Comedy Guy with Louis Zezeran

This week I talk to Comedy Estonia comedian Ann Vaida who will be doing her first solo show in December. We chat about creativity in her day job, how she writes Stand Up and her feeling as she approaches her first Stand Up hour.

Follow Ann: https://www.instagram.com/annvaida

Episode video: https://youtu.be/4TSmA7YIiD0

You might like some of the other things I do too

Comedy Guy Podcast: https://anchor.fm/comedyguy
Zez Retro Podcast: https://anchor.fm/zezretro
Twitter: https://twitter.com/louiszezeran
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/louiszezeran
Zez Retro on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ZezRetro
Retro Shmups on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/louiszezeran

This week Tim and I make it into the studio after Tim's very rough week after getting a second dose.

Tim's vax induced delirium
Louis' Estonian lessons
Why are there so many Australia entertainers in Estonia?
Hipster Japanese brothels

Video: https://youtu.be/IkaU6LIbncM
Follow Tim: https://www.instagram.com/sexyhunk1988/

You might like some of the other things I do too

Comedy Guy Podcast: https://anchor.fm/comedyguy
Zez Retro Podcast: https://anchor.fm/zezretro
Twitter: https://twitter.com/louiszezeran
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/louiszezeran
Zez Retro on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ZezRetro
Retro Shmups on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/louiszezeran

Martin and I are back and discussing what it is like when someone doesn't like your show. If it's a normal public show, if someone doesn't like it then mostly they are reasonable and accept its not for them and they just don't come back. However sometimes people REALLY don't like the show and demand their ticket money back. What do you do?

Then we have the case when we are hired for a private party and the customer is not happy with the performance. We have a long list of questions we ask about the event to ensure we can do it correctly. However even with a good checklist, often we turn up on the day and something is wrong or off which we did not anticipate. Sometimes we can make adjustments in the moment but sometimes we just need to power through. If the customer isn't satisfied we need to take a detached view and stoically ask ourselves could we have asked more questions and done more prep or do we feel the customer had an incorrect expectation (which still makes it our fault for not setting the expectation correctly).

Follow Ruutu10: https://www.instagram.com/ruutu10eesti/

You might like some of the other things I do too

Comedy Guy Podcast: https://anchor.fm/comedyguy
Zez Retro Podcast: https://anchor.fm/zezretro
Twitter: https://twitter.com/louiszezeran
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/louiszezeran
Zez Retro on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ZezRetro
Retro Shmups on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/louiszezeran

In part 2 we hear from Tambet and Roger's side of our recent trip to the UK. What were their war stories about hitting the mics in London? How was that Glasgow crowd after all? What's up with Tambet's Scottish accent?

Follow 

Roger: https://www.instagram.com/rogerandre_
Tambet: https://www.instagram.com/tambetsild

You might like some of the other things I do too

Comedy Guy Podcast: https://anchor.fm/comedyguy
Zez Retro Podcast: https://anchor.fm/zezretro
Twitter: https://twitter.com/louiszezeran
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/louiszezeran
Zez Retro on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ZezRetro
Retro Shmups on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/louiszezeran

Tim and I are back from the UK and we tell stories of the times we had. Roger, Tambet, Ari and Oleg were all there, hutling for spots and prepping for Ari's Estonian show on the Saturday. After this Tim took Tambet and Oleg up to Scotland where they did gigs in Glasgow and tasted the fish and chips from the highlands.

Follow Tim: https://www.instagram.com/sexyhunk1988

You might like some of the other things I do too

Comedy Guy Podcast: https://anchor.fm/comedyguy

Zez Retro Podcast: https://anchor.fm/zezretro

Twitter: https://twitter.com/louiszezeran

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/louiszezeran

Zez Retro on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ZezRetro

Retro Shmups on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/louiszezeran

I was back in Vilnius last week and I caught up with my friend Dominykas Klajumas. Dom is a podcaster, content creator, radio host and Stand Up comedian with "Humoro Klubas" which is roughly like the Comedy Estonia of the south.

