What a wild and eventful week for us here in Alfred, Maine (Fred’s hometown).

Fred’s life is a furious pile of boxes bags and wires as he and Amy gear up for a five week trek to one of the most dynamic and intriguing countries of the world, South Africa. While there, Fred hopes to connect with some of South Africa’s varied audio drama lovers and record sounds of curious critters from local baboons to the hippopotamus (from a distant, he assures us).

So what to do with Radio Drama Revival programming for that period?  In hopes to keep the same quality podcast productions flowing. Fred had even come up with an exciting new theme for the first set of 2012 programs, New Year, New Audio, to challenge all of us to try out audio drama genres and troupes not on our personal “short list”, then to share any genuine great new finds in production and talent with others to get them interested in doing the same or in listening for the first time to modern independent audio drama.  But as time grew short for his trek, this mini-series did not seem fit to happen.

Just when he’d reconciled himself to substituting OTR re-runs of Baby Snooks and The Alan Young Show, serendipity struck with sweet vengeance. By insane coincidence, a recent yardsale find (a gorgeous one-of-a-kind hardwood cathedral OTR radio and phonograph) turns out to coince-accidental-and-destructionally be the powerful and noisy secret Auralan Resistance teleportation device. Next thing you know, our own Captain Radio™ was standing before me, dusting himself off, wondering what to do for a whole month while the “radio” recharged.

And you know it, dudes: Fred made him an offer he couldn’t refuse … try as he might!

So, while Fred’s away soaking up sun in South Africa, our own Captain Radio™ will be hosting Radio Drama Revival while shoveling snowed-in driveways and learning the gentle art of milking cantankerous Maine goats twice daily in sub-zero wind chills.  We can’t tell you how much this thrilled the native Texan.  No, seriously, we can’t.

To get our New Year, New Audio series off on appropriately eccentric footing, we open with three clever and satirical sketches cooked up by the fun patchwork of “unusual” poets, songwriters, and storytellers now part of the UK’s Rythmical Ravings & Rants (RRRants) non-profit consortium of modern troubadours. Visit festivals with a curmudgeon’s trained eye, turn a committee meet inside out, and carefully deflect observation while discoursing with talking critters, all this week on one of the most action-packed and fun Radio Drama Revival episodes ever!

Download audio file (rrrants-are-good-for-the-soul.mp3)
Radio Drama Revival – Episode 260

Experiencing TEKnikal diffikulties? We hope you will after this podcast featuring the marvelous Cayenne Chris Conroy and his 6-year-running comedy podcast (with splashes of sci-fi adventure).

TEKDIFF won the 2010 Gold Ogle for their production of the show we feature today, “Whoever Wishes,” a blissfully surreal comedic romp through the misadventure of a father looking for his son. With cunning pokes at the nature of war and peace, the relentless grind of modern living and into the great beyond… or something like that.

This sound rich production was written, directed, produced and VOICED all by Chris – pretty amazing stuff, and worth a bow for his virtuosity alone.

First up, Captain Radio featuring Electric Vicuna‘s Dead Line Anthology, a modern redux of chilling OTR shows such as Suspense and Inner Sanctum, from the multi-talented Jack Ward in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Download audio file (rdr-podcast234.mp3)
Radio Drama Revival – Episode 234

We conclude our feature of the legendary Firesign Theatre, the “4 or 5 Krazee Guys” (Phil Austin, Peter Bergman, David Ossman and Phil Proctor) whose embellished sterephonic comedy recordings altered the minds of a generation. After a 17 year hiatus they returned in 1998 to warp our minds again with this lampooning of the end of days, Give Me Immortality or Give Me Death.

After 13 years this album is still shockingly relevant, with end of the world fever, crazy used car deals, problems with the internet, celebrities gone haywire, and big budget beer.

In addition to their legendary studio albums (such as Don’t Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers!, which we hear today), the troupe had hundreds of hours of live radio experience, and had a particularly special era of a program called “Dear Friends.”

A new boxed set (which we wrote about back in February) contains ALL of this material – a whopping 80+ hours – along with beautiful art and hilarious anecdotes. Listen to the show for samples, or check out the DUKE OF MADNESS MOTORS boxed set and buy it today!

MEGA THANKS for Phil Proctor for giving us permission to broadcast this terrific stuff. We also take time to shout out for the National Audio Theatre Festivals, who are preparing for their annual pilgrimage to West Plains Missouri later this month.

Download audio file (rdr-podcast230.mp3)
Radio Drama Revival – Episode 230

Audio comedy was never quite the same thanks to the antics of The Firesign Theatre, the legendary multi-trackin’, sound embellishing, sterephonic surrealistic psychedelic merry band of Phil Austin, Peter Bergmen, David Ossman and Philip Proctor.

In addition to their legendary studio albums (such as Don’t Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers!, which we hear today), the troupe had hundreds of hours of live radio experience, and had a particularly special era of a program called “Dear Friends.”

A new boxed set (which we wrote about back in February) contains ALL of this material – a whopping 80+ hours – along with beautiful art and hilarious anecdotes. Listen to the show for samples, or check out the DUKE OF MADNESS MOTORS boxed set and buy it today!

MEGA THANKS for Phil Proctor for giving us permission to broadcast this terrific stuff. We also take time to shout out for the National Audio Theatre Festivals, who are preparing for their annual pilgrimage to West Plains Missouri later this month.

Also, Captain Radio is here to cover Voices in the Wind from Canada, whose latest production is “Every Now and Then.”

Download audio file (rdr-podcast229.mp3)
Radio Drama Revival – Episode 229

Audio comedy was never quite the same thanks to the antics of The Firesign Theatre, the legendary multi-trackin’, sound embellishing, sterephonic surrealistic psychedelic merry band of Phil Austin, Peter Bergmen, David Ossman and Philip Proctor.

While best known for their studio albums (such as Waiting for the Electrician Or Someone Like Him, which we hear today), the troupe had hundreds of hours of live radio experience, and had a particularly special era of a program called “Dear Friends.”

A new boxed set (which we wrote about back in February) contains ALL of this material – a whopping 80+ hours – along with beautiful art and hilarious anecdotes. Listen to the show for samples, or check out the DUKE OF MADNESS MOTORS boxed set and buy it today!

Treasures, and a huge thank to Phil Proctor for giving us license to broadcast this terrific stuff. We also take time to shout out for the National Audio Theatre Festivals, who are preparing for their annual pilgrimage to West Plains Missouri later this month.

Also, Captain Radio is here to cover Headhunters, one of the latest titles from the L Ron Hubbard Tales from the Golden Age collection.

