BeatRoute Magazine BC Edition May 2019

LAUGHING
ALL THE
WAY TO THE
MORGUE
Last Podcast On The
Left turns true crime on its
severed head
By PAUL RODGERS
F
ascination
with true crime
and the paranormal is nothing
new, though some believe
such subjects should
not to be taken lightly.
Marcus Parks, Ben Kissel
and Henry Zebrowski of
Last Podcast on the Left,
have been able to turn
their own brand of black
comedy and a long-held
interest in the darker
sides of life into one of
the most successful podcasts going.
They have a globetrotting live show
and fiercely-dedicated fanbase.
“True crime and an interest in the
paranormal has always been a thing,
it’s just now becoming revealed,”
says Zebrowski, who in addition to
the show is an accomplished actor in
films such as The Wolf of Wall Street
and the Adult Swim series Your Pretty
Face is Going to Hell.
“The media is catching up to what
millions of people were already into.”
The show, and its live iteration,
specialize in what the trio call
LAST PODCAST
ON THE LEFT
Thursday, May 30
Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Tix: $30-$45,
Ticketmaster.ca
“edu-tainment.” They do
deep dives on heavy-hitter
serial killers, the paranormal,
conspiracy theories,
cryptids and more. Parks
tackles the bulk of the research
with the aid of assistants,
and is responsible for driving
the narrative. Zebrowski’s acting
background allows him to get into
the heads of the characters involved,
while Kissel, a political pundit who
appears on CNN and Fox, ensures
the content is accessible. Together,
their tangible long-lasting friendship,
comedic nature and razor sharp intellects
create a podcast that is disturbing,
informative and hilarious.
“It’s funny when describing the
show to people, cause I’ll be like,
‘yeah it’s true crime but then it’s also
funny,’” Kissel explains. “And they’re
like, ‘well how can it be funny?’ And
I’m like it’s difficult to describe because
it’s about making fun of these
idiots, it’s about making fun of these
serial killers.”
Take Dennis Rader, the BTK killer,
one of the show’s earlier deep-dive
subjects, who Kissel refers to as the
“archetype of a douchebag.”
“He’s just such a frickin’ fat, useless
nerd who liked horrible poetry. That’s
how we try to mine the comedy and
it’s always in the weird little details.
That’s the trick of it, to never make
fun of the victims, always make fun of
the so-called monsters and just make
the world see these people as the
dumpy losers that they are.”
While the trio have a knack for
presenting the material for laughs as
they “de-fang” killers often sensationalized
in the media, the content
of the show, and the research required,
can be emotionally taxing
on its hosts. Putting the worst
parts of humankind, like Ed Gein,
John Wayne Gacy, the Columbine
shooting, 9/11 — or in a more recent
episode, Nazi scientist Josef
Mengele — under the microscope
every week is a heavy task.
“Obviously when talking about
serial killers, it does make you
think about how depraved human
beings can be,” says Kissel.
“But on the flip-side, when we
have our audience and get to interact
with people it gives you a
validation of humanity,you realize
people are good. We’re talking
about outliers here, we’re not
talking about mainstream people.
Most people do not bury other
people in potted plants, most people
are just trying to do the best
they can to survive and they focus
on family and friendship.”
In their live shows, fans are
treated to all the edu-tainment
and high-octane banter they know
and love from the podcast. The
body of the show features individual
segments from each of the
three hosts, and opens with repartee
tailored to the specific crowd.
Vancouver fans can likely expect
Robert “Willie” Pickton to come
up in the dialogue.
The three are also in the process
of releasing a book. After
absorbing a horribly grim library’s
worth of material for research
purposes, Zebrowski says it feels
they’ve “come full circle” by adding
one of their own to the world.
With a back catalogue of more
than 360 episodes plus many
more “Side Stories” episodes, if
you’re new to the show you have
a wealth of material to get caught
up. ,
ON TOUR
May 4 Vancouver KW Studios
May 8 Calgary The King Eddy
May 10 Edmonton The Sewing Machine Factory
May 12 Winnipeg Forth
“as comforting as it is uncompromising”
PITCHFORK (8/10)
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MAY 2019 BEATROUTE 41