, talking about how much they love the sound production. Actually, why don't we talk about that a little bit? Take us through some of the sound is the sound design is crazy good. I mean, it kind of always has been, I do feel like you've leveled up even more in this season. Um,

Was there like a message you were kind of trying to convey in the sound design? Or was there like an ethos you had in doing it? Well, I wanted...

the loneliness of this to be a part of the design component. And so last season, it took us two, took me two seasons to figure out how to do what I wanted to do ultimately inside the show. And then this season was really about, okay, creativity creates it creatively. Where can we take it? And so I was like the, the loneliness aspect of being on Mars is central to,

to being in that suit. And so I wanted you to feel every time she's in that suit. And so she reflects her voice, reflects off the inside of the helmet. You know, you have this...

air valve behind your ear if you're in the head with the headphones on and so you always know that you're in that claustrophobic space the moment it starts and so is that when she's like in film and or mode and like like acting as the narrator or is that are you saying like in the action of it

It happens in different places. In this episode, it's mostly in that film noir thing. Although when she's fighting, it's the same thing. Like when she leaves, she like after, after the fight with the cops where she runs away and like jumps over those buildings, like jumps the building gaps and like,

gets her suit back she goes out into the wind and she has to put her suit back on and like walk back to new kinross with like no lights and stuff and the moment you get back outside and like the wind hits you and it's whipping around you and and you feel her breathing inside that helmet you're like meant to feel the danger of mars like inside the dome it feels like everywhere else but the moment she's outside the moment that suits on every time

the danger is inherent even when things aren't necessarily action yet because that breathing and that, that the reflection of her voice off the inside of the helmet, like all of those things add to this, to this psychological push towards thriller and towards loneliness. And then, and it really helps you get into the mindset of like Bryce and, and what she has to do. Like, what are the things that she's,

How is she bending herself as a human being to fit this new world she's in? And what are those dangers? Like the first thing that happens when she puts on the suit in this episode is you hear the suit tell her that she needs to change the seals and she ignores the suit. And she does. It's her first time putting on a rig. Right. And and then later in the episode, it's that scene.

that bites her. It's that, it's the fact, it's not just that she gets stabbed, it's that there's this moment where the suit tries to close the cut in the suit and the whole system breaks because she hasn't maintained it because she got this really crappy rig because of the way things worked out and the way people have basically stole the nice one she brought from Earth.

And so I want... The other thing is that the sound of the world, every time... You can go back and listen to this over and over again and find little hidden things because there's these micro elements that are helping to tell the story. Like, Sandeep, your character is a huge part of that. Everything your character says is ultimately super important, but sometimes it gets buried in the scene. And like...

And it's meant. Just like all radio DJs. Yeah, right, right. That's the life of the radio DJ actor. They're just like, oh, that was my favorite line and it was in the background of another scene. But I'm curious about that stuff because, you know, having read the scripts, obviously, I was like, oh, that, like, there was like a second half to my opening bit

that was, I think, pretty important to learn about some of the politics that's going on in Marsport. So I'm curious about how you made those choices. Were you like, oh, I actually want people to hear that on a second run? And how are you choosing between what to bury and what to...

It's really feel. In the script, your character has a lot of... Your character's...

like narration kind of is alone and one of the first things I realized editing the first episode is that I needed your your character to always be coming through a radio or coming from somewhere alive inside of Mars port and so that wasn't originally written in but like so the entire her getting off the spaceship and the spaceship coming down that was all created after I realized I needed to tell the story

of your radio. Like I needed to get the audience to understand what the process of, of still listening to the radio was and why that's important on Mars. Like, uh, because they don't have the internet, they don't have these things. So the radio is this really important, both news and communication tool and cultural tool, but it always exists in the world of the real. Um, how are the, how are the, how are the people in world hearing you?

Reporting live from under my blanket, I'm Susan Curtis with Dunkin' at Home. Breaking news, pumpkin spice iced and hot coffees are back. I'll pass it to Mr. Curtis with his blanket for the full story. That is so right, Susan. You know, it's never too early to get in a spicy mood. I'm talking cinnamony goodness that's so tasty, people don't want to leave their blankets either. Back to you. No, back to you. All you. The home with Dunkin' Pumpkin Spice is where you want to be.

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My friend's still laughing me to this day. Not everyone gets B2B, but with LinkedIn, you'll be able to reach people who do. Get $100 credit on your next ad campaign. Go to linkedin.com slash results to claim your credit. That's linkedin.com slash results. Terms and conditions apply. LinkedIn, the place to be, to be. All right. And now Tiffany has joined us. Of course, you remember her from last season. And now she not only stars as Bryce Gordon, but also helps produce the show. Tiffany Smith, welcome to the after show.