Download audio file (rdr-podcast228.mp3)
Radio Drama Revival – Episode 228

Well, they call it Greek tragedy for a reason – and we have it in full force this week with the conclusion of Roger Gregg’s The Stuff of Myth. Orpheus finally gets his chance to plead for his Eurydice back and – by God – he gets her! But whatever you do, dude… don’t look back. Phil Proctor and Melinda Peterson truly shine in their unforgettable renditions of Hades and Persephone.

This great production won a Gold Ogle in 2007 and has gotten rave reviews as a stage play. After many times trying to schedule this into the show and failing, for May 2011 we’ll be featuring all four episodes of “The Stuff of Myth” plus a bonus mythological encounter as part of RDR’s spring festival of Bacchus.

First up, Captain Radio focuses on emerging producer Tanja Milojevic, whose Lightning Bolt Theater of the Mind production has a new original tale out, “The Swamp.” Don’t get sucked down.

We wrap with Cables to the Ace: 83 from Roger Gregg

Download audio file (rdr-podcast227.mp3)
Radio Drama Revival – Episode 227

Cables to the Ace: 83 by Thomas Merton, from THE COLLECTED POEMS OF THOMAS MERTON, copyright 1968 by the Abbey of Gethsemani.
Music, Sound Design, Production & Direction by Roger Gregg. Crazy Dog Studios. 2011.
Voices: Jamie O’Neill & Alicja Ayres
Voice Recording by Colm Coyne.
Video by John Merriman.

This video is from ‘Selections from Cables to the Ace by Thomas Merton’ – a concept album by Roger Gregg, made with the Gaiety School of Acting Class of 2011.

Cables To The Ace can be found in The Collected Poems of Thomas Merton.

The seductive backdrop of Ancient Greece returns in sticky sweet splendor in round 3 of Roger Gregg’s The Stuff of Myth. Orpheus recounts the journey to find – and lose – his one true love, Eurydice. In this installment Orpheus finally meets, and loses, his one true love. Tragedy at its funniest!

This great production won a Gold Ogle in 2007 and has gotten rave reviews as a stage play. After many times trying to schedule this into the show and failing, for May 2011 we’ll be featuring all four episodes of “The Stuff of Myth” plus a bonus mythological encounter as part of RDR’s spring festival of Bacchus.

First up, Captain Radio‘s tribute to the prolific production prowess of Pendant Productions, an audio house that has released a staggering 800+ dramas over the years from dozens of podcasts. And a bonus treat from Roger Gregg, a sample of his new poetry/music montage Cables to the Ace!

Download audio file (rdr-podcast226.mp3)
Radio Drama Revival – Episode 226

Cables to the Ace: 19 by Thomas Merton, from THE COLLECTED POEMS OF THOMAS MERTON, copyright 1968 by the Abbey of Gethsemani.
Music, Sound Design, Production & Direction by Roger Gregg. Crazy Dog Studios. 2011.
Voice: John Merriman & Tiernan Kearns.
Voice Recording by Colm Coyne.
Video by John Merriman.

This video is from ‘Selections from Cables to the Ace by Thomas Merton’ – a concept album by Roger Gregg, made with the Gaiety School of Acting Class of 2011.

Cables To The Ace can be found in The Collected Poems of Thomas Merton, – get a copy!

The saucy splendor of Ancient Greece heats up this week as Orpheus recounts the journey to find – and lose – his one true love, Eurydice. In this installment we meet some nymphs, a romping satyr, and a career on the road that ends in a doozy.

This great production won a Gold Ogle in 2007 and has gotten rave reviews as a stage play. After many times trying to schedule this into the show and failing, for May 2011 we’ll be featuring all four episodes of “The Stuff of Myth” plus a bonus mythological encounter as part of RDR’s spring festival of Bacchus.

First up, Captain Radio‘s review of a hilarious satire of television news, Too Much of a Good Thing. And a bonus treat from Roger Gregg, a sample of his new poetry/music montage Cables to the Ace!

Download audio file (rdr-podcast225.mp3)
Radio Drama Revival – Episode 225

Cables to the Ace: 50 by Thomas Merton, from THE COLLECTED POEMS OF THOMAS MERTON, copyright 1968 by the Abbey of Gethsemani.

Music, Sound Design, Production & Direction by Roger Gregg. Crazy Dog Studios. 2011.
Voice: Cillian O Gairbhi.
Voice Recording by Colm Coyne.
Video by John Merriman.
A Gaiety School of Acting production as part of Gregg’s course on Acting In Audio 2011.

Special Thanks to Dr. Pearson & The Thomas Merton Center. See: www.merton.org

Used by permission of New Directions Publishing Corporation.

This video is from ‘Selections from Cables to the Ace by Thomas Merton’ – a concept album by Roger Gregg, made with the Gaiety School of Acting Class of 2011.

Cables To The Ace can be found in The Collected Poems of Thomas Merton, – get a copy!

Ahh, ancient Greece. Hot nymphs, raging orgies, much wine, song, and occasional transformations into livestock. All well and good, right?

Well things are more wacky than ever in the sizzling and scandalous interpretation of the myth of Orpheus done by Roger Gregg, The Stuff of Myth.

This great production won a Gold Ogle in 2007 and has gotten rave reviews as a stage play. After many times trying to schedule this into the show and failing, this month we’ll be featuring all four episodes of “The Stuff of Myth” plus a bonus mythological encounter as part of RDR’s spring festival of Bacchus.

First up, Captain Radio‘s review of the terrific Saki satire, the Quail Seed, adapted by 19 Nocturne Boulevard.

Download audio file (rdr-podcast224.mp3)
Radio Drama Revival – Episode 224

* Rating based on the Audio Drama Directory Ratings System.

OK, well the Guiness might actually be starting to run out of your system by the time you hear this, but we couldn’t help but raise a cheer for our favorite Dublin-based audio artist this week – Roger Gregg – by replaying some of his excellent work with Crazy Dog Audio Theatre.

So, we got a double feature – first, from Crazy Dog Live, “Ferdia the Druid,” about a druid con artist who gets in over his head when he is send to investigate REAL fairy folken. Followed by the first episode of The Apocalypse of Bill Lizard, a surrealist adventure into the Irish subconscious care of a sexy demon.

Also, Captain Radio is back on the beat with a review of Audie-award nominated radio drama original, “William’s Leap for Freedom” about abolitionist author Wells Brown, who was born a slave in Lexington, Kentucky in 1814.

Throughout his lifetime, Brown was a fugitive slave, a conductor on the Underground Railroad, an abolitionist, an anti-slavery lecturer, an historian, a medical doctor, and a poet. For only $5 you can grab the entire MP3 on ZBS: http://www.zbs.org/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=16_57&products_id=414 . Produced at National Audio Theatre Festivals’ 2010 workshop.

