When Kerry Jackson and his friends started the “Geek Show” 12 years ago, they were at the cultural fringes, talking about comics, Star Trek and other subjects some might consider juvenile.
They haven’t changed the topics, but they are no longer on the fringes of mainstream culture.
“It’s not geek culture anymore, it’s mainstream pop culture really,” Jackson said.
The award-winning “Geek Show Podcast” is an influential geek voice, keeping geeks and non-geeks caught up and laughing about geek culture.
“College students have a rough go, all the studying and s—. This will help get their mind off studying. Plus it’s dirty, which I think college students like,” Jackson said.
The “Geek Show” panel consists of host Kerry Jackson of the KXRK-FM “Radio From Hell Show,” Shannon Barnson, 2013 City Weekly’s Worst Utahn, Leigh George Kade, a local artist and owner of a vegan restaurant in Salt Lake City, Scott D. Pierce, president of the Television Critics Association and writer for the Salt Lake Tribune, Jimmy Martin, film critic and writer for Slug Magazine, Jay Whittaker, local comedian and Tony Eccles, also known as “Quad T” or “Too Tall Trill Tony,” the show’s designated driver, producer and resident Mormon.
Stan Lee, the creator of “Spiderman,” “X-Men” and “Thor,” George Takei of “Star Trek,” comedian Adam Carolla, Manu Bennett of the CW’s “Arrow” and many other geek stars have appeared on the podcast.
“I purposely don’t let the guys get too deep into the rabbit hole,” Jackson said, describing the depth of the panel’s discussions.
The shows are recorded three at a time. The panelists drink throughout their recordings and by the third show most of the panelists are buzzed, if not drunk, except for Eccles. The third shows in a recording session are infamous for being more funny than informative.
Jackson’s advice to new listeners is this: “There are a lot of running jokes, but don’t let that drive you away. What I always tell people is give us three episodes and you’ll be hooked.”
Each week includes a “broken news” segment inserted into the completed podcast to keep listeners up-to-date on geek news that broke that week.
The Geek Show started on KXRK-FM, X96, in 2002 and only did four shows a year, according to unofficial historian Gavin Sheehan of SLUG Magazine.
A new free show is available for download every week on iTunes, Stitcher and thegeekshowpodcast.com. The podcast carries an explicit rating on iTunes.
The podcast was downloaded just under 50,000 times in August, according to Jackson. Over the past two years the show has had 600,000 plays, said Eccles.
The Podcast has won City Weekly’s “Best Local Podcast” five times in a row.
Geek Show will be recording the next set of shows at Anime Banzai, Oct. 17-19 in Layton.