After years as a well known comedian and radio host, Dom moved into podcasting and online content creation at the start of the pandemic and things have gone very well for him, with episodes now regularly getting hundreds of thousands of views. Wow that's a lot, I sometimes forget that Lithuania is three times the size of Estonia.

We had a really fun talk about his career, developing a Stand Up scene and why Comedy Estonia definitly should not worry about the latest Tõnis Niinemets tour.

Fun fact: In Lithuania, they are not allowed to show alcohol logos on camera at all. Even for podcasts. This is why Dom always drinks from a cup. When he told me about this my first reaction was "fuk da Lithuanian police" and I definiantly said we don't follow such backward rules in Estonia and I'll drink a beer loud and proud. The problem is now is that Dom probably can not distrubte this episode in Lithuania. Which is where most people know him :D Still, I was keeping my beer real.

Follow Dominykas

https://www.instagram.com/klajumas
https://www.facebook.com/dominykas.klajumas

You might like some of the other things I do too

Comedy Guy Podcast: https://anchor.fm/comedyguy
Zez Retro Podcast: https://anchor.fm/zezretro
Twitter: https://twitter.com/louiszezeran
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/louiszezeran
Zez Retro on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ZezRetro
Retro Shmups on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/louiszezeran

I talk to Martin Rauam who is a former Estonian rally driver and now is a partner in JOLOS event and live communication agency. I know Martin from working with him on many events and I have always wanted to hear about his previous career as a rally drive back in the early 2000s which took him around Estonia and also for several seasons in the International leagues. 

We have a good talk about how artists and sports people need to prepare for the transitions in their life when you need to move on. Either the "big goal" is achieved or the realities of life say "sorry you now can not do this thing you trained for and focused your whole life around".

Rally and life as a sportsman is about the first hour. Then we switch up and talk about the current state of events in Estonia. Martin's agency JOLOS mostly focused on "corporate" events where Comedy Estonia is slinging tickets to public shows. We talk about the market place and whats the mood of companies and the public right now

Learn more about JOLOS: https://jolos.eu/en
Martin is also on the board of the Estonian Marketing Association: https://turundajateliit.ee/en

You might like some of the other things I do too

Zez Retro Podcast: https://anchor.fm/zezretro
Comedy Guy Podcast: https://anchor.fm/comedyguy
Twitter: https://twitter.com/louiszezeran
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/louiszezeran
Zez Retro on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ZezRetro
Retro Shmups on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/louiszezeran

This week Kaspar and I talk about comedy. The current state of Comedy Estonia, how to be a better host and what to make of all this showbiz stuff.

Follow Kasper: https://www.instagram.com/kasparkikerpill

You might like some of the other things I do too

Zez Retro Podcast: https://anchor.fm/zezretro
Comedy Guy Podcast: https://anchor.fm/comedyguy
Twitter: https://twitter.com/louiszezeran
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/louiszezeran
Zez Retro on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ZezRetro
Retro Shmups on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/louiszezeran

My guest this week is Rainer Peterson, one of the hosts of the Estonian video games podcast Puhata ja mängida. We talk about running the podcast over the last 10 years, finding frustration with YouTube's treatment of Estonian and stories of how video games came to Estonia in the 90's.

Follow Puhata ja mängida and Rainer

https://puhatajamängida.ee
https://www.youtube.com/user/puhatajamangida
https://www.instagram.com/puhatajamangida
https://www.instagram.com/pixelpez

You might like some of the other things I do too

Comedy Guy Podcast: https://anchor.fm/comedyguy
Zez Retro Podcast: https://anchor.fm/zezretro
Twitter: https://twitter.com/louiszezeran
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/louiszezeran
Zez Retro on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ZezRetro
Retro Shmups on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/louiszezeran

I was in Riga AGAIN last week helping the team come to the final decision on who our new general manager would be. I took the time to sit down with Dana Jurkjāne, who is one of the other co-founders of Comedy Latvia with me.

