Most people love stories. Intriguing stories. Scary stories. News stories. Stories that make us go <\/span>\u201cHuh? What?!\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

But what makes a story funny? Or, better yet, \u2018story worthy\u2019?<\/span><\/p>\n

Christine Blackburn, the host and producer of <\/span>Story Worthy<\/span><\/i>, knows. She has produced over 700 episodes of the podcast and had countless conversations with comedians and personalities around the world, from Kevin Nealon to Larry King.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat makes a good story is change,\u201d<\/span><\/i> answered Christine in a recent interview with <\/span>Podcast Magazine\u00ae<\/span><\/i>. <\/span>\u201cWhen something happens, that is what makes a good story. It\u2019s not demonstrative, like,<\/span><\/i> \u2018Oh yeah, I went to the store today.\u2019 <\/span>It\u2019s more than that:<\/span><\/i> \u2018I went to the store because I was out of toilet paper. And then, this cashier offered to give me her toilet paper. It was the sweetest moment in the world. And that\u2019s how I got toilet paper.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The majority of Christine\u2019s guests are comedians, but she does make exceptions. <\/span>\u201cI like people who understand brevity and can tell a story in a concise way,\u201d<\/span><\/i> she added. <\/span>\u201cPeople who come on my show may share a tragic story, but they are not going to tell it in a slow and sad way. It\u2019s more of a quick conversation between two comedians just hanging out.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cI think you can tell a lot about people by the story they choose to share,\u201d<\/span><\/i> Christine continued. <\/span>\u201cMost people have five to ten good stories in them\u2026 so why did they choose the one they did, specifically?\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/h3>\n

Many times, true stories are much more hilarious than those fabricated. With literally hundreds of episodes to choose from, <\/span>Story Worthy<\/span><\/i> offers a number of funny tales.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you think of any famous comedian, you probably know his or her story,\u201d <\/span><\/i>Christine reflected. <\/span>\u201cYou could probably explain who the person is, because s\/he comes from a truthful place. That\u2019s one of the things I love about <\/span><\/i>Story Worthy<\/span>. When you ask people to bring a true story to the table, they\u2019re probably going to bring a good one.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Christine also reflected on the accomplishment of passing the 700-episode mark. \u201c<\/span>I\u2019ve never missed a week. In fact, back in 2014, I set a goal of doing two shows a week for five months. What I didn\u2019t realize is that I was asking for another hour of people\u2019s time. So, people ended up choosing one of the two to watch, and I didn\u2019t really grow the audience. The downloads didn\u2019t really change. This strategy didn\u2019t pay off, so I went back to doing one show a week.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cPodcasting is an art. There\u2019s no right or wrong. Do what you want to do, whether that\u2019s podcasting from the basement, bedroom, closet, or studio. It doesn\u2019t matter. But what does matter are your expectations. What do you want to do? Do you want to grow an audience? If you do, remember that you are asking for somebody\u2019s time. Some people haven\u2019t even gotten through<\/span><\/i> Ozark <\/span>yet! So, an hour is a lot,\u201d<\/span><\/i> Christine said smiling.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although there hasn\u2019t been a new episode of <\/span>Ozark<\/span><\/i>\u2014Christine\u2019s favorite Netflix show\u2014in well over a year, she is excited about the upcoming new season. She is also enthusiastic about the future of her podcast and the podcasting industry as a whole.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still in the infancy stage. There\u2019s so much room to grow! We\u2019re only going up. The whole podcasting industry is so exciting. You have to hang onto your hat, because while podcasting has gotten a lot better, it\u2019s also become very corporate. It\u2019s very hard for indie podcasters, like myself, to stay relevant. Where I used to get 60,000 downloads an episode, I now get 5,000. That\u2019s a big drop! It\u2019s hard, because all the stars have come into the space now. So when Conan O\u2019Brien comes into picture, what do I do? Dax Shepard, Katie Couric, all these people come in with existing massive audiences. That\u2019s why I don\u2019t do this for the money. It has to be the art first. You have to love it. <\/span><\/i>Story Worthy<\/span> is always in my world, and I DO absolutely love it! That\u2019s the most important thing. I\u2019m super happy about the show. I love talking to all sorts of people.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Christine has certainly grown the show\u2014publicists continually reach out to her. And with over a decade of podcasting under her belt, she has earned the right to be selective and chooses her guests wisely. Some of the request for appearances are funny stories in and of themselves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have one right now! This guy keeps hounding me to put on his<\/span><\/i> \u2018mind-healer expert\u2019 <\/span>who has discovered the fifth dimension,\u201d<\/span><\/i> she explained in a very animated and humorous manner, complete with hand gestures and a funny face. <\/span>\u201cI\u2019m like,<\/span><\/i> \u2018Dude, that\u2019s so far out of my wheelhouse.\u2019 <\/span>I don\u2019t find that particular topic interesting.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Comedy is definitely in her wheelhouse, however. <\/span>\u201cI interview comedians because they entertain me,\u201d<\/span><\/i> Christine admitted.<\/span><\/h3>\n