Okay, great. Tiffany is here. By the way, says Dan Wally, I just subscribed on Pocket Cast. Thank you so much for doing that.

There's a lot of hype in chat and there's a lot of hype now that we have Tiffany. Yes. Oh, my gosh. What a journey. This is your own trip to Mars. It felt like me trying to get to Mars, to be honest. It did. Turned off my computer. I'm downloading every app. Restarted. But now we're here on my phone.

We're here, though. Yay. We're here. This is beautiful. Okay, Tiffany. Speed reads you through some questions. How about that? Yes. Okay. The floor is now yours. I mean, listen, you're the freaking lead of this show. You're basically 90% of this first episode. What made you decide to take on all of that and producing as well?

So, Jonathan had me coming into season two, which you guys were both part of as well. And I just had so much fun with him doing the episodes and the records in my little booth in my closet during the pandemic.

And so when season two came or I mean, season three came around, he reached out and was like, hey, how would you feel about like joining me for this Kickstarter and producing? And it's going to be one whole season of one story. And we're going to gender swap the characters in this book that we're basing it off of. And it was just one of those times where I was like, I just wanted to create stuff. And I was so excited about the idea of.

Getting to bring my friends in and work on it with us. And I love sci-fi. And I love the story. And Jonathan and I worked so well together just in season two. To come in for season three felt like a no-brainer. And all of the other aspects, I feel like it just happened really naturally. Where it was like creative producing, like reading scripts with Jonathan. And being like, how about this? This feels different here. Or then going into the casting process. Yeah.

And then I think the most exciting part was the voiceover directing part because I was like, I just want to sit in and hear what my friends are doing. And so Jonathan would be directing and I was like, do you mind if I just pop in and have some ideas and notes and stuff? He was like, absolutely, please do that. And Jonathan, you're there, so tell me if I'm wrong. No, that's absolutely. I was so like, because I come from a technical standpoint a lot of times, so I use a lot of like,

analogies and movie references and things like that. And sometimes that just doesn't work. And you had a completely different language. And I've learned a ton from you this season. Well, what was that? What was the language? I'm curious, like what the so were you were you speaking more emotionally or like coming from, you know, you know, from the character's point of view, like, well,

I mean, I think for me, it's like getting to do more voiceover as an actor myself and like getting to work with some really incredible voice directors. Like Colette Sunderman is amazing on Masters of the Universe. I learned so much just from having her direct me. And I think just like,

Jonathan would sometimes describe things and everyone hears things differently. So it's like if someone was describing, he was describing something to someone one way and I didn't think they were getting it. I was like, okay, well, how would, I think I understand what he's trying to say because we both know the show so well. So it's one of those things where it's like, let me just describe it this way. And for some reason it worked out really well that we just had a really good balance of

If someone wasn't getting what he was saying, it works really well for how I was explaining it. Or sometimes I would explain things and people weren't getting it. So Jonathan would jump in. So I think we just have a really good working balance relationship on this show that hopefully comes across on the show too. I think like, yeah, you, you, I think,

Also, you hear the same thing I hear. And so both of us will be driving towards the same solution. And that was the key. Like you, we're both hearing the same read a lot of times in our heads and we're both trying to get to it, which is pretty rad. Yeah.

Yeah, I think hearing the same reads and then sometimes it will be, which, you know, I, well, we did this with you guys sometimes where it was like, just give us three different reads of the same line. And then it's like, because we had such good actors that have come in, everyone gives us great stuff. And when you hear something, sometimes it just makes you think of something different. You're like, oh, what if you try it this way? And I think that's what really helps because sometimes

one of the biggest things for me when I was doing voiceover is like I just have to trust his directing that they know the overarching story and how it's going to sound and how it's all going to come together so even sometimes like Jonathan would be like hey do it this way and he's like I don't know if this is going to work but like I just want to have it just in case um and I think having all of those options in the end just helps in the edit so much more too yeah I find surprises in the edit all the time like

takes that I thought I threw in my head threw away during the recording will be the go-to sometimes. I'll just, it'll just work magically with other people. Was this like one of the first times that you, cause I mean, I've done a bunch of voice acting, but rarely on stuff where I know the full story so intimately. I feel like this was just one of the first times that you were able to do that. And was that, did that change your approach to how you voiced Bryce in

Yeah, I mean, I think because I knew the full where she was going, like we talked a lot about which I don't want to give any spoilers yet, but we talked a lot about how Bryce would sound in the world and how that would change throughout the season. And we talked a lot about how she becomes a flamingo. Oh, my gosh. Allison. Mars. Oh, man. Sorry, I couldn't keep it in anymore. Oh, God.

