August 18, 2023 • 32 mins
The Ben Maller Show Meet N Greet & Brave New World Comics 6 Year Anniversary Event •Saturday 8/19 •2pm-5pm (store is open regular hours)
• Address: 22722 Lyons Ave #2, Newhall, CA 91321
•Meet N Greet with members of Fox Sports Radio’s The Ben Maller Show, and the Maller Militia from 2pm-4pm! Meet the man himself, Big Ben Maller, producer Justin Cooper, and Buffalo Sabres hater Eddie Garcia! Ben has promised to bring his famous cookies, available to all until eaten!
•Find Andy The Comic Book Guy and say “Go Bills!” Or “Squish the Fish!” to receive a complimentary The Ben Maller Show Meet N Greet Brave New World Comics Store Exclusive Variant Pack, featuring up to 5 store exclusive variant comics (valued up to $100), including THE WALKING DEAD #1, DUNE #1, POWER RANGERS #1, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #100, and more! Packs given away to the first 30 Militia members who say the secret words.
•LIVE Performance by Juggling Sensation/Comedian/Co-Host of the Brave New World Comics LIVE Claim Show, Ivan Pecel
•Artist Garry Brown signs and sketches the Brave New World Comics BABYTEETH #17 store exclusive variant, plus his BLACK ROAD graphic novels
•$6 Sketches of any character or athlete of your choice by the first daughter of Brave New World Comics, Elizabeth Liegl, Andy’s 12-year old daughter
•Pop Up Booths with local small businesses, including: •Stuffed Memories (custom plushes) •Double d Tees (custom t-shirts) •The Olde World Apothecary •Writer Liam Dow signs his creator owned comic book series, The Adventures of the Gray Hat Hacker •Fundraise with veteran Peter Gaspar at his Climb For Heroes charity for disabled veterans booth •Storewide sale taking place all day, with sale details announced the day before the event!
•Spend $25, get a $20 gift card promotion happening all day until 5pm
•Epic Raffle LIVE @ 4pm, raffling off over $1500 worth of prizes, including a $100 store gift card and more! Showing up to the event by 4pm nets you a free raffle ticket, plus score an additional ticket for every $25 spent. Over 10 winning tickets will win over $1500 in prizes. Must be present @ 4pm to claim your prize when your ticket is pulled.
#BenMaller
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Kubbooms.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
If you thought four hours a day, twelve hundred minutes
a week was enough, think again. He's the last remnants
of the old Republic, a sol fashion of fairness. He
treats crackheads in the ghetto gutter the same as the
rich pill poppers in the penthouse. Wow to clearing House
of hot takes, break free for something special. The Fifth
(00:23):
Hour with Ben Maller starts right now.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
In the air everywhere.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Welcome in the beginning of the Fifth Hour with Ben
Mahler and Danny G.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Radio, The Weekend is upon us.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
This kicking off the weekend, our Friday Funday and a
special podcast. Today, special pod Danny G will return. He
is scheduled to return on Saturday. But today Danny is
away and we are going to chat with our guy
(01:01):
from the Overnight Show.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
You hear him calling in randomly.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
He sends a lot of messages on the Twitter machine
or x or whatever it is called. Andy the Comic
Book Guy is stopping by today to join us. Now,
why are we having Andy the Comic Book Guy on
Not just because he's got the gift of gab and
he's a fun character on the show, and he's part
(01:27):
of what we do on The Ben Mahler Show. But
more importantly, if you look at your calendar, today is
August eighteenth, Tomorrow on the nineteenth, it is on like
Donkey Kong, kind of like a Donkey Kong cartoon, because
we will have the Malor Meet and Greet, and Andy
the comic book Guy is kind enough to be hosting
(01:50):
this event. We were looking for a venue in southern California.
We did one in Minnesota several months ago. I did
a flash mob Mallar meet and greet back in the day,
which was last last week, actually last Thursday, in the
state of Maine. And I try to hang out with
people as much as I can when I travel around,
(02:11):
and life takes you to certain places.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
But in southern California, this is obviously the base.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
And so if you're a fan of the show, we
have so many great listeners in La Orange County, San Diego,
Santa Barbara, all over California. Palm springs, the high desert,
the low desert, you name it in the geography of
southern California. So I'm not expecting anyone to travel to
this from a million miles away. But if you're looking
(02:37):
for something to do tomorrow and you're a fan of
the show and you want to hang out with me,
and Eddie's going to be there at least for a
little bit. If you get there right at two o'clock,
you'll have a chance to meet Eddie, and then Cooper
Loop will be stopping by. I have a surprise. We'll
talk about it when we put Andy on here in
a second. So I am very excited about all this.
I love to go out and hang out with people,
(02:58):
even though I'm an introvert. Make the most of this
opportunity to meet people that provide me the opportunity to
continue to be a gasbag, blowhard and all that. On
the overnight and we'll get into all the specifics. They
are in the description on this podcast. Everything you need
to know is in the description box on the podcast.
It's also on the Twitter, slash x and the Facebook page,
(03:20):
so all of that is available for you if you
somehow do not grasp what we are talking about here
on this podcast, if you don't want to see stuff
written down. But it is tomorrow, and that's why we're
having Andy on today, nineteenth of August. It'll be in
the afternoon in southern California. We'll be hanging out. Andy's
got all kinds of promotions. We'll get into that, but
(03:42):
we'll get a little bit about his story. I want
to learn about Andy the Comic book Guy. Everyone's got
a story. I want to hear what Andy's story is
and how he found the show and all that. So
why don't we start down that road, Andy the Comic
Book Guy. Welcome to the Fifth Hour with myself, Ben
and Danny g Radio on assignment. Let's start with this.
(04:03):
How long have you been listening to the Overnight Show?
Speaker 4 (04:08):
You know, it's kind of funny. I've always heard the
Ben Maller Show, but I never really knew what it
was until probably maybe, like I don't know, about a
year and a half ago, where I really started to like, listen, listen,
and then I started calling in. I think this past fall,
like last fall, because of the Sabers and Eddie's constant
(04:30):
disrespect of them.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Yeah, it is offensive, and Eddie does this all the time.
He poops on certain teams that he thinks are below him,
and you Buffalo Sabers are at the very top of
his list.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
You know, he's he's a hockey snob. Andy that's what
he is.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
You know what's frustrating is the Sabers finished the season
with the exact same amount of points as the Penguins.
So and I know he's not a Penguins guy, but
he kind of is. It's his second team. He won't
ever say it is, but it is. He's it is.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Well, that's a whole different issue. The second thing with Eddie,
and we've been through this. He says he's a Steeler fan,
but he goes to Charger games all the time. I
think he's been to like two Steeler games and yeah, yeah,
one of those quirky things. And so you started to
listening that did your life change in any way? Because
normally the reason people find the show is either they're
(05:20):
having legal problem in their life, some kind of medical
either to them, or a loved one is under the weather,
or small that do not sleep at night. Other than that,
we have no one that actually finds the show. So
which of those categories? Which of those boxes would you
fall into?
