Curious Matter Aftershow - The Exile Part 2 (With Guest Malcolm Barrett)
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Hey, I'm Allison Hayslip. And I am Sundeep Parikh, and welcome to our second after show of the season. Tonight, we're going to go behind the scenes of The Exile Part II, where the graft is greener, and chat with the cast about what it took to bring this amazing project to life. And of course, we're going to probably geek out a little bit about our collective love of science fiction and movies. Yeah, duh. Okay, let's get this show on the road and bring out our guests. You can see we've propagated, you know, it's not just me and Allison anymore. So please welcome Malcolm Barrett.

Plays honest. Is he Malcolm? You've seen him. The boys. Average Joe. Timeless. Preacher. Genius. Better off Ted. And he's just he's yes anding our technical difficulties. And that's what we love about Malcolm. No, we won't. We got some other fun folks with us, too. You guys might remember these familiar faces from last week.

last episode two weeks ago. Jonathan Pezza, our creator. Oh, yes. Very excited. Let's get some hype and chat for Jonathan. Great job on this episode. And then, of course, executive producer extraordinaire and the lead of the show is Bryce Gordon. Tiffany! Yo, I said a lot of F-bombs in this episode. I'm just going to say that right now. We're fearless leaders. Yeah, you do. You sure do. Tiffany, can I tell you what cracked me up?

I think my favorite line, it was near the beginning, but you say something and you're like, and just like that. And then something, something, something. But all I could think of was we were in your episode of Sex and the City. Because that's the new season is when she's like, and just like that. Yep. Da-da-da-da-da. Yeah. I mean, I don't know. I feel like that would be a really fun but bizarre episode if you put Bryce in sex. Yeah. Yeah.

That'd be amazing. Social sex in the city, but on Mars now. I might actually watch that. There's a potential mini-sode in that. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Jonathan's already like, how many more pages can I fit in my binder? Not a lot. It's full. It's full. All right, Malcolm, how are you feeling now? Are you settled in? You feeling good? You got your tea? I'm good.

Nice. Have you guys ever been into like a Foley studio? Malcolm, have you ever like done the thing where you like get to walk on rocks and, you know, like flap palm fronds and be like, that's the sound of someone lightly punching their grandma. I don't know. Have you ever done that kind of thing? I just actually, I just be acting all set, man.

I make real noises. What about like going to universe? You ever go to the universal thing, you know, where they show I've been to that thing on that. I was like, I work too much, man. I go to universal to work. I do this thing. I do this thing where I called getting booked on shows. Yeah. I don't go to the pretend shows. Oh, look how shows are late.

No, but I definitely am one of those guys that was riding the Universal rides and doing that sort of stuff. I would 100% see Indiana Jones getting chased by a giant foam rock or something like that. There's this really cool Instagram account, which I can't think of the name of it right now, but she shows all her Foley stuff that she does. And it's so cool seeing the different things that she uses. And she'll have actors pop in now. I know this because

who's on a show that I did, did an episode with her. And so cool. Just like, it's just like eating an apple and then you see what the sound is or just like matching people's steps. It's so crazy. I love that. I know. It's not just someone actually eating an apple. No, no. Or something else. Like, I mean, sometimes it is someone eating an apple. Well, no, don't ever do that. Every time it's an apple being eaten, it's like this.

Yeah, exactly. It's like celery. It's always something else. It's like you need a Nintendo controller from 1980 to clap next to a mahogany desk. And then that's the sound that's beating. We can't afford apples. Okay. Questions. Let's get into this. All right.

Malcolm, we're throwing to you as our special guests for today. Malcolm! Welcome to the show. Welcome to the show. Welcome to the show properly. Yeah. Virtual hugs. Have you ever done a character in an audio drama before this? And if you have, what was that experience like? I've done a character in an audio drama that I can recall.

Well, yes, actually, the first time I ever did was when I was a kid in Brooklyn. I was on some sort of audio radio play, some sort of community thing, which was like my very first time doing something like that. And then cut to decades later, during a pandemic, I did a story called

that was not quite a sci-fi story, but it was a story of like a cocky astronaut and the head of this sort of flight program and, and the sort of experience they were having together. And,

I think that was the first season we did. And the second season, it was about a jazz blues guy and my lead counterpart and us going across the country and having this back and forth. So those were really fun because it felt kind of intimate. It was literally just the two of us, me and the other actor along with the director and things like that. So those were fun experiences. Malcolm, was one of them called Star Tripper?

Maybe. I believe it was because I- You guys like childhood friends or crushes or something? What happened here? Well, no, because I looked that up and I too was a voice on Star Tripper. So we technically worked together before. Wow. There we go. I was like, wait a minute. We've actually done an audio drama together before. Oh, that's funny.