Download audio file (rdr-podcast217.mp3)
Radio Drama Revival – Episode 217

Graphic - FunGraphix.com | Theme music - Shane Lamb

Title: 1918
Producer: Aural Stage Studios
Type: Comedy/Drama
Genre: Action-Adventure
Availability: Free – 1918 Show Site

Greetings, Audionauts – Captain Radio here with a review of Aural Stage Studio’s initial production, 1918.

Toward the end of World War I, if an off-course alien armada’s spaceships randomly crashed around our globe and you suddenly acquired highly-advanced alien weapons, what might be your first instinct?

[AUDIO CUE]

To her credit, Evelyn Ceriwyn, a vaudevillian performer aversely transformed into a savvy femme fatale (and portrayed by equally versatile actress Robin Reed), more often remains clear-headed. However, her brainy Allied scientist sidekick, Henry Isotope (rendered with hilarious aplomb by classical thespian Patrick Pizzolorouso) seems nigh incapable of casting off his boy-in-a-toystore fixation with alien tech.

These two set out to recover and to unlock the mysterious power of the off-world Orbs, master control devices that respond only to interaction with Evelyn. Racing against them to extract the same secrets are Avery Pearson’s “Dr.Heffeweissensteinhagen,” Alyssa Simon’s “Frau Hera,” and a fearsome creature resurrected with alien technology.

Aural Stage Studios, created to help productions at all funding levels maintain professional audio quality, came together as a collaboration between sound designer Matthew Boudreau and his mentor, Mike de Almeida, the resident sound designer at State University of New York in Oswego.

When Matthew and actress/director, Samantha Mason, decided through Aural Stage Studios to produce an original feature, she introduced him to playwright/actor Richard Lovejoy who, in turn, suggested adapting his dormant spec television script for 1918.

Though Samantha might have thought her role in the deal done, ‘twas not. Swiftly drafted as Director, she demonstrated subtle skill overseeing that everyone did their job to the level of professional potential present across the actor and designer resumes. In particular, Matthew and Mike combined their skills to give the production a refreshing sense of aural depth and clarity and sonic seamlessness that make it an adventure to hear.

Lovejoy joins in his own mayhem, depicting deadpan Dr. Xavier Xanders, Isotope’s colleague and an unimpressed “Control” who must endure Isotope’s “Agent 86” antics as, here, the latter shows off one of his “toys” to Evelyn:

[AUDIO CUE]

Discovering The Order of the Horizon’s secret lab trashed, the three confront Abe Goldfarb’s sneering, malevolent automaton re-creation of someone quite familiar:

[AUDIO CUE]

With most of the relatively brief episode allotted to introduce story premise and style as well as principal characters, this first 1918 offering runs a bit light on presumable action. However, the final scene leaves the audience locked and loaded for plenty to follow.

[AUDIO CUE]

Chris Chappell’s alternatingly heroic, eerie, and poignant scoring complement well Lovejoy’s script which seems to strike a good balance between sci-fi drama/tension and comic relief. And Pizzolorouso’s frenetic Isotope briefly had me bemusing whether, in that alternate timeline, Ritalin should be sold over the counter.

Listen yourself to 1918, Episode One on the First Sound channel at captainradio.com or by visiting the production web site at 1918show.com. While there, be sure to catch the previews which tantalizingly hint at what’s to come in this quirky pleaser as new 10-minute episodes appear every two weeks.

Until next time, Audionauts, this is Captain Radio, signing off!

Download audio file (captain-radio-aural-stage-studios-1918.mp3)

Captain Radio reviews 1918 from Aural Stage Studios!

Happy fourth Anniversary Radio Drama Revival!

To celebrate, we feature a new colleague Captain Radio, who tells us all about a new sister audio effort dedicated to reviving audio arts: http://captainradio5.com

We also wrap the feature of the 1980 serial Our Life Together Among the Works of Art, a sexy and side-splitting serial that aired on WBAI, telling the woeful tales, struggles, romances, and substance abuses of a group of struggling young writers in New York City.

From Producer Jessica Raimi’s website:

A story of the years of struggle artists go through before they make it big or give up. Phoebe’s unfocused ambitions land her in a crowded apartment on New York’s Upper Left Side with five roommates and their friends. George is a film critic paralyzed by deadlines, and his wife, Marceline, is tired of telling his editors he’s not home

Julian writes poetry inspired by unattainable men, while Red toils over the definitive science fiction novel. Jay spends his days in dark theaters, claiming that movies are as real as real life. Cecily, an actress on the soaps, must choose between Butch, a novelist whose radical sentiments are being eroded by his job at a mailing house, and the Narrator, whose voice of authority conceals a soul all too human.

We hear 3 more of the 28 episodes today – along with an exclusive interview with writer/producer Jessica Raimi.

Download audio file (rdr-podcast209.mp3)
Radio Drama Revival – Episode 209

Today we continue the feature of the 1980 serial Our Life Together Among the Works of Art, a sexy and side-splitting serial that aired on WBAI, telling the woeful tales, struggles, romances, and substance abuses of a group of struggling young writers in New York City.

From Producer Jessica Raimi’s website:

A story of the years of struggle artists go through before they make it big or give up. Phoebe’s unfocused ambitions land her in a crowded apartment on New York’s Upper Left Side with five roommates and their friends. George is a film critic paralyzed by deadlines, and his wife, Marceline, is tired of telling his editors he’s not home

Julian writes poetry inspired by unattainable men, while Red toils over the definitive science fiction novel. Jay spends his days in dark theaters, claiming that movies are as real as real life. Cecily, an actress on the soaps, must choose between Butch, a novelist whose radical sentiments are being eroded by his job at a mailing house, and the Narrator, whose voice of authority conceals a soul all too human.

We hear 3 of the 28 episodes today – more coming next week.

Download audio file (rdr-podcast208.mp3)
Radio Drama Revival – Episode 208

2011 hits and Radio Drama Revival tries something completely different yet again.

Today’s feature is from the 1980 serial that aired on WBAI, telling the woeful tales, struggles, romances, and substance abuses of a group of struggling young writers in New York City.

From Producer Jessica Raimi’s website:

A story of the years of struggle artists go through before they make it big or give up. Phoebe’s unfocused ambitions land her in a crowded apartment on New York’s Upper Left Side with five roommates and their friends. George is a film critic paralyzed by deadlines, and his wife, Marceline, is tired of telling his editors he’s not home

Julian writes poetry inspired by unattainable men, while Red toils over the definitive science fiction novel. Jay spends his days in dark theaters, claiming that movies are as real as real life. Cecily, an actress on the soaps, must choose between Butch, a novelist whose radical sentiments are being eroded by his job at a mailing house, and the Narrator, whose voice of authority conceals a soul all too human.

