YBY ep 300: A retrospective of the 299 Yes But Why episodes!

Hello Yes But Why listeners! Welcome to Episode 300 of the Yes But Why Podcast! I thought episode 300 would be the perfect time to give you a little backstory and some fun clips!

So this week on Yes But Why, it’s a retrospective of the podcast’s past. There have been a lot of changes to the podcast since the first episode of Yes But Why on April 18, 2016.

First thing to note is that when the podcast started, it was me and two cohosts - Delia Diaz and Wendell Smith.

I went through lots and lots of episodes to find cool (and weird) moments to share. One thing that was really comforting was that I’ve maintained the purpose that Wendell and Delia and I came up with when we created Yes But Why.
The podcast was started to explore different stories from the front lines of theater – different perspectives of living a life in the arts. It still maintains that thematic thread today, representing the stories of creative people from all over the world.


For the first few episodes of Yes But Why, it was just me and my cohosts talking to each other about improv. We were all involved at the same theater and we talked about our experiences…and we also told a bunch of weird stories.

In my first clip, here’s me bringing up #My18YearTheory for the very first time in episode ONE.

Then we decided to ask others to join in on the fun. We finally landed interviews and unsurprisingly, it was mostly people we knew.

We were all comfortable with each other so sometimes it got deep, like in this clip in which Redd Jefferson and Roy Lazorwitz tell us why they love writing and performing comedy.
We also talked about teachers and how they affect their students with their notes. Listen first to this story from G-Su Paek about how he approaches giving notes to his improv students. The clip after that is Chuy Zarate talking about how he took a particularly harsh note from his directing teacher in college.

There was also a lot of random crap that we tried because we weren’t sure how to do interviews just yet. Like when Wendell bought that book of 1001 questions and we ended up having this discussion on trust with Lisa Friedrich.

There is even that one weird episode when I posted a spoof radio show that I had made for my sketch show, The Neighborhood. I only did it the one time, I guess just to get more ears to listen to it. I was very proud of it. Episode 12 if you want to check it out.

Then, VERY EARLY in our growth, we had the opportunity to talk to Kevin McDonald. He had taught a sketch workshop at the theater and I took his class and we bonded and became friends (we still talk on the phone occasionally). We had a great talk and he helped us to hone our interviewing skills.

After getting to interview Kevin McDonald, we were empowered to start reaching out to visiting comedians when they came in town for tours or festivals. We also went to a festival or two just to connect with artists for interviews!
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