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

It has been a few months since Martin and I got together to talk comedy. In the meantime both Comedy Estonia and Ruutu10 have been doing lots of shows as we both try and get back into a rhythm of putting on events. * Ruutu10 "Barprov" shows * Ari Matti's tour going to London, Brussels and Helsinki * The difficulties in bringing an International improver to Estonia * Martin has a shiny new webshop Follow Ruutu10: https://www.instagram.com/ruutu10eesti Follow Martin: https://www.instagram.com/martin.junna 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

The big issues of the day. Social issues. Things that matter. Opinions on important stuff. You won't find any of that in this episode. It's me and Tim and Tambet drinking Alexander and talking absolute nonsense. We do get into my Estonian lessons (why won't Tim go???) and at one stage Tim is selling the virtues of Viru Burger so hard we make a Bolt order to test it out. Is it really better than VLND? Truly the big issues of the day. It's the three of us having fun. Good craic as they say in Ireland.  Follow Tim: https://www.instagram.com/sexyhunk1988 Follow Tambet: https://www.instagram.com/tambetsild 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

Today my guests are Riina Ries and Tiina-Mall Vannastu from "Naked Love", which is an Estonian based lifestyle brand focusing on female sexual and body positivity. Or if you want be more direct, they sell vibrators. As the ladies explained to me, there are still many aspects of female sexuality which are taboo or just not spoken often about, particularly in Estonia. If a woman wants to find something to help her explore her sexuality while alone, the choices are going into some weird, seedy-ass looking sex store, or buying online and facing a mountain of different options with wildly different prices. The concept of Naked Love is to sell one product (at first), a vibrator which would be broadly appealing. It comes in nice packaging and they don't shy away from what they are selling, they present it visually and proudly. Their webshop is also an online portal for information about sexuality and body positivity. They have involved one of Estonians most renowned educators on sexual topics, Kristina Birk-Vellemaa to write and speak about this on the website. I spoke with Kristina myself back in episode 65 of Comedy Guy We talk about their backstory, some of the great "user feedback" they have received and also some of the struggles, particularly around setting up the business, where anything even mentioning sex is immediately lumped in the same category as porn, sexual exploitation and even guns(?). Check out Naked Love at https://nakedlove.ee https://www.instagram.com/nakedlove_official https://linktr.ee/nakedlove 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 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. 

Its summer holiday time! Turkish Airlines have some sweet deals to Istanbul so my girlfriend and I are here for a week. After a few days here, I setup the camera and recorder on the balcony here and I tell you what I think about Istanbul and Turkish culture. The audio isn't quite studio quality but you can hear the sounds of the city around me, including the Turkish music concert which seems to play every evening from 7pm to 11pm. Istanbul is great fun. The food, the people, the history and while its good... anything feels good after being trapped at home for 18 months. I have a few beers while fighting off the seagulls who are going for my börek. Thanks for listening and supporting the podcast! See me on the Istanbul balcony by watching the episode on YouTube https://youtu.be/xg76mLw6RmA

We finally did it! We finally got our act together and recorded a podcast in the Estonian countryside! Several weeks ago we found an article which announced that Viskla had won "Village of the Year" and Tim & I knew we had to go visit. We drove the 40 mins south to find the Viskla Külakeskus which also happens to be an amazing center of Estonian kiiking. Kiiking is a genuine Estonian sport where someone stands (or rather, gets tied onto) on this huge swing and tries to go 360 degrees over the top.  On the day we arrived they were running a kiiking course and we got to see the swinging in action. It was rad. A nice lady took the time to explain the history of kiiking to us and gave us a tour of the külakeskus. Tim and I recorded this episode outside, on a traditional wooden swing with bench seats and a table in the middle.  We got to talking about... Our day looking around Kose and Viskla The history of kiiking as the lady explained to us In nearby Palvere there is a farm where some bloke collects old military trucks. Where did he get them all? Trying to bribe the old lady at the bus stop with vodka Not once did we see Tanel Kiik Louis' theory on why Estonian surnames are often taken from nature The full story about Louis being hit by a car on his bike "PAIDE WAY", eh eh "by the way... PAIDE WAY" geddit?? Dear foreigners: stop blaming racism when maybe you didn't try hard enough This episode was tremendous fun for us to record. We will be doing more of these episodes from the countryside.  The episode is best viewed on the YouTube video, except I screwed up the first 23 mins of footage. The audio is good and I spliced in some b-roll of kids kiiking instead. https://youtu.be/RqW1Rv0SP9Y

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"

This is a series of episodes recorded with Martin Junna of Improv Comedy troupe, Ruutu10 and we talk about the similarities and differences between Ruutu10 and Comedy Estonia. In each episode we are trying to pick a topic and break down how we each do it. Martin and I take a recap of how our businesses are going post-lockdown. Warning, we geek the f*ck out in the episode on very nerdy business topics such as Registering for VAT. I realize this is odd advice from an Australian but I think it's a dumb scam if you think not registering for VAT will save you some money. Making you show budget lines up with what your accountant reports. Why doing Stand Up outside is harder than it seems Pubs in small cities can be awesome places to do a show but it's pretty hard to make a hip place in the countryside profitable. How can Ruutu10 branch out and perform in more cities than just Tallinn and Tartu. The different new rules for running a events in Estonia compared to Latvia. Thank you for the support, I know these super nerdy episodes might not appeal to everyone but we have had feedback that if you are into this topic, then you will really be into this stuff. If you want more information about Ruutu10 then sign up for their newsletter on their webpage https://www.ruutu10.ee

Pynchon Woo is Chinese and has been living in Estonia for 6+ years and in that time he has created a YouTube channel about life here, written a book, got his Masters Degree and is now a newly minted personal trainer. We had a fun talk about our lives in Estonia as two foreigners: Why I hate Europark Pynchon speaks B1 Estonian and I do not Louis's tips for dealing with the Estonian Immigration department Why China is the "World's villain" 40 bucks is too much to pay for underwear Pynchon was last on the podcast a year ago, here is the previous episode https://louispodcast.podbean.com/e/44-foreigner-show-with-pynchon-woo/ Watch the full video of this episode on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9-kVsWDJmA Follow Pynchon on Instagram

Today's guest is Kristjan Jekimov, head chef at renowned Estonian restaurant Põhjaka. Kristjan is an old friend of Tim & I, he was an OG bar tender at Möku and used to perform Stand Up with us back in the day. We talk about how Kristjan came to learn more about the chef game in some exclusive restaurants in Norway. His menu choices are influenced by some Nordic simplicity, South American flavors and his Korean upbringing. At Põhjaka they use as many fresh Estonian ingredients as possible and their reputation is definitely deserved. In the first half of the episode we talk about Kristjan's story over the past few years and into how Põhjaka aims to do everything from farm to plate. By the second half we get into a good old discussion about food in general. Follow Kristjan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristjanjekimov

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.

Episode 100! Thank you for listening, I really appreciate your interest in the stuff I make. My century episode is a easy going talk with my friend Dagmar Lamp. Dagmar is an Estonian journalist, podcaster and is always good for a laugh. We start with talking about how to deal with assholes in your life and your workplace and go from there.