We hear 3 of the 28 episodes today – more coming next week.

Download audio file (rdr-podcast207.mp3)
Radio Drama Revival – Episode 207

Well, listeners, we’ve mopped up the buckets of blood spilled throughout the month of October and prepare now for an intergalactic adventure aboard the Harpy with Capt. Galatia 9 and her loyal contingent of do-gooders.

The show is the exciting new audio dramatization of Starstruck, an off-Broadway stage show and comic book that is the dysfigured hilarious child of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

In this mega-episode we feature substantive tastes of the show and interviews with the creators. We’ve also uploaded some videos on YouTube so you can see just how fun it is to record a show like this:

More videos on FinalRune’s YouTube Page

Be Sure to Buy It!

If you like high-quality, refreshingly original science-fiction audio drama, well, you’ve got to show the creators some love.

This show is available as an MP3 download on ZBS as well as on the AudioComics Company’s own website. You can also order CDs with really sharp artwork by Michael Kaluto.

And, without further ado, the show must go on…

Download audio file (rdr-podcast198.mp3)
Radio Drama Revival – Episode 198

We continue with Crazy Dog Audio Theater’s series The Last Harbinger, the chilling and darkly satirical story of Moloch by Roger Gregg.

Clickety-clack, no going back – is the sound of a train headed nowhere at a ferocious speed.  The Harbinger brings a message of hope to the people of Moloch… but the people would rather have fat reductions and televised healings.  The government closes in to reach the only verdict they can even as it becomes clear there’s not much time left.

Part 4 of 5.

Download audio file (rdr-podcast188.mp3)

Download Radio Drama Revival, Episode 188 (MP3)

This week we’re back in the Crazy Dog saddle with a double headed from the series The Last Harbinger, the chilling and darkly satirical story of Moloch by Roger Gregg.

In the land of Moloch, an outsider comes from another dimension bringing the hope of saving a dying world… Which the Molochians respond to by trying to kill the guy. Luckily, the old beggar Beng is on this guy’s side, even as it becomes clear that there’s not much time left. Parts 2 and 3 of 5.

Download audio file (rdr-podcast187.mp3)
Download Radio Drama Revival – Episode 187 (MP3)

This week, a tale of lascivious delight and ghosts of the deep below from Crazy Dog Audio Theatre. The tale is Demons of the Deep, from the collection Diabolic Playhouse.

Roger calls it:

A tempestuous black comedy of entangled relationships set against the hunt for a mysterious sea creature. A multi-levelled tale, listeners might also tap into the scores of references to the great symbolist ‘sea creature’ classics: Moby Dick, The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, The Tempest and the Leviathan as depicted in the Old Testament.

And gosh, it’s a lot of fun to listen to. See these cool production photos to see how much fun the cast had, too.

Enjoy, “Demons of the Deep.”

Download audio file (rdr-podcast166.mp3)

Radio Drama Revival – Episode 166

This week, our stories of spooks continues with a more mischievous ghost than we encountered in last week’s tale of Sinister Properties.

At the Etheric Explorers Club, the gentlemen members are confronted with impossible things, and when it can’t all be chocked up to magnetism, their investigation discovers their building’s “Resident Member.”

Enjoy this colonial-esque, curious and comedic tale was written by Paul Marlowe, published in Something Wicked magazine, and produced by Joe Vaz as a Something Wicked podcast.

Followed by an interview with producer Joe Vaz, who talks about how he went from an actor, to a publisher, to a producer, as well as the nature of audio drama in South Africa!

Download audio file (rdr-podcast160.mp3)
Radio Drama Revival – Episode 160

This week, we feature the live Mark Time Award Radio Show from CONvergence 2009, put on by our friends, the Great Northern Audio Theater.

I was behind-the-scenes on this show and got an opportunity to speak with GNAT’s Brian Price, Jerry Stearns, and Kris Markman – you can listen to that interview on episode 130.

So, for the show itself, we don’t hear anything about Haiti, terrorists, or swing votes in the senate.  Instead, we answer the pressing age-old question: What DID the orc get on his SATs?

Download audio file (rdr-podcast157.mp3)

Radio Drama Revival – Episode 157

Well, things didn’t go exactly how Lester predicted in the first episode of Goodbye, Cruel World but he’s made it to Santa’s candy-cane palace and now he’s ready for his assault on the fat man in red.

But, it’s not easy to sneak a fire-breathing dragon by the toy soldier guards, and how to get past the horde of drunk debaucherous elves who stand between our hero and Santa?

Download audio file (rdr-podcast151.mp3)
Radio Drama Revival – Episode 151

Lester Melrose is sick of jolly old men, gumdrops, candy canes, elves, and a thousand other delights. He wants to bring the big sick world down to its knees and is out for a guy in a red suit who stands in his way.

Aiding him in this quest is a chain-smoking unicorn and a clutzy fire-breathing animatronic dragon. Good stuff.

This is The Theater of the Midnight Sun and the tale, “Goodbye Cruel World.”

Hat trick goes to listener Martin who originally turned me on to the ‘pod and to The Sonic Society who recently featured this same show.

Download audio file (rdr-podcast150.mp3)
Radio Drama Revival – Episode 150

Well, the dust is not yet settled on Halloween and the eeriness seeps into this month… Starting with the original “Ghost Behind the Black Door,” to contrast the same tale we re-told in my 2009 Halloween Live Radio Drama.

So, the story? A couple moves from the city to a remote mansion in Ireland, where every spooky story cliche is abused in this hilariously ghoulish half hour. From the Crazy Dog Live collection.

Download audio file (rdr-podcast147.mp3)
Radio Drama Revival – Episode 147

Back in July you might recall I went to CONvergence 2009 to pick up the Gold Ogle Award for my production, “Waiting for a Window.” I also had a huge amount of fun getting pulled into the live Mark Time Radio Show performance put on by Great Northern Audio Theater. This year, the show was “Jokes In Space.”

For the time being, Great Northern is being so kind as to allow an MP3 of the show to go out to the ether. So lest you continue to wonder why did the 2nd orc fall off the Tower of Isengard or be stuck, dissastisfied, with a dead tribble, let’s here some “Jokes In Space”!

Download audio file (Jokes_In_Space_MT2009.mp3)
Download the MP3 at Great Northern Audio Theater’s Website. Also check out my interview with them live from CONvergence 2009 (#CVG2009).

In part 2 of our mega-episode celebrating CONvergence, we feature Great Northern‘s 2008 Mark Time Award live radio show, featuring the tales “Magic Notes,” “Broken Tree Bridge,” and “The Last Shuttle.” Much fun ensures. Enjoy.