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Too many? But definitely it is the small business man
late hours one for sure. Definitely. Usually my drive homes
around midnight at one o'clock so in the morning, so.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
When you're driving home late.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Now the comic book store is not open late, so
you're hanging out there working.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
Oh absolutely not. Yeah, no, I mean I'm not like
the people think, like, oh, you're just like reading comics
or like, you know, playing Warhammer games. No. No, there's
a lot of work that goes on when the story
is closed. You got to order that stuff, you got
to unbox it, you got to sort it, you gotta
price stuff. It's a great life.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
One man band.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Obviously you have people that work for you and stuff,
but you're you're the guy, You're the steward, you're the proprietor.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
That's a big wordy proprietor.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
But that's done on a Friday morning.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
So tomorrow is the big day.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
And I always get nervous the day before a mal
Or meet and greet because you never know who's actually
going to show up. You're not sure, you know, we
hope a lot of people show up. We've done pretty
well in southern California. But you don't know what. You
don't know that in a song somewhere. So we're doing this.
We're having you on Andy to promote the fact that
if you're listening in a geographically desirable area within reasonable
(06:55):
driving distance, or if you're just bored out of your
mind and you want to come from far away. It
is tomorrow, We're going to hang out at your comic
book shop. What is the name it all? Everything's going
to be in the preview for the podcast. But for
those that don't like reading or maybe don't know how
to read, Andy, what is the name of the store
and where exactly is it located?
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Let's start with that. How about that?
Speaker 4 (07:18):
It is Brave New World Comics, located in Santa Clarita, California.
We're about a twenty five minute drive north of Pasadena.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Okay, so twenty five minutes north.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
And when I think of Santa Clarita, I think of
an amusement park, which is not that.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
Yeah, there is a six Flags Magic Mountain out there
if you just were actually like a good twenty minutes
before that. So you know, if you're coming from LA
or the southern area, Bakersfield I think is the closest
place north.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
You know, there's a McDonald's right off the highway there
that I have stopped at to use the facilities in
Santa Clarita up through central California.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
When I'm just driving with the wife. We'll stop.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
They have a really good bathroom at McDonald's, so if
anybody needs to take a whiz while visiting the comic
book shop, I'm sure you probably have bathrooms too, But
we This is a wonderful McDonald's right off the freeway,
not far from Wow.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
How much did they pay you for that? Geez cau,
I get a cut.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
It just provided great toilet paper. Just absolutely wonderful. So
you got the comic book shop Brave New World, Right,
is that the name of it?
Speaker 1 (08:26):
I get it right? Did I screw it up?
Speaker 4 (08:27):
Yes, Brave New World Comics.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Correct, Yes, this is a work I've noticed.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
I don't know you, Andy, we're gonna meet for the
first time tomorrow, but I can tell from your calls
that this is a life's passion. That this is not
I don't think this is something that you just kind
of fell into, right, this is something you wanted to
do to own your own comic.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Book shop for a while.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
I mean, kind of tell me the backstory on how
you ended up finally pulling it off, because it's not
easy to get in that world.
Speaker 4 (08:55):
It's pretty crazy. It kind of just happened. I moved
out to LA in two thousand and nine, and I
was pursuing a different career at the time, but for
a nine to five my guy that I ordered comic
books from, I traveled for the three years prior, from
like two thousand and six to two thousand and nine,
I worked as a traveling actor. It was great. It
was wonderful. So like right out of college, I only
(09:16):
played lead roles. I did it for three years. It
was wonderful. Then I was like, yeah, I'm going to
move to LA I'm going to do this shit. And
I did, and I was doing great, and I was
booking stuff. Almost booked a Super Bowl commercial, but it
was an Eminem's commercial where the red and yellow eminem
are walking down an island. Anyway, long story short, I
played in a Macated Island Man. But then they were
(09:37):
going to air it on the Spanish network instead, so
I slipped the bill. And then I got a woman pregnant. Wow,
and yeah we did it. You know, we had the baby.
She's great, she's almost thirteen now. It's crazy. But I
made a life choice and I started working in a
comic store just as a steady nine to five to
try and do something else. While that was happening, and
(09:59):
I got high by two publishers. I worked for them
for a few years. And then one of my clients
I worked with comics stores as a sales manager for
a publisher and was basically like, Hey, buy our comics.
You know, let me help you sell them in your store.
I can show you how it works. And it was great.
And then one of my clients, who owned Brave New
(10:20):
World Comics, was going to sell his store and a
call that was just like a health check in turned
into Hey, I think I'll buy your store. At the
end of the two hour conversation, so you you.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
So I had the story wrong. I thought this is
something that you know you had wanted to do when
you were young.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
I've always loved comics, don't get me wrong. I mean
I've been reading them since nineteen ninety I was six
at that time to date myself.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
But yeah, first comic that you fell in love with?
Was there one that stood out of you? Oh?
Speaker 4 (10:49):
Definitely The X Men, hands down. The X Men and
the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which have a new movie
out right now. I'm going to see it with my
daughter right after this call. As we prepare for tomorrow
nice and yeah, but uh yeah no, so it's it's uh,
definitely the X Men, hands down. Jim Lee's X Men.
Jim Ly's an artist. He's now the publisher of DC Comics,
(11:10):
which is it's kind of like if you know, you
worked as a producer at ESPN and now you like
run a show on Fox. That's kind of what Jim
Lee's career was like.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Around you bring up yeah, yeah, I had your daughter.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
You decided, Hey, I got to kind of move on
from the acting thing full time. Because the conversation working
in the radio business. My wife has a stable job,
so I'm like, my position is, at least one of
us has to have a somewhat stable job if both
has messed up jobs where we could lose our.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
Job at any moment.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
The math on that the back of the napkin math
and he is not going to work out right, It's.
Speaker 4 (11:54):
No, my fiance is they nurse that city of Hope
out here in the San Gabriel Valley, so much respect her. Yeah,
I used.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
To live right here, right near the City of Hope.
That's quite the drive though, right, that's a bit of
a drive.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
It is quite the drive.
Speaker 4 (12:08):
I mean it's not that bad. No, it's not quite
the drive at all, and everyone should make it this Saturday,
August nineteenth from two to five. Yeah, that is not
that bad of a drive if you.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Had every day, if you had to make that, you'll
like your wife to go to the City of Hope.
You know, the same, Gabriel, because you live in the
Saint Gabriel Valley. That that's a bit of a job.
But a chance to meet, you know, the stars of
the radio show and hang out with you and there's
all kinds of great things. We'll get into in a
couple of minutes about the comic book shop and what
people can expect, and it's a big event. It's not
just the malor meet and great there's other stuff going on.
(12:44):
As far as the acting, you still do it at all?
Every once in a while, do you still go down
and audition for stuff? Or are you completely done with
that part of your life.
Speaker 4 (12:50):
It's so funny you bring that up, So you know,
I really did take it seriously, and I know people
do say that, but truly, like it was a really
great time when I reflect back on it. But honestly,
like I have no desire to do it. I just
think it's so ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Now you're all grown up, you still own a comic
book shop, but I do below you. And yeah, I Austin.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
I had a lunch, like a business meeting with some guys,
and you know, we were all talking about you know,
family and kids and stuff like that. And one of
the guys is like, his daughter, she's going to school
to learn acting, and she's going to school in New
York and she wants to work on Broadway, like that's
the goal and all that, and we were talking about
the different things. Now, when you were traveling around as
(13:37):
an actor though as a thespian, were.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
You on cruise ships? Were you like, what was your gigs?