This is a new series of episodes recorded with Martin Junna of Improv Comedy troupe, Ruutu10 and we talk about the similarities and differences between Ruutu10 and Comedy Estonia. In each episode we are trying to pick a topic and break down how we each do it. Episode 99! Now that open mics are happening again we have a timely episode. Martin and I talk about how to choose a venue for your comedy performance. Why one cafe but not another cafe? Bars? What about theater shows? Theater shows are the upper level (and ticket sales = income to live from) but some form of regular, low pressure event needs to happen to make it easy for people to attend. In Comedy Estonia, that's basically what our Open Mic shows do: they provide an easy way for audience to experience Stand Up with a low commitment. We also get a place to try our material so it can be polished and by the time you see that joke at a theater, it's good and solid and worth your ticket fee. Follow Ruutu10 at www.ruutu10.ee Follow me at @louiszezeran on Twitter and Insta

Today Tim and I had a real nice chat with Paul Senosi, who runs the Bobotie pie store in Baltijaam. We both think he's got the best pies in Estonia. He's also got a great story to tell about growing up in South Africa. He lived though the apartheid days and was a teacher in a "colored" neighborhood. It's given him a sort of stoically strong work ethic I've seen in a few South Africans, basically if you lived through those days, everything else doesn't seem as hard. We talk a lot about food and what it's been like to setup the business here. Paul is a great guy and I really enjoyed hearing his stories. Get them pies, they are the closest thing Ive had to a real Aussie meat pie in Estonia, https://www.bobotie.ee Follow me at @louiszezeran on Twitter and Insta Follow Tim on Insta Watch the full episode on YouTube

This is a new series of episodes recorded with Martin Junna of Improv Comedy troupe, Ruutu10 and we talk about the similarities and differences between Ruutu10 and Comedy Estonia. In each episode we are trying to pick a topic and break down how we each do it. In this week's episode we talk about the upcoming season of comedy and we think it's going to be a fantastic time for both performers and audience when everyone is allowed out again. We talk about what makes a good venue and in particular, where would be good for Ruutu10 to put on some shows. They have a very cool workshop space in Tondi but it's a little out of the way. So how to get more exposure by presenting regular shows in different cafes and bars: What makes a good bar venue? Should there be a ticket or instead ask for a donation at the end? How to break down which neighborhood it should be in? What sort of show should Ruutu10 present in one of these venues? How to preserve the value of your larger ticketed shows while still presenting free comedy like this. Follow Ruutu10 at www.ruutu10.ee Follow me at @louiszezeran on Twitter and Insta but not TikTok

This is Olga's third episode on the podcast and second done remotely from Melbourne. She moved there about 18 months ago to pursue the Estonian dream and has been getting into the local comedy scene. Recently the Melbourne International Comedy Festival was on and Olga and two friends got together and did a 10 night run of their own show "Of Outsiders & Misfits". Yup, comedy and pretty much everything else is alive and well in Australia and we hear what it was like to prepare and run your own show in a big festival like this. Follow Olga at https://www.instagram.com/olgaloitsenko Follow me at https://www.instagram.com/louiszezeran

Caleb Brunick is American, 22, has lived in Estonia for 4 years and is a Comedy Estonia comedian. He has a story which in one way I am intimately familiar with: working on your comedy career as a foreigner in Estonia. On the other hand, he's blowing up on TikTok and I am like, wtf is TikTok anyway? Caleb talks about making those TikTok videos and interacting in impromptu streams with Estonians on his channel. That's a very different experience in getting to know a place and a culture than what I went through. I feel like a ghost from the future coming to warn Caleb to hold back on the Suur Munamägi jokes. Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/ZEayO1KEQ2k Follow Caleb https://www.instagram.com/calebbrunick https://twitter.com/CalebBrunick Follow me at @louiszezeran on Twitter and Insta

This is a new series of episodes recorded with Martin Junna of Improv Comedy troupe, Ruutu10 and we talk about the similarities and differences between Ruutu10 and Comedy Estonia. In each episode we are trying to pick a topic and break down how we each do it. After talking about the business side for 4 episodes, we get into being an artist and how do we practice creativity. We look at how Martin and myself have balanced writing jokes and also running the operation. Pre-show stress has been a big part of my early years as a comedian and in general there is one way comedians deal with grief of any kind.... by getting on stage and talking about it. Better to get on stage with a negative emotion than feeling numb. We meander around the subject a bit as some sort of meta-reflection that being creative isn't something you can schedule into small amounts of time, its something you need to orientate your life around. Follow Ruutu10 at www.ruutu10.ee Follow me at @louiszezeran on Twitter and Insta

Welcome to Literary Guy podcast! This week Sille-Kadri Simer joins myself and Tim in the studio to discuss the 10 year anniversary of one of the finest pieces of literature written about this fine country "Bang Estonia" by Roosh V. In this classic 2012 piece of cultural learning, this guy came to Estonia and wrote a guidebook for how to score with chicks. A decade later, we go back and discuss if his advice and insightful social observations stand the test of time: Is Atlantis a good place to get laid? Are Estonian girls getting fat? "Estonian girls are no longer impressed by random foreigners visiting Tallinn for the weekend" What did he think of Zavod & Möku? Would 20 year old Sille-Kadri have fallen for this? Isn't this just "rohkem seksikaid mehi"? Was this whole thing the fault of Margus Toots? Watch the full episode on The Comedy Guy YouTube page Follow Sille-Kadri on the Tissident podcast Follow me at @louiszezeran on Twitter and Insta Follow Tim around at your local Rimi

Tauri Einberg and I talk about one of the many curiosities of the final days of the USSR: In January 1990 McDonalds opened a store in Pushkin Square in Moscow, with the blessing of Mikhail Gorbachev. In the perestroika days Gorby had basically hung a sign on the door of the USSR "Open For Business".... but it was still very much the Soviet Union. It's a great example of the insane challenges companies faced when trying to do business with a country where most people couldn't even get a fresh banana. How will they get all the produce needed, on schedule, and then serve it up with happy smiling McDonald's service? The USSR is not renowned for any of these things. How will regular comrades even afford a burger? Even if do all of this AND you make a profit, how will Ronald get those profits when the ruble ain't worth anything outside the USSR?   Watch the video of this episode here: https://youtu.be/V9yIxS0Rsl8   Follow Tauri on Insta: https://www.instagram.com/voneinberg/ Follow me at @louiszezeran on Twitter and Insta

This is a new series of episodes recorded with Martin Junna of Improv Comedy troupe, Ruutu10 and we talk about the similarities and differences between Ruutu10 and Comedy Estonia. In each episode we are trying to pick a topic and break down how we each do it. In this episode we had meant to to "how to sell to private events part 2" but instead we started to talk about the Estonian entertainment industry and how our groups fit into it. TV, what sort of shows could we make? Can we even adapt what we do to TV? We try and work out what comedy would work on tv now. Also, are any of these online streaming platforms any good for selling comedy?   Follow Ruutu10 at www.ruutu10.ee Follow me at @louiszezeran on Twitter and Insta

This is a new series of episodes recorded with Martin Junna of Improv Comedy troupe, Ruutu10 and we talk about the similarities and differences between Ruutu10 and Comedy Estonia. In each episode we are trying to pick a topic and break down how we each do it. In this episode we discuss how we sell and perform at private events like birthdays or company parties. Doing these sort of performances is a key way for artists to earn a proper living but if you don't do the prep work, it can be a big bomb. Follow Ruutu10 at www.ruutu10.ee Follow me at @louiszezeran on Twitter and Insta

Tim is back and we banter about Emakeelepäev as we try and work out who is "Foreigner of the Year 2021". It's an old school long ass episode where we go through such controversial topics as: The fall of the Irish language Who's paying the copyright on those old Estonian 90's songs which you later found out are covers of Western songs? The literary masterpiece that is "Bang Estonia" by Roosh V Is Tim depressed? What will Louis do now he's not CEO of Comedy Estonia anymore https://twitter.com/louiszezeran https://www.instagram.com/louiszezeran   Watch the video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/r3k4LeJRppc

This is a new series of episodes recorded with Martin Junna of Improv Comedy Troupe, Ruutu10. We talk about the similarities and differences between Ruutu10 and Comedy Estonia. Somethings are close, somethings are different. Somethings are different because Stand Up is different to Improv but somethings are different just cause there is no one path when trying to make it as an artist. In our second episode we look further into how each group arranges their shows. I know how Comedy Estonia has open mics and comedy nights to help develop talent but how did Ruutu10 create a system of development for their performers?   Follow Ruutu10 at www.ruutu10.ee Follow me at @louiszezeran on Twitter and Insta  

It has been a while but the sun is out and it's time for the next season of Comedy Guy. With this episode I am starting a new series along with Martin Junna of Impro troupe Ruutu10. I have all these topics I want to discuss about running a comedy group and how to help develop artists. In past seasons I have spoken to other people in the entertainment industry about how their art form works. With Martin and his experiences running Ruutu10, we have many similar experiences. They also have a group of comedians whom they are trying to develop artistically along with trying to make a business out of this whole thing. That's the dream: to be able to do your thing and make a living out of it as well. Martin and I will do a series of episodes talking about developing comedy and comedians. There are a whole bunch of things which are similar between Comedy Estonia and Ruutu10 as well as things we do differently, either because Stand Up and Impro are different or just because we chose different ways. When you are trying to make a career from your art, there is no set road. No HR manager to ask how can you proceed to the next level. In these episodes we are going to talk about our experiences running these groups with hopefully entertaining stories from behind the scenes as well as good advice if you are trying to hustle as well. In this first episode, Martin and I take some time to settle in and set the scene. Louis wants to know what Ruuto10 does and how they organize themselves.   Follow Ruutu10 at www.ruutu10.ee Follow me at @louiszezeran on Twitter and Insta