In fact, it was a comedian who sparked her interest in creating what eventually became <\/span>Story Worthy<\/span><\/i>. <\/span>\u201cI was a huge fan of Adam Carolla,\u201d <\/span><\/i>Christine reminisced. <\/span>\u201cHe was on a radio station out here in LA. Then, the format of the station changed to Latin music, or salsa, or something\u2026 and everybody lost their job at the same time. Nobody saw it coming. Every show, including Adam Carolla\u2019s, gone. It was a big deal. That was 2009, I think.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then, Adam got a podcast. Boom! That was eye-opening to me. I understood why it was successful,\u201d<\/span><\/i> Christine said with enthusiasm. It also piqued her interest, and she began listening to other podcasts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Her other major influence was The Moth. <\/span>\u201cI was going to The Moth, a storytelling show out of New York, a lot. It\u2019s been around a long time, and now, there are Moths in all different cities. It\u2019s a nonprofit where people tell true stories,\u201d <\/span><\/i>detailed Christine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She also explained how her experience at The Moth was inspiring but also irritating. <\/span>\u201cPeople would tell a five-minute story, and then they were gone. That was so frustrating, because I always had questions. <\/span><\/i>\u2018Wait, wait, wait! I have a question over here!\u2019\u201d she mimicked.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d chase them to their cars, going<\/span><\/i> \u2018Excuse me! What happened next?!\u2019\u201d Christine yelled, re-enacting her parking lot chase.\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Fortunately, nothing negative resulted from Christine\u2019s pursual of the storytellers. But she did subsequently win at The Moth three times for her own storytelling skills.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The concepts of The Moth and <\/span>The Adam Carolla Show<\/span><\/i> collided in her mind, and the seed for <\/span>Story Worthy<\/span><\/i> was planted. Apparently, that seed sprouted during a conversation in Big Bear, CA:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was up in Big Bear with my ex-husband. One day at breakfast, I said, <\/span><\/i>\u2018Here\u2019s what I\u2019m going to do\u2014I\u2019m going to start a podcast and interview comedians. They\u2019re going to tell me true stories, and the stories will be the names of the episodes.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes, stating a plan out loud to another person, or even yourself, is the very impetus needed to put that plan in motion. Such was the case here, and having that accountability led to over 700 episodes. Christine also credits her ex-husband with developing the name, <\/span>Story Worthy<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The most important question for this veteran podcaster at this stage may very well be <\/span>\u201cWhat are you going to do for episode 1,000?\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe I\u2019ll try to get Adam Carolla back,\u201d<\/span><\/i> Christine answered without hesitation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After a bit of contemplation, she added, <\/span>\u201cI\u2019ll look for the biggest people I can find. There are still several comedians I would really like to have on.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

So, if you\u2019re a comedian who not only stars in some of the biggest movies and arenas, but who also loves to tell stories, go ahead and put in your request to be in the spotlight for Christine\u2019s 1,000<\/span>th<\/span> episode of <\/span>Story Worthy<\/span><\/i> now. It\u2019s a good bet that the podcast will be around well beyond that, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

January 2022 Issue<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most people love stories. Intriguing stories. Scary stories. News stories. Stories that make us go \u201cHuh? What?!\u201d But what makes a story funny? Or, better yet, \u2018story worthy\u2019? Christine Blackburn, the host and producer of Story Worthy, knows. She has produced over 700 episodes of the podcast and had countless conversations with comedians and personalities around the world, from Kevin Nealon to Larry King. \u201cWhat makes a good story is change,\u201d answered Christine in a recent interview with Podcast Magazine\u00ae. \u201cWhen something happens, that is what makes a good story. It\u2019s not demonstrative, like, \u2018Oh yeah, I went to the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":12289,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2870,2874,167,2872,280,2873,2189,2871,2868,2869],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n