Speaker 4 (13:44):
No I refused to do cruise ships. Cruse ships really
wanted me. I was really good at the musical theater.
Thing no I did. Probably my favorite thing I did
was I played Romeo and Romeo and Juliet. I was
twenty three. It was in Jackson Hawayoming at Off Square Theater.
I think they're still around. This was probably two thousand
and seven. So if you're from Jackson haw Wyoming and
you lived there in two thousand and seven and you
(14:05):
saw rome and Juliet. You saw Andy the Comic book
Guy as Romeo.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Andy the Comic book Guy.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
I have never been to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, but when
I did stuff years ago and I did a little
work with the Dogs, one of their trainers retired and
moved to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. And I remember this guy
telling me, Oh, it's amazing the outdoors, you know, And
there's apparently a big like celebrity conclave there in Jackson
(14:33):
Hole where like people.
Speaker 4 (14:34):
Apparently Hearston Ford owns a ranch out there or something.
I don't even know. I didn't really do any of that.
I just I was in the little downtown area and
we had to perform. I didn't really have time, like
truly it was. It was rehearsed for about two and
a half weeks. We rehearsed every day every except Sundays.
We had Sundays off, and then it was perform eight
(14:54):
eight shows a week. So we performed six and then
two and one day, two and Saturday, and we were
off on Sunday. And I did that for like three
years straight, with multiple I probably worked about nine different
gigs in that time. I just went from gig to
gig to gig. It was great. And then I had
no gig lined up and I was like, oh shit,
what do I do? So I was like my buddy
(15:15):
from my buddy moved out here and he convinced me
to move out here. And I was not trained for screen,
but I had a learning curve. I was good, but
I was making headway. I really was. But it's all good.
I love where I'm at. I'm not complaining.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Now, do you get crap from your friends in Buffalo
and your family in Buffalo because you know, normally, and
I've been to Buffalo before, Southern California kind of looked
down upon among the you know, the hardy people that
grew up in Buffalo with lake lizards, and they think
everyone in La is, you know, a softy right because
you know, it's perfect weather other than it gets a
(15:50):
little too hot sometimes, so you know, back home.
Speaker 4 (15:55):
That is an interesting take, I would say, because it's true.
But I think that's a generational take. I think I'm
a millennial. I don't know if that really matters, but
I would say most of my peers that are similar
in age, everybody kind of just respects where we're all at. Honestly,
at this point in time, and there's really not a
lot of that. The only time I do get shit
(16:16):
like that, which does happen, is when I go to
at least two or three Builds games every year. So
when I go back, like I went back to the
Bengals game, and I don't give a crap what I
look like. I look like the stay Puff marshmallow Man,
but I am warm and they make fun of me
for that. They're like in a windbreaker and like a
hoodie and I'm just like, yeah, no way.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
Explain.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
That's a great point we should talk about.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
But as someone that grew up in whether even though
I got family on the East Coast and stuff. My
brother lives in Appleton, Wisconsin, which is near Green Bay,
which is one of the coldest places, kind of like
Buffalo with the weather they have there. But I was
fascinated for someone that hasn't really experienced the bad way,
Like the worst I've been to I was at a
World Series game where it snowed years ago, and that
(17:01):
was pretty bad and I got very sick after that
and that really sucked. But I haven't been to an
NFL game in the snow. I'd actually like to do it.
At some point, but there's a hole. If you want
to be warm, right, you have to you got to
get what heat packs? How many layers when you go
into a.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
Bill Oh dude, I don't fuck her oundry. I don't
know if I say I'm sorry, but it's true, like
I do not mess with the weather and I don't
mess with the water. And that's one thing they kind
of teach you growing up back in Buffalo. It's true,
like you just don't mess with it. Lake Euri will
kill you in a second if you screw around with
it and the weather. You just be prepared. And I
brought my daughter. We went to the Bengals playoff games
(17:38):
that sucked, and then I also took her to the
AFC Championship game two years ago in Kansas City when
it was Josh Allen versus Mahomes for the first time,
and the Bills got clobbered pretty bad in that one.
But we were there outside, and I would say neither
were really that bad. But we were really prepared. We
probably had probably at least five layers between a thermal,
(18:01):
a T shirt, a sweater, a hoodie, a jacket, a
whim breaker.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
You were going.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
Now you're in my jersey, my jersey on top of
all of it.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Its Mafi. You gotta have the jersey on Andy or
it doesn't work. Of course.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
Yeah, your daughter, I assume she her memories are of
southern California, right, even though you traveled around.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
She's born and raised there, but she's been around. I
brought her quite a bit of places. I feel like
for kid her age.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
Now, does she race the cold weather or does she say, Dad,
what the eff are you doing here?
Speaker 4 (18:37):
You know, it's funny she doesn't get cold. She's like
a Viking. I don't know what it is. My kid
doesn't really get cold. It's so weird. She kind of
speaking of making fun of She kind of makes fun
of me about that that I get cold. She doesn't.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
I didn't get cold for the longest time.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
You know. It was gotten a little older. I guess
that's what happens and recently. But when I was younger,
like it was a cold day, like SOCl cold, I
would have the window open, I'd have a fan in
the window blowing the cold there in. I could not
be cold enough. I loved I loved the chill. But
now I guess the blood thins as you get older.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Andy.
Speaker 4 (19:15):
Yeah, man, I don't know what it is. But California
cold is different. It like cuts to your bone, like
and I only it only gets that cold for me
in like February and January and Buffalo. I'm like, no,
I'm good like with the wind, but like here, I
don't know what it is, man, Ben, It's like it
is cold. It just like cuts through everything.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
No, it is different because you're not used to it too.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
It kind of comes out of nowhere and then you're like, wait,
so let's get back to the meet and greet though.
So it's tomorrow and it's in the afternoon here in
so Cal two o'clock till five o'clock.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Correct, that's the the.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
Yeah, the store is open from ten to five that day,
but we're saying the event is two to five. Yeah,
and we're gonna have a lot going on. It is
the Malor Meet and Greet. Absolutely. It is also the
six year anniversary of my ownership of the store, which
is very exciting. I bought it August first, well, I
bought it in July of twenty seventeen, but the first
(20:16):
day was August first of twenty seventeen. So we're celebrating
that as well.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
That's great.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
So you're gonna have all content you mentioned and all
this is online if you didn't see it the other day.
But one thing I noticed when I was in Maine
last week, Andy and I did a last minute thing, like, hey,
I had a little extra time.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
I drove from Boston up to Maine. I'm like, hey,
anybody want to come hang out.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
Most people kind of skim social media, they might not
pay attention. So maybe you're hearing this for the first time.