Ardo Asperk and Karl-Alari Varma from the Külapood podcast join me for a very special episode. The year was 1984, Mr T was a household name after Rocky 3. The first season of the A-Team had been on TV and he was at the height of his fame. In this year Mr T produced a self help motivation VHS for kids called "Be Somebody or Be Somebody's Fool". Ardo, Karl and myself talk about the life and career of Mr T and we break down this amazing video scene by scene. Mr T addresses such topics as: clothing, working out, your heritage, dealing with anger, friendship, peer pressure and of course, being good to your mother. The video is an amazing time capsule of early 80's fashion and culture: the clothes, the break-dancing on the street, the rapping. The audio of this episode is great but the best experience comes from watching the episode on YouTube. When we play clips from the video I have spliced in the actual footage from the video https://youtu.be/zVweA6q_UFw    

My guest this week is Jesse Wojtkowiak, who is current Head of Information Security for Pipedrive and also a former US Navy Aviator. Jesse spent 22 years in the service flying both fixed wing and helicopters. I saw him speak about security at a conference recently and it stood out to me because he was using the principles of leadership to create a better culture of security at Pipedrive. We have a chat about leadership in the military and how it can help you in business and in life.   Watch the full episode on YouTube https://youtu.be/lcbeWUrB89U

***** 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.

We went and shot guns at TLK before the episode and we are fired up. Tim's time back in Ireland, all the best places to eat in Paide (spoiler: it's still pizza kiosk), getting pulled over by the cops and the trip we have planned to Cyprus in January. It's some classic Irish "craic" (whatever that is) Watch the episode on YouTube https://youtu.be/N7epxoptOic

It's Sille and me and a bottle of wine.   Watch the episode on YouTube https://youtu.be/Twh77tJsEqM

It's a pleasure to have singer / songwriter Stig Rästa in the studio with me. We chat about his career, the Estonian management agency he runs and his experiences at Eurovision (along with some of mine). Watch the episode on YouTube https://youtu.be/4bhQf9CGTUA

Episode 80! Last week we visited Riga for the Comedy Latvia English Open Mic and I had a chance to finally record with my friend Elizabete Boka, who is a manager for young male models. She works for an agency called SAGE Management and they scout models throughout the Baltics and then send them on modelling shoots throughout the world. Elizabete's department is young male models, namely teenagers into young adults. It's tough out there for a young guy who wants to model, you have one season, maybe two to get yourself out there otherwise you are done. What the industry wants in a young male model is kinda different to what they want in an older male model, so in this way I think this industry could be even tougher for boys because from the moment you sign up, you are on the clock. Elizabete is an old friend of mine and I love talking to her about her work because she manages models and I manage comedians. I generally think the idea of boys being models is hilarious and interesting. There are so many things in common but so many things which are different. Male models have a few years at best, whereas comedians need to cook in the oven for years and only get better with time. We talk about how they find models, how they prepare them and develop their careers and how they get sent around Europe and the world to do their jobs.

I sit down and catch up with my brother Ardo Asperk. Two comedians talking about comedy, you know how these episodes go. Our latest Stand Up sets, when is Ardo doing his next hour and how come Estonia is weirdly the best place in the world to be a Stand Up comedian right now? Check out Ardo and Karl on their podcast Külapood which is closing in on 200 episodes https://kulapood.podbean.com/ I reckon Ardo is line for line the best comedy writer in Estonia. You can buy his first two specials online at our webshop https://pood.comedyestonia.com/product-category/stand-up/ardo-asperk/ I know my podcast images are dogshit so I tried to snip us out and do something different. When I was done I thought to myself "you know what would look dope? flames"   Watch the full episode https://youtu.be/ifnNNspWvrs

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

After 6 weeks off I am back with more episodes of Comedy Guy. I am trying to get into a weekly schedule of releasing each Monday but here is an episode to kick us off. I talk with Roger about the Comedy Estonia Suvetuur. Roger is studying PR and as part of his internship he was one of the project managers of the Suvetuur. I figure the most Comedy Estonia way for us to debrief the process and lessons learnt is by talking about it on a podcast. This year the tour was about 33 shows across the whole country. We are very appreciative for the support as all the shows we were full and the crowds were great. We get into The history of Suvetuur and why it's different to our other shows The process Roger used to arrange the shows (he wasn't doing it alone) How it was to lead others in the group who are more senior to him The craziness of being the organizer and also a performer What he learnt from the whole thing Follow Roger in Insta and also listen to Päikesejänkud  https://www.instagram.com/rogerandre_/ https://paikesejankud.podbean.com/ Watch the video of the episode https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu8UAYz7GRE

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!

I finally have a proper real life guest recorded without a live stream! My guest is Matilde Matvere who is an independent film maker in Estonia. Matilde has been the director of the Comedy Estonia Stand Up specials for the last few years. If you are buying a file from our webshop, Matilde probably filmed and edited it. We talk for an hour about how Matilde films Stand Up and the lessons she has learnt over the years. After that we get into the state of the Estonian film industry and she helps explain how big International productions like Tenet help the local film industry. Oh and she worked on Tenet, so stories about this too. Find Matilde on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mutique/ There are less podcasts out lately because we are off doing Stand Up shows! Check out Comedy Estonia Facebook for the dates. No stream with Sille-Kadri this Friday, I got me a private event to host on Zoom. See kids, learning to live stream does make money. Next Friday we back but maybe moving to a later time now everyone is back at work. Watch the full video of this episode on my YouTube channel https://youtu.be/1EYPb2qc1DA

We have a special show this week! Sille-Kadri is in Vilnius chasing after Lithuanian dudes so joining me on the live stream is the other half of Tissident podcast, Marianne Ubaleht! We talk about making money from podcasts in Estonia, where are we going to host the next Tissident Live and why Marianne doesn't want to date foreign guys.

Episode number 10! The lockdown is coming to an end but we are still going strong. This week we knock over Cava and have fun with the live chat. Putting out on the first date, Tissident & Comedy Estonia merch, starting open mics next week, what language do you start the conversation on Bumble in, 5G and flat earthers in Estonia and how I could have easily started Comedy Lithuania instead. Thanks for sticking with us through 10 episodes. Sille-Kadri is in Vilnius next week chasing after Lithuanian dudes but I'll find someone else to join me!

Today its really good to talk to my old friend Phil Schwarzmann. Phil is an America was there for the early days of Comedy Estonia as a fellow comic and a big help. He was living in Helsinki when I moved there (right as we started the first shows in Estonia) and Phil and I ran a English club in Helsinki together. Phil was a comedian as well and we both tried to make it in Finland as comedians together. It was fun trying to pull in Finnish audiences cause that was one of the first regular English comedy night there. I can definitly say that loads of the ideas that Comedy Estonia has about putting on fun shows, started with these gigs Phil and I put on. He's got a great American positive attitude and a really keen brain for comedy, he was one of the first people to break down comedy and break down how the business worked for me. These days Phil lives in San Francisco so we do this one over zoom. I haven't talked to Phil for years and it was really good to talk about those days 10 years later. Phil is the author to the book "How to Marry a Finnish Girl" which is a satire book he wrote before he left Finland and at once stage was a number #1 best seller in Finland. You can find the book on Amazon (link) or in the 99c cent bin at your local book store. This is the video of Phil and I flyer on the streets of Helsinki in November 2009 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVLzWSuaKVI This is the Stand Up promo clip reel made for Phil around the same time https://youtu.be/YnNa_bV0JWw    

Week number 9! As the lockdown is starting to come to a close we are still going strong. Today we try something new... doing the show sober. Weirdly, it was one of the most fun episodes so far. Erik Orgu hummus, Louis' shorts, why do Estonians have two names, Bolt helmets and what Estonians scream during sex. Episode #69 didn't disappoint. 