Download audio file (rdr-podcast130b.mp3)
Radio Drama Revival – Episode 130, Part 2 of 2

Want more Great Northern? Downloads available on:

• Audible
• Spoken Network
• Echo Fiction
• ZBS

Title: The Halloween Tree
Author: Ray Bradbury (Adapted)
Producer: Colonial Radio Theater
Type: Adaptation of a Short Story
Genre: Fantastic Drama
Availability: Paid Release

My Two Cents: Jerry Robbins and The Colonial Radio Theater have had the incredibly awesome pleasure of working with Ray Bradbury and their treatment of his work doesn’t disappoint. The Halloween Tree is Bradbury at his imaginative best, and Colonial does a fine job as realizing that imagination in a fantastic audio adventure. This is a worthy listen that won the Silver Ogle Award this year.

If you would, imagine A Nightmare Before Christmas and its richly realized caricature of a Hallowen world, and you’ll have an idea of the kind of job Colonial has done in The Halloween Tree. A group of young kids, dressed in their Halloween best, go searching around a haunted house and find themselves chasing after one of their lost number into a series of more outrageous underworldly locations. The music and sound effects are completely over the top, which is befitting this high-adventure story.

If audio had CGI, this would be it. Luckily, we can do in sound what it takes millions of dollars for computers to do, and have our imaginations tickled more than the movies ever can. Bravo.

This week we have the huge pleasure of talking to Tom Lopez of the ZBS Foundation on his new effort with the 4-Minute Film Noir, fun videos that take film noir caricatures and blend them with Lopez’s stellar wit, timing, and sense of humor.

We also pick his brain about the experiences at the National Audio Theater Festivals and the joy of recording the natural environment and using it in audio productions.

Download audio file (rdr-podcast127.mp3)
Radio Drama Revival – Episode 127

Also, BIG NEWS!!!

I’m proud to announce that one of my own audio drama works, Waiting for a Window, has won the Gold Ogle award. Hooray!

Knowing that this is the same stage that Roger Gregg has won on multiple occasions, I can’t say how honored and awesome it feels to have won the award. Awards aren’t everything, sure, but it’s nice to know that someone other than me actually thinks my stories are worth listening to.

The Ogle is one of the most prestigious (okay, one of the only!) radio drama awards available and has been won by the likes of Crazy Dog Audio Theater, The Willamette Radio Workshop, AM/FM Theater (The Grist Mill), and the Colonial Radio Theater.

I’m actually be headed out to Minneapolis, Minnesota to collect the award on July 2, and that same day you’ll be hearing an encore presentation of “Waiting for a Window” on the show. Rumor has it I’ll also be helping Great Northern Audio Theater put on their annual Mark Time Award live radio show. Details to come.

Part 2 of my interview with Magic Bullet producer / writer / audio dramatist Alan Stevens picks up where we left off and hits the following topics: knowing when to end stories, the creative potential and individual fulfillment to be had in writing with licensed properties, why Avon and Iago are psychopathic bastards (or are they the same psychopathic bastard?), and of course, Faustian bargains. As in part 1 of this interview, audio clips from Kaldor City are embedded throughout. Additional sound clips from Magic Bullet’s The True History of Faction Paradox audio serial can be found in my overview of that series here.  To go directly to Magic Bullet’s website, click their logo above.

Stevens is a unique voice in the field, and whether you agree with his positions or not, you can’t fault the dedication, quality, or intelligence behind his work. Whether you consider yourself a “genre fan” or “above such things”, if you value good audio drama then you need to read this interview.

CD: So at this point you don’t know what’s up next for Magic Bullet after Faction Paradox concludes?

AS: No idea at all. There might be something else, but, then again, there might not. There might be a huge gap and then something. You get that with my stuff – we did Coming to Dust and The Ship of a Billion Years, followed by this huge gap, and then suddenly we appeared again with Body Politic, Words from Nine Divinities and Ozymandias. Part of the reason for this was that I wasn’t sure how well Faction Paradox was going to sell, and the amount of sales affects the amount of money you have to spend on the series. Faction didn’t sell as well as Kaldor City initially, but then it picked up a lot, and it now sells very well. Sales are good and people like it. However, I still don’t believe you should carry on with a series beyond its natural life, just because the sales are good. I just don’t see the point of going through the motions and carrying on with something, if you think the story’s been told. Does that make sense?

CD: It makes perfect sense. I’ve often had the same feeling, that it’s a shame when stories are exhausted and carried on for pure profit beyond their natural lifespan. So it’s refreshing to hear you say that.

AS: Good. There are TV shows out there that should have ended three years ago, but are still going because the profit margins are good.

CD: I did want to ask about that – in terms of commercial audio drama production (outside of the BBC) Britain’s evolved a peculiar culture distinct from the United States and Germany. In the US, there’s original work, original serials, adaptations of novels and things like that, in Germany there’s a lot of children’s drama and work based on older pulp novels and some original serials, whereas in Britain commercial audio drama seems to be largely defined mostly by spin-offs from mostly defunct British television science fiction. I was wondering, since you’re one of the forces that has put that forward, why do you think the British market has evolved with that emphasis?

AS: In Britain the last drama to have an audience bigger than television on radio was Journey into Space in 1955. When television came along, basically, and audience stopped listening to audio drama and started watching television. I think the reason why Big Finish appeared was because Doctor Who had been off the air for seventeen years and people missed it, and probably many of them had, like me, tape-recorded Doctor Who stories off the television when they were kids, so they were primed for audio. Of course, I’m sure you know that various Doctor Who stories were stupidly wiped by the BBC, and only exist as audios now because they were tape-recorded on first broadcast by fans. And so this culture within fandom for audio developed.

Personally, I wouldn’t produce anything that isn’t in some way connected to an established series, because without a huge advertising budget, I can’t make a big enough impact on people to buy it.  Shall I buy something l know, like Doctor Who or Blake’s 7, or shall I buy something I’ve never heard of before? The fact is that the audio market is mainly aimed at fandoms, as it’s mainly fandoms who are buying audio stuff. And there’s not a lot of ‘original drama,’ if, indeed, there is such a thing, being made because people just won’t buy it. I know people who have produced their own stand alone dramas, and they have generally failed to sell any more than two hundred copies. You might take a chance on buying a film you’ve never seen before, but with audio drama, there’s this barrier now, because people think in TV terms and not radio terms. As for mainstream America, there appears to be virtually no market at all for radio plays.

CD: It’s a small market.

AS: We have a history of radio plays in Britain, but perhaps there wasn’t one in America. Germany, perhaps there was a strong history – I don’t know how well stuff in Germany sells -

CD: It sells pretty well, apparently.