Everything will be on social media. But at the same time,
we'll just kind of walk you through everything again. So
it's your stores anniversary and there's all kinds of you
got all kinds of promote you're going for it. Andy,
this is a big thing if you're into the comic
book Whore and my dad, may he rest in peace,
(20:59):
love comic books. And when I was a kid, every
once in a while we'd mess around with the comic
book collection, and you know there were some that we
were not allowed to get near, and.
Speaker 4 (21:11):
That well, yeah, yeah, that's true. We have those in
a showcase. So don't worry. It's all right. I'm sure
everyone will be okay. But yes, we have some exciting
stuff happening. So a bunch of our customers, they do
have their own small businesses. So one of our customers
makes her own plushes, she's going to be there. One
of our customers makes his own T shirts, he's going
(21:32):
to be there. We have like this. One of our
neighbors right up the block is the Old World Emporium.
It's like Andrea would love them a lot, one of
the callers on the show. But they're gonna have a
little pop up. We're gonna have our comic book artist
Gary Brown there. He's done a comic series called Baby Teeth,
(21:54):
which is a pretty pretty good at Indie one. It's
an awesome it's like a modern day Rosemary's Baby Horror.
He's the artist of it. It's on his own book,
Black Road, which is like this badass Viking book. So
he's going to be there to sign and sketch. My daughter,
Elizabeth Legal. She's twelve going on thirteen, but she draws
pretty damn well, I must say, And I'm not just
(22:14):
like a parent tooting their horn. But she's going to
be working her her stuff as well. For six bucks,
she'll be doing sketches of any player if you have
a player or a character or a person, or you know,
favorite comic book, comic book, superhero you wanted to draw,
She'll do that. Favorite court, She'll draws Josh Allen very well,
if you want your own Josh Allen Ben.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
It's just you know, I was thinking when I woke
up today, that's the thing I would like to get tomorrow,
would be I thought.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
So you know, Also, we're going to have a performance,
a fifteen to twenty minute performance.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Now.
Speaker 4 (22:49):
This this performer performs at the Magic Castle. He won
America's Got Talent Season one, I believe or he was
a finalist. I'm not sure. My good friend, he's professional juggler, comedian.
I've in piseel and he's going to do a performance.
I believe that's happening at between two fifteen and two thirty.
(23:10):
So you want to show up on time if you
want to see that, because I think he's got a
tight out. He's got a gig that night actually so,
but he will be there doing a performance for everybody,
a live juggling comedy routine.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Yeah, a Magic.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
Castle andy for those that are not from me, I
think most yes, you have to know somebody to get
in the Magic Castle, and to be a magician working there,
you got to be pretty good, and they don't let
you in there. Right, it's not an amateur hour. That's
a big deal to be in the Magic Castle. And
I've never been. I assume you've probably been a bunch
of times.
Speaker 4 (23:40):
Right, Wow, I've been twice. I've been twice. It is
absolutely worth the experience. I will say, it is the
only Like I I'm definitely that guy that when you
like watch like a ghost show or whatever, I'm like, okay, yeah, whatever.
But I will say, this man, this one magic trick.
I have no idea how this guy did it, and
it to this day blows my mind. And I'm like,
(24:00):
he's obviously not a wizard. It was some sort of illusion,
but it truly warps my mind. Long story short, I
was with my date and she had a like a
sleeveless dress on, like for her shoulders were totally there,
and he pressed his finger like at the tip of
her shoulder, her bare shoulder, and kept it there while
he did some card tricks and then removed his finger
(24:22):
maybe like two minutes later, and a whole deck of
cards just shot out and I was just like, I
don't know how that's possible. Doesn't translate to the audio,
but my god, the Magic Castle. You have to go.
If you have an opportunity, your.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Will taste of it tomorrow at the at the meet
and greet.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
Well, he's a juggler comedian.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Though, you know, well, you'll be entertained, you'll be mesmerized.
Speaker 4 (24:50):
I will absolutely be entertained. Yes, yes you will. Of course,
we're gonna have a sale obviously, that's just fun. We're
gonna have a sale. One of our customers, he also
makes his his own princeton, makes his own comic book.
It's kind of like a doctor who kind of comic.
He's going to be there. His name is Liam Dao.
We're going to also have Carbon Panther props, owned by
(25:10):
one of our customers, Aaron Toft. He makes props locally
here in LA for kind of like small budget movies
and pretty badass looking stuff. So him and his partner
Ali are going to be here.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
So it's great. And there's no RSVP, right, there's now you.
Speaker 4 (25:25):
May no, no, no, it's just come on show up.
The Meller Militia obviously as well, and we have a
very special Bromo pack for the Mellor Militia. Just find
me at any point in time and say go Bills,
and you're going to get a Brave New World Comics
Mellor Militia Ben Meller Show, Meet and Greet exclusive variant
(25:48):
comics pack for free. Valued depending on which one you get,
because they're all blind valued it up to fifty bucks
nice with five up to five of our store exclusives
in there. And we've done store exclusives from The Walking
Dead number one to Ninja Turtles one hundred to mighty
more from Power Rangers number one to Sagio Jimbo number one.
(26:09):
If you don't know any of those things, that's okay.
Just know that they're comics that you can only get
from our store and they have our logo on them,
very limited print run and they're awesome, and you get
one for free just by saying to me, go Bills.
And I've only told that to your people, Ben only
the mail Or Militia. To our people. I'm in the
Militia too. Our people only know that Ben so.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
Speak easy situation.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
But yes, a Raider fan or a forty nine er fan,
Rang Dauphins fan, you still have to. You have to
go down and genufleck to Andy to say go bills.
But then you make out like a bandit there because
Andy will hook you up with some stuff.
Speaker 4 (26:46):
And I'll tell you what, if you don't want to
say go bills, I get it. You at least have
to say squish the fish.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Okay, there you go, squish the fish. So either one
of those will work.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
And as an added bonus, and I have not baked
cookie recently because I ate too many of my cookies.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
So I have the drops on the podcast exactly.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
Yeah, well, Danny'll put some in later, I'm sure, but
so so anyway, so I've decided since Eddie ripped my
cookies like a schmuck, he took a shot at my baking,
and you know, Coop kind of belittled some of the stuff.
So I've decided to make some cookies. Now, I'm still
not one hundred percent sure. I think I'll go basic.
(27:29):
Everyone loves chocolate chip. I might make some other cookies also,
but I definitely will have chocolate chip.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
I think I'm going that direction.
Speaker 3 (27:37):
And awesome a bunch of them, and it's pretty much
first come, first served. When they're gone, they're gone. I said,
I'm not going to bake more. I don't think you
have an oven in the back of your store.
Speaker 4 (27:46):
Andy, No, No, Now that said, we do have a
coffee shop next door. So if you're feeling some coffee,
there's that next door, literally right next door, and then
right around the corner are two pretty good bars. But
I mean we can play everything by ear. You know,
you got we got stuff to do.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
I get it sending, but that the main part, the
meat of the meet and greet for our purposes. There
is like two to four, but it'll go.
Speaker 3 (28:10):
On, and you know, I'm gonna stay and you know,
hang out as long as people are there to hang
out with me and all that.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
I'm looking forward. Now. I can't say the same about
Eddie and Coop.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
I don't know what's going on with those guys, but
I I plan on being there for the duration. I'm
looking forward to it. We'll have a good time. It'll
be Yeah, it's gonna be great.
