Comedy Duo On Co-Hosting And Working With Wondery Podcasts With Brooke Siffrinn And Aricia Skidmore-Williams, Hosts Of The Even The Rich Podcast

Wish you were one of those influencers with raving fans who binge on your every word, consume all your content, buy everything you have to sell, and demand even more. Then stay tuned while Authority Magazine columnist and buzzfeed contributor Tracy Hazzard shares strategies, tips and tactics from top videocasters, podcasters, authors and social influencers on creating that bingeable factor. Now let's join Tracy as she explores how to rise above all noise with the Binge Factor.

Hey everyone, welcome back to the Binge Factor. I'm Traci Hazzard and I always say this. I have something new for you today, right? But I have something very different than we normally bring you here. On the Binge Factor. I have the hosts of a wondery show, so the host of Even the Rich, Brooke Sifrin, Arisha Skidmore Williams and they have quite an interesting show dynamic. It's great insights into how show runs. So if you're not familiar with Wondry, just to give you a little bit of background for those newbies to the podcast industry, Wondry is a big production studio. They do it in very entertainment style. They're known for putting out a lot of great entertainment style podcasts that have a story focus or very story based in general, and even the Rich is no exception. Their new series pulls back the curtain and dishes on someone else's craziness for a change. Brooke and Arisha. They tell the stories of some of the greatest family dynasties in history, from the Murk docs to the Carters, Jay Z and Beyonce, that is. And they talk about my favorite, which was their episode on the Royals on From Diana to Megan, which is very interesting as well. So there's a lot going on there that's completely different than most of you are accustomed to hearing about on this show. So I'm so glad I could bring them on. I want to tell you a little bit more about them because their background as hosts is really interesting. Brooke Sifrin Brooke is a comedian, improviser and alumna of the I.O. west improv school where she performed on two house teams. Her love of comedy started in an early age when her parents taught her the art of sarcasm and quick wit. Podcasting is her favorite thing to do because she loves chatting the day away with Arisha and of course not having to make to put on her makeup for work. Which is why you won't see a video here guys, but we will have an audiogram for those of you on YouTube. Arisha Skidmore Williams Arisha is a Los Angeles Based comedian, she performs improv on multiple teams, including one of the house teams at the Upright Citizens Brigade. She hails from the Chicago suburb by way of a Maryland suburb, so some could say her comedy spans the country. Her comedy career officially started when she signed up for her first improv class in Baltimore and unofficially started when her brother was born. And she realized making people laugh was the only way she could steal attention away from a baby. I love that. And you will see, they're just as fun as their bios are. The thing about this show that's so different is that it's set in four parts. So each one of the sections where they cover the family dynasties or they cover the topic, they're covering it in four parts. So it has cliffhangers and it has some other things. So this is definitely going to be one show that you're going to want to check out from a styling standpoint and take a peek behind the curtain as to how it runs when we talk right now to Brooke and Arisha.

Brooke and Arisha, thank you so much for joining me today. I'm excited to gossip about gossip.

Yeah, we're excited to be here. It's usually just the two of us talking about nonsense.

So now you guys have a great interplay together. Were you friends before?

We were. Yeah, we actually met parking cars. We were valet. We worked as valets. Brooke was my boss and still am. Yeah, still am. She totally thrives in that role. And then we ended up moving in together or I moved in with her and her now husband. So we've been. We've known each other for. We did this math.

We did the math. I think it was like five years.

No, it's four and a half. Because it was. It was. It was six months after I moved here, and I moved here five years ago.

Yeah, we kind of just hit it off right away.

Yeah.

Because we have very. I mean, as anyone who listens to the show knows, we both have a very similar sarcastic personality, and it just. It goes well together.

Yeah, you do have a great rapport, and co hosting is really hard. So that's what I kind of wanted to start with. It's like, you know, do you have, like, you know, a lot of your show is scripted, so. But do you have cues between each other? Do you argue about how you're gonna handle that? Do you, like, plan it out ahead of time as you're reviewing the script?

We don't argue with each other.

I know. I was just thinking. I was like, wait, we don't argue.

I want the good line that doesn't happen. I love it.

