Mind Gap

Comedian, world traveler, and genius Zach Dimond joins Justin and Doug this week to discuss the difference between God given, learned, and earned talent. Zach also enlightens the two hosts about what it’s like to work at a genius level; a concept they will never fully understand. The three amigos wrap things up with a throw-down between two of the greatest minds in history: Stephen Hawking vs Albert Einstein. Check out Doug’s improv group, Class Act, on Facebook for show dates and times!

Comedian and musician Luke Null stopped by to chat with Justin and Doug about some of the fun conspiracy theories that are floating around in the world. Such theories include Paul McCartney died in 1966  and was replaced by a another person, the Moon is a hologram, the Denver airport is a gateway to hell, the world leaders of Earth are reptilian shape-shifters, the Phantom Time Hypothesis, and how the Cern Hadron Collider is an attempt to bring back the Egyptian god Anubis. Things are wrapped up with a throw-down between The Lizard vs. Killer Croc and then a 2-on-2 match-up with The Lizard and Killer Croc vs. Reptilian shape-shifters Vladamir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. You can find Luke performing with one of the many amazing groups below. Law Dog Newport Hounds Shade iO Cagematch Check out Doug’s improv group, Class Act, on Facebook for show dates and times!

The brilliant comedian Hunter Lehr joins Justin and Doug to discuss time travel and multiverse theories. Our three heroes explore the time travel “movie logic” of Interstellar, Back to the Future, Terminator, and Days of Future Past. Thoughts then shift to the idea of having your conscious transferred to your 15 year-old self. Questions you never knew you had are answered...sort of. Questions like, would you be able to change the future with the knowledge of what’s going to happen? Is it still time travel if you’re frozen in ice and then awoken 80 years in the future? Is it still time travel if you land on a planet that has denser gravity and experiences time flowing at a different speed? If you could travel back in time to hang out with your 18 year-old self, would you get along with them? We break the meta-loop and wrap things up with a throw-down between our 50 year old self vs. our 25 year old self. Check out Hunter on one of his many improv teams! Click the links below for dates and times: Shade (iO) Ou

Designer, future architect, and comedian Roman Simmons joins Doug and Justin to discuss the resurgence of virtual reality. Roman talks about his background in design, moving to Los Angeles, and then finding a love in comedy. The three heroes dive into which movies they’d like to experience in virtual reality as well as potential shortcomings of VR. Justin tells a story about the first time he used VR in the South Park Mall in Moline, IL. Doug posits the physical pros and cons of using full fledged VR for gaming. The trio then discuss the idea of reliving memories through VR. Obviously, VR porn is considered and explored because WE’RE HUMAN, DAMMIT! Things are wrapped up with a throw-down between the 2005 Fantastic Four movie characters vs. the 2015 Fantastic Four movie characters and then the embodiment of 3D vs. the embodiment of VR. Roman and some other very funny folks from the group Accidental Adults are putting up a sketch show called "The Brink of Sanity" at the Public House Theater every Thursday in F

Actor, comedian, and musician Jesse Kendall stops by to help Doug and Justin unpack the terrifying phenomenon known as digital kidnapping. Along the way we talk about some of Jesse’s favorite video games and how Doug always accepts the user agreements on the internet without reading the fine print. Jesse uses mind control and gets Doug to talk about who he took to prom and he pontificates on some horrible memories of high school. Doug gives his philosophy on sharing his life on Facebook and then the boys talk about people sharing their boudoir photos online. Things are wrapped up with a throw-down between the Silver Surfer vs Magneto and then a Viking Warrior from the old days vs. a modern day soldier. You can see Jesse perform with the iO Harold team Comet. Check out the link for upcoming performances: http://ioimprov.com/chicago/shows/comet/

Podcast worlds collide as Milos Stevanovic from The Best Bar Podcast Ever joins Justin and Doug to talk about how they would improve sports today. Join the three savants as they discuss the insane changes they’d make to baseball, football, golf, basketball, quidditch, and NASCAR. Then Doug switches gears and asks Milos about some fun bartending stories. Things are wrapped up with a three-way video game throw-down between Master Chief from Halo vs Samus Aran from Metroid vs Mega Man. Be sure to check out Justin and Milos on The Best Bar Podcast Ever which comes out every Monday! You can also find Milos tending bar at The Elephant and Castle on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. Doug’s improv group, Class Act (https://www.facebook.com/classactimprov/?fref=ts), is performing at the iO Cagematch at the Chris Farley Cabaret at iO on Wednesday, February 3 at 10:30pm. Two improv teams enter, only one leaves.  Come on by and support Class Act as they dominate some noobs!

