Canon or Not? Episode 1 Notes

As mentioned in my previous post, I started a podcast!

CANON OR NOT?

'The podcast where we quiz people on things they know nothing about!'
[listen here]

Here's the full SoundCloud description:

CANON OR NOT? is a podcast which takes a light-hearted look at bizarre fictional lore, as Sash (@Sp1ritJam) and guests puzzle their way through various true/false questions. 

The catch? 

They know nothing about the media in question, armed only with their base assumptions and whatever they've absorbed through pop cultural osmosis. 

Play along and test your knowledge, or sit back and enjoy as guest and host alike experience your favourite pieces of fiction for the first time. Either way, you'll come out the side finally knowing whether that weird tidbit you've heard about really is canon or not. 

(Get in touch on Twitter by tagging @Sp1ritjam or with the hashtag #CanonOrNot)

I've had this idea for a while so I'm excited to actually be doing it. Unlike writing I find it much easier to get podcasts going, largely I think because it's a collaborative effort with myself and an interviewee, so I can't get too bogged down in my own thoughts. Whereas with writing there's so many internal processes going on, a podcast is about 80% sitting down and just doing. Or rather, talking.

It also helps that a bunch of friends love the idea and have lined up suggestions of topics to do next. I'll be quizzed on everything from WWE Wrestling to Red Dwarf and turning the fact that I never watch much TV into an asset for once! During lockdown it's a fun way to spend time with people and learn more about the fictional universes they're invested in. I don't know how one measures the 'success' of a podcast but spending time with friends, indulging my need to be performative, practising my public speaking and fine-tuning my editing skills all seem like pretty valuable outcomes to me. :)

There's also not much pressure at all. If I run out of guests then we'll have had a fun five-episode run and I can move onto the next thing, although I'd like to keep it going because it's proving to be a lot of fun. I also feel fairly confident that not too many people will listen to it so I'm able to work out all of my teething problems around sound quality etc.

Maybe it will give that one work colleague who's apparently stalking my Twitter account some more material to pass the time with. I wonder if they'll find this blog... not many people know it exists after all.

Moving on, Episode 1 was good fun. I took my good friend George through the Dragon Ball series and in hindsight I barely even scratched the surface of fun and ridiculous things in that show, so there's potential for a follow-up episode right there. We laughed a lot and I received good feedback from test listeners about the format, etc. I liked doing it. I was always going to begin this podcast with Dragon Ball because it is the fictional universe closest to my heart and the one that takes up most of my brainspace on a regular basis. It was a delightful novelty to introduce it to someone who's never heard much about it before.

I've been talking with a friend recently about creativity. We've been invested in the #HomeTasking challenges coming from the Taskmaster YouTube channel, and my recently foray into stop motion animation reminded him of some old stop motion videos he'd made and uploaded as a kid. He said he'd never thought of himself as creative and I couldn't believe it - as a kid he was coming up with some amazing ideas! Performing improv with him also shows his definitive creative streak.

I mentioned that creativity comes in so many forms and we often veer towards thinking of it in a certain way, or certain outlets. However it's important to remember that creativity doesn't just manifest itself in Writing, Art, Music, etc. but that other less obvious outlets are completely valid too. Whether that's making random YouTube videos, re-enacting movie scenes in your bedroom, doing improv or appearing on a podcast... it's all valid.

It was only a few days later that I realised the irony of not taking my own advice.

So here I am!

Writing is hard at the moment, but I'm making a podcast! It's so creative! I am creative! I'm having fun!

You can listen to Canon or Not? Episode 1: Dragon Ball here.