AS: If it’s successful as a new series in its own right, then perhaps there’s a stronger bias toward radio than there is in Britain and certainly in America.

CD: Well, there’s a different audio drama pop culture history to all three countries. In the USA it’s currently mostly original stuff, but it’s probably mostly original stuff that doesn’t sell very well, as you were saying. It’s mostly just the hard-core audio drama fans -

AS: I’ve had people approach me saying I’ve got this great idea for a series – in fact, there’s a friend of mine who I worked with on a series called The Unworthy about a motorcycle gang who were actually the original Knights of the Round Table. It was this black, anarchic comedy, and we even wrote a script. But I’d never produce it as a direct-to-CD product, because I just don’t think it would sell. Not that I think it isn’t any good; I think it’s brilliant. But it hasn’t got that connection there. There are certain stories and characters within Doctor Who and Blake’s 7 that are highly regarded, that people are willing to buy into. But an audio series of Star Cops – would that sell? I don’t know. It hasn’t been on British TV for about twenty years. You have to be very careful choosing what you do, because it can really cost you if it fails, because audio drama is so very expensive.

CD: Especially, I think, to do it on the level that you do.

AS: If you’re going to do something, you’ve got to do it to the best of your ability. I’ve known some producers who have said, I want this out by Christmas, and they’ve rushed to hit that deadline. I think that’s just crazy. At the end of the day, I want to be proud of what I’ve done and not feel we compromised it because we had to get it out for Christmas.

CD: I think that standard is apparent in your productions.

AS: Thank you.

Download audio file (13_Kaldor_City_Clip_8.mp3)

(Robot V23 “talks” to the Chief Fixer in this surreal clip from Kaldor City Story Six: Storm Mine.)

CD: Absolutely. You wrapped up Kaldor City on a metaphysical note. Storm Mine was almost dreamlike, and seemed to appeal to an almost subconscious understanding of the characters rather than the more linear story prior to it. Faction Paradox is teeming with ideas, most of them about time. And yet, in terms of narrative structure the series is actually pretty linear. It mainly follows these two heroines who jump around in time, but once they’re set in their new time zone, they basically progress from start to finish. If there’s one disappointment I would have with the series thus far, it’s that it would be fascinating to hear what a “weapon that can rewrite history” sounds like. Narratively, sonically – these are things Lawrence Miles could surely write, and Alistair Lock could surely realize in sound – they have the skills to do that. There’s a way in which the more advanced ideas about time are never incorporated into the narrative structure – they’re more like trappings or context for the more straightforward drama that plays out.

AS: I can’t really comment, because a lot of the things you’re pointing out here are addressed in the last two episodes.

CD: I’m looking forward to them.

Do you personally have any ambitions to do your own original work in any medium, or do you feel soul-satisfied in pushing these established properties further, I think, than they’ve ever been? This is something I’ve been thinking about over the years, because more and more I’ve come to recognize that a lot of the people who work on established properties are genuine talents. It certainly seems that there are a lot of people feeling very fulfilled doing great work within pre-established universes. Is that the case for you, or do you have the urge to birth a completely original Alan Stevens world?

AS: Kaldor City has the surface elements of The Robots of Death and Blake’s 7, but there’s a lot of other stuff going on in there. New characters, new takes on older characters as they face different situations. Kaldor City was something more than a pastiche of old glories, it was trying to do something different. It was a Magic Bullet – it had a surface coating of Blake’s 7 and The Robots of Death, but the core of it was something else. If I had just done a series without the Blake’s 7 and Doctor Who trappings, then no-one would have bought it. But working within that coating allowed me to say a lot of things and do a lot of things that I wanted to say and do.

You have to sell some CDs or you’re not going to be able to fund the project. If you’re going to do a six-part series, you effectively have to ensure it sells, because it costs thousands and thousands of pounds to produce. If Coming to Dust had just sold two hundred copies there wouldn’t have been any more Faction Paradox CDs after that one, because the finance wouldn’t have been there to do it. So it has to sell.

CD: Between that statement and the work that you’ve done you’ve provided the most compelling argument I’m aware of in the audio drama field for the vitality of working creatively within that coating, as you describe it. On the other hand, I think you would agree that what you do is quite different from taking the safest route: producing work as close as possible to what came before. To really emulate the original shows and their plot lines to the point where you could slot them into a preceding TV season. I’ve never watched Blake’s 7 so I can’t speak to that. But my impression of what you do is that you always push these concepts and characters into new territory, and you inject a literate, intellectual component that isn’t always there in the original source material.

AS: I’m not sure how true that is. Chris Boucher once told me that anyone who tells you they’ve come up with a completely original idea is either a liar, or insane, and probably both. If you look at an episode of anything, you can crack it back to something else. And if you forensically take most stories apart, you can often find some interesting ideas within them. They may not have been consciously put in by the author, but they’re there, and part of the process of analyzing a story is to find those elements and bring them out.

Also, it’s a case of seeing what a writer’s done, how the audience reacted to it, and working with that. For example, one of the things that annoyed the hell out of me concerning Blake’s 7 was the treatment of Avon by certain fans. Yes, there was this setup within the series where the audience frequently didn’t know whether he was doing something for selfish, or for altruistic reasons, but generally, and Paul Darrow, the guy who played him, says this, Avon was a bastard. In fact such a bastard, he shot and killed Blake, the show’s title character. Even the programme’s producers have described Avon as a psycho. And yet, often you’d find articles by people trying to justify his more extreme acts. “Oh well, he may have killed Blake, but Blake should have explained himself more clearly.” So when Iago appeared, also played by Paul Darrow, I didn’t want to fall into the same trap, and so really tried to push the character as far as I could, to make his actions appear shocking. There’s a scene in Hidden Persuaders where Iago tells Blayes that he can get her out of this dangerous situation, but first the hostages will have to be dealt with, as they can identify who she is. He then goes over and shoots them. And they are terrified, and he’s clearly getting a kick out of it.

Download audio file (Kaldor_Clip_9.mp3)

Now, you can understand that sort of behaviour, but you can’t excuse it. Some people say, “I don’t believe Iago is Avon, because Avon wouldn’t do things like that.” Well, I don’t care whether you believe he’s Avon or not, but what I certainly don’t want you doing is looking for excuses to justify murderous and sociopathic behaviour. So when you’re writing, you’re thinking “What did the writers/producers originally intend, where, if at all, did it go wrong, what was the audience reaction, and, if it did go wrong, how can I avoid falling into a similar pit?”