We talk about the history of Comedy Latvia, how we met and how we got the ball rolling. As both Dana and I don't live in Riga, we have not done a good a job of growing the scene and the crew as much as we would like. Now finally bringing in a new senior partner is our way of pushing things forward and I'll tell you what, we owe it to our comedians in Latvia. They have some real talent and I am glad now we are at the end of the worst covid restrictions we can really do something big again.

It was a good chat with my old friend, we go over the history, the process of hiring someone and then we talk about the future of Comedy Latvia and I give my advice for how we will grow and get moving over the next 18 months

You might like some of the other things I do too

Comedy Guy Podcast: https://anchor.fm/comedyguy
Twitter: https://twitter.com/louiszezeran
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/louiszezeran
Zez Retro on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ZezRetro
Retro Shmups on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/louiszezeran

I spent 3 days in Riga last week and I decided to record an episode solo on the way back to Tartu.

I was down there to interview people for our new Comedy Latvia general manager position. I give the background on how that is going and also some life update stuff from me. I don't have a motorbike to do some cool "on the road" videos so this Volvo will have to do instead. I hope you like it, I enjoy doing these ones where I can take my time and explain whats on my mind more

The video was shot in "upright mode" cause my phone holder doesn't work sideways, check the video here, its mostly the Latvian countryside along with a triumphant return to Estonia via Valga.

Comedy Guy Podcast: https://anchor.fm/comedyguy
Twitter: https://twitter.com/louiszezeran
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/louiszezeran
Zez Retro on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ZezRetro
Retro Shmups on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/louiszezeran

It has been too long! This week we are in Tim's apartment catching up on the past month

* Tim didn't listen to the Istanbul episode so I answer his questions

* The Brazilian lady who got deported from Estonia for illegally working for Bolt (or Wolt, we are not sure)

* Why that might be Louis soon

* Tim's feelings about the passing of Joey Jordison from Slipknot

* Why some Irish boys are going to have to take it from Irish priests to save humanity

* Louis' reaction to the online comments about Comedy Estonia's "covid safe" shows

This week I am in Vilnius and I caught up with my old friend and Stand Up comedian, Paulius Ambrazevičius.

Paulius runs a comedy group in Lithuania called Humoro Klubas which you can think of roughly something like Comedy Estonia. We have known each other for many years, we presented International acts together in Vilnius back in the day and done a bunch of shows together. Paulius is a top guy and a great comedian.

It has been ages since we caught up so we go over where the comedy scene is at in Lithuania and Estonia right now. We go deep into the similarities are differences between Humoro Klubas and Comedy Estonia and the overall differance between the comedy scenes in our two countries. 

We talk about the back story of Humoro Klubas which is one I will never tire of hearing. Basically his group had a weekly show on TV within 3 months of doing their first gigs. They did well enough (or didnt suck that bad, depends on how you wanna look at it) to establish their names in Lithuanian pop culture and build their Stand Up and media careers from that. All credit to these guys, they did well and have forged successful careers from it, all while still keeping their burning love of Stand Up.

We recorded this episode in Piano Man bar in Vilnius with some new lapel mics which.... didn't sound as nice as we hoped. 

Tim just arrived back from 2 weeks back in his sweet homeland of Ireland. This is the first time he has been home in over a year so our boy has some catching up to do. He took James and Tauri with him and they traipsed across the countryside and hiked up some big ass mountain which almost killed them. There is an easy side and a hard side and apparently the hard side is labelled the "easy" side (and vice versa) because of some dry Irish wit. We get the full report from Tim.

On the episode we talk about:

Louis is gunna steal your bike
Why didn't Tim call the helicopter to get him off that mountain?
What us an Aussie "ute" and why doesn't Louis have one with his face on the side?
Australia is back to lockdown, suck it bogans
Why exactly do the Estonian police want to talk to Tim?
Louis misses the days of "bribing vodka"

Tim and I had a great time talking to Paul Gunn, a Scotsman who done his bit to help make Tallinn a great place. Back in 1994 he arrived in Estonia on the urging of his friend and ended up staying and becoming the first manager of Nimeta Baar in Old Town.