The Six Degrees of Alison Gislet. I know. Star Tripper's great. That's very cool. And then when you were a kid, the one from when you were a kid, was that like with like the old timey, like they played sound effects in the room and stuff? Okay. So I don't know how old you think I am. But... You were all in black and white, right? Yeah.

like the world the world was still black and white black and white i don't know if you guys know this but oh my gosh life didn't get colored till 88 um yeah that's true yeah that's why neon was so popular then yeah um no no no it was uh it was just regular recording you know i know that was that was a joke question

Let's talk about your character here, Honest Izzy. What was important for you to get across with this character? Acting. Yeah. You're my favorite guest. You're my favorite. I love it. I love it.

Yeah, as long as people could understand the words that were coming out of Ramona. That was a huge part of it. Yeah. Communication. Just communication. I mean, you know, the character sort of brought to me and everything starts with what's on the page there. And the page is very like, you know, it's very Han Solo, very Briscoe County, very, you know, Nathan Fillion and, you know, the fucking show that got canceled quick.

Firefly. What did you say? Firefly. Yeah, Firefly. Firefly, yes. So it's got all of this sort of space cowboy, space pirate aspects to it. And so like really all I was just trying to convey is just fun and danger and the danger and the fun and the fun and the danger and just

you know, really be, you know, the guy that you want to be, right? Like he's, in a lot of ways for me, he's, he, he's the guy you want to be when you're, when you're young. Um, and what you picture like criminal life to be in pirate life to be, you know, very, very Peter Quill, you know what I mean? Like you're, you're just sort of making your way through there. Just like,

I think I'm a badass, right? Like, yeah, yeah, I've always wanted to be a badass, so I'm a badass. You know? And so that's sort of what's going through his mind through there, which is just like, yeah, he's in it for himself in a lot of ways, but he does have a code and he does care and it is grounded. Awesome. Jonathan, Tiffany, how do we score Malcolm Barrett? How do we get this Foley genius on the show? Yeah.

Fully genius. I love it. You can add that to your resume, Malcolm. I'm here on help. Look at this.

that is someone using hand soap i'm gonna credit you as the foley artist for this after show on looking for things um so malcolm was like we talked about this a little bit on the last episode but uh malcolm and i have known each other for a while um and when i started getting people together and talking with jonathan about people to bring on the show i was like

hey, can we get, I think we could do some cool stuff with Malcolm. And then I think I text Malcolm and was like, hey, would you do a voice on this audio drama that I'm doing? And he was like, yeah. Yeah.

That's simple. Process. Yeah. Yeah. I was like, what day? Am I free? Sure. What day? Just tell me the day. I don't want to go through a whole thing. I don't have a lunch that day. Yeah.

I mean, I could probably go through our text messages and see that that's like the dialogue. It's probably verbatim that. Sup, sup, wanna do this thing? Sure. Yeah. We shift to Jonathan. How pumped were you when you heard we got Malcolm? Oh, how pumped was I? Oh my God. I mean, huge. Like, giant fan of the boys. Love Preacher. Yeah.

um, love timeless. So once, once we had figured out that you were going to do it, I was like, Oh, okay, let's go back. I looked at honest Izzy again and I was like, okay, what can I adjust here? And try to like, like bring the voice together with what I knew from your other stuff. And then working with you has just been awesome. So I hope, I hope you dug the episode. I think, right. This, you, everybody just got to hear it today. So how did, what did you think of this first, of this first, uh,

appearance of honest or second appearance of honest Izzy pretty cool I bet they think

- Favorite guest ever. - He was asking you, Malcolm. - Yeah. - Favorite guest ever. - How did it feel to hear yourself in it? 'Cause it's so, we record everything so separately. - If you're anything like me, Malcolm, I never listen to stuff that I record or like do or watch myself. But when I have to do an after show. - You know what, I'm not gonna lie. I listen to myself all the time. - Same. - I watch- - I love hearing my own voice. - Yeah, I don't care. - Do you? Yeah, yeah.

But yeah, no, it's freaking um, it was cool. I wasn't sure it was gonna be I don't remember where How long ago we shot? recorded this So I didn't know what to expect I you know one thing I do do I do Go look at things but when I'm done with it, I kind of throw it away. I don't think about it anymore Right, so like I really had no idea what to expect and then I was like, where is this in space?

I'm in. I didn't like I listened again. You know, I listen all day today. You're like, oh, this is what I did. Yeah. All right. It's pretty dope. But it's cool because it's got this whole other world and I've never really I don't listen to a whole bunch of podcasts. So it's kind of fun to sort of rejoin the sort of radio play world.