Well, so Arisha and I both have a background improv, and that's kind of what Wondry liked about us, is that we had a background in improvised comedy. And when we originally auditioned for the show, they gave us a script, and they were like, just go ahead and riff and banter anywhere you want to. So the script is. It's fully written, and then we're able to go in and kind of, like, write our own jokes if we want to or rewrite anything. And a lot of time when we record, we just kind of say whatever comes to our mind. That's how both of us work best when it comes to comedy. So a lot of this stuff when we're just talking to each other and making jokes is completely improvised.

So you're interjecting. When you do the little interjection and make a joke that's all improvised, but the rest of the story, as it flows, you've got a script and you're following.

So, yeah, there's some moments that are scripted that are just to get us to another moment that may be a little bit jokey, but a good majority of the humor is improvised by us.

So you're working with Wondery, and you've got this show. Are you doing a lot of the research or are they doing a lot of that for you?

They're doing everything for us, which is. I think we're both very grateful in the sense of, like, they have. They have somebody who's writing the script, who's doing the research, and we. We're able to just kind of bring it to life based off what they write for us. And it's just. It's such a great collaboration in the sense of, like, you know, they. We get the script. Brooke and I will go over it. We'll decide. Okay, let's. Let's riff here. Let's not riff here.

Change the language so it sounds a little more like you saying it.

Yeah, very much. We want it in the language that, you know, in the. The way that we talk and the way that we communicate with each other, because it's. It's. I think we're both agreed. That's why Wondery picked us. They like our. How we interact with each other, our banter, and all of that. And so we kind of take that. Take the script and make it our own.

I love that. So how do you get picked by somebody, like, wondering like that? I think there's somebody sitting back going, that's what I Want. I want to do a show, and I don't want to do this all myself.

I want to get picked.

How does that.

How do I prep myself to get in on their radar?

So Arisha actually sent me a screenshot of a casting that she saw in a Facebook group. And this is something we. We've joked about before, that we do all the time. We're like, look at this. Let's do it. We're like, yeah, definitely. And then we never do it. And this one just, like, I had been podcasting for a couple years at this point, just independently, and it felt like it was made for us, and we didn't even know it was wondery at the time. And so she sends me the casting notice, and we just recorded a quick. A quick audition, just about our experience with podcasting, our friendship, all of that. And they're like, we really love your banter. And we did, I think, three rounds of auditions. The final round was we went into the Wondery studio, and I actually, like, I didn't know that much about the podcast world and networks and stuff like that. My husband is a huge podcast fan.

And he's like, well, what's the network?

And I was, like, wondering. He's like, no way. It's wondery. And I was like, oh, is that.

Is that a good thing?

Yeah. And he was like, yeah, that's a really great network. And so her and I are both like, oh, okay.

Yeah. You know, had no idea until Ross was like, yeah, that's a real legitimate.

Yeah, up until this point, we were like, oh, whatever. You know, we're just doing independent stuff. It's probably not a big deal. And so when we found out it was such a great company, we were like, oh, okay, let's be serious about this. We were always serious, but, yeah, and they. They just really seemed to like us together, and that's how it all happened.

Well, it wasn't your first show, though. You guys had been tapping into the podcast industry, so you had the right reality, and you did a bachelor recap section on that. And so, you know, how did you find the difference going from what you'd been doing there to going into this wonderfully produced with all the help and support?

I will definitely say it's a lot easier to not have to navigate both sides of recording and putting out a piece with the right reality. We had somebody who was underneath the umbrella, who was more on the challenge side, who would actually do the editing. And with our bachelor recap podcast, it was a lot. It was not scripted at all. So it was just kind of like we would watch episodes usually together and then take these notes and then talk about it.

So then you just got to, like, turn on the mic and riff. So basically.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And I still. The Right Reality is still going. I still do that podcast. And it's crazy because it's just such a difference. Like, on the Right Reality podcast, I just say whatever I want and.

Truly unfiltered whatever I want. And it's like, it's definitely an adjustment coming to a place like Wondery where, you know, I mean, my humor. I'll go as hard as I want on the Right Reality. But, like, you know, we kind of let it tone it down a little bit on with Wondery. So that's kind of a difference for us, too, is just finding those moments where we can be ourselves in banter, but also keep the story going.

I love that. Well, you know, do they promote the show, or do you have to do some promotion, too?

Wondery, they have a really great. They have a PR company that they work with. They have a great marketing team. They do all of that. I mean, her and I both will post when the show is up and promoted as much as we can, but they have an amazing team that handles.

