My latest Cool Friend, the wonderful and talented Danielle Soto, isn’t just a great and hilarious person, but she was one of my first friends in comedy! Seriously, I met her like, 2 weeks into my career. Crazy! Well wouldn’t you know it, we both ended up moving from Massachusetts to California, and our paths have been intertwined ever since! She ha…

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. This month, Dre and Jeff begin their season on Supernatural Holiday Stuff with General Mills' Monster Cereals. There's a lot to unpack about these culturally significant boxes of corn candy, s…

I’m so incredibly excited to sit down and talk with my latest Cool Friend, the returning Tom Reimann! Tom and I are super buds and co-hosts on the incredible Tom and Jeff Watch Batman podcast, but he’s been gone for a few episodes because HE AND HIS WIFE HAD A BABY! Well my beautiful babies (get it?), he’s back, and he’s got a brand new show coming…

What an incredible pair of Cool Friends I found myself talking to in this episode. Two former guests, the incredible David Igo and Erik Barnes, have teamed up to drive to my house and talk to me about the Monstors campaign that’s now up on Kickstarter. We also talk about a whole bunch of other amazing things, like HOW I INTRODUCED THEM and, honestl…

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. This month, Dre and Jeff are joined by the star of our episode's subject, the incredible Nic Cowan, as they wrap up their season on Unfortunate Martial Arts Properties with thecult classic 199…

My latest Cool Friend, the amazing and hilarious Chris Calogero, is one of the most criminally underappreciated comics and creators out there. I’ve known him for quite some time, and have been waiting for this specific moment to have him on the show, as he’s just released his amazing comedy special/album “Husky Boy,” which you can listen to RIGHT N…

My next Cool Friend, the amazing Alex Schmidt, is an incredibly accomplished and kind person. Like, to the point where it makes me mad. But not really. Maybe. Anyways, you might know Alex from his incredible podcast, Secretly Incredibly Fascinating, or from his multiple victories on the television show Jeopardy! Or you might not know him at all. Wh…

My latest Cool Friend, the incredible and vibrant Kirk Thatcher, has one of the most insane and varied collection of credits I can imagine. Special effects on Return of the Jedi? Yes. Director of Muppets Haunted Mansion? Absolutely. Famous Star Trek pest? Naturally. Badass Monster Hunter in the MCU? You bet! But honestly, this barely scratches the …

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. This month, Dre and Jeff are joined by the amazing Logan Trent as they continue their season on Unfortunate Martial Arts Properties with the insane WMAC Masters syndicated television show. The…

Oh man, this one is so cool! I've "known" Taffeta Darling online for like, 10-15 years, but we've only just met in person for the first time at SDCC a couple of weekends ago! That's crazy! I'm fascinated by the parallels between the two of us, from jobs we've had to hobbies we share to the things that interest us. We're honestly very much like the …

My latest Cool Friend has had one heck of a few years since we last spoke on air! The amazing Todd Stashwick might just be one of the most popular actors in the current Star Trek milieu due to his landmark role as Captain Liam Shaw on Picard. (And let's not forget his other appearances on shows like Gotham, Supernatural, and the fascinating 12 Monk…

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. This month, Dre and Jeff begin their season on Unfortunate Martial Arts Properties with the infamous Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi for the Sony Playstation. There's a lot to unpack about th…

My Cool Friend, James Wojtal Jr. is one fascinating dude, and I'm so excited to introduce you to him! It's hard to find a better way to describe what he does besides "he does stuff with puppets," but that feels unbelievably incomplete. James is legitimately amazing, and might have my favorite origin story of any guest I've had on the show up to thi…

My Cool Friend John Hastings is one of the most prolific and hilarious comedians I've ever met. A frequent performer on Mint on Card, I absolutely love watching him work! And now you can, too, as he's just released his first of three(!!!) specials this year on his youtube, which you can watch for free right HERE! Now, do I talk about his insane com…

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. This month, Dre and Jeff finish their season on Toy Reboots with special guest David Igo (Sideshow and Tweeterhead's Masters of the Universe lines, Monstors, Kaiju Doom) as they dive into the …

My Cool Friend, David Silverman, is one of the most significant contributors to the world of modern animation you could imagine. His history with The Simpsons is obviously what people first think about, as he's one of the architects of the style and direction of the show, starting in the Tracy Ulman days in 1987, directing the Movie in 2007, and st…

OK, so this Cool Friend, the hilarious Jono Zalay, is one of the first people I ever met in comedy. Like, I met him BEFORE I was ever a comic. On the night he became a LITERAL BRAIN SCIENTIST, no less! Crazy! We have since moved to different places, and ended up back in LA, where I see him nearly every Sunday when we play comedy softball! Jono has …

