Smark & Friends

IWS is back. MOTHER TRUCKER is back. All in all, it's a good time to be Animal Bob Anger!  We've talked to Bob at length about MOTHER TRUCKER on previous episodes, and since then his sci-fi comic about a space-truckin' ass stomping wrestling goddess has come to fruition. Much like the kickstarter for book one, the crowdfunding campaign for book two "The Cut Off" was fully funded in a matter of HOURS!

But now that MOTHER TRUCKER is no longer an idea and a real book in readers' hands, now what? We talk about what's next for Bob, Lethal Comics, IWS, and more-- including the return of CONVERSATION SMARKERS on the Smark & Friends Podcast.

Follow us on Twitter @smarkandfriends, on Instagram @smark.mouth, and Like Two Finger Guns Club on Facebook.

Another round of pub trivia, just in time to gather with friends and enjoy a pint or two. Follow us on Twitter @smarkandfriends, on Instagram @smark.mouth, and Like Two Finger Guns Club on Facebook.

We've been wanting to cover Money Plane for a while, and with a moniker like that of our guest, now is the perfect time. Professional wrestler Flying Frank Milano joins the show today! Frank is a second-generation wrestler who makes the Quebec wrestling scene his stomping ground. We talk a little about that but mainly, we're here to review Money Plane, starring WWE's Rated R Superstar Edge alongside Kelsey Grammer. The stakes are high - literally and figuratively - in this heist flick, and we have almost as much fun reviewing the film as Kelsey Grammer had twirling his mustache. Follow us on Twitter @smarkandfriends, on Instagram @smark.mouth, and Like Two Finger Guns Club on Facebook.

**Disclaimer : The video in this watchalong begins with a strobe light**

It's the first episode of the summer, and in the spirit of rest and recreation, Zak welcomes his five-year-old son and return guest Buddy to Smark & Friends. This lucky kid got to watch TWO wrestling matches this week after some technical difficulties in our first attempt, but we landed on a watchalong of the enigmatic Orange Cassidy taking on Psycho Mike at Smash Wrestling - which goes exactly as you'd expect a match between Orange Cassidy and Psycho Mike to go! Follow us on Twitter @smarkandfriends, on Instagram @smark.mouth, and Like Two Finger Guns Club on Facebook.

We're proverbially heading back to the West Coast to speak to one of Albertan wrestling’s rising stars. Balancing books with striking good looks, we're speaking to the master of the Number Cruncher, Taryn From Accounting joins the show. Taryn’s been wrestling for 3 years and has recently gotten back into the ring as COVID-related restrictions begin to ease up out west. We talk about that, we talk about her finishing move, we talk about Dolly Parton, AND, Taryn helps us kick off a new format of Smark & Friends with Conversation Smarkers - a series of oddball questions thrown out over a couple o' beers!

Call him the punk hunk, the weirdo hero, call him Ravenous, Zak welcomes west coast’s wrestler Randy Myers to the show. Randy’s a vet, having worked for 20 years in the wrestling scene, but he’s now about a year removed from wrestling - which, admittedly, sucks, but that hasn’t stopped Randy from being busy. Down time in the wrestling scene has afforded this absolute creative force of nature the time to double down on his interest in stand-up comedy. He’s kept busy with live shows, particularly stand-up in front of a Zoom audience. We gab about stand-up, we also chat at length about his web series “The Weirdo Hero” and what drove him to creating the series, and much more. Follow us on Twitter @smarkandfriends, on Instagram @smark.mouth, and Like Two Finger Guns Club on Facebook.

As he's recently kicked off the second season of Rocketman Explores, the Rocketman himself makes his three-peat appearance on Smark & Friends. We tried to find a wrestling film that would tie into RME's present theme of Artificial Intelligence, but the closest we got is Las luchadoras contre robot asesino (1969), which is exactly about what the title says; Women's wrestlers vs the Assassin Robot. Be sure to follow our guest's adventures on Rocketman Explores wherever you catch your podcasts. Follow us on Twitter @smarkandfriends, on Instagram @smark.mouth, and like Two Finger Guns Club on Facebook.