Dave Cochrane joins Justin and Doug once again! This time they’re talking about Yoda and Obi-Wan and why they assholes. The three heroes ponder what an R-rated Star Wars movie would be like and then Dave explains how he would have written the prequels. Things shift over to the DC and Marvel universe as the podcast heroes lay out their fears of the downfall of the comic book movies. Things are wrapped up with a throw-down between Marvel and DC fans.

Actor, comedian, writer, and singer Jamie “Peapod Doodle Stink” Yates joins Justin and Doug to discuss the idea of piracy and copyrights in the digital age. Is it considered piracy if you download a picture from Google Images and view at your leisure on your computer? Is it stealing if you rip a song off YouTube and add it to your phone? If your grandmother records all the I Love Lucy episodes onto VHS tapes and gifts them on your birthday, is she a criminal? Our three heroes wade into the morally gray area to try to figure out where the line is when it comes to piracy. Things are wrapped up with a throw-down between Cyclops vs. Mr. Fantastic. Check out Jamie in the next Rough Writers sketch revue at The Chicago Sketchfest Comedy Festival at Stage 773 on Sunday, January 17 at 7:00pm! Click the link below for tickets: http://stage773.com/ChicagoSketchfestShows

Comedian George Owns stops by to help Doug and Justin admit their guilty pleasures in books, TV, music, and movies.  Some wonderful topics discussed included Battlefield Earth, Starship Troopers, The Phantom, Pitch Black, The Patriot, Dane Cook movies, Nicolas Cage movies, Sailor Moon, Say Yes to the Dress, and many others!  Things are wrapped up with a throw-down between Doomsday vs the Hulk. You can check out George and his many improv teams below: Butthead: https://www.facebook.com/Butthead-863857770377801/?fref=ts 45 Kings: https://www.facebook.com/45-Kings-13769747643/?fref=ts

Drew Dull returns to engage Doug and Justin in a riveting discussion about artificial intelligence. Things start with a discussion about Hitchbot, the hitchhiking “robot” that was making it’s way across the world before it was ultimately murdered in Philadelphia. Doug, Justin, and Drew try to decide how to define what a robot truly is. Justin explains what a Flat Stanley is for Doug. Then, Doug, Drew, and Justin consider whether Artificial Intelligence would ever be possible. Things are wrapped up with a throw-down between the comic book Deadpool vs. Deadpool from the movie ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’. Hitchbot story:  http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/hitchbot-destroyed-in-philadelphia-ending-u-s-tour-1.3177098

Doug and Justin dive into the rise and fall, and potential rise again, of M. Night Shyamalan’s film career.  They take a look at his filmography and discuss what they liked and didn’t like about each one.  They start off with The Sixth Sense, then they talk about the hilarity of the protagonist's weakness in Unbreakable, then they reminisce on the horror aspects of Signs.  Doug questions the practicality of the twist in The Village (surprise), then Doug and Justin debate the sanity of Lady in the Water, briefly mention The Happening, and Justin challenges Doug to a viewing party of The Last Airbender.  Things are wrapped up with a throw-down between Juggernaut vs. The Blob. Article by Walt Hickey: http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/the-death-spiral-of-m-night-shyamalans-career/ Be sure to check out Class Act’s final New New Show performance at The Playground Theater on Wednesday, Dec. 30 at 8:00pm for some sweet improv!  Class Act features former Mind Gap guests Maureen Boughey, James Rayhill, Daryl McSweene

