Potter and Daughter (the new Harry Potter podcast I am making with my 7 year old daughter) is live! You can download and listen to episode 1 here:
http://podcast.hijinksensue.com/…/potter-and-daughter-01-b…/
New episodes come out Wednesdays.
Subscribe with iTunes or RSS. Leave us an iTunes review if you enjoy it.
Our Patreon Patrons get the first TWO episodes and get each episode a week early!
SUPPORT POTTER AND DAUGHTER ON PATREON!
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I NEED YOUR HELP! If you want the show to succeed and continue, please consider setting up a DONATION SUBSCRIPTION. Actually getting paid to do this job will make it SOOOO much easier to make sure it doesn’t fall by the wayside again. Also, please leave positive reviews on iTunes and TELL YOUR FRIENDS.
Long story, somewhat long: The HE podcast went on hiatus just over a year ago. The main reason was that my co-hosts were unable to find time in their busy schedules to record. I, being the only one of us who didn’t have a “real” job, had no right to complain or insist on them giving freely of their time but once Josh and Eli both entered a “crunch” phase at their respective jobs, the frustrations of trying to schedule the show became overwhelming. You might remember that I started recording more with “The B Team” of Alex and Roger towards the end. While those guys were more accessible (and certainly entertaining and hilarious), scheduling was still an issue. I knew I wasn’t able to commit to definitely having a new episode up every week, so I decided rather than constantly making excuses I would just hang it up and shut it down.
The other main problem with producing the show WAS producing the show. I spent about a part time job’s worth of my week scheduling, recording, editing, setting up/tearing equipment in my home studio, exporting files in various formats (which became MUCH more difficult when we started doing Post Shows and Uncut Shows), making blog posts, writing show notes, etc, etc, etc. I enjoyed the work, and the outcome but I felt it was eating into my comic-making time and the podcast had about 1/10th the audience of the comic. It seemed my time would be better spend refocussing my efforts on the comic.
Around the 6 month mark post hiatus I started to feel like I was losing my connection with the hardest of the hard core member of my audience. The ferver and undying support that I used to see was waining. This is a nebulous thing and very hard to quantify, but I could definitely feel a sea change in terms of how enthusiastic my audience was. It wasn’t long before I realized this was due in part to the direction I had taken the comic in, and LARGELY to the fact that the podcast was gone. Based on feedback from readers at conventions and via email/twitter I learned one very important thing. Readers liked the comic. Some even loved it. But listeners LOOOOOOVED the podcast. They were more invested in everything I had to offer (comics, podcasts, tweets, whatever) because of the personal connection they had developed with me through listening to me talk for hours a week. I had basically thrown away the most important thing I had ever cultivated in my career. I immediately started trying to figure out how to get the podcast back up and running.
The main things I had to change were A) Having to schedule around people’s more important commitments (work/family/etc), and B) expecting people to drive way out in the boonies where I live to record. Enter my good friends at Explosm. With their new Dallas-based office and a free room we were able to construct a remedial recording studio, get some equipment upgrades and set up a home base for the podcast that was MUCH more central to all those involved. To christen the new studio Rob DenBleyker, Kris Wilson and I recorded a test podcast. Low and behold, our friendship, natural chemistry and unrelenting ambition to make each other laugh resulted in a damn fine bit of podcastery. With the problem of the location solved, I realized how to solve the problem of co-host commitments. I decided to have a rotating cast of co-hosts and record as many episodes as possible during a given session. That way I’m not scrambling for episodes each week and I’m not eating away at the free time of the same two people over and over.
Do not fear, Eli and Josh are still a part of the show. So are the “B-Team” of Alex and Roger. The biggest changes for current HE Podcast listeners is the addition of Rob, Kris and Dave from Cyanide and Happiness to the co-host rotation. They are some of my favorite people and I really think you are going to like the stuff we’ve been recording.
What other changes can you expect? The show is less topical and more conversational. Since I am banking them weeks if not months ahead of time, it doesn’t make sense for us to review movies, etc. that will be old news by the time the show airs. Each episode will feature a brief intro by me where I answer emails, voicemails, tweets and update you on my convention appearances. Then you’ll hear an hour or so of… well that depends on who I’m talking to. With the Explosm guys, we typically tell stories, do characters and come up with bits. With Josh, Eli and Alex it’s more like the old show, but less structured. I hope you enjoy the mix and it keeps you from getting bored. The other new aspect is that I’m going to pepper in more interview-style shows here and there with some of my professionally funny/geeky celebrity-type friends (like this one with Chris Hardwick).
So that’s it. If you’re a previous listener, I hope you jump back on board and if you’ve never heard the show before I hope you give it a shot.
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There is a special episode of the HE Podcast UP NOW. It is a webcomics panel recorded at the annual Dragon’s Lair Webcomic Rampage event in Austin, TX. Enjoy!
It features myself, Danielle Corsetto of Girls With Slingshots, Jeph Jacques of Questionable Content, David Willis of Shortpacked and Randal Milholland of Something Positive.
If you like listening to friends tell stories about stalkers, shitty jobs and making a living doing what they love, I think you will appreciate this.