But yeah, just like talking about, I think having the whole story in my head helps a lot because I knew where I was going with her. So it helps to be like, okay, well, in this episode, when I'm doing this, she's a little more closed off. She's a little more cranky. She's a little more. I mean, we even did stuff where it was like, we were close to finishing and I said, and Jonathan, I'd re-listened to the first episode. And I was like, I want to re-record it.

I was like, it doesn't feel right. Like, cause we recorded the first episode first. Right. And so there was just some stuff when I heard it, I began that I was like, I know how she sounds more now. So can we just like read you a couple of lines? My gosh, isn't that the privilege you get doing a project like this? Cause if this was like TV, Nope. Sorry. That's been edited for. Yeah. Yeah. A thousand percent. I mean, and I even said to John that I was like,

Okay, am I being that actor that thinks I can do it better and it's just in my head or do you actually hear what I'm hearing? Some of it I did. Some of it, well, like, yeah, you know. Sometimes you're being an actor, you're being an actor. No, no, I will always strive to get to whatever feels the best for everybody, you know. So, yeah, I mean, but...

Honestly, I've been a filmmaker and a writer, even though I've been struggling to maybe make it into the mainstream for almost 20 years now. And so the coolest thing about audio fiction, the thing I really love is the ability to riff and improvise in such a dynamic way. Like if we get something in the scene and it's not working, I can add other characters. I can add other moments, blocking, like all these things. The scene can go whichever way it needs to go after the fact. Yeah.

Weren't you literally writing characters for... Because we get an amazing cast member, and you're like, I've got to find a character for her. Yeah, yeah. Well, there were a lot of characters. I knew that this story was great because Bryce...

bounces off a lot of people. So we meet a lot of really impactful one or two episode characters. And that was a cool thing about the story. That was a little different than everything else. So I knew that the world supported being able to do it, but it wasn't always easy to figure out how to find a person, a character that like was that valued their effort. You know what I mean? Cause some of the characters are just these little fun little bounce ins. But what we found is that even when people came in for smaller characters, they,

Every character Bryce meets impacts her in such an interesting way that they become powerful. That's the thing that I didn't even realize writing it. Like in the edit, that became a big part of it. Would you say that that's been kind of the hardest part of putting something this massive together? I mean, Jonathan wrote like over 400 pages of text.

Oh my God. So I'm like, he's saying the binder of all the episodes. I'm just like, I can pull the binder out. I can show people the binder. Honestly, I do. I do not as a writer myself. I don't understand how you write so much so quickly. It's kind of, this is me. I don't know. You can't hear us right now, but let's compliment him when he gets back and puts those headphones on. Yeah. Well, this is better. I will just like rave about him for a second. John is probably one of the most talented people I've met when it comes to this.

Not only can he write a ton, but he can voice direct. He can also do characters. He's also an incredible editor. We don't get this show without how awesome he is. He also can collate. Yeah, he can organize. I know.

It's oh my god, my my to-do lists in Apple Notes are like hundreds of checkboxes long and every day I wake up and like add checkboxes and every day I go to bed like, you know at midnight or one in the morning being like crap I only got half of the checkboxes done today that I needed to get done and that's been every day for more than a year now like

So, yeah, it's been a lot. But when you get an opportunity to do something like this, you just do it, right? Yeah. Well, I think you just do it. Yeah, I was going to say, I feel like you made the opportunity to do it. Some of us might just take a nap because we feel overwhelmed. Yeah.

I did. Well, and I think that's something that is, like, with this show in particular and the timing that it happened, we were doing the Kickstarter during the pandemic and during the strike. And one thing we talked a lot about was, are we comfortable doing this during this time? Because are we asking people to do something that they shouldn't be doing during a strike? But voiceover was okay to be doing. And what I love so much about it was, like, I think for every single person who jumped onto the show, it's like, we're all...

creatives and we wanted to be making stuff during this time and didn't really have a ton of outlets and so this was a great opportunity for people that i think maybe couldn't have done it in another time and also right like not gonna lie it was so awesome to get to be able to be like hey i know it's it's the small thing but it's gonna go towards your insurance for sag and that felt really awesome for a lot i mean when has that ever felt more than last year yeah

Yeah, for people who don't know, right? Jonathan made sure that this was approved by SAG and went through those rigorous paces that I know they do. And that's really cool. It's not easy. It's a pain in the ass, honestly, having done a lot of that myself. And, you know, so the fact that you did that, I think it's put volumes to all the actors they really felt taken care of, felt looked out for, right?

