Today we’d like to introduce you to Holly Laurent and Greg Hess.
Holly and Greg, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Greg and I met doing comedy in Chicago. We both come from an improv background — he plays with the Improvised Shakespeare Company at Largo here in LA, and I come from the Second City in Chicago. We got married and moved to LA five years ago, and most recently have been touring with the public radio variety show Live From Here with Chris Thile. Last summer I started getting the itch to create my own podcast. So I sat down to pitch a few ideas to the guys at Campfire Media. I always joke that I’m bilingual; I speak English, and having grown up as a preacher’s kid, I also speak Evangelical. I began imagining a fully improvised satire set in the world of a fictitious mega church for a fun podcast. My first thought was I wanted to have Greg play an Australian youth pastor leading the high school ministry called “Climax” because not only do mega churches always seem to have a painfully hip Australian, they also have ultra cool names for their ministries. I decided I’d play a weekend producer with the inside scoop of all the main stage services. Each episode features a guest comic/improviser playing a different character inside Twin Hills Community Church. Some past guests include Cecily Strong (SNL) who played a character recruited from our prison ministry and Thomas Middleditch (Silicon Valley) who leads the “Wings of Faith” ministry for small plane enthusiasts. The format is an endless supply of comedy, and we play it as straight as possible — almost like a Christopher Guest movie set inside a church. We release an episode every week, on Sundays, of course.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Overall, making the podcast has been fairly smooth. There is such a deep well of comedy talent in LA, and providing a platform for our friends to shine has been one of the most satisfying parts of doing the show. Of course, finding new listeners is always on our minds. With the rising popularity of podcasts and the plethora of great comedy pods, it takes time to build an audience. So far, we are predominantly growing through word of mouth. We have been featured on the iTunes main page, and have seen a steady growth in our listenership, but we also want to make this a viable (see: paid!) creative project. Fingers crossed for some mattress or meal kit sponsorships in the coming year!
Mega The Podcast – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from others?
As a satirical podcast, it has been fascinating to hear from listeners and discover who we are reaching— everyone from evangelicals, to “ex-vangelicals,” to unchurched comedy nerds. We don’t pull any punches with the satire on the show, but because it comes from a loving and knowing place, the show strikes a chord with people of faith as well as folks who have left the church.
Recently, we launched mid-week “Mega Mini” podcasts where we get to take a break from our characters and talk as ourselves for our Patreon supporters. We include a lot of outtakes, behind the scene interviews with our guests, and personal stories — and inevitably explore our own experiences with religion. Turning over the rocks from our own church backgrounds always produces fodder for our characters in the world of MEGA.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Retiring early to Branson, Missouri because of the runaway success of a podcast would be our first measure of success. Short of that, as long as we are still having fun, making each other laugh, and feeling that the show is saying something, we’re happy. One of our listeners told us that every week her dad’s church small group gets together to discuss that week’s episode of MEGA. We knew we wanted to make people laugh, but the fact that somewhere out there in the world we set out to satirize, folks are taking our commentary and creating conversations, well, that’s more than we hoped for.
Pricing:
- FREE! And for the truly blessed, the Patreon is only five bucks a month.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://wearecampfire.media/podcasts/mega/
- Email: megathepodcast@gmail.com
- Instagram: @megathepodcast
- Facebook: facebook.com/megathepodcast
- Twitter: @megathepodcast
Image Credit:
Stevie Nelson, Live performance photos by Ben Miller
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