Speaker 4 (28:27):
One more thing.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
That never goes well, Andy, the one more thing.
Speaker 4 (28:32):
I always say that on the calls. One more thing. No,
So at four o'clock we have the Brave New World
Comics epic Raffle every year, and we are having the
epic Raffle again this year. We're raffling off about fifteen
dollars worth of product, pretty pretty high end stuff. Usually
it's a like huge thing, but we decided this year
(28:55):
to make it even huge err by really focusing on
high end prizes. So there's some pretty dope stuff that's
going to be up for grabs. And everybody gets a
Raffle ticket just for showing up, and then you get
one for every twenty bucks you spend. So, and we
do have a deal for malor people, where you spend
twenty bucks, we're giving you a twenty dollars gift card
(29:17):
that's only for the militia as well. So, and I'll
remind all the people of this obviously, Yeah, let people.
We'll put it in writing in an announcement too. How
is this which should be.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
Out comic store? Is this all just comics? Is there
any sports stuff in the back or we?
Speaker 4 (29:36):
Yeah, So, usually I would have more sports stuff ready.
Right now, I'm gonna have a lot as much as
I can. We have a shit ton of cards. We
have so many cards, but I take them out seasonally
and usually I drop them week one of the NFL season,
just because I got to update the prices everything, you
know how that goes. So, but I will have a
(29:56):
selection available for at least militia that I would guesstimate
might show up who I think teams they might like.
So yeah, just based on the calls speculation. Yeah, you know,
and like just good ones. But yes, no, we definitely
do have We definitely do have sports stuff. We have
(30:19):
a big Bills flag flying in the store.
Speaker 3 (30:24):
On a table and break a table like Real Bill's Mafia.
Probably not right, that would be.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
Hey, I did announce twice every year, actually not even twice.
What is it, four years in a row now, Josh
Allen's played in the playoffs just in case people forgot,
but four years in a row, and every year I said,
if the Bills make it too, they don't even have
to win it, if they just make it to the
super Bowl, I will power bomb off our balcony into
a table.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
Okay, and that's happening recorded for posterity sake.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
I'm sure, yes, when you do it.
Speaker 4 (30:52):
Yeah, my life insurance plans good, that's great taking care
of I can write it off as a marketing expense.
It's wonderful. Like, really, where out you have to delete
this podcast the week I do it though.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
Well, Andy, thank you so much for hosting this event tomorrow.
I can't wait to meet you and everyone's going to
be there, hopefully have a great turnout. And I'll check
out some of the comic book stuff. I'm sure he'll
bring back some of the older stuff, will bring back memories.
Speaker 4 (31:17):
Yeah, do you remember what your dad used to like
do you have any memory of like specific I think
I don't think you ever said it.
Speaker 3 (31:24):
Yeah, so he he had some old like Superman stuff,
but he loved like, you know, random crap like Alfredy Newman,
that kind of stuff.
Speaker 4 (31:33):
Mad Okay, yeah, I think Mad magazine guy.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
He collected that, and you know some of the Spider Man,
Batman those were when he was a kid. That's pretty
much all they had when he was growing up. So
a lot of that stuff, and then as we were kids,
he had gotten some different random things.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
And so I'll check it out.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
But Andy, I will end it here, and again thanks
to everybody who's going to show up, and everything's in
the description on the podcast.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
Thank you for your thanks for hosting this, Andy, I
appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (32:02):
Yeah, thanks for coming, guys, I'm really excited. I'm very
excited to meet and greet with you and the Mallard
militia and just have a great time.
Kubbooms.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
If you thought four hours a day, twelve hundred minutes
a week was enough, think again. He's the last remnants
of the old Republic, a sol fashion of fairness. He
treats crackheads in the ghetto gutter the same as the
rich pill poppers in the penthouse. Wow to clearing House
of hot takes, break free for something special. The Fifth
(00:23):
Hour with Ben Maller starts right now.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
In the air everywhere.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Welcome in the beginning of the Fifth Hour with Ben
Mahler and Danny G.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Radio, The Weekend is upon us.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
This kicking off the weekend, our Friday Funday and a
special podcast. Today, special pod Danny G will return. He
is scheduled to return on Saturday. But today Danny is
away and we are going to chat with our guy
(01:01):
from the Overnight Show.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
You hear him calling in randomly.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
He sends a lot of messages on the Twitter machine
or x or whatever it is called. Andy the Comic
Book Guy is stopping by today to join us. Now,
why are we having Andy the Comic Book Guy on
Not just because he's got the gift of gab and
he's a fun character on the show, and he's part
(01:27):
of what we do on The Ben Mahler Show. But
more importantly, if you look at your calendar, today is
August eighteenth, Tomorrow on the nineteenth, it is on like
Donkey Kong, kind of like a Donkey Kong cartoon, because
we will have the Malor Meet and Greet, and Andy
the comic book Guy is kind enough to be hosting
(01:50):
this event. We were looking for a venue in southern California.
We did one in Minnesota several months ago. I did
a flash mob Mallar meet and greet back in the day,
which was last last week, actually last Thursday, in the
state of Maine. And I try to hang out with
people as much as I can when I travel around,
(02:11):
and life takes you to certain places.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
But in southern California, this is obviously the base.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
And so if you're a fan of the show, we
have so many great listeners in La Orange County, San Diego,
Santa Barbara, all over California. Palm springs, the high desert,
the low desert, you name it in the geography of
southern California. So I'm not expecting anyone to travel to
this from a million miles away. But if you're looking
(02:37):
for something to do tomorrow and you're a fan of
the show and you want to hang out with me,
and Eddie's going to be there at least for a
little bit. If you get there right at two o'clock,
you'll have a chance to meet Eddie, and then Cooper
Loop will be stopping by. I have a surprise. We'll
talk about it when we put Andy on here in
a second. So I am very excited about all this.
I love to go out and hang out with people,
(02:58):
even though I'm an introvert. Make the most of this
opportunity to meet people that provide me the opportunity to
continue to be a gasbag, blowhard and all that. On
the overnight and we'll get into all the specifics. They
are in the description on this podcast. Everything you need
to know is in the description box on the podcast.
It's also on the Twitter, slash x and the Facebook page,
(03:20):
so all of that is available for you if you
somehow do not grasp what we are talking about here
on this podcast, if you don't want to see stuff
written down. But it is tomorrow, and that's why we're
having Andy on today, nineteenth of August. It'll be in
the afternoon in southern California. We'll be hanging out. Andy's
got all kinds of promotions. We'll get into that, but
(03:42):
we'll get a little bit about his story. I want
to learn about Andy the Comic book Guy. Everyone's got
a story. I want to hear what Andy's story is
and how he found the show and all that. So
why don't we start down that road, Andy the Comic
Book Guy. Welcome to the Fifth Hour with myself, Ben
and Danny g Radio on assignment. Let's start with this.
(04:03):
How long have you been listening to the Overnight Show?