A lot of that.

It was a lot harder when you were doing the Right Reality, right listeners there. Yeah.

Please just listen.

Please, I'm begging you. We have a show. We all are out there doing that.

I know, I know. Still doing it.

So, you know, I like to touch on the bingeability factor, and I want to hit on this right now because before we talk about a few more things, so. So what do you think your binge ability is?

That's a great question. And it's. It's hard because I feel like it can be a little bit subjective. Like, why is X, Y, and Z. Why are they listening to this show? But I think it's. I mean, it's juicy stuff, and it's stuff that we. We're talking about people we all know exist. And we've all. We all know certain things about these people that we've seen in headlines that we've maybe read in articles, but we're going deeper, and I think that there's something exciting about that. And plus, rich people just. I don't know, they're like. It's. To me, at least, they're very. They're fascinating. The sense of. They're different. They're almost like a different species.

I mean, the idea of, like, oh, I have an 8 million dollar yacht that I just hang out on. I cannot fathom that I'm lucky to have like an $80 car at this point to hang out in. So it's just like, it's. I think it's. There's just that kind of almost morbid fascination with, you know, a lot of money. Having a lot of money and what that brings for you.

Yeah. What do you think, Brooke?

Well, so all of our shows, we do a four episode arc for each season. So we always. We kind of leave it on. Like a cliffhanger each episode, if you want to say that. And like, okay, well, you gotta find out the rest of these juicy details on the next episode. So anybody going back and finding it later, I think it's easy to binge because you're like, well, I have to know what happens in this story. And so I know a lot of people kind of found us because of season one, which was Princess Diana and Meghan Markle. And that's such a hot topic right now. So a lot of people found us because of that and then stuck with it. And I think we hear a lot of people from a lot of people that are like, I just, like, I just binged your whole thing. Like, especially during quarantine, if you don't have anything else to do, you're like, I'm gonna listen to this whole series. And that's what we're hearing. A lot of people. It's just, I think the cliffhangers really help make it bingeable.

I think also just it's an easy 45 minutes. Like, it's not like you. I feel I've heard from people saying that, oh my gosh, the time goes by so fast. I can't believe we're already at the end of this episode. And I think that helps. Like when you don't realize how much it's like, oh, shit, a whole hour has passed. It's nice. It's a nice feeling. Especially in quarantine, you need to pass that time as quickly as possible.

Well, I think you two have hit on what you know. So I always cycle and analyze the shows and give you, because I've reviewed so many shows here, the binge ability factor. So I think you've really hit on it. First off is like, people, human beings are hardwired to want to know the whole story. So by you leaving those cliffhangers in, there's no way I'm not gonna finish. Even if, you know, the funny thing is, even if the story isn't totally Exciting to me. And then, like, we still can't stand that we don't know what happens next. Like, that's a human being thing. So you're tapping into that. So once they find your show, they're like, we're gonna keep going through. But it's the team fun. The fun that you two have interacting with it. And that, as you said, Arisha, that it is this fact that you have no concept of, like, what that lifestyle is like, that it makes us feel like more like, oh, okay, so we're not alone. We don't know what that's like either. Like, you know, like, you know, I think if there was some stuffy British voice talking about, you know, Meghan Markle, then we wouldn't be. We would be like, oh, that's documentary. Like, it's filtered. Instead, it's your outside view of it, which is a little more tampered in this reality of, like. Yeah, life isn't really like that for most people.

People, yeah. Instead, it's our terrible British accents, which are really fun.

They love them.

Yeah. Which is really fun that you tap into those on occasion. So you guys have a lot of fun in the show. And that, I think, really comes across too. It makes you, like, wanna. You know, we're sitting there getting to gossip with you too. Like, like all girlfriends, you know, that kind of thing. So I think that's a lot of fun. Did it ever occur to you that people might listen to you on Double Speed?

No.

Oh, my gosh.

Not until this second.

Yeah. Right.

So second, I'm gonna just tell you that you guys are even fun. You're on Double Speed.

Oh, my gosh.

