In 2013 I created a podcast entitled “Are You Famous, Yet?” while drunk with a friend who was ditching engineering to become an actor.

I should start by saying that I’ve always been rather annoyed when people don’t call failures what they are. Calling something a failure doesn’t mean it didn’t have value. Let’s start with this: My podcast “Are You Famous, Yet?” has failed and is ending. There’s a last episode that goes into details and emotions which I will link to when it drops.

Decent podcasts can get between 5-50 thousand downloads per episode in the first 90 days. Some do better and the ones that do worse really don’t talk about it much and that is why I am releasing these cringe-worthy numbers. Our numbers have aways been deeply horrible when compared to the industry standards. The weird thing is: Less than 1% of our guests asked about our download numbers. If they did, I could put them off with some sort of hand waving generalities that were true in as far as anything concrete was mentioned (it was not). One of the reasons we stopped is that continuing felt like lying. Hard working people would re-arrange their schedules to promote shows/performance/plays/etc to our very small audience. Honestly, our audience was mostly listeners the guest brought in (via social medial or other promotions of their own). We spent money spreading the word on Facebook but the $2-10 I could spend on a given episode didn’t ever seem to gain us much. In one of our episodes a social media professional estimated that a small brand should be spending $100 a month to promote itself on social media: Perhaps I could get a side gig to support my podcast?

One last thing before we get to the hard facts, some episodes were downloaded a lot b/c they are old or the great algorithm in the cloud deemed it so. Our most downloaded episode may be our worst: “Interruptions - Episode 3.” Please please do not feel judged if you were a guest on an episode with a smaller number of downloads.

Title	Downloads
Interruptions - Episode 3	455
The Q Brothers’ Burgeoning Empire - Episode 125	423
Heart is Everyone’s Favorite - Episode 9	375
The Good in the Bad - Episode 16	351
Musicals, Death, Sports, and Food - Episode 19	339
Father and Son - Episode 18	335
Dan Taube All Together and Remastered - Episode 12	335
The Almost Tweet - Episode 2	333
Naked and Fearless with Janie Martinez - Episode 17	332
The Aim is Fame - Episode 5	310
That Guy… Who was in that Thing - Episode 4	310
We’re Holding Out for a Hero: Captain Ambivalent - Episode 33	291
New Year’s Eve Reflections and Plans - Episode 8	291
And So It Begins - Episode 1	289
Nilsa’s Story - Episode 7	281
Wisps of Ash - Episode 20	281
Uncle Fun: The Man Behind the Store - Episode 101	269
The Adventurous Life for Everybody - Episode 24	267
Hip Hop Grandma - Episode 21	251
Puccini. Casey Puccini - Episode 22	248
Perpetuum Bruce Lee - Episode 6	248
Andrea Prestinario:The Intersection of Preparation and Opportunity - Episode 11	232
Tales of Awesome Heaviness Part 2: The Relativity of Failure - Episode 15	229
The Let Down - Episode 23	224
Gin Fizz and her Burlesque Commentary - Episode 114	212
The Casual Clawing of Erik Tylkowski - Episode 46	198
Steve Presser: Merchant of Happiness - Episode 66	181
Following Different Avenues:- Episode 13	173
Rachel Finan is Stripper Jesus & Corey Eno Ruffin is Trouble - Episode 170	170
Sad Times w/ Laura and Jake - Episode 59	168
A Home To Fail or Jason Paul Smith’s Unexpected Gift To Artists- Episode 58	167
“Gary” is “Gay” With An “R” In It: The Wisdom of David Boyle - Episode 44	166
Daniel Knox Learned Piano in Public - Episode 190	163
Aurin Squire Just May Be The One - Episode 79	156
The Oral Traditions of Roberta Miles- Episode 77	153
Seth Bisen-Hersh: Theater Raconteur (part 1) - Episode 119	152
The Courtesan and the Cabin Boy - Episode 208	146
RUFY 207 - “Avenge Our Blood” w/ David Finney and Bec Willett	145
The Benefactor’s identical twin! - Episode 55	144
Katherine Biskupic and Leah Frires are “Pure and Weary” - Episode 112	141
Douglas Post is All Aspects of Theater - Episode 113	139
Freckles and Camp Grounded - Episode 175	138