One of the motivators behind creating new formats of our podcast is so we can invite rad return guests like Time Warp Radio! It's always an absolute blast recording with Katie and Hayley and our next episode is no different. They recently wrapped up Time Warp Radio, a minute-by-minute deep dive into Rocky Horror, and are now moving on to a new minute-by-minute podcast analyzing Rocky's sequel/equal Shock Treatment in a cleverly titled podcast ShockTreatMinute. We're talking the new podcast as well as it's source inspiration, all before moving on to a film review of Death From Above, the 2012 film starring Kurt Angle, James Storm, Psycho Sid, and Anti-Flag. Yes, you read all that correctly! Follow ShockTreatMinute wherever you get your podcasts so you're ready the moment it goes live! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @smarkandfriends, and Like Two Finger Guns Club on Facebook. Like what you hear? Drop us some stars at ratethispodcast.com/smarkandfriends.

We'd like you to meet a very talented musician whose music is growing more and more intertwined with the wrestling industry. His songs have been featured in All Elite Wrestling as the score for hype videos for huge rivalries. Most recently, the single Not Afraid to Die was featured as the theme for the match between Cody Rhodes and Darby Allin at Full Gear this past fall. Ian Abel of the Ian Abel Band joins me on today’s podcast. We’re talking rock music, pro wrestling, how he got connected to AEW and all that good stuff. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @smarkandfriends, and Like Two Finger Guns Club on Facebook. Like what you hear? Drop us some stars at ratethispodcast.com/smarkandfriends

Join the TFGC crew in their inaugural Christmas Special. What was supposed to be a family show quickly becomes hectic within minutes as trivia host Alexa gets lost in her own logic of the game, silent partner Alex decides to speak up, Technical Tina gets aggressive, Zak reveals his stripper name, Rocketman fends for himself and Dora swears in Romanian. The crew does unite however over the hatred of dabbing Santa, so all is well within the TFGC realm. If you wish to play along, make sure your general podcasting knowledge is up to speed, you’ve watched some classic Christmas movies and of course have listened to some key TFGC podcasts.

Ending the year with a return by our favourite guest. Zak's son Buddy, now 5 years old, is back to watch a little wrestling! Honestly, is there anything like hearing a budding fan get invested in a match? Because that's exactly what happens when Zak shares one of his favourite matches - Sami Zayn vs Adrian Neville from NXT R Evolution - with Buddy!

Twenty-three years ago this week, an infamous night in Montreal. Backstage politics gone haywire, or intended long-term storytelling? Former owner of Win Column Sports Network Spencer Love joins us as we review the 1998 documentary Hitman Hart: Wrestling With Shadows. After an in depth review of the film, Zak and Spencer jump into the never-ending question with no answer in sight; The Montreal Screwjob, a work or a shoot? If you like what you hear please head over to ratethispodcast.com/smarkandfriends and leave us a kind word or two!

You may have noticed we’ve adopted a bit of a Rocky Horror aesthetic this month. Don’t beat yourself up if you didn’t, we were pretty subtle, but someone who did pick up were the hosts of Time Warp Radio. Once they were on our radar we thought they'd make great guests for our show, and WERE THEY EVER! Katie & Hayley's Time Warp Radio podcast is a minute-by-minute deep dive into the Rocky Horror Picture Show, and they stop by to watch the infamous death match between Vampiro and Pentagon Jr from Lucha Underground. Listen to Time Warp Radio wherever you get your podcasts - if you're a Rocky afficianado you owe it to yourself to give them a listen! Like what you hear on our end? Drop us a kind word at ratethispodcast.com/smarkandfriends

Pour yourself a cocktail, you won't be drinking alone listening to this episode! Matt Lacas and Rosie Callaghan are actors out of Toronto who have put together #IsolationCocktails, a web show where they guide you through some very tasty beverage recipes. Matt and Rosie join in on a wrestling watchalong where we catch Private Party vs Hybrid 2 from AEW All Out - and come up with cocktails inspired by the match itself! You can find #IsolationCocktails via Matt's Instagram @is_that_mattlacas as well as more tidbits from the show on Rosie's Instagram @callaghan.rosie, and on top of that you can enroll in their classes (ranging from FREE to $$$) at sidebizstudio.ca. Follow Smark & Friends on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and drop us a kind word and as many stars as you like at ratethispodcast.com/smarkandfriends

Last time we had Julian Stamboulieh on the show, we took him out of his element with a wrestling watchalong. This time we got him to bring his filmmaker's eye to review a new documentary. We're talking You Cannot Kill David Arquette, the unlikely wrestling documentary highlighting Arquette's return to the pro-wrestling scene. The film has made waves at SXSW and the Fantasia Film Festival, and is now available on demand from YouTube and other major platforms. On top of our in-depth review, we're talking to Julian about his brand new project 'The Coolian', in which he presents a broad overview of filmmaking from basic equipment to advanced techniques. Not to mention he and the Beanduck Productions team are gearing up to crowdfund the highly anticipated third season of the fan favourite webseries LARPs, now playing on the Fantasy Network. Please be advised this review is full of spoilers!