And it's not because you sound like chipmunks. It's like, the jokes come faster. It's like a different style. So I. Because I have to listen to so many shows in order to do my job here, that I tend to, like, I gotta squeeze you into 20 minutes. Yeah. Oh, my God. And so I. For three days, I. You know, for four days, actually. Cause I gave you a fourth day because I could not finish the story right. So for four days in a row, I would put it on double speed while I was doing my hair and my makeup every morning so that I could be prepped and ready for our interview. And I had to put you on Double Speed in order to cram it into the amount of time I had. And so I felt guilty about it in the beginning. So I was like, I would, like, tap it out and then bring it back again. But I Realized I wasn't losing. I was afraid I was gonna lose some of your styling, so that's why I did that. But I realized I didn't. It actually was just as funny.

Are you finding that we're less funny in normal time right now?

No. She's gonna do this interview. It's gonna be double speed up.

You guys need help?

I'm gonna speed it up to listen to the answer. Yeah, don't worry, I'll do that. On the production side. No, no, but I. But, you know, there's a pod fasting is a thing. And so that's what we call it in the industry. It's called pod fasting. And it's where people are like, I have a 30 minute commute, so it doesn't matter what the show is. I got to squeeze it into my 30 minutes or whatever that might be, or the time while my kids are, you know, in ballet. Whatever it is, it's got to fit in that time frame. And so, yeah, so that's what they do. And. And those are serious podcast listeners who do that.

Yeah.

But you guys are great on that, so.

Hey, it worked out.

That's good to know. I thought I talked fast already.

So, so fast.

Well, so this is. This is a funny. I obviously talk fast. And yeah, as you can tell, but my husband doesn't, so we co host together. You have that sort of like, he's kind of methodic. So, like, I'm like, I don't know how anybody could do anything but listen on double speed. That's my. My view as a listener, which is terrible. So terrible. Because then you listen to me and I'm way too fast.

Yeah.

Well, I love that. I love that you. So now you mentioned briefly that things are a little different in quarantine. Like, listening is different. How is recording different? Did you go into a studio to do it before and now you're having to do it elsewhere? Or are you just on hiatus for recording right now?

Yeah, we were going into the Wondery studios originally to record, and now we have a pretty sweet home setup.

Yeah, it looks pretty sweet.

Yeah, it's definitely the beginning. There were some growing pains. I think the first day we recorded, it took us, unfortunately, maybe like hours to actually figure out all the equipment and get it set up, but we're mostly smooth sailing now. Yeah.

This is actually Arisha's old bedroom.

Yeah.

That we.

Yep.

When we finally got rid of her, we turned this in. We turned this into a studio. And my husband's very, very crafty, handy, you can kind of see them behind me. He made all these soundproofing panels in this room. So there's, like, four on the ceiling. There's this wall. There's a side wall. There's two behind Oresha. And we kind of just made this our studio. And the first time we recorded an actual episode, we were in my bedroom. We had, like, a mattress up on the ceiling, like, trying to catch the sound any way we could. It was ridiculous.

But we've come a long way.

Smooth sailing now. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, it sounds really good. So you're doing well now. I love that. Do you find it different, though, like, when you're in the studio and now that you're, you know, sort of in the space, do you have cues between the two of you as to how? And so, like, in case you want to make some changes, I mean, how do you give an improv cue?

Ooh.

I don't really think we do. I think her and I are so. We're truly lucky to have the rapport and the chemistry that we do, and especially for two people who actually have never performed improv together.

I know that's outside of this.

We've done it separately, but it just kind of comes, and you can kind of, like, tell when the other person's gonna say something, and you let them fall back or you kind of fall back. But in the studio, we had all these big mics in between us so we could see each other, but it wasn't as well as we can see each other now.

We're just sort of.

It's actually easier now. It is. And, you know, even our producers have kind of found, like, you guys seem a little more lighter now that you're at home. It's just more relaxed and kind of feels like our environment. So I feel like that really helps us kind of improvise and be comfortable.

I love that. Well, you have had some great successes. You got to 23 on the charts. You got to number six in society and culture, which is actually really hard to do because there's lots of really great podcasts in that category. You beat out Conan and Oprah. Yes.

That will forever be our shining light.

That's going on my gravestone.

That's a pretty big deal. So has it afforded you some other perks, some other authority in the marketplace? And the next time you go into an audition, you're gonna go like, hey, I beat out Oprah?

Well, I mean, I'm dropping that wondery name every chance I get for audition. I'm like, I Host a wondery show. I haven't gotten to drop the Conan o' Brien and Oprah thing yet, though.

But I think you should.

I'm going to.

