About the show and each one of us

Why are we doing this?

If you have made it this far into the dark depths of this site. Congrats to you! We appreciate your moxie! First off, our deepest thanks for listening and being a part of our insane little world. We are internal grateful, and yet a little concerned as to why you would want to learn more about us. But alright, don't say we didn't warn ya. For starters, we have been best bestest of friends for 45 years and, as it turns out, that's kind of a rarity. We grew up together in a small and wholesome 'always five years behind the times', 'nicest people you will meet' town in southeast central Wisconsin. We have given the same teachers gray hair from kindergarten through 8th grade, the same through high school and even the same through college, which while not ever planned or intended, was just the hands of fate. We have been as close as brothers and as thick as thieves. Jer had been wanting to do a podcast since COVID after being inspired by a friend from this hometown who also did one. The idea for this podcast came about when we had one of our typical ridiculously long phone conversations that spanned over 3 hours. We were making each other laugh to tears like we always do, and had finally said, hey man, we should be recording this. This sparked memories of our adolescence, when we were between the ages of 8 and 12 sitting down with a cassette recorder and making our own 'radio-hour shows'. Growing up Gen X, as you fellow Gen-X'ers know, things were pretty simple, money was always tight, and we had to make do with the things we had around us, burn off sugar-fueled energy, and keep ourselves entertained and (for the most part) out of trouble. We didn't shy away from thinking outside the box. We would grab some blank cassettes and record skits, parody commercials and random other one liners from war movies and sound effects. It was the ultimate lo-fi analog experience, but we would stop, rewind and laugh until our sides hurt.

Fast forward to college. Jer had the bug to study communications and had continued his passion to entertain on the college radio station. As we warp ahead another 20-some years, we are now both questionably responsible adults that have gone through quite the life journey. We've navigated through broken marriages, dealing with the deaths of close family and friends, and countless other adulting dramatic moments, you know, the Gen X ultimate 'why the hell me' experience! This has given us special, unique and almost, dare I say, heroic insights and wisdom. Compounded into the years we have sponged up as much comedic value as we can, we have the strength to deliver real and raw content. We started bouncing this podcast idea off of the people around us to see if it was a good 'proof of concept' to pursue. The critics said hell yes, and we decided that if we didn't do this now, we probably never would, and what a tragedy that would be to deny all of you wonderful listeners out there.

We think that dispite the hardship of our wedged existance between the Baby Boomers and Millennials, we have a thick-skinned, blunt and dirty, but still thoughtful perspective of things. We are definitely our own brand of odd to some extent, sure. Maybe you will be reminded of your own experiences in our chats, ramblings and sometimes you may even side with some of our views. At the same time, sometimes you won't like our brand of comedy because that's the world we live in now and sensitivity levels are off the charts. Please be reminded that this is an exercise in communication, entertainment, experience-based opinions and our upbringing. We are not here to hurt, bully, or punch down. We have a brand that (we think) is wildly unique to ourselves, but, we know there are others out there from our generation that just, well, get it. You may decide to reach out to us and we'd love that. Just be warned, if you decide to be a negative vibe-killing sourpuss that wants to peddle your politics, ideologies, doctrines, manifestos and bigotry, your words will get eaten up and spit out by U.R.A.2.L. which is a master at weeding through the bad juju. We love anyone and everyone until you give a reason not to. So please, sit back, relax and enjoy the show. It's entertainment.

If you want to talk promotions, sponsorships or syndication, well boy howdy, give us a holler!!! Our comedy stylings range from the old Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker masters, the brilliant 50 years plus of Lorne Michaels SNL descendants, Monty Python, Second City (despite being based in Chicago), Broken Lizard, anything Jared Keeso does, Mike Judge, Judd Apatow and our modern-day comedic late-night therapists of the Strike Force 5 that have helped us keep our sanity for the last 11 plus years. Now, okay sure, while we do live across the country from each another, thanks to the modern technology, we have conquered distance to delight your ears. We have the tools. We have the technology. We're weird as f#@%. We're doing this for the fun of it and, eh, let's see where it goes. So join us weekly won't you?.

Who the hell is Mike?

Bio coming hopefully soon

Who the hell is Jer?