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So Malcolm, since you've gotten to be a part of so many different and iconic sci-fi shows, what do you think it takes to make a great sci-fi story? It starts with, it's going to sound like really stupid, but it starts with like heart and subject matter. Like a majority of the time, sci-fi shows are really just metaphors for the things that are going on in today's life in a lot of ways. Like

just with like abstraction and alienation. So to me, it will always be about, okay, what's at the heart of like the hero's journey is at the heart of most of the sci-fi that I see.

right and so like that that's a sort of classic element is the hero's journey um and then the rest is just like alienation and imagination it's just like taking something like small and different and you know stretching it out and seeing what that would be like or you know finding a world or or some sort of fact that people don't know in a world that they don't know and finding that humanity in it you know what i mean um

Timeless did that. This does that. It's a lot of hero's journey that's just a little bit removed from reality. That was such a genuine answer. Yeah, it was a good answer. I don't know if this counts as... Yeah, but I just laughed because Tiffany wrote into chat, I'm waiting for him to say putting him in it. That's even better. Speak.

That might suck. I love Chad. You know, we got Dan Wally in here saying, my favorite Malcolm part will always be Lem from Better Off Ted. Yeah. Yeah.

That one was one of my favorite roles because that's probably the first role I did. I did a movie with – I mean, I figured you had me here so I can name drop. Please do. But I had done The Hurt Locker from Catherine Bigelow right before that. That movie was the first movie that taught me to –

not be afraid of the camera or embracing the camera in a lot of ways. Like I came from theater, so I was always kind of, I felt like a ham. And so, but that, that movie broke a record for most amount of film used on a movie. And part of that was because I didn't know that. Yeah. And part of it was I was there and don't worry, we're going to get to lemon till and better off Ted. But I was there for a week shooting the same scene and it was an action scene. I never really done that complex and action scene. It was in Jordan and,

a bunch of Bedouins, all this sort of thing. But it made me, because there were so many takes, so many different angles, it just made me

And you weren't always getting talked to because there's over 100 people. So you're just like doing things. And a couple frigging 23 takes in, you're going straight at camera doing this. That experience of being able to embrace the camera in a different way totally facilitated the way I acted on Better Off Ted, which was probably one of my first series regular roles on a single camera comedy.

And so like, whereas multi-camera comedy, like multi-cam is like you're like friends or something like that, or like anything that's just shot from the front, you know, this is the first audience usually. Yeah. Studio audience. Right. So this is the first one with, I had done that like, wasn't like that. And it was like, Oh, I can embrace this sort of cinematic world of comedy. And so it affected everything I did, how I moved. And then I also had a great partner in Jonathan Slavin who,

And, you know, we actually had been going in for similar roles a number of times over our career. You know, aesthetically, people didn't guess it because they're like, you're black, he's white. You know, you guys are age difference. But so much of what was similar in us was our character and our depth and our humanity and a quirkiness that by the time we actually got to auditioning for this role, we fit perfectly.

very well it was very much a yin and yang and we came with a philosophy which was that everything's funnier if the both of us do it right like we had a very codependent relationship none of us like we we we fit with each other but we weren't trying to one-up each other we were just trying to move you know we like we would have these weird looks with each other that we never practiced but just made sense because we knew none of us could make a decision if we're in the same room without checking in on the other person

like mentally, emotionally, like in character that always had to happen. Like we, we had an elevator scene. We had an elevator scene and we'd never even, we never even discussed it when we did it. But what happens is you cut to us on the elevator right before what would wind up being my girlfriend walks in. And for five seconds, me and him don't talk.

Like we don't talk, we don't look each other because in our heads we were like, yeah, when lemon fill are not around people, they shut down.

So we both are just like these codependent people not looking at each other or talking to each other. Just like, this is our comfort zone. Um, so it was, it was really, it was a really fun experience. Like we actually had one episode where we worked together, where they separated us, um, just for the story arc. And we went to the producer, like,

the end of that day, if not the end of that episode. And we're like, never do that again. We were like, every episode, every episode, it's us two together for the entire length of the episode. We don't care if it's two minutes or 20 minutes, but that's, don't ever separate us again. Wow. So I want to ask a question that's kind of, and this is open to kind of everybody, you know, with the state of the industry being kind of what it is, you know, where do you think

because as you sort of reminisced about all of your cool roles and all these movies and TV, it sort of made me long for a day when it felt like that stuff was still prolifically happening. Do you...

how are you managing it today? Maybe when the stuff has been slowing down a bit and, and where do you think like the sort of the future of storytelling is, is going, is it into formats like these, like audio dramas and stuff like that? Are we going to find other ways to be creative and still telling our stories with, you know, Hollywood being in the state that it's in? How are you feeling?