Ok strap in, this episode will give you the full primer on how the e-sports and pro gaming industry works! Jack is Influencer and Partnerships Manager for "Method", one of the biggest and most successful e-sports teams in the world. They mostly play World of Warcraft (known as "wow") and Jack himself is a top rated player who has been grinding away for the past 15 years. There is no introduction, we start the episode and don't stop for 3 hours. In the first hour we talk about how much responsibility should big time influencers take for their audience. If you have say 50K viewers on your game stream, I am not convinced the human brain can really comprehend that there is 10 stadiums full of people watching. We are pretty good at staying on topic and after about an hour we get further into how Jack's team Method works and how e-sports competitions and leagues function. Cause it's my show, we look at how these big ass teams look after their players with proper management and all the resources any pro sports team would have. If you have 50K people watching, you need some mental and physical trainers. In the last hour we really dig into how Method works as a team and an organisation. These guys are really good and are one of the top 2 wow teams in the world. It's a huge production which goes on to compete at the top level, get sponsors on board and broadcast themselves. I feel like I got the full background on how the e-sports industry works. It's a really interesting field and even if you have never heard of it, there are really big things going on. Follow Jack (otherwise known by his handle "Trey") https://twitter.com/auxidental https://www.twitch.tv/auxidental Check out his team Method https://www.twitch.tv/team/method https://www.method.gg/ Video of this podcast on my YouTube channel https://youtu.be/6_LwMMpxNyw

It's another Friday afternoon of lockdown and Sille-Kadri Simer and I talk about the week which just happened. We get into women in the army, Sille's experiences on Bumble and visiting the Middle East. This week we drank Wairau Pacific Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. Not bad and on special at Rimi!

Warning: hardcore talk about video games! For two kids who grew up on other sides of the world, Jan and I have had some really similar experiences in playing games at our local arcade as a kid. Jan is a buddy of mine and today we talk about our history playing video games. We start at the local arcades, comparing the one which used to be on the side of Tõnis Mägi in Tallinn to the Street Fighter 2 machine which was in the milk bar in my local town of Shoal Bay. Then we go through the Dendy console that y'all had in Soviet days with the yellow carts and how it was a direct knock off from the original Nintendo Famicom in Japan. We work our way through the computers and consoles we owned (we both had an Amiga!) and it's quite a trip. In the second half we break down a genre of games we both love: Fighting games. we talk about how weird and difficult they are when you go deep into the mechanics of the game. Finally we talk about "fight sticks" which are those arcade sticks for your home console. Cause we grew up playing games in the arcade, we both love playing fighting games on an arcade stick now. I wasn't lying when I said this was a nerd-out! We try and explain as much of the background as we can but sometimes it's fun to let loose. This is probably the first time on a podcast I really felt like I knew what I was talking about. Watch the full episode on my YouTube channel https://youtu.be/mQuVVtAJNWA

Today I am in Tartu talking to Kristina Birk-Vellemaa who is a Sexual Health Educator for the Eesti Seksuaaltervise Liit (The Estonian Sexual Health Association). I wanted to talk to Kristina about how society sees male porn addiction. It kinda seems to me that it is something which is really being experienced by a lot of guys but no one is really talking about it right now. We talk in general about how sexual education is given in Estonian schools these days and the work Kristina does in educating young people and in particular school teachers. We go through how porn is kinda normalized these day and how that's not necessarily bad but we totally don't talk about it much. We don't have a really great way of working out how much is too much porn and in many ways we don't even have standard definitions for this stuff. Shoutout and thanks to Spark HUB Tartu and Contriber for letting me use the space to record. Watch the full episode on YouTube https://youtu.be/4w9kUK7E5cs

It's another Friday afternoon of lockdown and Sille-Kadri Simer and I talk about the week which just happened. We get into our histories in high school and somehow get to the "personal" shaving practices of men and women. This week we are drinking Maori Bay Sauvignon Blanc.

My guest is Sten Kohlmann, podcaster, writer and gamer. He is apart of gaming news portal level1.ee, the crew who are also behind Mängudeöö. Sten is also a media editor for Õhtuleht, producing podcasts, articles and online content. We talk about the movement of e-sports and gaming in the Estonian media and how it's come a long way but still faces a challenge to be taken seriously. I was interested to know how e-sports players rise up the ranks and start to attract some income. It's just like physical sports in many ways, you might train for years and still not make it pro. It's also not like a physical sport because the top Estonian e-sports competitors have often not looked to leagues and competitions at home (I imagine because there are not many) and they could just go right ahead to playing internationally. If you want to be noticed should you just stream and try and work the donations? It's like any sport or creative field, its a hard road if you wanna make something of it.   https://www.instagram.com/theriddimone https://twitter.com/theriddimone https://level1.ee   Watch the full video on YouTube https://youtu.be/JiIHgEztNwc

Today I do my first zoom podcast with my old friend, Joe Eagan. Joe is a Canadian who has been living in Sweden for 20 years. We met 12 years ago in Sweden when I was still living there. Joe is a comedian too and was opening an English language club in Malmö at the same time I was opening one in Stockholm. We got on and have had a bunch of comedy adventures over the years. Joe was also the very first headliner for Comedy Estonia. Back at the first shows in Student Days 2010, we did two in Tartu and one in Tallinn. Joe was our closer and main man of the night. Those nights have made Joe love Estonia forever. He is a bright and happy guy who looks on the positive side. We talk about how we met and those clubs we ran in Sweden. Both of us are foreigners who have moved to a new country and started some comedy shows. We have have had a lot of good times, it was real nice to catch up with him. No video sorry, I screwed up the screen recording :D

It's another Friday afternoon of lockdown and Sille-Kadri Simer and I talk about the week which just happened. Sille goes on Bumble for the first time. This week we drank Jacob's Creek white.

I wanted to record with Dan so I decided we should also stream it. Cause where else can you get an audience while talking about porn when drinking beer at 17:30 in the afternoon? First half is lock down philisophy and comedy stuff. Second half we go deep on porn addiction and how it effects guys. Watch the stream replay on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cehh1Q_BOi0 Check out Dan & Roger on Päikesejänkud podcast: https://paikesejankud.podbean.com/

Today I spoke with Taavi Rõivas, former Prime Minister and current member of the Riigikogu. I have met Taavi a few times when we are both speaking at events and I found him a nice guy to chat to. My proposal when I called Taavi was we talk about anything but politics... and we almost achieve that :) I jut thought it would be interesting to sit down and talk to a guy about anything else than the regular stuff he must get asked every day. We talk about how we have handling the household lockdown and then get into where he grew up in Õismäe and the crazy social changes which were going on then. Being a slow kid in Australia at the time, I had no idea this was happening on the other side of the world and I could listen to the stories of those days forever. Thanks for being into the podcast. Looks like we are lockdown for a while yet so I'll keep recording. Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/qF1R21UtWoE

It's another Friday afternoon of lockdown and Sille-Kadri Simer and I talk about the week which just happened. Wine and beer was involved.

Recorded live on the Comedy Estonia YouTube channel the 17th of April 2020. Every Friday afternoon Sille-Kadri Simer and I get together, have some drinks and talk about what happened last week.

Originally from Detroit, Michigan, James arrived in Estonia in the early 2000's. He is a tremendous bass player, vocalist and all round entertainer. I have worked with James a lot, many times I have been host of a company or private party and "The James Werts World Project" is the band I am introducing. Despite that I have never had a chance to sit down and have a good talk with him and hear the stories about his life before and after coming to Estonia. We talk about his previous band in LA and trying to make it in "the game" there, what it was like to establish himself as a musician here and how his son's life is different in Estonia to where he grew up. We go through a bunch of topics, life in Estonia and facing prejudice plus finding that balance between earning a living doing private events while still making your own material and how much we like performing in small towns around Estonia. This description isn't doing our talk justice, James is a great guy and its easy to bounce around topics and shoot the breeze with him. Follow James on Insta https://www.instagram.com/jameswerts/ If you see him playing live go and check out his show, you won't be disappointed. Watch the full episode on YouTube https://youtu.be/DAJsIuUel50

Recorded live on April 10th. Sille-Kadri Simer and I do another Friday afternoon live stream on the Comedy Estonia YouTube channel. I didn't mean to leave the music playing throughout the show, I just forgot to turn it off because I didn't use headphones. It sort of worked? I think it's maybe a little too loud but it's ok and different.