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. This month, Dre and Jeff continue their season on Toy Reboots with special guest Ken Napzok (Author, "Why We Love Star Wars, Host, ForceCenter) as they dive into the SECOND Star Wars Power of …

Holy hell, my latest Cool Friend, Rocom is like, the absolute coolest and best. You might know him from his amazing art and ridiculously popular indie toy line Mighty Maniax, which may have a VERY specific connection to a recent Cool Friend! Also, independent of that. his current kickstarter features a pin by one of my other Cool Friends! I'm serio…

My Cool Friend Ken Napzok is the COOLEST! He and I used to be next-door neighbors that love all the same stuff! Now we live slightly further away while loving the same stuff! You might know Ken from the innumberable amount of nerdy things he's been a part of, like ScreenJunkies, ForceCenter, and like, a skrillion other things. He even wrote a book …

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. This month, Dre and Jeff begin their season on Toy Reboots with special guest Adam Tod Brown as they dive into GI Joe, A Real American Hero, the line rebooting Hasbro's 12" action figure (defi…

My latest cool friend, TV and comic writer Tom Krajewski, is one of my oldest friends in Los Angeles, and one of the most impressive dudes I know. Among his countless achievements, we find Primer, the absolute DC comics PHENOMENON that is one of the fastest, highest selling books since it's inception a few years ago (co-created with Jennifer Muro, …

My Cool Friend Dan Bakkedahl has one hell of a resume under his belt. From movies like The Heat, Trumbo, and Action Point to television shows like The Daily Show, Legit, and Veep, Dan has proven himself to be filled to the brim with talent and charm. What you might NOT know, however, is that Dan is one of my best pinball buddies. Don't worry, we le…

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. This month, Dre and Jeff finish their season on Unfortunate Video Game Adaptations with the most unfortunate mainstream video game adaptation of all-time: 1994's Double Dragon! There's a lot t…

Oh boy is my latest Cool Friend a doozy! Honestly, I'm not sure how I even managed to snag Rey Taira for this long, as he was supposed to be getting ready for TF Con (Transformers) as his company, threezero, is going to have a HUGE presence there. But hey, I'm not complaining. Rey is one of the coolest, kindest, nerdiest nerds I know, and I'm so st…

My Cool Friend this episode is the amazing Jon Jabs of one of my favorite Youtube channels, The Past Is Alive. When I was researching card breakers a few years back in order to check out how it's done right, I stumbled onto his fascinating channel and it was just everything I could have hoped for. Jon is fun, knowledgeable, interactive, and charmin…

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. This month, Dre and Jeff are joined by John and Tom Reimann of the Screamplay podcast as they continue their season on Unfortunate Video Game Adaptations with 2005's Doom! There's a lot to unp…

My latest Cool Friend is one of those friends that, when I met him for the first time, I kinda quietly geeked out. I grew up marveling at his images in secondhand Cracked magazines I got from my mom’s friend Cathy, and admiring his work from there on out at various points in my life. Bob is a master cartoonist, having credits all over the pop cultu…

My latest Cool Friend is the immensely talented comedian/host/rabblerouser Bailey Norton. Bailey is not only a masterful comic (I mean, she’s done Mint on Card several times and co-hosts the amazing Femmes the Rules live show) and fantastic podcast host (Hot Topic with Pickle and Bailey is a delight!), but she’s often found going viral across socia…

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. Dre and Jeff enter their season on Unfortunate Video Game Adaptations with Street Fighter the Movie, the second direct adaptation of a video game ever! There's a lot to unpack about this campy…

OK, for real I'm not sure that I have enough space to list this episode's Cool Friend's accomplishments. Cat LaCohie (or Vixen DeVille, if you want to get all burlesque about it) is one of those people that is so filled to the brim with talent and drive, that I don't even know where to start. When we met, she out-comedied me before walking on shard…

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep This formerly Pateron-exclusive (and missing "Episode 5") episode of NERD! had Dre and Jeff continuing their season of TV Specials with He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special. There's a lot to unpac…

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. The 17th episode of NERD! has Dre and Jeff EXTENDING their season on Cinematic Child Neglect with Dutch, the rare John Hughes misfire about a nightmare Thankgiving roadtrip starring Ed O'Neill…

OK, so my Cool Friend TJ Shevlin may be the Product Development Coordinator for Upper Deck's Marvel Comics line of trading cards, and that's pretty amazing. But boy does that merely scratch the surface of all the cool, amazing stuff he's done. TJ is one of only SIX Eisner Awards judges (the Oscars of comics, given away at SDCC) and he's had his han…

