INSPIRATION / FLORIDA MEN ON FLORIDA MAN
Josh Mills &
Wayne McCarty
Plenty left
to talk about.
A familiar place.
A fresh reason to be curious.
“Florida Man” is an efficient phrase. Two words, and an audience has already started imagining the headline.
That is a useful entrance for a comedy show. It also leaves a great deal of Florida outside the door.
What interests me about Josh Mills and Wayne McCarty’s Florida Men on Florida Man is the space they keep making around that familiar premise. Their subject can include local history, a guest’s particular skill, a listener’s idea or an occasion worth celebrating. The joke supplies somewhere to begin. Curiosity supplies somewhere to go.
I admire that willingness to keep finding more inside a recognizable idea. A place can be funny without becoming exhausted by the funniest thing people already think they know about it.
Florida is especially rewarding territory for that kind of attention. Stay interested long enough and the state begins to acquire addresses, people and stories that a two-word description could never hold.
Give the story
an address.
Consider a simple production choice: go to the place.
In its coverage of the show’s Halloween episode at the Wonder House in Bartow, LALtoday noted that the recording happened at the house itself.
I like the curiosity expressed by that decision. A place becomes worth arranging a visit around. Somebody has to work out how to bring the show there. The location gets to shape the occasion.
There is a kind of respect in giving local subject matter that much physical attention. It says that an interesting story might be close enough to drive to, and still deserve the effort of going.
A state is made of places that mean something to the people who know them. When a show goes looking for those places, its map gets more detailed. “Florida” begins to sound less like a category and more like somewhere people live.
JOSH. JOSHUA. JOSH. JOSH. JOSH.
History has
a sense of humor.
The published notes for episode 391 describe a wonderfully specific arrangement. Josh and Wayne welcome stylist Joshua Vasquez, then explore three men from Florida history who share the name Josh. A back-to-school quiz and listener letters are part of the episode too.
There are many respectable ways to organize historical material. “Everybody is named Josh” deserves its own small place among them.
What I enjoy about that premise is the permission it gives people to approach a subject. You do not need to establish yourself as a history person before the conversation starts. You can arrive because the arrangement is funny and discover that you want to know who these people were.
That is an appealing creative instinct. An ordinary point of connection becomes a reason to gather several stories together. The structure has enough character to feel like something these particular hosts would make.
Keep the premise clear. Leave the conversation alive.
Listeners have
ideas too.
For Josh’s birthday, episode 385 included a quiz about what he would do, a return to favorite stories and investment pitches submitted by fans in the spirit of Shark Tank. The microphone credits included Jess Nieman, Emily Grabill and Luke West alongside Josh and Wayne.
I find the fan pitches especially interesting. They ask something enjoyable of a listener: bring an idea we can do something with.
That invitation gives participation a shape. People have a reason to imagine, invent and submit. The hosts have new material whose origins reach beyond the people already in the room.
A birthday episode also allows the show to remember itself. Stories can gain a second life because somebody has come to associate them with a person. Familiarity becomes part of what an audience is invited to enjoy.
There is warmth in making room for that. A long-running creative project accumulates occasions, returning names and shared references. Celebrating them lets the people involved acknowledge that they have made something together.
These choices make me interested in Josh and Wayne as hosts. They give a recognizable show several ways to stay open: to a place, to a guest, to something a listener has thought up.
That openness takes a certain comfort with other people contributing to the result. A guest brings a different set of associations. A submitted idea gives the conversation material the hosts did not originate. The pleasure can come from what happens when those contributions meet.
I admire creators who are willing to leave that space. Their own point of view can remain strong while somebody else has room to be interesting.
It is also a generous way to approach somewhere familiar. The longer we know a place, the easier it becomes to answer questions about it before anyone has finished asking. Curiosity keeps that familiarity from hardening. It leaves the possibility that a house, a neighbor or a name in an old story might still surprise us.
Familiar voices can take an audience a long way if they keep finding worthwhile ground to cover.
Josh and Wayne have given themselves a good place to keep looking.
About the show
Who are Josh Mills and Wayne McCarty?
Josh Mills and Wayne McCarty are hosts of Florida Men on Florida Man, a podcast combining comedy with Florida stories, history, legends and lore.
What does Florida Men on Florida Man cover?
The show includes Florida headlines and historical stories, along with guests, quizzes and listener contributions. Some episodes have also been recorded at local places, including the Wonder House in Bartow.
Where can I find the podcast?
The official Florida Men on Florida Man website links to the show and its listening platforms. The episode links in this article open the corresponding published show notes on Apple Podcasts.
Sources: the official Florida Men on Florida Man website; LALtoday’s coverage of the Wonder House recording; the show’s published notes for episodes 385 and 391. The episode discussion here draws on those notes.
Written by Rob Urban. For more of his writing, perspective and consulting, meet Rob.