Speaker 4 (04:08):
You know, it's kind of funny. I've always heard the
Ben Maller Show, but I never really knew what it
was until probably maybe, like I don't know, about a
year and a half ago, where I really started to like, listen, listen,
and then I started calling in. I think this past fall,
like last fall, because of the Sabers and Eddie's constant
(04:30):
disrespect of them.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Yeah, it is offensive, and Eddie does this all the time.
He poops on certain teams that he thinks are below him,
and you Buffalo Sabers are at the very top of
his list.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
You know, he's he's a hockey snob. Andy that's what
he is.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
You know what's frustrating is the Sabers finished the season
with the exact same amount of points as the Penguins.
So and I know he's not a Penguins guy, but
he kind of is. It's his second team. He won't
ever say it is, but it is. He's it is.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Well, that's a whole different issue. The second thing with Eddie,
and we've been through this. He says he's a Steeler fan,
but he goes to Charger games all the time. I
think he's been to like two Steeler games and yeah, yeah,
one of those quirky things. And so you started to
listening that did your life change in any way? Because
normally the reason people find the show is either they're
(05:20):
having legal problem in their life, some kind of medical
either to them, or a loved one is under the weather,
or small that do not sleep at night. Other than that,
we have no one that actually finds the show. So
which of those categories? Which of those boxes would you
fall into?
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Too many? But definitely it is the small business man
late hours one for sure. Definitely. Usually my drive homes
around midnight at one o'clock so in the morning, so.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
When you're driving home late.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Now the comic book store is not open late, so
you're hanging out there working.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
Oh absolutely not. Yeah, no, I mean I'm not like
the people think, like, oh, you're just like reading comics
or like, you know, playing Warhammer games. No. No, there's
a lot of work that goes on when the story
is closed. You got to order that stuff, you got
to unbox it, you got to sort it, you gotta
price stuff. It's a great life.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
One man band.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Obviously you have people that work for you and stuff,
but you're you're the guy, You're the steward, you're the proprietor.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
That's a big wordy proprietor.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
But that's done on a Friday morning.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
So tomorrow is the big day.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
And I always get nervous the day before a mal
Or meet and greet because you never know who's actually
going to show up. You're not sure, you know, we
hope a lot of people show up. We've done pretty
well in southern California. But you don't know what. You
don't know that in a song somewhere. So we're doing this.
We're having you on Andy to promote the fact that
if you're listening in a geographically desirable area within reasonable
(06:55):
driving distance, or if you're just bored out of your
mind and you want to come from far away. It
is tomorrow, We're going to hang out at your comic
book shop. What is the name it all? Everything's going
to be in the preview for the podcast. But for
those that don't like reading or maybe don't know how
to read, Andy, what is the name of the store
and where exactly is it located?
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Let's start with that. How about that?
Speaker 4 (07:18):
It is Brave New World Comics, located in Santa Clarita, California.
We're about a twenty five minute drive north of Pasadena.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Okay, so twenty five minutes north.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
And when I think of Santa Clarita, I think of
an amusement park, which is not that.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
Yeah, there is a six Flags Magic Mountain out there
if you just were actually like a good twenty minutes
before that. So you know, if you're coming from LA
or the southern area, Bakersfield I think is the closest
place north.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
You know, there's a McDonald's right off the highway there
that I have stopped at to use the facilities in
Santa Clarita up through central California.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
When I'm just driving with the wife. We'll stop.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
They have a really good bathroom at McDonald's, so if
anybody needs to take a whiz while visiting the comic
book shop, I'm sure you probably have bathrooms too, But
we This is a wonderful McDonald's right off the freeway,
not far from Wow.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
How much did they pay you for that? Geez cau,
I get a cut.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
It just provided great toilet paper. Just absolutely wonderful. So
you got the comic book shop Brave New World, Right,
is that the name of it?
Speaker 1 (08:26):
I get it right? Did I screw it up?
Speaker 4 (08:27):
Yes, Brave New World Comics.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Correct, Yes, this is a work I've noticed.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
I don't know you, Andy, we're gonna meet for the
first time tomorrow, but I can tell from your calls
that this is a life's passion. That this is not
I don't think this is something that you just kind
of fell into, right, this is something you wanted to
do to own your own comic.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Book shop for a while.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
I mean, kind of tell me the backstory on how
you ended up finally pulling it off, because it's not
easy to get in that world.
Speaker 4 (08:55):
It's pretty crazy. It kind of just happened. I moved
out to LA in two thousand and nine, and I
was pursuing a different career at the time, but for
a nine to five my guy that I ordered comic
books from, I traveled for the three years prior, from
like two thousand and six to two thousand and nine,
I worked as a traveling actor. It was great. It
was wonderful. So like right out of college, I only
(09:16):
played lead roles. I did it for three years. It
was wonderful. Then I was like, yeah, I'm going to
move to LA I'm going to do this shit. And
I did, and I was doing great, and I was
booking stuff. Almost booked a Super Bowl commercial, but it
was an Eminem's commercial where the red and yellow eminem
are walking down an island. Anyway, long story short, I
played in a Macated Island Man. But then they were
(09:37):
going to air it on the Spanish network instead, so
I slipped the bill. And then I got a woman pregnant. Wow,
and yeah we did it. You know, we had the baby.
She's great, she's almost thirteen now. It's crazy. But I
made a life choice and I started working in a
comic store just as a steady nine to five to
try and do something else. While that was happening, and
(09:59):
I got high by two publishers. I worked for them
for a few years. And then one of my clients
I worked with comics stores as a sales manager for
a publisher and was basically like, Hey, buy our comics.
You know, let me help you sell them in your store.
I can show you how it works. And it was great.
And then one of my clients, who owned Brave New
(10:20):
World Comics, was going to sell his store and a
call that was just like a health check in turned
into Hey, I think I'll buy your store. At the
end of the two hour conversation, so you you.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
So I had the story wrong. I thought this is
something that you know you had wanted to do when
you were young.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
I've always loved comics, don't get me wrong. I mean
I've been reading them since nineteen ninety I was six
at that time to date myself.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
But yeah, first comic that you fell in love with?
Was there one that stood out of you? Oh?
Speaker 4 (10:49):
Definitely The X Men, hands down. The X Men and
the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which have a new movie
out right now. I'm going to see it with my
daughter right after this call. As we prepare for tomorrow
nice and yeah, but uh yeah no, so it's it's uh,
definitely the X Men, hands down. Jim Lee's X Men.
Jim Ly's an artist. He's now the publisher of DC Comics,
(11:10):
which is it's kind of like if you know, you
worked as a producer at ESPN and now you like
run a show on Fox. That's kind of what Jim
Lee's career was like.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Around you bring up yeah, yeah, I had your daughter.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
You decided, Hey, I got to kind of move on
from the acting thing full time. Because the conversation working
in the radio business. My wife has a stable job,
so I'm like, my position is, at least one of
us has to have a somewhat stable job if both
has messed up jobs where we could lose our.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
Job at any moment.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
The math on that the back of the napkin math
and he is not going to work out right, It's.
Speaker 4 (11:54):
No, my fiance is they nurse that city of Hope
out here in the San Gabriel Valley, so much respect her. Yeah,
I used.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
To live right here, right near the City of Hope.
