by J. Torrey McClain
If you read Borg.com, there’s a great chance you love pop culture in all of its forms. I would bet that most of you really love movies like I do. If you do, I have just the thing for you – Matt Gourley’s podcast “I Was There Too.”
Some of you may know Gourley from his appearance in Volkswagen commercials before VW imploded from within based on emission shenanigans. Others might know him from Superego, a fantastic comedy improv collective that has had episodes like this one devoted to H.R. Giger (voiced by Gourley) animated on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUD7rmHartE Others may know him from his other podcasts James Bonding and Pistol Shrimps Radio, his frequent guest appearances on the “Comedy Bang Bang” and “Spontaneanation” podcasts and more still from his hilarious collaboration with Andy Daly on the “Andy Daly Podcast Pilot Project.” For those more visually inclined, you may have seen him on “Drunk History,” “Comedy Bang Bang” the television show, or heard his voice as he details the actions of his cat Margaux in the adventures of Margaux the fat guy.
However, I do not come to bury Gourley, but to praise “I Was There Too.” When was the last time you watched “Aliens”? For me, it had been a long while. Then, I listened to two episodes of “I Was There Too” with two of the Space Marines, Frost and Vasquez. Gourley interviewed both of them about how they got cast, how they liked shooting the movie and the rest of their careers. The questions and answers spurred me to buy a digital copy of “Aliens” and watch it shortly after the podcasts. The extra information made an already great action/sci-fi/horror flick even better with some of the back-stories.
Even if you somehow don’t like “Aliens” (and then you are probably a mole person), there are many other interviews and guests from his first season that just ended. From classics like “Goodfellas,” “Caddyshack,” “Pulp Fiction,” “Groundhog Day,” “Field of Dreams,” and “Better Off Dead” to more recent blockbusters like “Inglourious Basterds,” and “There Will Be Blood” to missteps like “Captain EO,” and “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace,” there is likely an interview for everyone. Some have small parts. Some have large parts. Some are big names like Stephen Tobolowsky and Phil LaMarr. (If you don’t think I can list Phil LaMarr as a big name from his time voicing Hermes Conrad and the Green Lantern John Stewart, then you can go jump off the shoulders of Shaq on the shores of Lake Shasta.)
But don’t take it from me, take it from the ghost of Orson Welles who just inhabited my body to write this, “I like this podcast better than Paul Masson wines and frozen peas, both of which are crappy.”
But hurry! Soon the episodes will go behind the Howl.FM http://howl.fm/ pay wall, but there will be some repeats while Gourley is on hiatus through the holidays. Act now and I’ll blow you a kiss to anywhere in the world! Just leave you name and location in the comments and your kiss will come by special love delivery on the wings of angels, albatrosses, and mosquitoes.