Writer and comedian Sam Koch stops by to talk to Doug and Justin about the upcoming movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  Things start off with a quick discussion on Missouri’s state motto then Justin and Sam try to figure out Doug’s love of trailers and his intense dislike of movie clips.  From there, the three heroes start breaking down the newest Star Wars trailer as they try to guess what they think is going to happen.  Things are wrapped up with a throw-down between Emperor Palpatine vs. Thanos and Thor vs. Luke Skywalker. Be sure to check out Sam’s writing talents come alive in his Second City Training Center Writing 6 Revue: Gray Area 51!  Info and tickets available at the link below: http://www.secondcity.com/shows/chicago/gray-area-51/

Actor, comedian, and writer James Conklin joins Justin and Doug to talk about movie prequels.  Doug tries to argue that prequels are unnecessary while Justin plays devil’s advocate and James makes sure everyone is making sense.  Prequels discussed are Star Wars Episodes 1-3, Hannibal Rising, Carlito’s Rise, X-Men: First Class, The Hobbit, Prometheus, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Monsters University.  Things are wrapped up with a throw-down between The Walking Dead characters Rick Grimes vs the Governor. Check out the links to James’ improv teams below and catch one of his many comedy performances! Scout: http://ioimprov.com/chicago/shows/scout/ Macy Ledbetter: http://www.cictheater.com/macy-ledbetter

Actor and comedian Maureen Boughey joins Justin and Doug in a discussion about fictional inventions that sound great, but would be a terrible idea in real life.  Examples include teleporters, time machines, Harry Potter spells, light sabers, flying cars, reading minds, clones, traveling at the speed of light, smell-o-vision, meal in a pill, superheroes, the Iron Man suit, AI, and Power Rangers.  Things are wrapped up with a throw-down featuring Spider-Man vs Captain America.  

Stand up comedian Sydney Davis Jr. Jr. joins Justin and Doug to talk about her experiences in online dating.  The conversation starts out with Doug and Sydney explaining what the regional southern word “cricker” means for Justin.  Sydney talks about how a dirty car is a big red flag for a first date and her parameters for online dating.  Then she tells one of her best worst first date stories.  Justin explains to Doug what it really means to “Netflix and chill.”  The three nerds then talk about how dating will be in the future.  Things are wrapped up with a throw-down between Black Widow vs Catwoman, then Black Widow vs Batgirl, then Black Widow vs Ronda Rousey. Check out Sydney’s website (http://www.sydneydavisjrjr.com/) for all of her performance dates and visit her comic page (http://www.jrjrcomics.com/) and ask her to draw your dog and put it on a mug for Christmas!

Comedian, human auto-tune, and Hobart College alum James Rayhill joins Doug and Justin as they discuss the idea of transhumanism -  the international and intellectual movement that aims to transform the human condition by developing and creating widely available technologies to greatly enhance human intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities.  They grapple with the idea of downloading a conscience into a server and whether that would truly make someone immortal. They also try to discover when a person would would cease being human after they have received body modifications.  Things are wrapped up in a throw-down of The Human Torch vs Storm.

Actor, writer, and comedian Chris Vellucci stops by to help Justin debate Doug on the activities he considers to be sports.  Doug gives his crappy definition of a sport and Justin and Chris run through a list of activities challenging Doug to determine if they are, indeed, a sport.  Things are wrapped up with a throw-down of Colossus vs. The Thing.

Film aficionado Drew Dull stops by the podcast to talk about some of his favorite Halloween and horror movies.  The three dorks discuss what scares them most in movies, how Drew is terrified of creepy little girls, and the idea for the creepy theme park known as “Doug’s Landing.”  Things are wrapped up with a triple throw-down between Jason Voorhees vs. Michael Myers, Chucky vs. the Puppetmaster puppets, and Freddy Krueger vs. Regan from the Exorcist.

Doug and Justin welcome comedian and writer Daryl McSweeney to discuss some crazy and fun fan theories about some popular movies and TV shows.  We cover theories revolving around Minority Report, Rugrats, Forrest Gump, The Thing, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and The Dark Knight.  We end things with a throw-down between Batman vs. Iron Man.

Justin and Doug discuss the pretentiousness of a sommelier and a cicerone as well as the idea of food vs cuisine; they either make good points or show how uncultured they actually are. Justin asks Doug about all of the food items that he hates.  Things wrap up with a throw-down between Superman vs Hulk. Don't forget to subscribe and review us on iTunes!