Dave Benton is a singer and entertainer who settled in Estonia in the late 90's. He went on to win Eurovision for his adopted country and in doing so was the first person of color to win the competition. While most people will know him from Eurovision, I think it's not not nearly the most interesting part of his story. We have a delightful talk about his early days as a singer in Antilles and the struggles he went through to establish himself and grow as an artist and performer. For myself, as a foreigner trying to make a career in entertainment in Estonia, he is really the OG. It was my huge pleasure to have Dave in the studio. Watch the full episode on YouTube https://youtu.be/PiV3g-imCr8

While I was in Tartu I took the chance to talk with Kaarel Jõudvald who is one of the managers of Möku Bar in Tartu. I ask him how Möku is holding up and how their new "Virtual Bar" delivery service is going. Spoiler Alert: Möku is doing just fine and as soon as this is over you will be able to celebrate with 12 sparta shots. Although if you can't wait, Möku is currently delivering sparta. You da real MVP Kaarel. Follow Kaarel on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/karkaparka/

This episode was recorded at Chateau de Õigus on the outskirts of Viljandi in Sander's sauna room. This man has been keeping busy with his cooking show "Sanderisöögisaade" where he has been releasing a new video every day. Sander and I start with how the lock down will effect people after we are released from captivity and how it's been on him to have his solo tour be postponed. After a while we settle into the classic topics: two comedians talking about comedy. If that's your thing, you will like this episode Sorry the sound is a little off, my portable mics are cheap Follow Sanderisöögisaade https://www.youtube.com/user/sanderoigus/ Watch the full episode on YouTube https://youtu.be/h4ysfFOTo1w

Sille-Kadri Simer and I do another Friday afternoon live stream on the Comedy Estonia YouTube channel.  

50 episodes! I am really happy this was the 50th episode as I think it's a really good one. You may not know who Kid Strange is but his story is a tremendous one. Born in Tartu and his family moved to Canada not long after independence. He lived in London for some years and finally has settled back in Estonia for the time being. The first really interesting thing about Kid is that he is currently transitioning from a woman to a man and we talk about what is the legal and biological process. I get to ask some really basic and dumb questions and Kid is super nice in talking me through it. This is all happening in Estonia too and as you can imagine, there are not so many people who have gone through this process here. Kid's life has been anything but boring. He is also a widower to Pete Shelley, guitarist from super influential 70s and 80s punk band Buzzcocks. They were married when he was 23 and Pete was 55 and Kid tells the story of how they met and fell in love, along with a bunch of rock and roll road tales. It was a nice coincidence that we recorded this on April 1st, their wedding anniversary. I really liked this episode, I think Kid has led a really interesting and unique life. We get a chance to hear his story in his own words with no rush. It was his decision to come dressed as a Alligator onesie and the masks are our corona defense. The onesie is very much his fun style and don't worry, I get to ask the big questions like "when the doctors give you a dick, do you get to choose how big it is?". We laugh a lot and Kid has a great sense of humor in telling his story.   Follow Kid https://twitter.com/thatf_ckingkid https://www.instagram.com/thatf_ckingkid/ You can also see him at Comedy Estonia Open Mics whenever we are allowed to do those again   Watch the full video of this episode https://youtu.be/-iIN2PRJOGg

My guest is Postimees journalist, podcaster, ghost hunter and former blogger, Dagmar Lamp. It's almost a year since she was last on the show and we are sitting in the studio recording with our quarantine masks on. Go check the video. We talk about how the media is changing (everyone at Postimees just got handed a 30% pay cut today) and where podcasts and live streaming fit into this. She tells us some cool stories from her true crime podcast "Eesti roimad" with Andres Anvelt. The podcast tells stories about crimes in the 90's in Estonia and what a wild west it really was. She is also developing an Estonian ghost hunter series which will be out as soon as the ghosts come out of quarantine. It's always a fun talk with Daki. Dagmar has done so much, there is loads of stuff to follow https://twitter.com/dagmarlamp https://www.instagram.com/instadaki/ https://podcast.ee/eesti-roimad/ Watch the entire episode (along with our masks) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgjsDpqCPKw

Sille-Kadri Simer and I did a live stream from the Comedy Estonia studio. This was our first time going live and we had a few technical problems before everything started running smoothly. It was a bit chaotic but we had fun and for our first try at live streaming it went well. Beside figuring out the tech we spend the episode drinking beer and swapping dating stories. At first my phone locked the live stream in portrait mode and we had to restart. Even though we had done 90 mins of test stream my phone then chose his moment to over heat and so we restarted the stream one more time. Finally after making our patient listeners change streams 3 times we got it going and went on for the next 90 minutes. Watch the reply of the live stream on YouTube Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL8fx3ybbGU Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_dX3IqlUgc   Find Sille-Kadri on Insta https://www.instagram.com/sillekadri/ Listen to Sille on Tissident https://soundcloud.com/tissident

It's Tim Reidy and I having beers and talking about what's been happening for the past week. We are getting surprisingly better at staying on topic. The second half of the show is about "what is an artist" and "is Tim an artist?" and we break it down pretty well. I find often the second half of the episode is where it really gets rolling, its worth sticking through the two hours if you can. https://www.instagram.com/sexyhunk1988/ Watch the video of this episode at https://youtu.be/Lb2mNMrwBCg

Popov is known as being a legendary bouncer around Estonia and it sure is handy when he is performing at a comedy show and there is a drunken guy to deal with. He is also a true renaissance man: a trained lawyer, university lecturer, school teacher, comedian and entrepreneur. If you know Popov (and it sometimes feels everyone in Estonia does) then you know he's a top bloke. We have a good chat about the golden age of nightclubs in Tallinn (5 to 15 years ago) and how things have changed. No one knows Estonian nightlife better than this guy.   Follow Aleksandr https://twitter.com/50ShadesBouncer https://www.instagram.com/50shadesofbouncer/ His blog: https://thenighthoundchronicles.wordpress.com/   Watch the video of the full episode on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaHpLvthroo

One half of the Tissident Podcast, Sille-Kadri Simmer is on the show. Tissident is having a little break because of the current situation but you can't hold back Sille. We knock through a bottle of red talking about how she is dealing with the crisis, how Tissident has grown and how hard it is to find a good man right now. Watch the full episode on the Comedy Guy YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GiXSOVpeWo   Tissident Podcast: https://soundcloud.com/tissident Sille-Kadri on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sillekadri/  

I promise we barely even talk about corona! I've got Chinese guy who has been living in Tallinn for 5+ years, Pynchon Woo on the show.   Maybe you know Pynchon from his YouTube videos where he tried Estonian food without realizing you are supposed to cook the blood sausage first. He comes from a small city in China (7 million people), has lived in Japan for 3 years and now has lived and studied in Tallinn after that. We talk a lot about what life is like being a foreigner living in a far away land and what that means about us. Just how do you keep answering "why do you live in Estonia?"?   Pynchon is really into traditional log cabin building and is in the middle of constructing his own cabin on his own block of land outside Keila.   He currently has a book out "First Year in Estonia" which you can find on Amazon and will be soon translated into Estonian. https://www.amazon.com/First-Year-Estonia-Pynchon-Woo-ebook/dp/B0849QXD3Q   Follow Pynchon on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTn4LvU_W67Ax8uh4KZ8DaA  

I got Roger Andrew today and we spend the first 30 minutes talking about how the corona situation has effected Comedy Estonia shows. It's been bananas for the last few days, we are in the middle of Sander's tour and loads of dates need to be rescheduled but we don't know when this will end. We gotta find new dates, let people know about them and then work with Piletilevi (and they have like 1000+ event cancellations too). It has been ape shit but not bad, the crew is tip top and everyone is handling it like a champ. Roger and I talk about the shows and how his comedy is going. He told me about the best underground comedy club in Tallinn "HA HA Comedy Club" which is a stage they built in Ari's living room so Daniel Veinbergs could perform a 20 minute set to Roger and Ari. It started as a joke but given corona maybe this is the future of our shows. We love Dan and near the episode we give him a call and he does not disappoint. Dan & Roger have a podcast "Päikesejänkud": Web: https://paikesejankud.podbean.com Insta: https://www.instagram.com/p2ikesej2nkud/ Follow Roger and Dan on twitter Roger: https://twitter.com/printseuronics Daniel: https://twitter.com/DanVeisenberg   Find me on Twitter and Insta https://twitter.com/louiszezeran https://www.instagram.com/louiszezeran/

