House of Crouse

MICHAEL TOWNSEND + MATT JOHNSON + JAY MCCAROL

House of Crouse

Show Notes

On the Saturday February 21, 2026 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet artist Michael Townsend.

Have you heard about the Netflix movie “Secret Mall Apartment”? It’s the wildly popular story, set in the early two thousands, about a group of eight young artists and friends from Rhode Island who secretly built and lived in a hidden 750-square-foot apartment inside the busy Providence Place Mall in Providence, Rhode Island.

They discovered an unused "nowhere space" in the mall's structure, snuck in furniture, tapped into electricity, constructed walls (including smuggling in over 2 tons of cinderblock to build a fortified, lockable entrance), and even furnished it with everyday items like a TV, gaming system, books, and couches—all while filming much of the process themselves.

They lived there undetected for four years (until 2007), when they were eventually caught and charged with trespassing.

Then, Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol of “Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie.”

The movie, which blends footage from the 2007–2009 web series of the same name, begins with unemployed musicians Matt and Jay (Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol) hatching a plan to land a gig at the legendary Rivoli on Queen Street West in Toronto. Without contacting the club, writing any songs or practising, they decide to parachute off the CN Tower into the Skydome during a baseball game to announce the show in front of a stunned crowd.

What could go wrong? Well, lots.

No spoilers here, but when their skydiving stunt doesn’t get them the Rivoli gig, they (along with their camera guy Jared Raab) find themselves accidentally traveling back to the year 2008, and struggling to find a way back to the future.

More from House of Crouse

Oct 18, 2026

On the Saturday October 17 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we meet filmmaker David Greaves. His father William produced more than 200 documentaries and wrote and directed more than half of these. He garnered many accolades for his work, including four Emmy nominations. In 1972 he assembled gathering of artists, writers, musicians, and organizers at Duke Ellington’s Harlem townhouse to film their to recollections on the cultural, artistic, and intellectual movement of the 1920s and 30s known as the Harlem Renaissance.

Oct 11, 2026

On the Saturday October 10, 2026 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet Kelly Peterson, widow of the legendary jazz pianist Oscar Peterson, and the driving force behind the preservation and celebration of his extraordinary musical legacy. Today she joins me to discuss Oscar Peterson: World Tour, the expansive new centennial collection featuring previously unreleased live performances spanning nearly three decades, accompanied by a richly illustrated book of never-before-seen personal materials.

Sep 27, 2026

On the Saturday October 10, 2026 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet Kristen Joiner. She is a writer, activist, and producer. After two decades in nonprofit and human-rights work, she was asked to co-author the memoir of disability rights leader Judy Heumann—a collaboration that became “Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist,” and later the YA book “Rolling Warrior.”

Sep 27, 2026

On the Saturday September 26, 2026 edition of The Richard Crouse we meet Alex Spring, a bold new voice in crime fiction whose debut novel, Lower City, is in fine bookstores everywhere.

Sep 20, 2026

On the Saturday September 19, 2026 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we meet award-winning Canadian journalist Greg Hudson. He is the author of the memoir “The Missionary: A Memoir of Superheroes, Sin & Saving Souls for the Mormon Church,” a witty and heartfelt account of growing up Mormon in 1980s Edmonton, serving a mission in Ontario, and ultimately finding his own path.

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