And it probably brought better energy to their work, you know, because they're like, okay, you care enough to take those efforts and to make sure that this is approved, especially during that time when we were all striking, which was kind of crazy. We were like, will we, won't we, will we, won't we, right up until we launched the Kickstarter because we weren't sure. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Cause again, you can get very tricky. I actually had a few friends reach out that were like, Hey, I don't know if this stuff's okay. And I'm like, it's fine. That's what it did feel like at that time that like you had to make sure you did your research and that you had, and you had to make it known that was like, no, this is okay. Thank goodness. Right. And SAG was honestly SAG has been amazing with us and made this a really easy process for

That's cool. Which it's not always that case, but this has been really wonderful. Yeah, I know. No, this is the podcast contract that they created, honestly, is a really big gift to creators. If there's any audio fiction people out there, like...

don't don't miss this opportunity because right now that lets you work with talent that maybe you would never get the opportunity to like I for sure never guessed that we'd be able to do what we did this season well and I think that's actually one of the like small sorry go Cindy no that's okay you go

I was going to say, I think that might be one of the small silver linings from the strike is that these like smaller independent projects SAG was actually able to focus on during this time. Like they have the two podcasts. There's two different podcast contracts. There's a social media contract. There's all these like smaller things that I don't think ever really got done.

the attention or like the manpower within SAG and because that became so important last year. I feel like we learned a lot. Like why projects like this can get that attention. Right. I feel like we learned a lot from the 2008 strikes, you know, and like how –

I think the guilds did a better job of wanting to support smaller independent productions so that, you know, we can, we can still be creative and still, and like, it kind of, it works in our, in the favor of the guilds to, to show that we don't need the studios to be,

and to be creative, you know, puts more pressure on them to say, Hey, come to the table. Otherwise we're going to figure out our own shit. We're going to create our own show that takes place on Mars for 16 episodes. Yeah. Yeah. It's an, you know, every, every challenging time in, in this industry has also been an opportunity. And so this, I think we just hit, we hit that, um,

that stride we just came into it going all right as tough as it is i know a lot of people aren't working like i honestly i haven't worked much in the last six months um into in in ways that make actual money but yeah uh like but i've never been more creatively satisfied than i have been during this time working with everyone and right and having tiffany is this amazing partner and grime

Maybe we should kind of close it up pretty soon. But we just got this beautiful chat and I wanted to read it. It's like the fact that it's a SAG show encouraged me to back it on Kickstarter because I knew how important it was during the strike. Maybe both of you can speak to, this is the first time we did a Kickstarter for the show. And how has that whole process been for you to have fans step up and back the show?

It's been wonderful for me. It's been so rewarding being able to have people who have your back right from the beginning. It's been terrifying at times. Yeah. Yeah.

Jonathan and I definitely had conversations and texts to each other panicked during the Kickstarter because I've been a part of one other starter before with some amazing people. We did a short film called Splinter and that was a different experience. I didn't, I wasn't really involved in the Echo Kickstarter part of it, but this one, he was like, do you want to see all the updates every day? And I was like, sure. And then I was like, no, no, I don't want to. Because you're like,

I'm like, why haven't my parents put money in yet? What's happening? Oh my God. Why haven't my parents put money in yet? So you're like, oh my God, do they love me enough? Yeah. It was just like such an interesting day. And like where it's like, then people do start giving and it blows you away. The people who are wanting to support you and help you create this awesome show and who are excited about it and as excited as you are. And I think like what Jonathan said before, I don't think,

like as a silver lining of that time is like i wouldn't have maybe had time to be involved in this audio drama in the same way that i was able to um and you kind of just like push out in other directions that's a creative whether it's something like this and a kickstarter or like i'm doing a play in the fringe festival um or whatever it is where you're just like you have this creativity that's gotta go somewhere um and fortunately i

It was perfect timing for this Kickstarter. And, you know, thankfully I have a lot of, like I said, incredible friends who were literally text message. Hey, do you want to do this? Yes. Hey, have you talked to this person? You should ask this person. And that I think,

was one of the really cool things too because not only was it a web of like fans and friends and family for the Kickstarter for funding but that same thing happened with casting on the show where it was like one person records and someone else would be like oh my god you should think of this person like we ended up getting Teresa Lissac because Tracy Toms and Eugene Bird both know her and connected us with her and I was blown away you know so it's like there's so many people this I think that it comes across in the show but like how many people just showed up

Because we were excited and wanted to support and make something great together, which I think is really special. It sounds cheesy, but it is. It's really special. It has this community theater aspect, but with like the cool kids in Hollywood. And like, I don't...

