By; Stephanie Fisher

Consistently one of the most enjoyable parts of my week is the day where I record a new episode of my podcast, Happy Human Hour.  It’s a great deal of fun getting to spend time with a new group of comedians just riffing and goofing around each week. Something no one really tells you about podcasting is just how much work, time and responsibility deciding to do a weekly podcast is. Since starting Happy Human Hour in July of last year, I lost my podcast partner who was a close guy friend of mine and had to revamp the show entirely. Notice how I said he was my close guy friend.

The show proved to just be too much for him to handle in his already very busy life. When I realized that I also had a very busy life but still made time to plan and record a new episode each week, I knew that podcasting was not as easy as it appears to be though it is rewarding in many ways. Before his departure, the show was three segments with one guest recorded in his garage. Now it’s just an hour of free flowing conversation between myself and two other guests (usually comedians) at a different local bar or restaurant. After setting up plans to record an unconventional episode at the Houston Rodeo’s Carnival instead, the idea of writing an article to give people who are not really sure what all goes into making a podcast a behind the scenes look was presented to me.

After recalling the many late nights I have spent up editing a newly recorded episode or a picture with guests of the show to get them online quickly, I decided to take this chance to enlighten all of you lovely people about what a day in the life of a podcaster is really like. Or at least what a day in the life of this podcaster consists of.

 

2:30 PM: Leave my house with Coleman Cox to head up to Reliant Stadium (where the Rodeo is held each year) to meet guests Matt Han and Aaron Barrett by the biggest ferris wheel at 3:00.

2:45 PM: Text, call and Facebook message Aaron and Matt to let them know we are running late and will hopefully be there by 3:30.

3:00 PM: Get a call from Matt saying he isn’t sure he can make it to record because of traffic as we are finding cheap but far away parking for Reliant Stadium.

3:15 PM: Buy a ticket to get into the carnival and start trying to track down Aaron.

3:25 PM: Aaron finds Coleman and I to our relief as we get a text from Matt saying he is parking.

3:40 PM: Get a call from Matt which lets us know there are three ferris wheels in the carnival so we are not at the same one as he is.

4:00-4:30 PM: Matt meets up with all of us, we each get ride tickets and get in line for the ferris wheel which we are recording on while riding first.

4:40-4:50 PM: Get off La Grande Ferris Wheel and head over to the Creep Show, a scarier ride for us to commentate on how not scary it is while riding it.

5:00 PM: Make our way over to the Moscow Circus fun house to try and overcome the silly obstacles there.

5:10-5:20 PM: Try to figure out which ride to ride next and settle on the only real rollercoaster in the carnival.

5:20-5:30 PM: Stand in line for the rollercoaster.

5:30-5:35 PM: Ride the rollercoaster while trying to yell out things that make us all happiest between screams.

5:35-5:50 PM: Snap some photos of us while saying our goodbyes to Matt who had to take off a little early.

5:50-6:00 PM: See if we have enough ride tickets to end the show by riding down a gigantic slide then getting through the line for the slide.

6:00 PM: Climb the crazy steep incline to get to the top of the slide with Aaron and myself huffing and puffing the whole way.

6:10 PM: Slide very quickly down the slide to where I almost run over a small girl and meet up with Coleman to get a turkey leg and fried Oreos.

6:10-6:25 PM: Wrap up recording and start walking back to the car.

6:30-7:00 PM: Endure traffic to get up to the Houston Improv to see a show.

7:00-7:45 PM: Hang out at the Improv though it is too crowded to see either of the two shows happening that night.

7:45-8:00 PM: Head back home to start uploading the episode and editing it.

8:15-8:50 PM: Upload episode and pictures to computer, piece episode together through editing software, edit pictures and upload episode to Soundcloud.

8:50-9:00 PM: Remember at least 30 subjects discussed to tag the episode with on Soundcloud and come up with a witty description of the episode to draw potential listeners in.

9:00-9:15 PM: Share the episode to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

9:15-9:45 PM: Edit the Happy Human Hour website and mobile website to list the new episode on the homepage instead of the previous week’s episode.

 

Recording on a Sunday made for not too late of a night than when recording on a weeknight thankfully. As you all can now see, a whole lot of time and effort goes into just recording a little over an hour long episode. Through all the energy and time put into an episode, it is unbelievably amusing every single week. The fact that I get to put my name out there more while helping great Houston comedians, artists and musicians that I know get their name more known and having fun while doing it is what helps me to keep on trucking through any obstacle thrown my way in Podcast Land. It is one of the most rewarding parts of being a comedian for me besides actually stepping onto a stage and telling my jokes to a crowd.

If you would like to listen to the episode detailed above, the link is http://soundcloud.com/happyhumanhourpodcast/this-is-your-podcast-on-rides. The goal of the podcast each episode is to bring as much happiness to all listeners for at least one hour a week that it brings to myself and the wonderful people who sign on to be guests of the show each week. That’s why it’s called Happy Human Hour. So what are you waiting for? Click the link and become a happier human, already.

Follow Stephanie on Twitter @stephfishfish

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