This podcast is a real kick in the pants. Fresh off of their world premiere at the Fantasia Film Festival, director Elza Kephart and star Sehar Bhojani of the horror-comedy Slaxx are in for a wrestling watchalong. We're catching Rhia O'Reilly take on Alpha Female in Pro Wrestling Eve, as well as discussing the big premiere, how Fantasia is handling going digital, and most importantly, how the movie about a murderous pair of denim jeans came to be! Catch Slaxx across Canada on September 11th and internationally on Shudder this March

Hey, a brand new format for Smark & Friends! On top of watchalongs and interviews, we're adding wrestling-related film reviews to our repertoire. TFGC co-founder joins Zak to review the 2000 classi-- err-- 2000 film Ready To Rumble! Spoilers: There are A LOT of plot holes.

We were going to call this episode "the art of wrestling" but we don't want to step on any toes. John Kirby and Sam West of the UK's theatre-led promotion Wrestling Resurgence join the show. Wrestling Resurgence has something of an unconventional background for a wrestling promotion, as the creative team - Sam and John included - all have backgrounds in the arts. What exactly makes wrestling an artform? What's it like showcasing wrestling in art galleries? What would the rules of a Sam Beckett match be? This and more!

Terrific actor, brilliant singer, and now the teacher of her own school! Alana Cosgrove joins us on Smark & Friends to talk about Songbird Music School before we watch an AAW Pro match between ACH and Garza Jr. We still want you to check out the Powerslam Wrestling Network, but if you'd like to watch along with us this match is freely available on YouTube! Check out Songbird Music at musiquesongbirdmusic.com

He's the Monster Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Champion, but before he found success in wrestling he was a lightweight division fighter in the UFC. "Magnificent" Mitch Clarke joins us to talk his upcoming defence at MPW's The Return before getting very candid about his time in UFC. Mitch DOES NOT pull punches in this one! Will Zak's stomach survive Mitch's list of injuries and surgeries? Listen and find out!

Future guests have big shoes to fill. Zak's four-year-old son Buddy joins the show for a wrestling watchalong! Unlike our usual guests, Buddy doesn't have anything to promote, but he will let you know about what books he's reading and what he had for breakfast. Then we jump into a fatal-four way match from Qatar Pro Wrestling with Rey Mysterio Jr, PJ Black, Carlito and Mil Muertes!

This is a throwback! Back in February we did our first interview with someone in the wrestling industry about their outside projects as part of TFGC's 28in28 Challenge, but now it made sense to migrate this episode to the Smark & Friends feed. We're joined by a man who wears many hats both in and out of the IWS wrestling ring, and on top of a real what's what of responsibilities, our guest Andrew Stott also writes comics! Learn how Andrew got into comics, a lengthy conversation about his work on WWE Comics, as well as chatting about IWS's rapid growth in the independent wrestling scene. It's an older episode but it's still plenty fresh! Give 'er a listen!

He's a graphic novel illustrator who brought a comic book character to life in the wrestling ring! Andy Belanger - aka Bob "Animal" Anger joins the show! Andy's extensive list credits include Friday the 13th, Kill Shakespeare, WWE Comics, Southern Cross (sidebar: we got some breaking news on that in this episode), and recently Pound For Pound out of TKO Studios. Plus: Andy shares info about his ambitious wrestling graphic novel that he's been working on called Mother Trucker, which you're going to want to read as badly as we do after hearing more about it.

Smark & Friends gets adventurous on the latest episode as we welcome the team behind the interactive storytelling gaming platform for kids called Adventures To Go, actors Elizabeth Neale and Jonathan Silver! We're watching a matchup straight out of a tabletop gaming session where King Khash takes on the one and only Luchasaurus in DEFY Wrestling.

If you haven't listened to episode "Pub Trivia", do not listen to this episode! Open this up only if you've finished our wrestling themed quiz and check your scores while Zak blitzes through the answers! Find @smarkandfriends on social media and let us know how you did!

This episode is BANTS(are we using that right?)! The stars of the web series Sofa Queens Kelly Harvey-Mykula and Shanice Bowrin joins the show for a wrestling watachalong as Jamie Hayter takes on Session Moth Martina at EVE Riot Grrls of Wrestling!