I'm so stoked to put this episode up, as my Cool Friends Michael Randolph (@MRandolph24) Paige Wesley (@RampaigeWesley) and Todd Schlosser (@ToddJAwesome) from two of my favorite pods, Horror Virgin and Romancing the Pod are joining me this week. I've known Paige for quite a while, and since guesting on an episode of HV, I've become fast friends wi…

Well, well, well, look what we have here. It's David Bell! He's my Cool Friend, and we talk about stuff! And things! Honestly, the way we gel when we talk made this one of the easiest episodes to record, and the time went by so quickly that we couldn't honestly believe that we had burned through an hour. You might know Dave from his work with Gamef…

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. The 16th episode of NERD! has Dre and Jeff finishing their season on Cinematic Child Neglect with Home Alone 2, Lost in New York, the redundant yet popular sequel (remake?) to the smash hit 19…

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. The 15th episode of NERD! has Dre and Jeff continue their season on Cinematic Child Neglect (fun!) with Adventures in Babysitting, the mid-80's classic about Elizabeth Shue and maybe some othe…

My latest Cool Friend, the NEWLY EMMY NOMINATED Joey Clift, is a brilliant writer and comedian who also happens to be at the forefront of Native American entertainment, working on projects like Netflix's Spirit Rangers, his own project Gone Native (https://gonenative.tv/) and countless podcasts, panels, and live shows. Joey and I talk about a whole…

My latest Cool Friend, Dan Larson, is the first guest of the show that I haven't knowingly met, although I'm 99% sure we've bumped into each other. The co-creator/writer/host of the popular YouTube channel Secret Galaxy (née Toy Galaxy), Dan is a New England nerd with a career talking about dorky stuff on the internet and HEY WAIT A SECOND!!! Look,…

We’ve got a really great episode coming your way as I’m joined by my incredibly Cool Friends Aviv Rubinstein and Rachel Brodsky from the In Sync Podcast. As a matter of fact, this episode is a bit of what the kids call a collab, as I’m the beneficiary of a scheduling conflict that is allowing me to drop a “lost” episode of In Sync where we cover Se…

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. The 134th episode of NERD! has Dre and Jeff beginning their season on Cinematic Child Neglect (fun!) with Searching for Bobby Fischer, the mid-90's, mid-budget film about the furious life of..…

My latest Cool Friend, Timmy Heague, did something I can't even imagine, when at the age when most of us were figuring out what to do with our lives, he opened what would become one of the most succesful comic shops in Southern California, with Arsenal Comics and Games. Not only is this store the site of the infamous INSULT CGC 10 from the Zeb Well…

Sometimes you meet a Cool Friend in the places you least expect them. Other times it's at Comic Con, where a ton of your other Cool Friends are. I met the incredible Lisa Wallen at the second one, and wouldn't you know it, less than a year later she was living within 3 miles of my place in Los Angeles. Funny how things work out. Lisa, aside from be…

My latest Cool Friend, Kyle Ayers (Never Seen It, Boast Rattle, Conan) is one of the most prolific and funniest people I know. He is an idea man, who executes some of the most unique and fantastic comedy ideas I've ever come across. His brain is SO sharp, that it's actually trying to kill him with Trigeminal Neuralgia, a rare brain disorder that is…

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. The 13th episode of NERD! has Dre and Jeff join up with Dre's brother Dan Alvarez finish their exploration into the world of insane sequels to popular films with The Secret of the Ooze, the to…

My very Cool Friend Joshy G is, as I refer to him in this episode, the Forrest Gump of Hollywood. Many people know him as the trainer to many Wrestling superstars like Seth Rollins, Becky Lynch, Sheamus, and more, as well as for being one of the owners and operators of Deadboys Fitness along with the aforementioned Seth Rollins. Others might know h…

OK look: Adam Tod Brown is pretty much my bestest friend in the whole world. I've been podcasting with him for 10 years on shows like You Don't Even Like This Show (formerly Unpops), You Don't Even Like Sports, and our trading card show You Don't Even Like Sports Cards, but today I drop a bombshell that I never told him before. On top of that, we'v…

Join mega nerds Dre Alvarez and Jeff May as they geek out on a different nerdy cultural touchstone every month. Part reminiscence, part historical deep dive. The 12th episode of NERD! has Dre and Jeff join up with comedian/podcaster/author Kym Kral (Kral Space, Ugh Fine!, Confessions of a Recovering Party Girl) continue their exploration into the w…

It's a big ol' Jeff Party as I'm joined by super cool friend Jeff Haidaczuk of Rucking Fotten. Sure, you might not know Jeff by name, but chances are he's been involved with something nerdy that you think rules. Come on and listen to us talk about goofing around at Cons, his work with the amazing clothing brand Rucking Fotten (seriously, go check e…