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Alright, America, if this comic doesn’t set things straight once and for all then I’ve lost all hope in you. Do you want me to spell it out? You like Voltron. Obama is Voltron. Vote for Obama. PLEASE, don’t fuck it up this time.]]>
Alright, America, if this comic doesn’t set things straight once and for all then I’ve lost all hope in you. Do you want me to spell it out? You like Voltron. Obama is Voltron. Vote for Obama.
PLEASE, don’t fuck it up this time.
-Joel
]]>Also (and don’t hold me to this), we might be talking to the Pope who is visting America. He MIGHT be calling in. No confirmation on this yet. Do you have any questions for him?
Second thing to not hold me to: George Lucas is known for crafting overly verbose titles to his movies. What movies would you like to see renamed by Lucas. Again, he MIGHT be calling in.
Also, feel free to repost any questions that we forgot to answer last time, since we were in a hurry.
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The “Male Sack” was a huge success last time. Your questions were fantastically geeky and created some great moments on the HE Podcast. Let’s go ahead and make this a regular thing. Hit me with your questions. Same format as last time.
I know this is short notice but it’s been a busy week.
BIG ANNOUCNEMENT coming next week. Sit tight.
(remember I won’t answer your questions in the comments. We’ll save them for the show.)
PS
We are going to be interviewing (hopefully) the guy who owns the house where Joss Whedon filmed scenes for “Dr. Horrible“. He probably can’t say much, but if you have questions for him, let us know.
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Please post your questions in the comments of this thread. I won’t respond here. Rather, I will save them and read them during the show. Then, here’s the tricky part, we’ll answer them!
Feel free to add on to each other’s questions and such. I want to make the Podcast more interactive and get some audience participation.
What can you ask? Anything, everything, whateverthing!
If you are a regular reader/listener you know what we normally talk about. Here are some topics we have extensive knowledge on:
- TV – Lost, Battlestar, Firely, The Buffyverse, The Office, 30 Rock, Arrested D., Star Trek, ALL 80’s and 90’s shows, any scifi or geek show…even Sliders
- Movies – Upcomming movies, trailers, geek favs from days gone by, you name it
- Gaming – we have two co-hosts in the gaming industry. Ask them about that.
- Comics – I’m reading Astonishing X-Men, Buffy and Angel. Eli is reading everything else.
- HijiNKS Ensue – Questions about the comic? Let me know.
- Technology – Macs, Apple, Steve Jobs, Macs, iPhones, Macs… you know.. techology.
- Life – relationships, jobs, sex, personal stuff, etc. We might not answer these, but there’s no harm in trying.
As a bonus, you may also request the manner in which the question is answered. For instance, you can request that your question be answered by Yoda addressing Frodo. Or that Eli’s grandma answer it. Or that Josh answer it in Sexy-German(tm). Ask me to answer the question in the song styling of your choice (I probably won’t do it). Get creative.
If you want to be a part of the HijiNKS Ensue Podcast, here’s a way to get started. I can’t wait to see what you come up with.
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If you subscribe via RSS you will get all the posts in the Podcast Category which will include each episode of the Podcast. This is the route to go if you want to listen in your browser, or download the MP3.
If you subscribe via iTunes, Steve Jobs will lovingly gift wrap and hand deliver each Hijinks Ensue Podcast to your door in a crystal box atop a satin pillow filled with goose down.
Thursday new comics will resume their regular schedule. Saturday we will be recording a new podcast so PLEASE send in your questions, thoughts and ideas to podcast(at)hijinksensue(dot)com.
]]>I am working on the iTunes feed for the podcast but you can have the podcast RSS feed right now. You can also get the podcasts, along with comics and blog posts in the regular “everything” RSS feed.
So how did it go?
Having a funny conversation when no one is listening = easy. Having a funny conversation when you feel like you have to = teh h4rdz. I had plans to talk about topics, read mail from you guys and, oh I don’t know, have coherent discourse that human beings could understand. Well, I forgot all the topics, and forgot to read the emails. Speaking of, I am saving those for next time, so if you emailed with a question I will get to them. I did read and almost answer a question from Kip. I think I came off sounding like I was being a dick to Kip. I wasn’t trying to. I was just confused and frightened.
Things should go smoother next time. I think the more questions we have to answer, the better we will do. So email your questions to podcast(at)hijinksensue.com. You can even email a recording of a question and we might play it on the show.
Of the 3 of us, Eli was the most pleased with how things turned out. He was riding that train wreck off into the sunset with a shit eating grin on his face. Every time I threatened to cut something out, he baulked and insisted “the worse it is, the better it is.” That must be what they teach you in Mexican public schools.
Anyway, give it a listen and let me know what you think. I really do appreciate the emails and comments I got with suggestions and questions. There were some really good questions and I hope to answer them next week.
Update:
You can download/ listen to the podcast here.
How can you contrubite? You can send emails/questions between right now and Saturday morning to podcast(at)hijinksensue(dot)com. What should you submit?
- Questions you would like us to answer regarding TV, Movies, teh webz, Comicbooks, Apple, techology, scifi, geek stuff, etc.
- Ideas for names for the podcast. YES, you can help name the Podcast
- Your recommendations for where you think I should host the podcast. I want cheap-as-free, itunes subscriptions, RSS, little to no adds
- Whatever else you can think of that might make for good conversation
Other ideas? Feel free to email or leave a comment. I want this to be fun and… that’s all.