I am back in Estonia and Tim joins me to recap my 3 week trip to Japan where Tim can ask the important questions like: Did Louis really not go to a maid cafe? Just what the hell did I do for 3 weeks. Visit second hand stores? Really? Why havn't Estonian's embraced having a vending machine outside the restaurant which takes your order. This would mean even less human interaction. Like always with Tim we devote time to our favorite eating spots in Tallinn and Paide. Tim also tells us why he likes visiting small towns across Estonia, as we continue our journey to discover why does Tim live in Paide? Thanks for listening, it's my not secret goal to keep hauling Tim into the studio for as many episodes as possible. Check the tweets: https://twitter.com/louiszezeran Tim is probably best on Insta https://www.instagram.com/sexyhunk1988/

Special episode from Tokyo Japan! I talk to Japan based YouTuber Jim "KidShoryuken". Jim is an American who has lived in Japan basically for about 10 years and makes great videos about Japanese games and game hunting at second hand "Hard Off" stores. We talk about his story and how he made a life in Japan as well as his YouTube career and how that has grown over the past 10 years. We sink about 4 or 5 beers over the episode too and we recorded this on the first day I arrived so I had been up for over 36 hours. This episode was recorded in a cool retro games themed bar which is run by a mate of Jim's called "A-Button". Sorry the sound isn't perfect and there is retro game music playing in the background at the bar all the time, but I think it creates a nice mood. I really enjoyed my chat with Jim, he is a lovely dude and very open about his life and career in Japan. In the introduction I reference "foreigners in Japan mostly get work translating". Sorry I was trippin' here, I meant to say foreigners in Japan mostly get work teaching English. In Estonia the level of English is so good that I have almost never heard of a foreigner being an English teacher outside of a high school. The Japanese level of English is much lower so there is quite a demand for private English lessons and it's very common work for expats to pick up. Check out Jim's video's on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/KidShoryuken https://www.facebook.com/KidShoryuken

Episode 40! I talk to Comedy Estonia comic, Renar Trummal who has been a part of the newcommers tour "Värske Veri" and has been kicking ass. This episode is two comedians talking about comedy. and selling LHV. and comedy.

Tim is back and we get our old buddy, Saburi Ken into the studio. Saburi grew up in Singapore and has been living in Estonia for some years and is an old school Comedy Estonia open micer. He was doing shows with us back in *old* Möku, back when he was like the only Asian in the whole country. We talk about living in Estonia and what it's like for Saburi as a guy who really doesn't look Estonian. Unlike Tim. Thanks for listening to the new episodes, its fun to record these. @louiszezeran on twitter

Tim Reidy is the Irish ambassador to Paide. It's been a while since I've seen him and he has been away from Estonia for a while. We knock through 6 or 7 beers over 3 hours. A good hour of this was on the best food in Tallinn and who delivers it. Klooga concentration camps, Scottish IRA, how much we miss the Greek guy from “Pitas” on Aia in Vanalinn, signing up for ERKE and Tim learning Estonian.

It's me and Dan talking about... Iran? Addiction? The Media? Overcoming your own bullshit? I'm not sure but its Dan so its funny. We got some new studio gear and it's sweet, I hope the sound quality is better for y'all now. Check out Dan and Roger's podcast at https://paikesejankud.podbean.com/

Hey I'm back baby! With Blackjack and strippers! After a long break I am kicking off with Comedy Estonia guy, Caleb Brunick. He is an American who has lived in Estonia for 3 years more or less and we talk about being a foreigner and stuff. Getting a drivers license, using substances to deal with the winter and what it's like hanging out with other ex-pats   Thanks for the support, I got some more episodes coming soon

Today I have producer, composer, musician, event organiser, the super talented Sander Mölder on the show. Sander and his partner Peeter are responsible for the record label TIKS which has been holding great parties in Estonia for as long as we can remember. Sanders last album "TIKS 071" was a really cool combination of traditional Saaremaa folk music with modern electronic beats. We talk about his recent collab with Daneil Levi, his focus on more pop music and how you keep authentic to yourself when working on mainstream stuff. We get into how he views Spotify and being ruled by our algorithmic overlords, Sander breaks down how he thinks the automatically generated playlists are gently guiding us toward listening to the same same kind of music. TIKS is a record label also, putting out independent Estonian music and Sander breaks down how such a label actually works.   Listen to "TIKS 071" on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/1sIILZRSrkBhat4hKUqXJH Check out his Soundcloud with has his latest tracks with Daniel Levi https://soundcloud.com/sander Follow me on Insta at https://www.instagram.com/louiszezeran/ Thanks for following the podcast, I am sorry my podcast episode image is even more dogshit than usual. My mac upgraded yesterday and now tells me I can't open Photoshop anymore so I made this one in Powerpoint and it shows.

A really cool chat with Andres Kõpper, otherwise known as NOËP. As usual, I am most interested in the choices he has made in his career, like doing the one big gig at the end of summer in Telliskivi, how did he pull that together? We then about how music management works, it seems really complicated to me. There is management and a live booker and a record label and a publisher and so many collaborators along the way and in the middle of all of that he still has to be unique and try and stay true to what he want to do. OK that's a lot for me, I'm used to a man and a mic in Stand Up. We also get into the eco-movement at festivals and the work he is doing with World Clean Up Day and the stuff he does himself to help the help. NOËP latest single is "fk this up feat. CHINCHILLA" and it's pretty dope https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwTTRy4O-iU NOËP on Instagram @noepmusic Louis on Instagram @louiszezeran

My guest today is Timo Diener who is one of the founders of Estonian Theatrical Distribution but you might know them as "HeaFilm", they are one of the most prominent film distribution companies in Estonia and the Baltics. As well as movies big and small they are the ones who bring in 20th Century Fox and Disney movies into the country. We talk about movies, Stand Up and how does movie distribution work anyway? What the hell do they do? How does he pick out the films which he thinks Estonians will want to see and how does the business work? What movies have been weirdly successful in Estonia? Turns out Comedy Estonia and Timo's movies compete for the same rooms in Kultuurikeskused around the country. One thing is for sure, Timo knows more about movies than I do. Follow Timo on Insta https://www.instagram.com/timodiener/ and check out the HeaFilm website for all the upcoming movies http://www.heafilm.ee

Seller of coffee and Comedy Estonia comedian, Olga Loitšenko. Olga is off to Australia on that golden working holiday visa next week so we got a chance to talk before the crocodiles or the bogans in my home country get to her. Olga brought the cake and coffee and we talked about whats the deal with Australia anyway, growing up in Rakvere, how she got into comedy and I ask her for the thousandth time how we can get more women into Stand Up. Follow Olga at https://www.instagram.com/olgaloitsenko Thanks for listening, I got some good 'uns coming up in the next few weeks, I am psyched.

You have probably heard of Hooandja, its the Estonian crowd funding site which is kind of like Kickstarter but focuses on local cultural and artistic projects. I talk with Jelena from Hooandja about their platform, how they started and how crowd funding works in Estonia today. Do people still kinda feel like crowd funding your album, event, bake sale is begging? What sort of projects work best on the platform? Why do we need an Estonian Kickstarter anyway? (hint: its because they dont focus on funding gadgets, they are about local artistic and cultural events). What about Patreon type subscription models to support artists and creators? We have a nice chat and go over whats up with crowd funding in Estonia. https://www.hooandja.ee/ Follow me on Insta https://www.instagram.com/louiszezeran/  

The boys just got back from their month at the Edinburgh Fringe. Sander arrived there just after I left and he fills me in on everything which happened in Scotland: Doing shows, hustlin' for more gigs, eating too much KFC and living in a fart filled AirBnb. Find me on Insta at @louiszezeran and Sander @sanderoigus If y'all want more of those good English Comedy Nights, we got shows at the end of Sept and end of Oct with John McCombs (USA) and Fern Brady (SCO). Get 'yo tix at Piletilevi.