Since then Paul has had a hand in almost every classic pub: Hell Hunt and Molly Malone's (OG Mad Murphy's) just to name a few. Paul has some fantastic stories from 1994: getting to Estonia back then, mobsters wanting their cut, breaking into the American embassy and the non stop party which was Nimeta Baar.

Thanks for Paul for coming in, he is a true character and Tim and I reveled in the stories.

***** I really messed up the sound in this episode. We tried doing it online and I didn't know the recording had a massive feedback and it was a total shitshow. I tried to revive the audio the best I could but I understand if this too hard to listen to. I don't have another episode this week so I'll put this up anyway - Louis *****

Olga is one of our Comedy Estonia comedians who moved to Australia almost a year ago now. She had dreams of living in a social, care-free sunny environment where she can do comedy every night.

So that dream worked out well for her. We talk about life in Melbourne, doing comedy over zoom and if Coles or Woolies is best.

Sten Erik Allikas is an old friend of mine who I haven't seen in years because hes been away from Estonia for the better part of 10 years off and on.

Sten is just a regular dude who I think has had a pretty amazing life and shows that if you just get out there and try stuff, you will find your path.

He grew up in Tallinn, had an interest in music and fell into working in a kitchen. He took those skills and was able to land a job in one of the best restaurants in London where he honed his skills and really learnt the food game. He then lived in a hippie commune in Spain for a while before taking off for Asia. He stayed for 5 years in Cambodia where he used that kitchen experience to turn around local establishments and was able to make a living for himself. He was also in a band and were playing 5 nights a week, all the time getting better at chefing and performing. They even ran some comedy nights at the local bar and I was giving Sten tips on how to run the evening while he was over there. I like Sten's story because it shows that you may not know what you wanna do with your life but you gotta get out there and try something. Learning practical skills like cheffing led him to find a way of supporting himself no matter where he went. An education is important and you shouldn't stop learning but there are so many more ways to do that in life than just studying at a university.

I connected with details of his story I didn't know before because I saw elements of the same thing in my life: I love my crazy comedy life now but I really could only do it because I had this training in IT and mastered a skill in that first. I didn't just jump into being a comedian and promoter, I was able to gently bring down the amount of IT work I did as we got more and more Comedy Estonia gigs.

Thanks for listening to the podcast, I am trying to settle into a weekly schedule now. I am hugely appreciatively of everyone who listens, because the point of this podcast isn't to be a huge hit, it is to get better at making podcasts. At the end of this episode we talk a bit about "deliberate practice", the idea that if you want to get better at something, you can't just do it over and over, you need to push and analyze yourself and find harder challenges each time to get better. These episodes are just that, me trying to have better conversations each time and I deeply appreciate you being along for the ride.

Watch the full episode on YouTube https://youtu.be/3CGlbCAzBmE

Erik Ott is a Comedy Estonia comedian and also an active member of the Estonian Army. We start by talking about how the Army dealt with the lockdown and talk about the troops being locked in on base and you can imagine that was a tough time. We get a lot into leadership and how the Army teaches leadership as Erki is currently studying at the military academy in Võrumaa. Leadership is probably my favourite topic (beside grilling and retro games) and go deep into the lessons Erki has learnt and then I contrast them to how I have applied them to comedy and business.

The conversation comes pretty easily and we of course get to telling stories about the first comedy shows Erki did (and the way Tim Reidy corrupted him at the strip club). Watch the full episode at https://youtu.be/rFcPSzP6jN4

Just a quick episode for a very hot Friday afternoon in the city! It's too hot to be inside and live streaming so we will have July off. Thanks for the support over the last 13 weeks. This started as a quick idea for something to do during lockdown and it's been a fun way for us to finish off the week. Go out and enjoy the sunshine and see you in August!

Marianne and Sille are doing a Tissident Live show on July 14th at Club LAEV in Tallinn:

https://www.piletilevi.ee/est/piletid/teater/komoodia/comedy-estonia-tissident-suve-live-316075/

It's good to be back! We hear about what Vilnius was like as, why does milk come in bags, and Louis' renewing his visa. It was a fun short episode, it's hot people, time to be outside!