Every time I interact with somebody I should lead with. Yeah, I beat out Conan and Oprah.

Yeah, we actually ran into Conan. This is such an insane story. So Arisha and I, there's this thing called podfront where advertisers can come and hear about new shows, decide if they want to advertise on your show. And this was right after we had found out we had gotten the job.

Yeah.

And so we're like going in and presenting to these advertisers. And it was crazy for us. And afterwards, Arisha's like, conan o' Brien was just standing right there and I didn't see him.

Okay, this is classic Brooke. I'm standing with or giving our mics back to the sound person or whatever. And he's literally like, you could reach him. Like, it's not the 6ft thing. You could definitely reach out and touch him, especially with his long arms. And Brooke's standing right next to me and I give her a look. And this is an example of when we are not in sync. And she looks back at me and I assume it's cause she's like, sees him and then he goes in. And I was like, can you believe that? And she's like, what? That was Conan o'. Brien. So then I made her wait.

Yeah. So then classic Orisha makes us sit in the lobby on this bench just waiting for him to come out. And then he finally does come out and the three of us look at each other very awkwardly. Nobody says anything. He looks like dead in my eyes. And I was like, should I say.

He recognized another successful podcast host?

Yeah, that's what it was.

Yeah.

He's like, I feel like these two are gonna beat me out at some point on the charts. So I'm not saying anything.

Game recognized Game.

I love that. Mitzi. Everyone listening. This is an example. Like, this is a relationship. And you can see why the show and the synergy between the two of them is working. You know, it's a good thing that you applied together because you can so see that they could never have done this. And I understand that you're the first co hosted show in this genre for Wonder. Did they wanted that from the beginning or that was just what you presented when you auditioned?

They were the posts that Arisha had sent me. They were looking for, was it female or just comedic duos?

It was two female hosts. Or if I'm remembering correctly, it was for two female hosts to lead, like comedic hosts or one female host, which it sounded like they were thinking about pairing up with another person if they, like, could find a match. So.

But they were originally looking for, like, comedic duos.

They wanted duos. Yeah, they wanted two people.

So, you know, normally I do these five tips, but we're not going to do them because you have a production team that does that at one dream. And, you know, and so we're not going to go into all of that. But what I really want to do is ask this one question and see if you can give our audience some advice here and that what traits do you think make a good host?

So for. I think for our show specifically, I mean, obviously hosting with a co host is different, but I've said this before. I feel like someone who can just talk about whatever, like, the gift of gab truly makes a great host. That's always been what I think makes me an okay host. I'm not going to be like, I'm the best host, but I think I can talk to anybody about pretty much anything if I have a little bit of a backstory on it. And just being ourselves, that's really important to me is like, I know these scripts are scripted, obviously, that's why they're called scripts. But it's important for me to be authentic in who I am, and especially for Reshai, because we are comedians and we want to be ourselves, and that's where the comedy comes in. So I think just being able to be comfortable, feel like you're having a conversation more so than I'm just reading a script to you. Here's a story for me, that's a big thing, that if I feel like I can relate and connect to a host, then I think that makes them a good host.

What about you, Alicia? She's like, let me think.

Brooke said it so well. I agree with all of that. And to add to that, I think caring about or having some interest in what you're talking about, even if you.

Can'T relate to it, but it's curiosity, right?

Yeah. I think that having passion. I mean, so much of the stuff that we talk about, I didn't know anything about, but I'm interested, borderline fascinated by so much of it that I think that that helps. And if you're listening to somebody talk about something they don't give two things about, you're not gonna like, why keep listening? Because they clearly don't care. So I think just having that kind of passion doesn't have to be full on. Like, I know every single detail about everything. And don't worry, listeners. We'll let you know if you get it wrong.

Oh, yeah, so it's just.

That was my next question for you. So listeners let you know when they get it wrong, especially because you've got some super fans. Like, especially when you're talking about the Royals.

Yeah.

Yep.

Yeah, we. And just as my eyes go dead like, we. For us, it's different because, like I said, with our other show, it was on a smaller scale. I mean, we had people reaching out to us, of course, and saying they love the show and whatever, but I don't think her and I were fully prepared for the chaos that is iTunes reviews.

So do you read your reviews?

Not anymore.

