Show Notes
Helen Zaltzman, host of the legendary podcast The Allusionist stops by the show to talk about her home town of Royal Tumbridge Wells, England, a town famous for writing complaint letters. She talks about a local sausage shop that was a front for embezzlement, meeting Dr Who in a book shop, and “Killing and Maiming” man. She builds our town a headless statue garden, a sausage store, and a “brass rubbing center” … you’ll have to listen to find out what that means.
If you want to take part in our first ever live Town Hall - be sure to sign up for our PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/TheTownShow
The Town Show is sponsored by No Smoke Coffee - "No Smoke. No Mirrors. Just great coffee." Head to NoSmokeCoffee.com and use the promo code TOWNSHOW20 at checkout to get 20% off your order.
Follow us on Instagram: @TheTownShow YouTube: @TheTownShowPod TikTok: @TheTownShow
Chapters
00:00 The Fantasy Suite Dilemma 02:57 The Podcasting Journey 05:52 Life in Vancouver 09:00 Growing Up in Tunbridge Wells 12:02 Local Legends and Controversies 14:54 The Artistic Legacy of a Sculptor Father 17:03 Navigating Youth and Parental Expectations 18:54 The Quirks of a Small Town 21:00 Reflections on Change and Nostalgia 23:03 The Unlikely Celebrity Connection 27:52 Cultural Backgrounds and Accents 30:24 Imaginary Attractions and Statues 33:42 The Mechanics of Statues 36:50 The Headless Statue Dilemma 39:41 Brass Rubbings and Sponsorships 42:02 Childhood Memories and Coloring Books 44:54 The Brass Rubbings Experience 48:01 Sausage Shop Shenanigans 51:09 Corruption and Sausage Economics 53:01 The Town Show Wrap-Up Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from The Town Show
Ryan joins Mark and Chris live (to tape) from Seoul, South Korea. He tells stories about his travels including being the perpetrator of cultural faux pas on a train that involved the hit Korean cartoon “Bread Barbershop”. Inspired by this Mark and Ryan create our very own classic cartoon series for the town called Spice Rack featuring Pancake Man. Our town also gets an insurance company called Off Broadway Insurance where most of the employees just want to be actors.
It’s all been leading to this - the wrap up of Season 1 of The Outskirts - our premium, serialized narrative that takes place on the outskirts of our town. Will Engle get away with faking his death? Will we ever learn Sequel’s real name? Will the mystery of the Labyrinth be solved? What is going on with that Mad Max type gang? Will Carole and The Sad Man ever reunite with their wife/ex-wife?
Tom Hill, part of the comedy/theatre duo Hip.Bang! comes on the show to talk about their new show about You Bet - which is all about gambling. And he also talks about their comedy album Hi-Fi Comedy Kit. Tom brings a very precious and very serious improv troupe to our town by the name of Naked Grapes. The internal politics are crazy. We meet a man by the name of Tylanosaurous Rex. Tom also builds the Central Community Gardens for our town. Tylanosaurous Rex gets a plot. Lastly, we take a visit to our pyrite mine.
Emmett Hall - video game music maker and member of thrash metal band Necronado returns to the show to talk about the new neighborhood he’s moved into in Vancouver, but he puts in New York terms so every can understand. Emmett creates “Van Land” an attraction that is basically just 6 rusted vans on someone’s front lawn. We also get a chain eatery called Chagrinie’s that moves into a neighborhood to gentrify it.
Actor Howard Dai joins us for our “on-site” episode, where Mark and Ryan host from the outdoor gazebo at The Caravan Farm Theatre in beautiful Armstrong, British Columbia. Howard talks about his time growing up in Taiwan, getting in trouble for throwing rocks in a pond, and a mysterious “Journey Man”. He brings a night market to our town (complete with some sketchy vendors), hints at the beginnings of an AI revolution, and adds a few new updates to some existing town lore.