That's quite the drive though, right, that's a bit of
a drive.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
It is quite the drive.
Speaker 4 (12:08):
I mean it's not that bad. No, it's not quite
the drive at all, and everyone should make it this Saturday,
August nineteenth from two to five. Yeah, that is not
that bad of a drive if you.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Had every day, if you had to make that, you'll
like your wife to go to the City of Hope.
You know, the same, Gabriel, because you live in the
Saint Gabriel Valley. That that's a bit of a job.
But a chance to meet, you know, the stars of
the radio show and hang out with you and there's
all kinds of great things. We'll get into in a
couple of minutes about the comic book shop and what
people can expect, and it's a big event. It's not
just the malor meet and great there's other stuff going on.
(12:44):
As far as the acting, you still do it at all?
Every once in a while, do you still go down
and audition for stuff? Or are you completely done with
that part of your life.
Speaker 4 (12:50):
It's so funny you bring that up, So you know,
I really did take it seriously, and I know people
do say that, but truly, like it was a really
great time when I reflect back on it. But honestly,
like I have no desire to do it. I just
think it's so ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Now you're all grown up, you still own a comic
book shop, but I do below you. And yeah, I Austin.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
I had a lunch, like a business meeting with some guys,
and you know, we were all talking about you know,
family and kids and stuff like that. And one of
the guys is like, his daughter, she's going to school
to learn acting, and she's going to school in New
York and she wants to work on Broadway, like that's
the goal and all that, and we were talking about
the different things. Now, when you were traveling around as
(13:37):
an actor though as a thespian, were.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
You on cruise ships? Were you like, what was your gigs?
Speaker 4 (13:44):
No I refused to do cruise ships. Cruse ships really
wanted me. I was really good at the musical theater.
Thing no I did. Probably my favorite thing I did
was I played Romeo and Romeo and Juliet. I was
twenty three. It was in Jackson Hawayoming at Off Square Theater.
I think they're still around. This was probably two thousand
and seven. So if you're from Jackson haw Wyoming and
you lived there in two thousand and seven and you
(14:05):
saw rome and Juliet. You saw Andy the Comic book
Guy as Romeo.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Andy the Comic book Guy.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
I have never been to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, but when
I did stuff years ago and I did a little
work with the Dogs, one of their trainers retired and
moved to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. And I remember this guy
telling me, Oh, it's amazing the outdoors, you know, And
there's apparently a big like celebrity conclave there in Jackson
(14:33):
Hole where like people.
Speaker 4 (14:34):
Apparently Hearston Ford owns a ranch out there or something.
I don't even know. I didn't really do any of that.
I just I was in the little downtown area and
we had to perform. I didn't really have time, like
truly it was. It was rehearsed for about two and
a half weeks. We rehearsed every day every except Sundays.
We had Sundays off, and then it was perform eight
(14:54):
eight shows a week. So we performed six and then
two and one day, two and Saturday, and we were
off on Sunday. And I did that for like three
years straight, with multiple I probably worked about nine different
gigs in that time. I just went from gig to
gig to gig. It was great. And then I had
no gig lined up and I was like, oh shit,
what do I do? So I was like my buddy
(15:15):
from my buddy moved out here and he convinced me
to move out here. And I was not trained for screen,
but I had a learning curve. I was good, but
I was making headway. I really was. But it's all good.
I love where I'm at. I'm not complaining.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Now, do you get crap from your friends in Buffalo
and your family in Buffalo because you know, normally, and
I've been to Buffalo before, Southern California kind of looked
down upon among the you know, the hardy people that
grew up in Buffalo with lake lizards, and they think
everyone in La is, you know, a softy right because
you know, it's perfect weather other than it gets a
(15:50):
little too hot sometimes, so you know, back home.
Speaker 4 (15:55):
That is an interesting take, I would say, because it's true.
But I think that's a generational take. I think I'm
a millennial. I don't know if that really matters, but
I would say most of my peers that are similar
in age, everybody kind of just respects where we're all at. Honestly,
at this point in time, and there's really not a
lot of that. The only time I do get shit
(16:16):
like that, which does happen, is when I go to
at least two or three Builds games every year. So
when I go back, like I went back to the
Bengals game, and I don't give a crap what I
look like. I look like the stay Puff marshmallow Man,
but I am warm and they make fun of me
for that. They're like in a windbreaker and like a
hoodie and I'm just like, yeah, no way.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
Explain.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
That's a great point we should talk about.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
But as someone that grew up in whether even though
I got family on the East Coast and stuff. My
brother lives in Appleton, Wisconsin, which is near Green Bay,
which is one of the coldest places, kind of like
Buffalo with the weather they have there. But I was
fascinated for someone that hasn't really experienced the bad way,
Like the worst I've been to I was at a
World Series game where it snowed years ago, and that
(17:01):
was pretty bad and I got very sick after that
and that really sucked. But I haven't been to an
NFL game in the snow. I'd actually like to do it.
At some point, but there's a hole. If you want
to be warm, right, you have to you got to
get what heat packs? How many layers when you go
into a.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
Bill Oh dude, I don't fuck her oundry. I don't
know if I say I'm sorry, but it's true, like
I do not mess with the weather and I don't
mess with the water. And that's one thing they kind
of teach you growing up back in Buffalo. It's true,
like you just don't mess with it. Lake Euri will
kill you in a second if you screw around with
it and the weather. You just be prepared. And I
brought my daughter. We went to the Bengals playoff games
(17:38):
that sucked, and then I also took her to the
AFC Championship game two years ago in Kansas City when
it was Josh Allen versus Mahomes for the first time,
and the Bills got clobbered pretty bad in that one.
But we were there outside, and I would say neither
were really that bad. But we were really prepared. We
probably had probably at least five layers between a thermal,
(18:01):
a T shirt, a sweater, a hoodie, a jacket, a
whim breaker.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
You were going.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
Now you're in my jersey, my jersey on top of
all of it.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Its Mafi. You gotta have the jersey on Andy or
it doesn't work. Of course.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
Yeah, your daughter, I assume she her memories are of
southern California, right, even though you traveled around.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
She's born and raised there, but she's been around. I
brought her quite a bit of places. I feel like
for kid her age.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
Now, does she race the cold weather or does she say, Dad,
what the eff are you doing here?
Speaker 4 (18:37):
You know, it's funny she doesn't get cold. She's like
a Viking. I don't know what it is. My kid
doesn't really get cold. It's so weird. She kind of
speaking of making fun of She kind of makes fun
of me about that that I get cold. She doesn't.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
I didn't get cold for the longest time.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
You know. It was gotten a little older. I guess
that's what happens and recently. But when I was younger,
like it was a cold day, like SOCl cold, I
would have the window open, I'd have a fan in
the window blowing the cold there in. I could not
be cold enough. I loved I loved the chill. But
now I guess the blood thins as you get older.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Andy.