So I'm at the point. So we read them initially, not like all of them, but it was just like, oh, let's check in and see where we are. Right after this had been dropped. And then learned almost instantaneously. This is why you don't do this. This is not necessary.

Do not read your own reviews. There you go. Good to know.

Read your own reviews, because people will pick out just the littlest craziest thing and just. And run with it. And, you know, like, we want to do and say the right thing. Like, we never want to truly offend anybody. So we do welcome feedback, and we have changed things due to feedback. But you can't just. You can't go. And every once in a while, you'll see something negative, and it could be amidst a hundred positive things, and you just focus on that negative. You're like, I'm a terrible host.

I'm not funny.

I shouldn't do this anymore.

It's crazy.

Well, and then you read things that are just. There will be reviews that are. That are just factually untrue. And. And it's just. There's nothing you can do about it. Like, one of the reviews was said that I was a white woman. And it was like, especially in the midst of what's going on in the country, it's like, I'm not. And why would you say that? And it's like, there's nothing you can do about it. And so you just kind of like, I don't need to read these because I have no control of them. Let me focus on what I can control.

Yeah, it's crazy.

Well, so I had one of my podcasts. We did over 580 episodes.

Wow.

And, yeah. So just. That's just one of them. And so I got. And it was the one I co hosted with my husband. It's all about tech. It's about like 3D printing. Really geeky. And I. Every so often we would get hate mail. We would get this like, nasty message. And it wasn't in the reviews, but we'd get an email about it. Like, oh, Tracy's voice is so annoying. Like, this whole thing. And I'm like, you know you don't have to subscribe, right? You don't have to listen.

I told Arisha, my new thing is I'm on a quest to make. To make it a rule that you have to put your first and last name on Your iTunes review, that is.

It would change everything.

It will change everything.

There are people like this and I'll never understand it where they have. There's no reason to say that. Like, what does it matter how somebody's voice sounds? Nobody's got a gun to your head saying, you have to listen. So why even put that comment on? Stop listening and move on with your life? But it's like, no, I've got to come after this person I don't know, I've never met. And one of the things that I have kind of learned through this process is that. And I mean, I've always known this, but they're people. Like, we're all people and we can't say who. But when somebody we talked, we spoke about and we covered on our show, a relative reached out to us and was like, we love what you're doing. And that just kind of put it into perspective where it's like, people, like, we're talking about people. And I think we're. We honor that and we respect them even when they have. They make poor choices in their lives. And I just think that it's important to remember that as, you know, listeners and just people. Like, at the end of the day, we're people. The people we're talking about are actual people. Let's have some respect for that.

I think we're allowed to say what family the person was from. No, that we have it on good authority. Basically, we'll say we have it on good authority that someone in the Murdoch family heard our podcast.

So for those of you who are listening, they have a four segment section on the Murdoch family. So I could see why they'd be a little nasty to you.

No, they were nasty.

They were nice. Oh, that's surprise.

Yeah. So like hearing a relative say, hey, I love your show. I'm listening to it. This person that you guys mentioned in the show. Listening to it. Is listening to it as well. And they enjoy it. Was like, thank you. Like, it's great. They appreciate it. And we're. And I think that just kind of speaks to how we are telling these stories where we're trying to remember that there are people behind these stories. They're not just names on a piece of paper. And I would love for people who listen that have something negative to remember that as well. At the end of the day, we're all people. Let's treat us with the respect. Yeah.

Maybe Megan's listening.

Maybe.

Yeah. Hey, Megan, I would love to talk to you about your style and what it's like to be married to a royal.

Yeah, really?

And also getting drinks. I really want to get drinks with her. Oh, okay. You can come.

Oh, great. All right.

I love that.

Well, have you guys become podcast fans? Brooke, you said your husband was a big podcast fan. Have you become fans? Have you, like, listened to other shows to try to hone your craft a little more? Like, you know, has that occurred because of podcasting?

Yeah. So I actually, this is my new tactic for seeing what people may be saying about our show. I go and I find shows similar to our show, and I listen to them and I look at their reviews, and I was like, if people are mad about this on your show, they may be mad about it on our show. And so instead of.

So it makes you feel better almost.

But it's like, okay, I don't have to hear this direct feedback. I'm just getting it secondhand and I'll implement it.

It. So before someone comments on mine.