Another idea I like very much is having an authority figure come along and say, “this and that has happened”, where, in fact, no such thing has happened at all. In Occam’s Razor, Carnell comes up with a self serving motivation to explain the Firstmaster killings, but in reality, nobody really knows why Iago went off and killed all those people. And it’s the same for the Shakespearean Iago, why the hell did he behave that way? There are a number of motivations assigned to him in Othello, and he even assigns some to himself, but we don’t really know why he did what he did. Maybe the character didn’t even know himself.

Download audio file (Kaldor_City_Clip_10.mp3)

(Iago tests the limits of Landerchild’s grasp of reality in this philosophical clip from The Prisoner, a short Kaldor City play included on MJTV’s The Actor Speaks 4: Paul Darrow.)

People are very susceptible to being told what to think by authority figures, and that such and such is the current state of affairs, where in fact the real situation is most probably completely different. For instance, I’ve read a number of reviews of Taren Capel, where it’s been stated that, “in this episode Iago discovered that the Tarenists were trying to get hold of a special trigger phrase to activate the killer robots”. But in actual fact, Iago made that up. The trigger phrase existed, but the Tarenists didn’t know anything about it. Iago’s primary intention was to discredit Carnell and get him killed, and he was willing to say anything to achieve that. And yet, because Iago is an ‘authority figure,’ and he has a deep voice and he says all of this, and Uvanov, another ‘authority figure,’ believes him, people think, “well, then it must be true”. But I don’t think it’s true. In fact, I know it isn’t true. I bloody wrote it!

So in Kaldor City there are competing narratives and everything is subverted. A lot of the things you are told are completely wrong. Some of the things Carnell said were lies. And Iago by definition is a liar. Paullus was deluded, and Uvanov was a paranoid, who had various ideas and conspiracies in his mind that were just plain fantasy. They were the architects of their own destruction, because they failed to comprehend what was going on around them, preferring instead to just carry on fighting their own personal and petty little wars. So as with the real world, in Kaldor City we have people who are deluded, people who are fantasists, people who are just plain liars, and people who, for their own various reasons, want to believe them.

CD: Oh, absolutely. The need to believe invented premises, I feel, has been the American story under Bush.

AS: There was an unfortunate coincidence, when Occam’s Razor came out; it had been recorded in 2000, but was released in early September 2001, and the first review I read of it tied 9/11 to a scene where a flyer crashed into a building. There was no way I knew that was going to happen – it was written perhaps seventeen or eighteen months before those events took place. And yet, because I was fishing in the same pool, because we were dealing with terrorism and fanaticism, the story strangely started to mirror things that were happening in real life. It’s weird that, isn’t it? If you think like a terrorist … I think Alan Moore was exploring this in V for Vendetta, when he had this guy, who was trying to get into the mindset of V, taking the same drugs V had been forced to take, and wandering around the same camp where V had been experimented on, so he would start to think like him, and would perhaps know what he was going to do next. It was quite shocking when I realized, “Good grief, we are fishing in the same pool as Bin Laden.”

As for George Bush, there are again parallels with Kaldor City in that people have plans, but these plans usually go horribly wrong. I’m sure in Bush’s head there were a number of very good reasons for invading Iraq, but he’s never going to tell us what they were and the result was a terrible disaster. In Kaldor City, Uvanov would have a plan, and Carnell would have a plan, and Landerchild would have a plan, and in fact everyone would have a plan, and you don’t even know what all the plans were, and then they’d all go horribly wrong. So what you ended up with was a mass of mistakes and errors caused through stupidity and misunderstanding, with no one knowing what the hell was going to happen next. And that’s what life is. Life’s frequently like that for me. I think: “What the hell was that about? Why did I do that?”

Download audio file (Kaldor_City_Clip_11.mp3)

(Uvanov watches his plans, power, and understanding go up in smoke as the ineluctably calm Carnell pursues a cryptic game of chess in this clip from Kaldor City Story Four: Taren Capel.)

CD: (Laughs) That sounds like a sane approach to life… Are there other audio dramatists working today that you particularly admire?

AS: I think Rob Shearman is a very good writer. I think he’s an excellent writer.

CD: I would agree with that.

AS: And Daniel O’Mahony of course, and Jim Smith, and there are also several others I could name. Paul Dale Smith is a very clever chap, and Lawrence Miles is an excellent writer as well. I don’t often agree with Lawrence Miles, I’ve had several arguments with him, but never over his scripts.

CD: You’ve touched on this in your comments already, but could you sum up the state of your business?

AS: I’ve been told by other audio producers that there is a limited shelf life to their products. They produce a story, it comes out, and then after a few months it stops selling and they never sell any more. But I’ve never had that with Kaldor City, or Faction Paradox. They’ve sold solidly. Occam’s Razor came out in 2001 and I’m still selling it.

CD: Is that due to advertising or word of mouth?

AS: It must be word of mouth. Since Doctor Who’s come back it’s very difficult to get advertising anywhere in the Doctor Who media. They’re too busy reviewing the latest Cyberman-Voice-Changer-Helmet to find room for anything else. But it doesn’t seem to make any difference. I think the CDs sells because they’re good, and people recognize that. I’ve certainly been sent some lovely emails over the years, which is all very encouraging. I was expecting a drop in sales when Doctor Who came back on TV, but as Kaldor City and Faction Paradox are clearly spin-offs, then I suppose you have to be in a spin-off frame of mind anyway to buy them, so the return of Doctor Who hasn’t knocked our sales at all. They’ve all sold very well. In fact sales have gone up. I don’t know why. Perhaps it’s my Faustian pact. I have this pact with Satan. He’s the one working on my sales promotion at the moment.

CD: I hope you made your Faustian pact in the tradition of Goethe rather than Marlowe. You know he gets off the hook in Goethe’s version?

AS: That’s right. He gets off the hook through the love of a good woman. I prefer bad women, myself. That’s probably why I’m doing Faction Paradox.

CD: Alan, thanks for talking with me today.

AS: A pleasure.

Ahh, ancient Greece. Hot nymphs, raging orgies, much wine, song, and occasional transformations into a goat. All well and good, right?

Well things are more wacky than ever in the sizzling and scandalous interpretation of the myth of Orpheus done by Roger Gregg, The Stuff of Myth.

This great production won a Gold Ogle in 2007 and has gotten rave reviews as a stage play. Now hear what the buzz is all about in the first bonus episode… and stay tuned the rest of the month for more!

Download audio file (rdr-bonus-01-stuff-myth-1.mp3)
Radio Drama Revival Bonus Episode – Stuff of Myth 1 of 4

This week we dig into Roger Gregg’s uncommonly heard Crazy Dog Live compilation — a series of half-hour radio performances staged live. And what fun it is!

Not all is as it seems with Ferdia the Druid. Learn what awkwardness and hilarity lurks in the celtic mind!