Yeah, I mean, it's hard for me to get outside of it. Like, it's very, I'm at a very frustrated point, because I feel like they've turned veteran, even the veterans into gig workers.

You know, like we're all fighting to do eight episodes of a show that airs, you know, again in two years while we wait, you know, to see if it's going to get picked up or something like that. So it's a really rough from that angle. And I know people are scared of the AI thing.

And to be honest, I think we're natural storytellers and people are going to want to tell stories in whatever way, shape or fashion that there is. I mean, this podcast being an example of it, you know what I mean? Like literally, I wasn't really doing a whole lot of voiceover stuff until the pandemic happened.

And I had to sort of widen my options and reevaluate what I was doing. And even I started casting for a while and doing that. So I think, you know, we, to quote Tiffany's crush, what life finds a way. One thing I will say, like,

being friends with Malcolm and getting to see just like a little bit of the career that I've gotten to see like he is always busy and what I appreciate so much and like I've said this before but like I think there's people that like everyone in my life I look at as a mentor in some way and so Malcolm this is the only time I'll ever say this to you but like

It's cool watching the stuff that he does in such different mediums and different ways where he pushes himself because I want to be like that too. Where it's like going over the different things you've done. I'm like, that's amazing. Like where it's like, I know you're doing theater and then you're working on your own stuff and then it's the comedy and then it's like high kind of fantasy stuff. And so it's so cool to get to see that journey and the things that you're able to do and like the things that you push yourself to do. I love it. I think it's so cool. You're a diet cheat.

And then also, I love the fact that, like, we've said this a million times on the show, but it's a lot of my friends who are in the show. So we have Jeff in the chat, who is a voice on the show as well. And then Eugene Bird just joined the chat, who is also a voice on the show as well. What up? Welcome, welcome. Welcome. Thanks for dropping in. Thank you. Yes.

That's very exciting. We've got to get these guys on the show. Malcolm, Tiffany was just listing all these genres. Do you have a favorite? Do you love doing the comedy? Do you love the sci-fi? What really do you get pumped about when you know you got cast in that genre? Sci-fi is always amazing. Timeless was great because it was sci-fi, but I got to be like,

a genius in a hoodie. You know what I mean? And so like the best. Yeah. So like I was really, Oh, I got to be me in this bigger world. Um, so, but to be honest, I just like to do the opposite of whatever I just did.

One of the things I really want to do is a private detective noir type thing. I love a down and out detective. I love a Sam Spade or a Philip Marlowe. Those are my type of things. You've got to get on the new Blade Runner. Yeah, do you know what I mean? I want to do that type of journey.

Yeah. The guy who's like trying, he fails, he gets beat up, but he gets back and then he outs people. Yeah. All right. So you hear that casting directors?

all you cast members that are listening. It's fun how all the pulp genres, the pulp genres all can intermingle with each other in really strong ways. Like, like noir and sci-fi and action adventure. And that's what this kind of is, right? Yeah. I mean, it's, it's definitely noir. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. I mean, you didn't have the character. Is that what you're trying to do? You know, we need a new Bryce. Yeah. I think just voiceover. Well,

Well, the Izzy mini-sode is pretty close to that, though. I heard that today. I love the mini-episode. There's some twists and turns in there. What's the conceit of the mini-episode? Izzy goes on a journey. Izzy goes on a journey. When you hear the after-show mini-sode...

The mini soda after show. That is fucking off the chain. It's actually just Malcolm moving to a different room and fole-ing with whatever he finds there. I have to defend my honor real quick. Eugene is calling me out in chat saying, I owe you money.

I think you actually owe me a text, sir. Okay. Oh, got a snap. This is why, this is why you come to the live after show. Cause you get to see all the shenanigans. Props dude. Like,

Was that a syringe gun? What's this room? The needle gun? Oh, it is. It is. It's the needler or whatever it is. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Amazing. Yeah, I got it. Yes. Take me a second. I also... I think we should do... Yeah. Do I have a...

Guess what's in Malcolm's room is the new mini game. This is the mini-sode. This is actually the afternoon mini-sode. What's in my pocket? That's what's happening. This for Timeless fans, this was the recorder I would use to record my team that Rufus would use on Timeless.

Amazing. Oh my God, you're pregnant. Sorry, I'm just like. That's cool. That's super cool. Should we do a little rapid fire with Malcolm? Yes. Let's do it. Let's do it. Okay, Malcolm, since you're our guest, we've already done this with Jonathan and Tiffany, so they can't do it.