Yeah, but yeah, there's like, Red handed is one that Wondery actually had told us about to check out because it's two female friends hosting. It's a true crime podcast. But it was kind of. It's kind of a similar vibe. Two friends talking about crazy stuff. And so I checked that one out, and then there's some other, like, female hosted podcasts that are kind of comedic that I listen to to kind of just get a sense of what people who are maybe listening to our show are also listening to. And, you know, doing my own research that way.

Yeah. So, you know, I may have mentioned this earlier on Guys, but I met Brooke and Arisha because they applied into my Authority magazine article. And in there, you both put two shows that you thought were kind of great. Whitney Cumming show, which I can see why you would like that from a comedic standpoint. And Justin Long was the other one that was mentioned in the show. And, you know, those are really great shows to model in terms of how they operate them and how, you know, Whitney does a monologue basically. Basically through most of it. It's like, yeah, that's a lot to sustain.

Yeah. She's one of those people who I would just listen to talk forever. She's so funny to me. I absolutely adore her. And Arisha's got a big crush on Justin Long, so.

That'S not why I listen. That's not the only reason I listen. But, yeah, I don't crush on him. I think it's so funny.

He's very funny.

I love interview podcasts when they're talking with people, which is so much what we have. Although the last episode of each series will is us interviewing. But I just. I don't know. I like. What I love about Justin's podcast is it feels very. It's personal. Like, you know, he's talking about to people and they're talking about their own experiences. And I just. I'm a big fan that we can all relate to each other in some way or another. It's just finding out how. And I think his show does a great job of finding that thread.

I love that. Me too.

So what's on tap next for you? Where is this gonna go?

Do you mean if we make it out of Corona?

Yes.

Well, possibilities are endless. Personally, professionally. Yeah. Where's it going for you?

So Arisha and I are kind of in the same boat of we really want to continue doing things together. We enjoy doing comedy together. We've always wanted to. Like I said, we have tons of ideas that we just need to implement. Clearly, we can only do things when someone else is doing them for us, so we need to, like, you know, really get going. But we kind of. We've always wanted to, like, write a web series about our friendship or a TV show about our friendship, maybe. I'm happy to keep podcasting for as long as people feel like listening to us. So, yeah, that's kind of. I always say I would love us to be the next Broad City. That is, like, my big dream, because I love Broad City. I think they're so funny. That's. That's my ultimate dream.

I think it's just being able to do stuff creatively together is kind of our goal. And. And whatever we can do with that is aces in our book. I mean, this is a hard city to navigate, Los Angeles, obviously. And I just. I feel so grateful that I have somebody who gets me and is navigating it with me. I think it's just so cool that we get to do it together. And I think we're lucky that our comedy is just very authentic. Like, never have we tried with each other. Like, it's just like half the time we're talking, like we're recording and it's literally just stuff we would have said, not recording. And so it's just. That's something that I think is unique and doesn't come along very often. So tapping into that however we can, I think is what we'd like to do.

So we're gonna force it on people for as long as we can.

Basically force it and force it and force it.

So, you know, you were mentioning that this is a hard city and LA is a hard city. And, you know, doing that entertainment style podcasting is a hard model. Like, there's. There's not a ton of shows out there. It's really competitive. What advice do you have for know who really has a desire to do that? Whether they want to do it themselves and start up, you know, an entertainment style show themselves or work with a group like Wondry.

I think you literally just. Just do it. Like, you can buy. I have some microphones behind me. This one right here is only 45 bucks. You can get this microphone on Amazon and it sounds really great. Actually. We're lucky, obviously, to have all this equipment that Wondry send us, but my other podcasts, we were just like, you know what, let's do it. You can buy a recorder for a couple bucks. You can buy a. My God, I can't talk. You can buy a microphone on Amazon. You can get Audacity, which is a free program on your computer, and just record, like, just do it. It's really. It's easy to get started. And yeah, there's a ton of podcasts out there, but if you truly, like, if you can find somebody who you have great chemistry with, who people like listening to, then you can really just. I'm a big proponent of, like, just try it on your own and see what happens. And you can even email Wondery or any of these networks and say, hey, I got this show. Want to take a listen and what do you think?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I feel like it's really. It's important to not wait for everything to be perfect because it's so easy to say, oh, I need to have this in line and I need to have this set up, but at the end of the day, what do you have fun doing? And then just do it. And I'M saying this as somebody who struggles all the time with. I came out here, I originally moved out here to write, and I don't write as much as I want to, but the fact is, you can't just wait for things align perfectly. You have to go out and get it, make things happen. And so I think the most important thing is to do something that you enjoy. And if you're enjoying it, then even if it's not as successful as you might want it to be, you're having fun. And at the end of the day, if you're not having fun, what's the point?