You hit the nail on the head when you said that it's like this creative outlet. Like, I feel like this entire show for me since the very beginning has been like, I've been really frustrated banging my head on the door of Hollywood. Oh, hello, cat. Sorry. My cat is going crazy behind the computer. I was trying to be like...

I just, you know, this whole show started out with me being like, I just decided I wasn't going to, I was going to pick a way to make something that had no limitations on what I could create creatively, except for my own boundaries. And so that was always the wall. How far can I take what I can do? And somehow that has changed.

just brought so many of you wonderful people into my, into this circle. And it's been so rewarding for me. I, I would, I'd say it over and over again. I say it in all the tweets and everything. It's like, I would have never guessed when I was literally doing all the voices for episode one that we'd be here. Like it was, it's so bonkers to me. Yeah.

Well, that sounds like a- The FNBoney Twitch auditorium with thousands of roaring fans in chat. Very exciting. I was going to say, that sounds like a lovely way to wrap it up. It does. It does. I just want- I have one last thing. We had a great chat from somebody earlier that I just want you to comment on, Jonathan, before we wrap out. Sure. Where they said, oh, something to the effect of,

oh, this episode is so boring. I'm so tired. Smiley face. Sad face. I'm so tired of this story. I'm so tired of this story. That's what it was. So we got trolled hard by somebody. Yeah, who was that? And the account was my wife's. And so on a brief break, I went out and was like, what is going on? Why would you say those things to me? Like hurt, like really butt hurt. And she's like, I walked out of the room and Akira, your five-year-old,

Got his hands on the iPad. My five-year-old trolled us so hard. Your kid has opinions. Oh, my God. He's my son. So, yes. In command of language at five. That's insane. But great use of emojis. Command of emojis. Yeah. Seriously.

I was like, do I have to ban this person? And you're like, no, this is my wife. Do we have to ban this person? I ran out of the room. No, it's my son. Everyone out there, thank you guys so much for joining us here live. Everyone out there listening in podcast land, thank you. Yeah, thank you guys all so much. And thank you, Allison and Sonny, for doing this after show and being a part of the exile as voice actors too, because...

It's another Hattie thing to come in and do this every other week and support the show in this way and take your time doing it. So we appreciate it so much. I do it for the fame and the glory. Yeah, absolutely. I know. I do it for the emojis. For the emojis.

I'm now doing it so that I can occasionally drive over to the wine shop and get free wine. Yeah, come to the wine shop. Oh, you want to take us out? All right, sweet. All right, let's wrap things up for this installment of the After Show. Thank you to everyone who came out to be a part of the live experience and for putting up with all the technical difficulties we had on episode one.

For all of you listening out there in podcast land, join us on July 2nd at 7 p.m. Pacific time to listen live with other fans and get a chance to interact with the cast like we did tonight. Once again, that will be July 2nd at 7 p.m. Pacific on twitch.com slash effing funny. Listen, we want to hear your feedback. Make sure to reach out and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram under the handle

CM Anthology or online at www.cmanthology.com. And please make sure to like, review, and subscribe on your favorite podcast app. Legal stuff. We got to read it.

The Exile is based on Police Your Planet by Lester Del Rey, a literary work in the public domain. And the show was produced in accordance with U.S. copyright law. Curious Matter Anthology is produced by the Knightsville Workshop in association with F.E. Funny Productions. Copyright Knightsville Workshop 2024. All rights reserved. We'll be right back here with the next after show in two weeks. But before then, make sure to listen to the next harrowing chapter of...

the exile yes as well as our next mini show hey I'm Sundy Parikh and I'm Alison Hayslip thank you for listening the fable and falling network where fiction producers flourish hello Maria Kennedy from hero trackers here to tell you about a special report we've been working on at hero track media

With the help of my producer, Shaina, we are going to reveal the life story of a mysterious hero that, as far as we can tell, has never been covered by a media outlet before. Subscribe to this podcast feed to learn more about this hero and the strange circumstances surrounding their life and career and how they might be connected to your favorite heroes. Coming soon from HeroTrack Media, Vigil.

Vigil, Season 1. An audio fiction superhero thriller in 10 parts from All In Productions. Featuring Haley Sanfilippo as Maria Kennedy and Adam Kudashat as Vigil. Subscribe or follow to make sure you're the first to know about Vigil. Vigil.