Roger and I talk about our week at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival earlier this month. The Fringe is the biggest comedy festival in the world and after years of trying we got a spot and called our show "Straight Outta Estonia" (cause we couldn't think of anything better). Ari and Karl are there the whole month and the rest of the crew are coming and going. It was a wild week, we worked out pretty quickly our Estonian sense of humor is pretty dark and we had to make some quick adjustments... Also, Roger and Daniel have a new podcast called Päikesejänkud, go check it out on the web, iTunes or Spotify Podcast: https://paikesejankud.podbean.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p2ikesej2nkud/ I am having a month off social media cause all that scrolling is baaaaaaad for my brain but I am still alive and kicking. You might see me rolling around town on one of those new scooters for hire, damn those things are fun. https://www.instagram.com/louiszezeran    

I have been looking forward to this episode for ages! Y'all know I love retro video games and my favorite content creator is Bob Neal from a site called RetroRGB, which is all about helping people get the best quality video and audio from their old retro consoles. On this episode though, I didn't want to nerd out talking about old games, I wanted to dig into how does he handle this whole online movement he has help start. Bob lives in New York City and he does more than just make YouTube videos about games. Bob is really great at bringing the community together, he produces weekly news updates and has a knack for being able to connect like minded people. Not just that, after recently hitting 20K subs on YouTube RetroRGB is far from being a one man show. That means Bob is both an artist and a project manager of this stuff, which is similar to my place in Comedy Estonia. We start with a background of his work and how did he get started to build the website and move from having a regular job to making this his full time work. I wanted to talk to Bob about how does a content creator bring together an online community, how do you use services like Patreon to get support (should Comedy Estonia use it??), what responsibilities come with that support and what to do with difficult members of the community. If you are a retro games nerd, Bob's site RetroRGB will help you play your old games on modern TVs. I think Bob is great, he has a very humble and approachable style and I've wanted to talk with him for a long time, so I very much appreciate him kindly donating his time to talk. www.retrorgb.com https://www.youtube.com/user/RetroRGB Follow Bob on Twitter https://twitter.com/RetroRGB

Another solo episode telling y'all about my adventures in the United States of Freedom! I start off from where Dieter and I left off in the last episode and I go through, in much detail, our visit to the Atlanta strip club and the economics behind it. After Atlanta I flew to New York City where I have been staying here for 3 days now. I talk about how it was kinda lonely for the first few days and it really fucked with my ego to hit the big city, the biggest city of them all. You think you are good? Think you have done something? Welcome to New York baby where everyone is amazing and everyone is hustlin' 24/7. If you ain't humbled by this city, you loco ese. I worked through it and I talk about why I think Trump Tower is hilarious, what its like living in Brooklyn, of course crazy ass subway stories and I cap it off with hanging out with my friend Sandra and we got pedicures together, because NEW YORK! Thanks for listening and thanks for the cool feedback on my previous USA episodes, I appreciate y'all.

A different sort of chat! We grab some beers and I talk with Dieter, my school mate who I was staying with in Atlanta. Dieter and I attended high school and university together and we went on the "Eurotrip 2006" which led me to Estonia and Dieter to meet his future wife. We used to steal A LOT of street signs. The chat was fun for me, Dieter tells the story of our Eurotrip and how we came to Estonia for the first time. We go through him meeting his wife and moving to America and setting up his business. We of course tell loads of stories about growing up and adventures in share house living at University. This was a special episode, thanks for listening to two old mates sit and talk about the old days over a few beers (and the vape pen ha). Probably one for the existing fans, if you wanna know a little more about me growing up before the Comedy Estonia days, this is it. Dieter ain't at all bad with photography and you can follow his insta at https://www.instagram.com/atlchefdad/ @atlchefdad  

FREEDOM BABY! I am visiting America and I have a week with my school buddy Dieter at his home in Atlanta. This is a solo episode and go through my adventures of the first 5 days, including but not limited to: getting high and shooting guns, driving a Porsche at 160km/h, getting wasted at a local southern dive bar, eating too much BBQ food and (for real) attending an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. I am having an awesome time, America is like a god damn theme park of freedom. On Saturday I am off to New York for a week and a half and I'll have more updates then. Follow my Instagram to get all the holiday photos: https://www.instagram.com/louiszezeran @louiszezeran

A special episode for me! Merily has been our Comedy Estonia project manager for 2 years now and she helped to drag our dumb asses out of the stone age and create the well run, efficient schedule of live shows you enjoy today. I am talking to Merily because this is her last week with Comedy Estonia before she goes on maternity leave. We had a job ad out a while ago and I think everyone just thought "oh fuck those Comedy Estonia guys really turn over employees". I've heard its a good move to do "exit interviews" and so I tried to think of the most Comedy Estonia way possible. We talk about the old days and give a bit more insight into how our fabulous machine works. Thank you to Merily for her hard work at Comedy Estonia, we would not be where we are today without her.

If you want to know how to make it as a DJ in Estonia, this is your episode! I talk with Philip Nikolajev, better known as DJ Dr.PhilGood. Phil is super well respected live DJ and producer, current program manger at Club Studio and member of kick ass Estonian band Gram-Of-Fun. Phil has DJ'ed a bunch of Comedy Estonia gigs over the years and I count him as a friend. We go right through the way you can build yourself up as a DJ in Estonia. We start at home, mixing your own tracks, look at making your own parties to build a name and then move into the advanced stuff like learning about the community, getting mix tapes into the hands of club managers and then how and when you should try and find a manager. It's all in here: what social media to use, how do you ask for money for your gigs, how to stay humble and focus on your work. It was a really good talk with my man and I think we really get into the good stuff in the second half. Phil is currently working as a member of Gram-of-Fun, a band with the super impressive lineup of himself, Dj Jaan Jaago, Muudu and Kristel Aaslaid. Go listen to their new EP "Second Breakfast" on your fav streaming service now: https://lnk.to/SecondBreakfast   Follow Dr.PhilGood online: https://www.instagram.com/dj_philgood/ https://soundcloud.com/philipgood

I'm back baby! 21 days off weed and I'm feeling good and ready to record again. My good friend and colleague, Karl-Alari Varma joins me. Karl is filming his comedy special on June 20th at Heldeke and so we talk about his first two comedy specials and how this first filming is the combination of those he has always wanted to do. We go deep into the murky waters with Karl, we get right into how he used to play a lot of World of Warcraft, so much that he was leader of the third best guild/clan/nerdy thing in the world. Yeah in the world, with like 400 players working under him. That's an amazing achievement as a teenager and we talk about what it was like to have to manage literally hundreds of people working together under him. In the second half we go further into a personality trait we both share: problems to self promote and pushing your own image out there. As part of the Comedy Estonia crew its kind of natural sometimes to go along with the pack but as artists and specifically Stand Ups we also need to uumm huh.. stand up for ourselves too. Tickets for Karl's filming on June 20th at Heldeke in Tallinn at 8€/10€ and you can get them from Piletilevi https://www.piletilevi.ee/est/piletid/teater/komoodia/comedy-estonia-karl-alari-varma-kvaliteetaeg-lindistus-285939/ Thanks for following the podcast and not giving up on me, I have some good stuff coming in the next few months, I think I am slowly getting this thing to where I want it to be

Dagmar Lamp is a blogger, podcaster and journalist for Postimees. We have a really nice talk about sexuality, podcasting, the early days of Comedy Estonia (she was there basically when we started in Tartu), artists and mental health, learning to grind away at your work and being able to get CBD over the counter in Estonia. Follow Dagmar https://twitter.com/dagmarlamp

Roger Andre is one of the Comedy Estonia comics and overall a fun, happy dude. He has only been at it for a few years but has come along way and can hold his own with any of our best comedians. We talk a lot about music and what influenced us when we were younger. Follow this good looking young man on insta @rogerandre_

It's the man with the (soon to be) mullet! I have comic Daniel Veinbergs on the show. Daniel and I met 6 and a half years ago when I gave a talk at his high school, wow that feels like a long time ago. We talk about comedy, Eddie Izzard, jokey thievery, giving donations at shows and tons more about Comedy Estonia and stand up in general and how our careers are going. Thanks for continuing to listen to the podcast. I have had 2 months off because I get kinda overworked and stressed out but the only solution is to get back into it. Stand Up, podcasting, creating, whatever you wanna do, if you have stopped it, just pick it up and continue again. Push and believe baby.    