Yeah. And, you know, this opportunity was truly preparation and luck meeting. Like, it really was, and it was perfect for us. We, like I said, we had no idea. We thought maybe this was just some podcast we were gonna record in some guy's garage. And.

Yeah.

Oh, it's wondery. Okay.

There's actually a studio there. It's a lot safer.

It helps. Yeah. And we actually, like. Like Brooke mentioned before, we. This was something we would do all the time. Like, she would see something on some page, send it to me and say we should submit. Vice versa. Most of the time, I would forget to submit, and she would submit. And there. There are many times that we submitted, never heard anything. So it's not like this was the very first time that we had ever tried to do something. And, I mean, any story of success has so many stories of not success, and that's just normal. So don't let that, like, derail you, because that's. Everyone talks about all the times they mess up and don't get what they want.

Yeah. And not everyone's gonna, like, you, remember that, too, and just don't care about that.

Yeah. Do it for yourself more than anything else.

Arisha Brooke, thank you so much for joining me today. This has been so fascinating. Thank you for giving me some insight into how things work when you do a highly produced. And thank you for sharing your journey with us so that we could get a sense of how there are those of us out there who might want to try that, too.

Of course.

Yeah.

Thank you, Tracy, so much for having us.

Thank you so much.

So I hope you found that as fun and fascinating as I did and such insights into how this works. And, you know, how nice it is for those of us independent podcasters to, like, think about what it's like when you work with that great team. Right. Who's prepping you. So just a little reveal here to make sure that, you know, you guys know I'M really lucky and I have a full production team on the after, on the post side of things right after it's recorded. But I do all of my own prep here because I, you know, I don't have that kind of team that Wondry has for Brooke and Arisha. And so, you know, even the rich and these types of shows that are much more story based require a lot of research. And for the independent podcasters out there, who I've talked to, I've spoken with about how they prepare their true crime stories or all of that, that research portion takes an inordinate amount of time. And so being able to tap in and step into it and just that comedic side of things, to be able to personalize it and make a special. Brooke and Arisha are really lucky and I know that they know that and that. But it's also in this case because they're not so mired down with all of that history and the research and the things that they have to do. It allows them to be more free with the show. The show gets produced faster. Right. Because there's team involved in it. And that can be the frustrating thing and the hard thing about sustaining a podcast when you're trying to do it on your own. My strong recommendation to you is to go listen to the show, hear how it is. If you're thinking about doing any kind of these gossipy talk shows or, you know, kind of serials in which you're reviewing something or historically looking at something or telling stories about something, really check out how they're doing it because the personality that Brooke and Arisha interject into this is just amazing. And it really, it really serves the show extremely well. And for those of you who are afraid of getting a co host out there, well, take a listen as well because you don't want to miss the idea that, you know, there really is a way for you to go back and forth between one taking sort of a back step and one leaning back into it, one being sarcastic and one being, you know, cute and funny. Like whatever it is that your model is, there's a model out there. And listening to shows like Even the Rich will help you broaden that view of how could my show be produced? How could I be better at hosting?

Right.

Or co hosting in the case. And listen to Brooke and Arisha's advice because it's spot on for all of that. So all the links to everything for even, even the rich and to connect up with Brooke and Arisha will be in the blog post for this episode@thebingefactor.com and for those of you who don't know, there's there's a bunch of new applications in there. So if you've got a brand new show, there's still a way for you to get featured on the Binge Factor. And for those of you who are doing seasoned podcasts but are sitting back wondering, do I really have a bingeable show? I'd love to review that for you. So make sure and apply@the Bingefactor.com looking forward to being back with you and bringing you more new and interesting podcasts and podcast hosts as we continue the Binge Factor series.

Foreign.

You'Ve been listening to the Binge Factor Podcast. For more information on podcasting and videocasting success tips and tactics, please go to thebingefactor.com and be sure to listen to our other show for podcasters called Feed you'd brand. If you'd like to be interviewed on this show as well as featured in Tracy's column, please go to thebingefactor.com guest and and apply.