Popular podcasters to bring show home to Huntington
‘My Brother, My Brother and Me’ brothers to record live at City Hall
More stories from Kyle Gibson
Three native Huntingtonians are bringing their popular podcast to Huntington’s City Hall just days before Christmas.
Justin, Travis and Griffin McElroy, who host the podcast “My Brother, My Brother and Me,” are scheduled to do a live recording of their annual holiday program “Home for the Candlenights” at 8 p.m. Dec. 21.
The McElroy brothers, whose show consistently ranks in the top 25 on the iTunes podcast chart (sometimes cracking the fluctuating top ten), record the podcast weekly and describe it as “An advice show for the modern era,” in which the brothers attempt to provide advice from user questions and from the website Yahoo! Answers.
“I feel like, earlier on, it was a lot of relationship stuff, but there’s really only so many times you can answer ‘I don’t know how to meet people,’ and so I feel like we’ve sort of moved away from that and into more uncommon stuff, which has really been interesting to watch as the show goes on,” Griffin, the youngest McElroy brother, said.
As for the content from the other outlet, Yahoo! Answers, Griffin said some truly remarkable questions can be unearthed from the site.
“It’s where content on the Internet goes to die,” Griffin said. “So we, and by we I also mean our listeners, spelunk down into those horrible caves and bring back the gems from within to us. We sort of pick the best ones from there, and that’s the other half of the show.”
The show started in 2010 and has produced 230 episodes to date, with occasional live shows in large cities such as New York, Los Angeles and more locally in Cincinnati, Ohio. However, this will be the first show the brothers have done in their hometown. Travis, the middle brother, said the timing felt right to finally do a show in Huntington.
“We’ve wanted to do a show in Huntington for a long time, the time has just never been quite right,” Travis said. “For whatever reason, this year just felt right!”
Travis recently started a second podcast, called “Bunker Buddies with Andie and Travis,” which is a show discussing tips to prepare for the end of the world. He said he really enjoys the authority that podcasters wield over their content.
“For me, it’s the amount of creative control,” Travis said. “No one is ever going to cancel your show and no one is ever going to edit your scripts. With very little investment, anyone can do it. Plus, it’s just fun and I am a huge fan. I listen to tons of podcasts and am just happy to be a part of it.”
Justin, the oldest McElroy brother, said there are a few reasons to be nervous doing a show in your hometown, but also said the brothers are excited to perform for friends and family as well.
“I’ll be honest, I’m a little freaked out about it,” Justin said. “Live shows are always kind of daunting and we haven’t done a whole lot of them and even then we’ve done live shows in a lot of big cites. There are so many people that are going to be there that have known us since we were in diapers, so it’s a little intimidating, but we’re really excited and we think it’s going to be a blast.”
The brothers started the show mainly as a means to keep in contact with each other. Along the way, though, Griffin said the brothers have done more than just keep contact: they’ve made memories.
“My favorite memories of doing this show are some of my favorite memories of my whole life,” Griffin said. “I remember walking off the stage at Second City, the first time we ever did a live show, on the main stage at Second City, and the three of us just like, high fiving, just over and over. It was the happiest any of us had ever been at that point. So, to share that and moments like that with them has totally brought us closer.”
Even though “My Brother, My Brother and Me” has achieved a loyal listenership, the brothers said they originally were not sure if the show would be a success. Justin said it can be surprising that the show has achieved such popularity.
“It’s been shocking,” Justin said. “Still to this day, I’m surprised how many people like it. We recorded it mainly so we could kind of keep in better contact with each other, so it was very selfish when we made it. We always said ‘If people listen, great. If not, we were having fun doing it.’ It has been so gratifying that people have picked up on it and stuck with it. It’s been super flattering.”
The brothers also have ties to the place they will be performing, the Huntington City Hall auditorium, where they did community theater shows as children. Griffin said this makes the homecoming even more surreal.
“I can’t even emotionally process it at this point,” Griffin said. “City Hall auditorium is where I did a lot of children’s theater growing up and again, it’s another place where I have a ton of memories from my childhood and teenage years. We’ve sold more tickets for this podcast than any of the shows I did growing up, which were some of the biggest things for me in my young life.”
Justin and his wife, Dr. Sydnee McElroy, will also serve as the opening act, performing their podcast, “Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine.” Whereas the main act will have to tone down its language, Justin said that there will be no problem with “Sawbones.”
“We are trying to be a little more family friendly, content wise, with ‘My Brother, My Brother and Me,’ but Sawbones has always been profanity free. So, that one is going to be a bit easier to do in front of the hometown crowd I think, but Sydney and I always have a blast.”
The show takes place just four days before Christmas, but that is not stopping fans from around the country and outside of the U.S. from making it to the show. As of Dec. 15, the show will have guests from 28 states, Canada and Switzerland. Griffin said it is sometimes mind boggling to think of fans traveling for a podcast during the holiday season.
“It’s the around Christmas part I can’t comprehend,” Griffin said. “We’ve had people come to our live shows from far away and as a performer it’s like the most intimidating thing ever.”
As of Dec. 15, there were still a limited number of seats left for the show. Those seeking more information can find it through the “My Brother, My Brother and Me” website.
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