Sille-Kadri Simer, poet, broadcaster and the other half of the popular podcast "Tissident". I've known Sille for years from doing Stand Up and you can't accuse her of being shy and unopinionated, I always enjoy talking to her. The first half of the episode we go over her podcast and how shows her Tissident are changing the media game. In the second half the red wine kicks in and we get into life and relationships and generally have a good 'ole fashioned chat. You can listen to Tissident podcast with Sille-Kadri and Marianne on Spotify, your podcast app or on the web https://soundcloud.com/tissident

Today I talk with Marianne Ubaleht, journalist and one half of the "Tissdent" podcast. We are talking about how to position yourself with the media, how can a young artist use the media and what message should they be sending to newspapers / radio / tv to try and get the word out there about their stuff. Back when we started Comedy Estonia, "the media" was this shining goal: if we can only get that article or that TV spot or that exposure, then we thought that would sell tickets. And we wondered for years why we were not that interesting and why we were not being picked up. Eventually we kind of gave up trying to push our stuff down mainstream media and made our own thing and only now are we starting to gently flirt with them again. The first half of the episode we talk more about Tissident and Marianne's experience in running a podcast which is very new with early success and the second half is more about media advice for artists. Follow Tissident on Spotify, your fav podcasting platform or on the web at https://soundcloud.com/tissident

My man returns! We talk about his month here in Estonia and putting together a whole new hour for the tour, about legal weed in Canada, legal truffles in Amsterdam and we talk A LOT of comedy. We work through his time in Canada, what life is like there and how he has worked to establish himself in a totally new city and a totally new comedy scene. Follow my shizzle www.twitter.com/louiszezeran www.instagram.com/louiszezeran

My second solo episode! Today I am on the ferry to Finland and since they don't rent cabins, I am doing it in the hallway as people walk by. You can think of this as my first live recording, I think a few people were so desperate for entertainment they really wanted to believe I was doing a live show ha ha I start off talking about the Stand Up special "3 mics" by Neal Brennan (spoiler alert: I think it's fantastic) and then I get into what it was like for us to present the Bill Burr show in Riga. It was a huge moment for me personally and I talk through the setup and what happens behind the scenes.

I am back in Estonia and talking to Avery Schrader who is Canadian, been here for almost a year and a half and runs a startup. We are just two foreign guys living in Estonia , talking about our lives for an hour and a half of good banter. Avery runs a company called Modash who help content creators find work, you can follow him on Insta @theaveryschrader

It's been a while since i recorded, for the past 2 weeks I've been in Japan having a holiday. I've been doing loads of thinking and I wanted to share with y'all about my trip and where my head is at right now. I talk about my weird hobby, leadership, losing self confidence, why I'm not doing stand up and while I understand, why it's left me a little lost. I've never done a solo podcast before so if you liked something in here please let me know so I can do more of it. I apologise for the sound quality, I don't have any recording gear or a laptop in Japan so I recorded this directly into my tablet with two pillows around me to dampen the echo in my small Airbnb.

My guest is Designer and Head of Fashion at the Estonian Academy of Arts, Piret Puppart. Piret is great, I have known her for years now when she was working in industry and a year or two ago I also taught a course at the Academy after she invited me. I really wanted to record this episode because her job is similar to mine in one way but on the other hand, the fashion industry is so different and seemingly crazy to me. Intense schedules, last minute deadlines and working with a large supporting staff are all part of it. We talk about the things a young fashion designer can do to help themselves and the sort of attitude you need to have to get somewhere (spoiler alert: it's a truck ton of work)

Our Comedy Estonia autumn tour is happening and between that and studying for the Estonian driving/poetry interpretation exam, I have about -5 minutes free every day, I love it. I am happy to have my mate Mikael Meema in the office with me for this episode. We talk about his comedy career, how Comedy Estonia evolved from disorganized into very organized, how we can better support our open mic comedians, why we love doing small small rooms and of course, a podcast called Tüssisööjad. Mikael is performing his second show "See kõlas minu peas paremini" in Tartu and Tallinn in early December because we are filming the Tallinn shows. Tix @ Piletilevi

Sorry it has been a while between episodes! I've been on the road with Jimmy Carr and Daniel Sloss and this episode with Kaspar we tell the behind the scenes stories about how we organized these shows and what happens on the day. I talked to Jimmy about his new special and hanging out with Sloss and Kai is always a party. Also we go over our trip to Vilnius to perform (me, Sander, Mikael, Rauno and Karl went) and performing to a grand total of 12 people at the first Lasnamäe Open Mic. Don't let the small number throw you off, the show was great fun. PLUS! We discuss the job opening Comedy Estonia has right now, for Operations Manager. We talk about the duties involved and the entire episode gives good background into how we do our thing at Comedy Estonia. If you are interested in the position its a great episode to listen to and if you know someone who would fit this, please let them know

Tim Reidy, Irish guy living in Paide, patron saint of Baltijaam pigeons. He and I did that podcast a few years ago and get back together and talk the craic over a few beers.

This is my favorite episode so far. I've known Riina for ages but we haven't caught up for a few years so its a really fun episode for me. I met Riina when we were performing at Club Prive and she was the assistant program manager. We have a really fun talk about her time at Club Studio managing the International DJ's and she has plenty of stories about their wild parties and crazy backstage riders. We also get into the gender balance in the Estonian entertainment industry and about her work in marketing for Monster Music (she handles Retro Best). I enjoyed this episode a lot, its closest to my idea for the podcast "ok I know about comedy, now you tell me how your thing works". I am at @louiszezeran on all the social medias

Kaspar Kikerpill is with me and we had this idea we could read a book about a comedians life and then talk about their career decisions. I thought we could start on "The War for Late Night" which is all about Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno and the crazy show business drama behind the scenes of their late night talk shows. So we talk a bit about the history of late night shows and how they fit into American culture. Then we are try and focus on the interesting little management details, like weird terms they would put in contracts and how that stuff made huge effects later. About half way through reading this book I realised omg how many twists this story had that I really should have chosen an easier story but fuck it, we had come that far so and the story is really interesting, so here it is. This is Conan's first ever "Late Night with Conan O'Brien", remember this guy had been a writer for SNL, then for the Simpsons and this was really his first tv thing ever, its nuts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q471WB5Tgw Thanks for listening, we are trying different ideas for episodes so if you like something shout me out. If I am doing something really annoying also please tell me. It's for my own good. @louiszezeran

Ardo Asperk is my long time friend but I am not sure we have ever sat down for a proper chat. I think Ardo is one of the best joke writers I've seen, the guy has a skill. In the first half we go deep on his early days and how he came to do stand up and the second half is us riffing about comedy and life. His new tour "Naerukõne" is coming to Tallinn, Tartu, Viljandi, Pärnu and Rakvere very soon, get tickets at Piletilevi. This dude had a "work in progress" show almost 2 hours long (the show is meant to be an hour), he is amazing, prolific doesn't begin to describe him, go see it. Ardo's photo by Höije Photography

Today's guests are Sander Saar and Brait Pilvik from Creatly and they are talent managers for social media content creators, some of their clients include Martti Hallik, Victoria Villig and the brand Eesti YouTuberid. Turns out the way you support and help content creators is kinda similar to comedians. The first half we roughly talk about how does a management agency for content creators work? How do they support the YouTube names of Estonia? The second hour we get pretty deep into the future of video and podcasts for content creators and what can these people expect in the next 5 years of their career, when their whole profession has only been around for the last 5 years?

Ikevald Rannap - musician, singer, songwriter and all round nice guy.  His career has been quite independent and he is really focused on being the best artist he can be and not pushing his work out there too quickly. The man isn't in a hurry and it's refreshing to hear. I talk to him about what it's like to navigate your own career when your surname alone is enough to get attention, about busking on the street to pay for your dinner and why the industry and the mental space makes Sweden is a good place for him right now. I liked my talk with Ike, he is a super chilled out guy which is very opposite to me. Also in this podcast he also plays two songs live on his acoustic guitar. Ike is currently working on his debut album. Follow him on the socials to know more about his music and path www.facebook.com/ikerannap www.instagram.com/ike_rann www.ikerann.com

I have a late Friday night chat with my friend and brother Sander Õigus. I screwed up the recording and we only got the first 50 minutes (plus bonus ending) but I wanted to put it out anyway cause this is a podcast, there are no rules anymore. We talk about working in the Comedy Estonia crew, crazy shit in the early times of Estonian independence, food vans and like always, we make it back to comedy because that's pretty much what we talk about all day every day. Twitter / Insta: @louiszezeran Thanks for listening, that rad.

Louis talks with his mate Ari Matti Mustonen about what drives artists to do their thing. Ain't no one pushing you, you gotta push yourself. But that motivation and disclipine is hard, super hard and the guys talk about the moments in their lives when they realised they had to do something to make something happen.

First episode! Louis wants to do this podcast where he talks about how to help artists find their way and do their thing. With him is Kaspar Kikerpill and their conversation is approx half about the entertainment industry in general and half experiences from Comedy Estonia.