But we have a little rapid fire question round for you. Okay, I'm ready. We call it the exiles list. Okay. No thinking. It's going to be five questions. Yeah, this is just like your knee jerk reaction to these questions. Sandeep, why don't you start with the first one? Okay, if you were exiled to a foreign planet, what would you bring? What's the one thing you'd take with you?

Oh, I think he froze. Okay, I'm back. I was like, he's really thinking about this. It's the longest knee jerk I've ever heard in my life. Slow knees, this guy. All right, go, go, go. If you were exiled to a foreign planet, what would you bring? If you can only bring one thing. An astronaut suit. Diff.

Okay, going very practical. Very smart. It literally got stuck again. I was like, is he serious? No. Okay. If you could bring one sci-fi show, book, or movie with you, what would you bring? Dr. Strangelove.

Yes. Oh, yeah. Okay, awesome. And then only one type of food that you could have. What's the one type of food you bring? Oh, I'm going to go stereotypical and say fried chicken. Wow. Jeff and Chat got it. Jeff Torres got it. That's the only one you can get wrong, and you got it wrong. It's potatoes. The answer is potatoes, and that's Tiffany's answer for everything. We've all learned from Matt Damon. It's potatoes. You can only eat fried chicken one time.

Once you eat it, it's gone. What are you going to do? To be fair, you can have leftover fried chicken and it's still really good. You can plant it in your poop. Okay. Do you think you would survive on Mars or in the world of the exile? No. Yeah. Correct. Okay. You know how people are going to those like Mars, like signing up to go to Mars? Is that you? Would you sign up to go to Mars? I'm black. Would you ever live on Mars?

Correct. Oh my God. I just want to be your best friend so bad. You think I want to do a show with Elon Musk in space? No. No. No. Amazing.

Okay. And then the last question from chat from Voodoo Daddy here. Do you or do you not own a life-size cutout of Ruby Rod from the Fifth Element? Hey, man. Hey, man. No. Come here, baby. Come here. Where you at? Come here. No, I didn't. It's very good. That was really good. All right. Well, congratulations. You survived the exiles list. All right.

Okay, I think it's time to wrap it up for this installment of the after show. Of course, thank you to everyone who came out to be a part of the live experience. For all of you listening out there in podcast land, hey, join us July 16th at 7 p.m. Pacific time to live listen with other fans and to get a chance to interact with the cast. Once again, that's going to be July 16th at 7 p.m. on Twitch.com slash FNC.

F and funny E F F I and funny and if you're wondering why I'm laughing laughing because you're listening to the audio podcast is because Malcolm is wearing everything Malcolm has gone full gadgets all the props yes all the props he's now the prop master as well of this episode exactly huge huge thank you to our guests Malcolm for bringing all the enjoyment and of course Tiffany and Jonathan thank you for joining us again thanks for coming on the after show and being a part of the exile

And thanks once again to our technical team led by Death Queen Vex and all of our mods. We love you. Yes. And listen, we want to hear your feedback. So make sure to reach out and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, under the handle at CM Anthology or online at www.cmanthology.com.

Oh, man. Again, Malcolm's just showing props, photos of himself. Who knows what? This is a picture of my grandfather. Please be sure. This is why you should tune into the actual live stream of the after show right now. Please also make sure to like, review, and subscribe on your favorite podcast app.

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 and Funny Productions. Copyright Knightsville Workshop 2024. All rights reserved.

We'll be right back here with the next after show in two weeks, but make sure to listen to the next. Wait, Malcolm's got awards now? He's showing you back. I'm just trying to wrap this up. It's the longest wrap out ever. Make sure to listen to the next Out of This World chapter of The Exile, as well as our next mini-sode, as we said, with Drops on Tuesday. You're Allison Hayslip. And you're Sandeep Parikh. Thank you for listening. We did it. We did it.

Bye everybody. Nailed it. That was awesome. That was fucking great. It's the best. The Fable and Falling Network, where fiction producers flourish. So now what am I supposed to believe? Is any of this for real?

Well, it looks to me like you're trying to hide. Yeah, my mom always said don't trust anybody. Maybe they'd want to know where you're hiding out tonight. Thank you for returning my license, Joseph. That ding-dang detector told you. But she was married, you know. Stop being a little prick. Do you have your doubts? All right, kids, say goodbye to Uncle Joseph. I'll handle it. Whoa, whoa, whoa there, buddy. Just saying how sorry we are to hear about your parents. Why is she talking about you having a mustache? Do you want to take a walk?

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