09 Dec Recommendation – I Was There Too
I know, another podcast. But it’s got a killer hook.
Matt Gourley is not someone I’m terribly familiar with but I’ve come across him on a few other podcasts where he’s an able improviser and comedian. But “I Was There Too” is something almost totally different from so many personality based podcasts. The premise is Gourley interviews extras from famous movies, often from famous scenes. The first couple episodes have him talking to the lady pushing the baby carraige in “The Untouchables”, one of the Marines from “Aliens” and an untrained dancer who, never the less, danced in the theme park film “Captain Eo.”
It’s a delight because this podcast accomplishes two very different things. First, it entertains as you get some great dirt on the people who made the movies (DePalma was a raving lunatic, Michael Jackson hung out with little boys between takes). But then it gives you a completely different take on the entertainment industry. The life of the small time actor is fascinating and nothing I’d given much thought to before this podcast. Now I watch the extras much more closely.
Throughout it all, Gourley is genial, smart and kind. It’s a weird mix to find in a comic and the closest I can come up to by way of comparison is Joel Hodgson from MST3K (at one point he interviews his grandma who used to work at a popular Hollywood adjascent drug store). He’s the right guy for the job and the show is relentlessly interesting.
As a bonus, see if you can ID the different movie theme at the end of IWTT’s theme song. It changes every show.
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