Download audio file (rdr-podcast121.mp3)
Radio Drama Revival – Episode 121

This week we feature Roger Gregg’s smokin’ adaptation of the Greek myth of Marsyas. Marsyas was just an average satyr, drinkin’, screwin’, sleepin’ and generally carrying on with the band of Dionysus… until he fights a magical horn which changes his life (and attitude) forever.

Off the Audio Gothic collection, which just about finishes this excellent series that I’ve trickled out on Radio Drama Revival for about a year now… The festival of Dionysus continues next week with “The Stuff of Myth!”

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Radio Drama Revival Episode 120 – Marsyas, the Hippest Satyr

Congratulations to Eric Benson, a listener in Canada who wins our “Name the Theme” contest. He gets a copy of Crazy Dog Live on CD!

This week on the show we welcome back the work of Roger Gregg with a piece created in cooperation with the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin, Ireland.

Morgan O’Brien hangs in limbo between life and death, and finds the afterlife a much wilder place than he imagined. Confused, frustrated, and alone, he is forced to confront the reality of his actions made while alive. But is there still time to go back and change things?

Download audio file (rdr-podcast116.mp3)
Radio Drama Revival Episode 116 – The Heart of Morphine

Credits

Written, Directed & Produced by Roger Gregg – © 2009.

Performed by the Gaiety School of Acting’s Graduating Class of 2009

The production was recorded at various indoor and outdoor locations in Dublin with sound engineer Lorraine McCarthy. Post-production, mixing etc. at Crazy Dog studios.

The script was written especially to suit the talents of the cast after a short devising workshop process as part of the Gaiety School?s Radio Drama / Acting-in-Audio course.

Music by Roger Gregg with cast members singing, playing guitar, fiddle and harmonica.

Already, gear up your ears and break out your wallet for bonus programming! Radio Drama Revival proudly originates from WMPG in Portland, Maine and to celebrate our spring fund drive, the aptly titled “Begathon,” we have new short-shorts from FinalRune Productions.

Listen up, and don’t miss your opportunity to support local, grassroots, organically raised radio!

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Radio Drama Revival Begathon Special Spring 2009

We continue following our motley crew of undead adventures in a second installment of the Scotland-based drama, Afterlives.

Followed with an interview with its creator, Alan McDonald, from cloudy Glasgow.

Enjoy!

Download audio file (rdr-podcast111.mp3)
Radio Drama Revival – Episode 111

What happens after we die? Is it an eternal sleep? A land of milk and honey? A place of fire and damnation? A trip back to this world to learn another lesson?

… Or do we meet pixies, a totalitarian state, vampires, petty devils and inappropriate angels?

Welcome to the world of Afterlives, a hilarious Dante-esque misadventure through the many mythologies of the after-place, wherever that may be. In this week’s episode, the unfortunate protagonist learns of his untimely demise and has to try and make sense of it while escaping from slave pits and ending right up in the pits of hell. ?Oh, and yeah, it gets better.

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Radio Drama Revival – Episode 110

This week we transition from the world of Christian sci-fi to that of theological drama with a slightly different twist. The Soul Patrol is sort of the Mod Squad meets Dogma, as a band of angels sets out trying to help save humanity from ourselves but finds the universe much more confusing, frustrating, and amazing than they ever expected.

In this episode, mid-way through the first season, one of our angel protagonists is forced with making a choice only God should have to make…

Download audio file (rdr-podcast108.mp3)
Radio Drama Revival – Episode 108

This past Thursday marked the birthday of British writer HH Munroe AKA Saki, known for his razor-sharp stories of tricks and humor slicing up the British aristocracy. Doft your Edwardian cap as we listen to this deliciously devilish rendition of four Saki stories delivered to us by 19 Nocturne Boulevard.

BONUS: Here about the upcoming double-bonus episode and Christmas spectacular! And don’t forget to load up an mp3 player full of Radio Drama Revival for Christmas!

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Radio Drama Revival – Episode 101

At long last, FinalRune Productions is back with the original story of a man waylaid on his way somewhere else, “Waiting for a Window.” Starring an incredible cast of voice actors including Bill Dufris, Joe Duley, Charly Duley, Ed Patterson, “Man” and long-time FinalRuner, Philip Hobby. Original music by Barb Truex.

Hear the story hear first, then buy it second! Available for download only on Echo Fiction.

Download audio file (rdr-podcast089.mp3)

Radio Drama Revival – Episode 89

This week we yell… Yikes! as we’re entertained by the creative madness of one of Portland, Maine’s newest, and surely the most demented (in a good kind of way), Yikes! Monsters.

Produced by yours truly, the show today features monologues and short sketches recorded around Portland, Maine featuring oddball characters that might just be from Portland, Maine. If you like what you hear, make it up this way for their shows October 27 and November 3rd at the Freeport Cabaret!

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Radio Drama Revival – Episode 88

Well, folks, it’s with great pleasure that I bring back my own FinalRune Productions to the show with an encore presentation of the wacktastic comedy, “Tales from Williamsville.” How do one repressed arsonist, a sexually-charged geriatric, a slimy drug dealer and a soccer mom on steroids combine in the most exciting thing to happen in Williamsville since 1936?

Also, a special bonus, a preview of FinalRune’s next tale, “Waiting for a Window,” due to debut on Radio Drama Revival! on September 25.

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Radio Drama Revival – Episode 85

Download audio file (window-preview.mp3)

Sneak Preview of “Waiting for a Window”

In our last hooray for Pepper Pickle Pennsylvania (for the present) we pontification on pomegranate punch with Martha Manning, star of “The Many Men of Martha Manning,” the outstanding radio comedy we’ve been listening to for the past few weeks.

Plus we get the pleasure of speaking with David Witz, the “man behind the curtain” for this show, and tickle our ears with a special, pre-release copy of the first episode of the upcoming Martha and Dotty: Microwave Mambo.

Enjoy.

Download audio file (rdr-podcast078.mp3)

Radio Drama Revival! Episode 78

P.S. Sorry about the audio quality on the first interview. My trustworthy Zoom H2 seems to have started becoming temperamental.

This week, Martha Manning discovers her long-lost husband, Bill, only to encounter the dastardly deeds of Professor Von Housen! (or a close approximation thereof).? How do pickles and Scientific American save the world?? Find out in the riveting conclusion of The Many Men of Martha Manning.

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Radio Drama Revival! Episode 77

P.S… light up a sparkler in the name of radio drama tonight

We zip back across the ocean this week to crash-land into surreal Pepper Pickle, Pennsylvania, where the sweet-as-pie housewife Martha Manning ponders her many men.

Enjoy this laugh-out-loud soap opera lampoon!

Download audio file (rdr-podcast076.mp3)

Radio Drama Revival! Episode 76