Hello!
Some big news for a Monday:
New Show: Secretly Incredibly Fascinating joins Maximum Fun!
Did you know that electric eels aren’t actually eels? That basically all dice are a little bit loaded? Or that glitter was created because a machinist in New Jersey was trying to find a faster way to grind up trash? You do now, thanks to Secretly Incredibly Fascinating.
Every Monday, you’ll get a fresh episode of this podcast about the history, science, lore, and surprises that make everyday things, well… secretly incredibly fascinating!
Join Alex Schmidt (Jeopardy! champ, comedy writer, and bison emoji creator 🦬) and his brand new co-host Katie Goldin (podcaster, comedy writer, and bird enthusiast) for a joyful deep-dive into seeing the world a whole new way!
The show has been around and improving small talk since mid-2020, and we’re so excited to welcome it to Maximum Fun! Enjoy some past episodes featuring MaxFun hosts as guests (and find out how expensive a doorknob can be):
- Chairs (Laurie Kilmartin, Danielle Radford)
- Dice (the McElroy brothers)
- Pears (Riley Silverman, Jackie Kashian)
- Myrrh (Jesse Thorn)
- Doorknobs (John Hodgman)
- Manatees (Ellen Weatherford)
- Musk Oxen (Elliott Kalan)
Subscribe now to catch today’s episode and get new fascinating facts every week: maximumfun.org/podcasts/secretly-incredibly-fascinating
New producer: Palmira Muniz joins MaxFun!
We’re so excited to announce the newest member of MaxFun staff, Palmira Muniz! Palmira is a Bronx-born, SoCal-raised writer, filmmaker, standup comedian, and co-host of the pod Cool Aunties. At MaxFun, she’s working primarily on FANTI, which is about to start its fourth season!
Outside of producing, Palmira paints, enjoys the outdoors, and loves watching terrifying horror movies. She mentions that she’s “proud to create media that resonates with communities of color, especially other fat Black and Latinx women.” As you can tell, Palmira is great, and we’re so glad to have her on the team!
SF Sketchfest and more!
We’re smack-dab in the middle of SF Sketchfest’s 20th year, and there’s still time to see MaxFun shows there!
- Adam and Ben are taking their love of Star Trek to Sketchfest with The Greatest Generation live on February 2!
- Judge John Hodgman is on a West Coast tour now, making a stop at SF Sketchfest on February 4. If you don’t live on the West Coast of the US, don’t worry, you can watch the livestream of JJHo’s SF Sketchfest show from anywhere in the world!
- Jesse Thorn and Jordan Morris are bringing Jordan, Jesse, Go! back to the stage on February 5!
Outside of Sketchfest:
- Go Fact Yourself will be in Pasadena on February 11 with guests Bruce Vilanch and Josefina López!
- Newly added since last month–both taking place at the Bell House in Brooklyn, NY:
- The Flop House live on Sunday, April 2
- Triple Click live on Thursday, May 18
Keep an eye on the MaxFun HQ events calendar for even more live shows as the year rolls on!
In the chat with MaxFunHQ: Tom Hanks movies
Here’s a little peek into what goes in the Maximum Fun HQ Slack, when we’re not all just arguing about Trader Joe’s. Or, you know, doing a bunch of work.
Bullseye’s Senior Producer Kevin Ferguson posted a poll: “Bullseye is having Tom Hanks on, and I would like to include one sort of unexpected movie in his list of more serious credits. Which one should I choose?”
- Joe Versus the Volcano – Marissa, K.T., Bikram, Julian. (And Bikram noted “The Maximum Film! episode about Joe Versus the Volcano is a personal favorite.”)
- The Money Pit – Bryanna, Jennifer, Tabatha
- Splash – Laura
Some rebels submitted their own nominations:
- Mazes and Monsters – April
- “Can I volunteer the “I Really Like You” music video?” – Danny (Tabatha is Team Danny because look at this)
- “Elvis babyyyy” – Christian
I (Stacey) missed this Slack convo but I would have said The Burbs. Anyway, check out the full interview and for the love of Tom Hanks, use your turn signals when you drive. And if you’d like to get to know HQ staff a little more, we’re doing some very casual hangouts on MaxFun’s YouTube channel on the first and third Fridays of the month. The next one is this Friday, February 3 at 4pm PT!
Thanks for reading! We’ll be back next month with some more big news! Until then…
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– Your friends at Maximum Fun