Joe Foust and Laura Love Door County - Episode 135	138
Christine Lin Has Engineered A Career in Performance- Episode 56	137
Changes with Jake and Laura - Episode 206	137
Jeremy Wechsler’s Outward Going Charisma (Part 1 of 2) - Episode 96	137
John Weagly: Dr. Goat: Goat Doctor - Episode 116	135
Tana Karo and the Acrobatica Infiniti - Episode 128	133
Dana Lynn Formby and her American Beauty Shop - Episode 131	131
Happy Irish Cows Make The Best Damn Butter with Amanda and Tim Winters- Episode 34	130
Psychologist, Playwright, and Troublemaker: Paul Pasulka - Episode 129	129
Ken Davenport Produces Art into Existence - Episode 123	127
Rori Nogee Will Get Back to Broadway - Episode 121	126
Farah Williams Loves All of Chicago - Episode 199	126
Thom Britton Imagines Sideshow Spalding Grey - Episode 126	125
Mosque Alert and More with Fouad Teymour - Episode 124	125
Hugs During Wartime - Episode 61	125
Tim Mooney is Moliere Than Thou - Episode 82	124
The Magical Realism of Emmi Hilger - Episode 50	121
Going Balls To The Wall With Valerie Hager - Episode 54	121
Bryn Packard, Nilsa Reyna, and 360 Video - Episode 138	117
Tim Barnes Makes With the Smart Funny - Episode 172	117
Tony Mendoza Has Wanted to Make Movies Since “La Bamba” - Episode 204	116
John Abbott, Buddy King, Holly McGuire & Connie Foster - Episode 186	116
John Battles: “Let’s All Go To Uncle Fun” - Episode 196	116
David “The Rock” Nelson - Episode 37	115
Barbara Lhota and the Intergalactic Dog - Episode 130	115
Melanie Adcock, Bryan Sperry, and the “House of the Apocalypse” - Episode 188	115
Josh and Caroline Beadle and 3 Brothers Theater - Episode 163	114
Maria Vorhis, Sexpert Franzen, Clowns, etc. - Episode 179	114
Amy Sumpter: Comic and Beastie Boys Tribute - Episode 115	113
Marc Frigo is a Platinum Mixer - Episode 137	112
Ron Keaton Made His Own Churchill - Episode 117	112
David Fink: OUTspoken - Episode 145	112
Rev. David Holcombe Returns with More Films - Episode 162	112
Madelyn Sergel Knows the Many Sides of Production - Episode 160	112
Jason Paul Smith In A Beulah Box - Episode 100	112
Klea Blackhurst on Yodeling Muchachas, Ethel Merman, and playing Shelby Cross - Episode 27	111
The Cast of Three Cat’s Holiday Radio Show - Episode 209	111
Things Get Wild with Storyteller Erin Diamond - Episode 65	110
Amy Crider is About to Re-read All of Proust - Episode 205	110
Seth Bisen-Hersh Part The Two - Episode 120	109
Bryn Packard and Nilsa Reyna Unionize - Episode 139	109
The Dirty Details of Producing “Punk Grandpa” - Episode 118	109
Playtime - Episode 10	108
Jerrod Bogard and the Reality of Writing - Episode 49	108
Laura does Postmates, Baltimore, and Door County - Episode 185	108
Jacqui Rêgo and the cast of Baby Hubris - Episode 182	108
EntrePoNegroes, Blaculas And The Mind of Reginald Edmund - Episode 92	108
The Lost Bar Mitzvah Speech of Blake Levinson - Episode 68	108
Michael Jones: Young American does Good - Episode 127	107
Owen Hickle-Edwards and Andrew Root from Runcible Theatre - Episode 181	107
Amy Crider Can Not Die on Saturday Morning TV - Episode 70	106
Barbara J. Wells: Playwright, librettist, lyricist, screenwriter, novelist, producer - Episode 169	106
Bernardo Cubria’s Tales Of The Tex-Mex Mafia- Episode 52	106
Tales of Awesome Heaviness Part 1- Episode 14	164
Caryl Pohlmann is the ‘Punk’ Grandma - Episode 168	106
Elise Mayfield is a Master Chef and Actor - Episode 72	105
Laura Interviews Jake! Also: 2016 Art Retrospective - Episode 165	104
Jim Lasko and the Redmoon - Episode 143	104
Episode 36	103
Jonathan Pitts, 2 Festivals, and a Chimpanzee - Episode 150	103
I Do Everything Better Naked: A Talk With Kevin Urban - Episode 26	103
A Shapely And Beautiful Hostful - Episode 88	103
The Alien From The Planet Fun - Episode 84	103
Schoen Smith Does Theater/Film/Directing in New York/Chicago/L.A. - Episode 192	102
Ken Coughlin: Musician, Actor, Punk Grandpa - Episode 122	101
CJ3 Likes a Nice Catsy - Episode 76	101
Ele Matelan, Josh Zagoren, Foley, Horror, and Wildclaw - Episode 174	101
Sara Maslanka: Artistic Director of Chicago Danztheatre - Episode 183	101
