This week’s discussion begins with a story centered around one man’s ascension to the spotlight. When he achieves all that he can, what does he do when his own hero may fall? Ultimately, dive into a very philosophical and topical subject that is on everyone’s minds. Don’t miss this episode of Smirk!
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Welcome to Smirk. A podcast that covers society and culture through a storytelling lens. Part creative writing, part discussion, and always interesting. Each week our hosts brings a story to the show, a story they wrote themselves, which is immediately followed by discussion on the author’s moral or theme.
These stories can cover any topic the host wants to discuss, it can be lighthearted or more serious. No one but the author knows if these tales are truth or fiction, and part of the fun is guessing while you’re listening before the reality is made clear.
We want to hear from you! If you want to share YOUR story, join the conversation by writing in to mystory@smirkpodcast.com, and include your moral, or you can let us guess at it. This is the podcast that looks at truth, fiction, and reality. With a Smirk.
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Want to read Zack’s story “Stitches Hurt” in full? Think you can identify the moral or theme for this episode? Read it below, and then take a listen to the podcast.
Stitches Hurt
Bradford was a young man when he first realized he wanted to be a stand-up comedian. It was a premium cable channel special that first got him interested. The great Grant Kelly performed his historic “Stitches Hurt” routine. It let Bradford realize how much he enjoyed watching people laugh. How great it made him feel.
So only a year later, he got his ass to the great city of Chicago. A hotbed for comedy. He enrolled in one the great comedy schools, whose name I’ll avoid here for legal reasons. But Bradford took to it like crazy. He was a natural at this, and soon was booking 10- to 15-minute mic spots at some bigger name clubs.
He got noticed. Wasn’t long at all until our hotshot was on tour. A snowball effect happened, and he was opening for bigger and bigger acts. And then it happened. The destination you knew this story would reach. Bradford got to meet Grant Kelly. Not only that, Grant thought he was funny. Something special. And Mr. Kelly was in just such a need for a new opener. Bradford got to go on tour with his actual hero.
It was a blast. Grant Kelly was actually a super nice guy, making time for every fan. He shook folks’ hands, let them know how his fans were his lifeblood. He, unlike so many heroes, lived up to the legend. Bradford learned a lot from his mentor, and eventually made it big on his own.
The best part? The maintained a good friendship. Even as Bradford was now headlining his own shows, Grant and he always made time for a couple phone calls a month.
Bradford woke up to an alert on his phone. It was from Grant Kelly. No, it was ABOUT Grant Kelly. Reports were coming in that legend of stand-up comedy had been accused of sexual misconduct by no less than 13 women. Bradford was in complete shock. He had never seen anything like this from his time with Grant Kelly. He called him up, and they spoke. Grant claimed innocence, and Bradford said he believed him.
But he couldn’t the thoughts out of his head. Had some of those women on late tour nights been taken advantage of? Could 13 people really forge a conspiracy together? Did Bradford achieve his dreams through the machinations of a monster?
Bradford was in despair, and he was lost.
Now, listen to the full episode as we dissect Zack’s story.