I just want to give a HUGE thanks to Tom Scharpling for a lot of what was awesome in 2011 for yours truly.
It was just about a year ago when Tom dropped my name on an episode touting me as a "potential protege replacement candidate." I can't begin to tell you how crazy this was to hear! I was listening to this at work and all of a sudden my name pops up out of nowhere on a comedy show you're pretty obsessed with. Tom had hit me and Aaron up on Twitter once or twice (and casually mentioned our podcast a while back) before and that in itself was awesome enough to know that someone we respect so much appreciated the work we do on our dumb little podcast. But then to get mentioned in such a fashion... that was so awesome.
But it led to so many things (despite the protege stuff completely sucking, in retrospect, but I've turned it around post-hell turn) that were great. I've met people from the show who I now consider friends and hang out with pretty regularly. There are people I HAVEN'T met from the show who I also consider friends and would love to hang out with! I was in a rock video for a band I like a lot (Titus Andronicus, which was an open invite, but I wouldn't have gone to if Tom didn't mention me on the air that one time). Our podcast has gone from a listenership of "six Philly-area comedians who like basketball" to a lot more. And I also was beaten by wiffleball bats on my brother's cable access show with Tom supervising minutes before Larry D. Perv called us on the air. And I also recorded a story for Jon Solomon's X-Mas marathon, which is something I've listened to for years, and a total thrill.
So, thanks, Tom, for being one of the best dudes in the universe. So many awesome things happened to me this year because of The Best Show.