Richard Henzel plays Ronald Reagan and Mandolin - Episode 166	101
The William Oliver Watkins Experience - Episode 25	101
Josh Wolff makes movies and Bryn makes plans - Episode 41	100
The Honey Brown Goddess - Episode 63	100
John Ritter: Sex Object w/ Eileen Tull - Episode 85	100
Shariba Rivers Has A Lot Going On - Episode 193	100
Mariah Karson’s Powerful Dad Joke - Episode 176	100
Talking Taboo, Los Improviachis, and Making “Shift” Up w/ Nelson Velazquez - Episode 178	100
Dolores Diaz, Wendy Schmidt, Lisa Scott, and Laura Scruggs Write a Holiday Show - Episode 210	100
Zoe Sjogerman, King Lear, and the Eleusis Collective - Episode 136	100
The Ms. Subways Mystery - Episode 86	99
Brittany Meyer: Fake TED Talks, Arm Wrestling, and Strip Joker - Episode 203	99
Bryn and Nilsa Leave the Show - Episode 111	98
Corky Siegel Plays Chamber and Symphonic Blues - Episode 159	98
The Parallel Universe Door-Slam Farce and Other Worlds of Leonard Franks - Episode 30	98
Dan Rybicky and 10 Years of Almost There - Episode 161	97
Don Hall Directs All the Events - Episode 158	97
Creative Jakub - Episode 87	97
Ironically Mortified with Jill Howe - Episode 74	97
Captain Ambivalent’s Ongoing Adventure - Episode 148	97
The Man Who Would Be Josh Force: Justin Shaffer - Episode 99	96
The Once and Future Performink w/ Abigail Trabue and Jason Epperson - Episode 144	96
Mariana Green Directed Davy Tomei as Punk Grandpa - Episode 98	95
Bryn, Nilsa, Laura, and Jake - Episode 157	95
Rachel Edwards Harvith - Episode 110	95
Late Nite Slam Futurist: Lisa Buscani - Episode 151	95
Bryn and Nilsa 200th Episode Spectacular!	94
Bureaucracy and Yoga - Episode 104	94
Meghan Beals. Artistic Director of Chicago Dramatists - Episode 109	93
Mitch O’Connell Draws Everything Sexy - Episode 167	93
Ada Cheng’s Change - Episode 198	93
Ronen Kohn and Time Crash - Episode 149	93
Greg Allen is in his Third Decade of Neo Futurism - Episode 141	93
Carolyn Hoerdemann was/is a Time Traveling Rockstar - Episode 133	92
Chris Jones: Chief Theater Critic of the Tribune - Episode 154	92
Black Bryn? White Warren? Warren Phynix Johnson - Episode 47	92
Jeremy Wechsler Is A Theater Revolutionary (Part 2 of 2) - Episode 97	91
Patricia and Kendra and Leela - Episode 90	91
Sean Masterson and the Theater of Magic - Episode 132	91
New Place and Stuff in Our Lives - Episode 197	91
Jamey and Susan Barnard - Episode 195	91
Anna Lucero & Mary Rose O’Connor: A Little Nod and a Big Middle Finger to Beckett - Episode 142	91
Melissa DuPrey and a New Intern - Episode 105	90
What has Laura Force Scruggs been doing this Year? - Episode 156	90
Man Interviews Cat - Episode 78	90
John Frigo and Sherri McGlothlin’s Artistic Life - Episode 40	90
Movement and Viewpoints and Silliness and Slugs: A Mildly Explicit Hostful- Episode 60	90
Lori Myers and Not In Our House - Episode 146	90
Rhonda Findley and David Gordin and Fun Rock’n and Pop City - Episode 164	89
David Zak, The Bailiwick, South Korea, Hammond, and Priscilla - Episode 171	89
Bob D’Haene Hasn’t Been To Bed, Yet- Episode 64	89
Andrew Seller: Laura’s Muse - Episode 89	89
Meredith Lyons Will Kick You In The Throat - Episode 28	89
Cheryl Coons: Story Catcher, Guild Representative, and Resident Playwright - Episode 134	88
Les Scruggs at Snake the Lake - Episode 191	88
“The Finder of the Lucky Devil” and Megan Mackie - Episode 187	88
Corson Barnard: Straight out of College - Episode 212	88
One Year Anniversary Hostfull - Episode 51	88
Aamira Martinez has not seen Blade Runner - Episode 35	88
Jay Nagle’s Ecologic and Epic Life - Episode 103	87
On the Importance of Fun - Episode 80	87
Santa is the Baum w/ Laura and Jake - Episode 202	87
Laura, Jake, 2017, and Beyond - Episode 211	86
The Heart of it All with David Holcombe - Episode 43	86
A Structured Conversation with Elizabeth Cambridge - Episode 194	86
Jacob Reyes Brings His Own Theater - Episode 201	85
An Oddly Down Bryn - Episode 57	85
Mrs. Scruggs’ Wild Ride and Ms. Reyna’s Magical Times - Episode 42	85
Leslie Scruggs and the wily accountant - Episode 39	85
It’s Jake’s Birthday - Episode 91	84
Tanner Melvin and the Elgin Fringe - Episode 152	84
New Beginnings - Episode 102	84