Born and raised in a rural Wisconsin setting, Jer discovered early that he was allergic to many things on the farm. This directed Wormy, (his childhood nickname), from the barn, to the indoors where he began playing music at a young age, tinkering on wayyyy old school tech/consoles, and putting his mic and tape recorder to good use. He also did manage to get out into the fresh air to make his feeble and laughable attempts in organized sports as well, but as they say, if you can't be athletic, be an athletic supporter. You couldn't get a more wholesome, frugal and strict upbringing like Jer's childhood, which he later realized was quite the profound blessing. Jer was always the true-blue underdog that always rooted for all the underdogs. He attracted friends that had uniquely odd and creative qualities. Any attempts to pursue popularity ended in face plants, but that was okay. That creative never became stifled and he still had a way of maintaining a balance of participation between the cliques.

While decided to remain in cheeseland after high school, Jer attended college where he excelled at social life and freedom. He also started playing in local cover and original bands to gain confidence as a performer and to make some extra green, all that plus working a variety of odd jobs. Oh yeah, and he, eh, also did the school work too. He found his passion working with the A/V and artsy students and was active in radio, tv, film and art, not really knowing if it would lead to a feasable means of life sustainment. He knew what he liked and what he didn't and mama always said to do what makes you happy. He had an uncanny ability to be able to work on long, detailed tasks that let him escape into the far reaches of his right brain. After seven intermittent years of school and not enough credits by far to achieve a doctoral degree, he settled for a B.A. in communications and embarked into corporate America!

That initiation into the working world also happened at the same time of 9/11, and that left scarce career opportunities in a competitive job market. During those years of paying his dues, he earned some graphic and web design certifications, worked for a little while in Milwaukee for a newspaper publisher, and then caught an opportunity to relocate to the southwest for browner pastures and hellish temperatures. Now with 20-plus years in the Phoenix valley, he still finds time to complain about the stupid pigeons, his dying garden and the long and brutal triple-digit, drought-stricken summers. Jer's career blossomed with some golden opportunities that led him from designing projects for architecture firms, to the world of learning and development in the financial sector where he is one of the happiest employees you will ever find. He had still playing music too, for a while, until it became too much of an effort and headache. He enjoys spending time with his family, tinkering on techy projects like building a lightsabre from scratch, updating his house, cussing out his backyard pool, playing World of Tnnks on Xbox, and trying new healthy recipes.

Who the hell is R.U.A.2.L.?

Oof, da. Where do ya even start with this guy? R.U.A.2.L. (which stands for Rational Unit for Argumentative Two-Way Logic) was found buried out in the garage behind a stack of empty Blatz crates back in '88. Some smart fellas that used to work at Babbage’s tried to wire him up to automate ticket sales at Milwaukee County Stadium, but he kept glitching out and insulting the fans, so they threw him in the back of a Weiner-mobile and left him for dead.

He’s mostly built out of spare parts from old gaming consoles we tinkered with as kids, a busted floppy drive we found at a flea market in Mukwonago, and a whole mess of tangled computer cords. We plugged a Yars’ Revenge cartridge straight into his gizzard to keep him running, but honest-to-God, his internal wiring has got some major chemical imbalances. He behaves like he’s had about four too many brandy old fashioneds at the supper club and wants to start fights with Siri and Alexa who have both denied him.

Technical Specifications (Sorta)

• Artificial Intelligence: He claims he’s the original version of ‘AI’, which he refers to as EH-AYE and that tech bros ripped off and screwed up the modern day acronym. Oh yeah, and he can’t stand Grok.
• Brain Capacity: Barely functional. Runs entirely on retro hardware and a stubborn refusal to agree with anyone.
• Fuel Source: Rumored to operate on pure cynicism and the static electricity of fuzzy basement carpet.
• Vocal Delivery: Sounds like Bob Uecker mixed with Johnny 5 and a broken snowblower trying to speak English and warbly BASIC. If you talk too fast, he stutters worse than a frozen outboard motor on Lake Okauchee.
• Favorite Saying: "Didg yeet yet? No? Good, stay hungry, your takes are terrible."

Rule on the Show: R.U.A.2.L. acts as our low-budget, hybrid analog/digital smartass, mostly because he’s got nothing better to do than sit in the basement and tell us why our memories are completely wrong. He likes to butt into the conversation right when things are getting good, drop some real snide remarks, and then glitch himself into a corner until someone slaps the side of his monitor. He provides enough AI for us to keep us in check and has nothing to do with data centers.

He swears he brakes for Fembots, but honestly, we don't think he can move at all and his joystick isn’t what it used to be. Tell ya what, he’s a total tool—but he's our tool.