Bookings! Mischief! Distractions! - Episode 38	84
Leigh Barrett has Blade will Babe - Episode 140	84
July 13th, 2018 “Cabaret on the Lake” - Episode 227	84
I’m Hotter Than You Are - Episode 67	83
We found Lindsay Porter’s Lost Internet Presence - Episode 93	83
3 Texans Take New York w/ David Davila/Benjamin B. Wright - Episode 45	83
“Uncle Fun: You’re The One” Update - Episode 177	83
Dax Valdes Knows How To Hustle- Episode 62	83
Danger Circus at the Last Abbie Fest - Episode 147	83
Working Yes, Cash No - Episode 106	83
Megan Mackie and The Princess Peach Conspiracy - Episode 173	82
Short Update on our Last 5 or 6 Things - Episode 226	82
Felisha McNeal Chooses Dream Explosion - Episode 108	82
The Condition of Femme - Episode 217	82
Tonya, Nancy, Priscilla, and Jon Martinez - Episode 153	81
Erika Arneson Puts The Art In Barter - Episode 48	81
Mare Swallow’s Life Adaptation - Episode 155	80
The Devil and Anna Lee Anderson - Episode 83	80
Rick Olson, Stephanie Palko, and The Edge of Orion Theatre - Episode 189	80
Come To Play and Make Something Cool - Episode 81	78
Maureen Smith and Daniel Johanson of Scapi Magazine - Episode 228	78
Jake, Laura, Ladie M, Uncle Fun, and Stand Up Comedy - Episode 215	78
A Modicum of Modesty - Episode 94	77
Tim Ferro: Best Color Man in the Business - Episode 53	77
Baltimore Here We Come - Episode 229	77
A Lifetime of Music with Jon Spiegel and Some Storytelling - Episode 218	76
“Wicked, Immoral, Utterly Bad!” with Pete Blatchford - Episode 230	76
‘Do Not Submit’ to Karen Genelly - Episode 184	76
Ellyzabeth Adler and Danztheatre - Episode 180	76
Mistakes Were Made and Triumphs Were Wrought- Episode 75	75
Taking Care of Each Other and Ourselves - Episode 69	75
Finding Your Happiness With Geoff Barnes - Episode 32	74
Kelly Bolton as ‘Andy Drodgenous’ - Episode 107	74
The Price of Fame - Episode 95	74
Rosina and Ryan Snow, Jazz, Song, and the Law - Episode 216	74
Chris Kriz Designs Many Sounds for Many Theaters - Episode 31	73
Big Scary Fur Teeth, Love Rat and Vegetable Candy- Episode 73	72
The Flattening of the Pyramid- Episode 71	70
Amy Crider, Self Producing, Leda, and Metadata - Episode 213	69
Uncle Fun: You’re the One premiere Q&A&Performances - Episode 225	69
Drugs, Richard J. Miller, The Facts, and Society - Episode 214	67
June 8th Three Cat Cabaret on the Lake - Episode 224	67
A Hostful Episode - Episode 29	66
Thom Britton and Jonathan Pritchard Play with the Dead - Episode 231	65
Chels Harvey talks social media, podcasting, and writing - Episode 220	61
Uncle Fun Documentary is Done! - Episode 219	60
Daniela Thome’s Journey to “Not For Sale” - episode 233	60
Surreal Cupcake Comedian Martin Felshman - Episode 223	57
Lauren Sowa of Form & Pressure Films - Episode 235	55
Fairy 101 at the WasteShed w/ Laura Scruggs - Episode 222	54
David A. Holcombe and “Blacksite: The Musical!” - Episode 232	54
Laura’s New Documentary Subject - Episode 221	49
Cabaret on the Lake September 14th, 2018 - Episode 234	46

Notes:

• These numbers are for all time, not just the first 90 days after release.
• I realize that a non-insignificant number of these downloads could be ‘bots.’ Sigh.
• Episodes that were re-released had their numbers combined.
• Libsyn, my podcast host, made getting these numbers difficult so I wrote a Ruby program to merge the files they provided and it was way harder than I thought for various super nerdy reasons. That tale could be a whole post…
• The biggest problem of the podcast is that no one wants to spend an hour every week with an artist that they have never heard of and sometimes have no ability to experience (Ex: Chicago only performances/performers). I genuinely liked the artists and, like my father, most had never had someone study their career and ask thoughtful questions in a long form interview. Getting out the story of the vast underclass of artists (underpaid not under-talented) felt like a worthwhile goal but getting people to listen was a problem. We were not “sticky.” Listeners would tune in for an episode about their cousin/friend/workmate/boyfriend who was in theater/a band/to eating fire and then disappear.