Speaker 4 (19:15):
Yeah, man, I don't know what it is. But California
cold is different. It like cuts to your bone, like
and I only it only gets that cold for me
in like February and January and Buffalo. I'm like, no,
I'm good like with the wind, but like here, I
don't know what it is, man, Ben, It's like it
is cold. It just like cuts through everything.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
No, it is different because you're not used to it too.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
It kind of comes out of nowhere and then you're like, wait,
so let's get back to the meet and greet though.
So it's tomorrow and it's in the afternoon here in
so Cal two o'clock till five o'clock.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Correct, that's the the.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
Yeah, the store is open from ten to five that day,
but we're saying the event is two to five. Yeah,
and we're gonna have a lot going on. It is
the Malor Meet and Greet. Absolutely. It is also the
six year anniversary of my ownership of the store, which
is very exciting. I bought it August first, well, I
bought it in July of twenty seventeen, but the first
(20:16):
day was August first of twenty seventeen. So we're celebrating
that as well.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
That's great.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
So you're gonna have all content you mentioned and all
this is online if you didn't see it the other day.
But one thing I noticed when I was in Maine
last week, Andy and I did a last minute thing, like, hey,
I had a little extra time.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
I drove from Boston up to Maine. I'm like, hey,
anybody want to come hang out.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
Most people kind of skim social media, they might not
pay attention. So maybe you're hearing this for the first time.
Everything will be on social media. But at the same time,
we'll just kind of walk you through everything again. So
it's your stores anniversary and there's all kinds of you
got all kinds of promote you're going for it. Andy,
this is a big thing if you're into the comic
book Whore and my dad, may he rest in peace,
(20:59):
love comic books. And when I was a kid, every
once in a while we'd mess around with the comic
book collection, and you know there were some that we
were not allowed to get near, and.
Speaker 4 (21:11):
That well, yeah, yeah, that's true. We have those in
a showcase. So don't worry. It's all right. I'm sure
everyone will be okay. But yes, we have some exciting
stuff happening. So a bunch of our customers, they do
have their own small businesses. So one of our customers
makes her own plushes, she's going to be there. One
of our customers makes his own T shirts, he's going
(21:32):
to be there. We have like this. One of our
neighbors right up the block is the Old World Emporium.
It's like Andrea would love them a lot, one of
the callers on the show. But they're gonna have a
little pop up. We're gonna have our comic book artist
Gary Brown there. He's done a comic series called Baby Teeth,
(21:54):
which is a pretty pretty good at Indie one. It's
an awesome it's like a modern day Rosemary's Baby Horror.
He's the artist of it. It's on his own book,
Black Road, which is like this badass Viking book. So
he's going to be there to sign and sketch. My daughter,
Elizabeth Legal. She's twelve going on thirteen, but she draws
pretty damn well, I must say, And I'm not just
(22:14):
like a parent tooting their horn. But she's going to
be working her her stuff as well. For six bucks,
she'll be doing sketches of any player if you have
a player or a character or a person, or you know,
favorite comic book, comic book, superhero you wanted to draw,
She'll do that. Favorite court, She'll draws Josh Allen very well,
if you want your own Josh Allen Ben.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
It's just you know, I was thinking when I woke
up today, that's the thing I would like to get tomorrow,
would be I thought.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
So you know, Also, we're going to have a performance,
a fifteen to twenty minute performance.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Now.
Speaker 4 (22:49):
This this performer performs at the Magic Castle. He won
America's Got Talent Season one, I believe or he was
a finalist. I'm not sure. My good friend, he's professional juggler, comedian.
I've in piseel and he's going to do a performance.
I believe that's happening at between two fifteen and two thirty.
(23:10):
So you want to show up on time if you
want to see that, because I think he's got a
tight out. He's got a gig that night actually so,
but he will be there doing a performance for everybody,
a live juggling comedy routine.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Yeah, a Magic.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
Castle andy for those that are not from me, I
think most yes, you have to know somebody to get
in the Magic Castle, and to be a magician working there,
you got to be pretty good, and they don't let
you in there. Right, it's not an amateur hour. That's
a big deal to be in the Magic Castle. And
I've never been. I assume you've probably been a bunch
of times.
Speaker 4 (23:40):
Right, Wow, I've been twice. I've been twice. It is
absolutely worth the experience. I will say, it is the
only Like I I'm definitely that guy that when you
like watch like a ghost show or whatever, I'm like, okay, yeah, whatever.
But I will say, this man, this one magic trick.
I have no idea how this guy did it, and
it to this day blows my mind. And I'm like,
(24:00):
he's obviously not a wizard. It was some sort of illusion,
but it truly warps my mind. Long story short, I
was with my date and she had a like a
sleeveless dress on, like for her shoulders were totally there,
and he pressed his finger like at the tip of
her shoulder, her bare shoulder, and kept it there while
he did some card tricks and then removed his finger
(24:22):
maybe like two minutes later, and a whole deck of
cards just shot out and I was just like, I
don't know how that's possible. Doesn't translate to the audio,
but my god, the Magic Castle. You have to go.
If you have an opportunity, your.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Will taste of it tomorrow at the at the meet
and greet.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
Well, he's a juggler comedian.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Though, you know, well, you'll be entertained, you'll be mesmerized.
Speaker 4 (24:50):
I will absolutely be entertained. Yes, yes you will. Of course,
we're gonna have a sale obviously, that's just fun. We're
gonna have a sale. One of our customers, he also
makes his his own princeton, makes his own comic book.
It's kind of like a doctor who kind of comic.
He's going to be there. His name is Liam Dao.
We're going to also have Carbon Panther props, owned by
(25:10):
one of our customers, Aaron Toft. He makes props locally
here in LA for kind of like small budget movies
and pretty badass looking stuff. So him and his partner
Ali are going to be here.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
So it's great. And there's no RSVP, right, there's now you.
Speaker 4 (25:25):
May no, no, no, it's just come on show up.
The Meller Militia obviously as well, and we have a
very special Bromo pack for the Mellor Militia. Just find
me at any point in time and say go Bills,
and you're going to get a Brave New World Comics
Mellor Militia Ben Meller Show, Meet and Greet exclusive variant
(25:48):
comics pack for free. Valued depending on which one you get,
because they're all blind valued it up to fifty bucks
nice with five up to five of our store exclusives
in there. And we've done store exclusives from The Walking
Dead number one to Ninja Turtles one hundred to mighty
more from Power Rangers number one to Sagio Jimbo number one.
(26:09):
If you don't know any of those things, that's okay.
Just know that they're comics that you can only get
from our store and they have our logo on them,
very limited print run and they're awesome, and you get
one for free just by saying to me, go Bills.
And I've only told that to your people, Ben only
the mail Or Militia. To our people. I'm in the
Militia too. Our people only know that Ben so.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
Speak easy situation.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
But yes, a Raider fan or a forty nine er fan,
Rang Dauphins fan, you still have to. You have to
go down and genufleck to Andy to say go bills.
But then you make out like a bandit there because
Andy will hook you up with some stuff.
Speaker 4 (26:46):
And I'll tell you what, if you don't want to
say go bills, I get it. You at least have
to say squish the fish.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Okay, there you go, squish the fish. So either one
of those will work.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
And as an added bonus, and I have not baked
cookie recently because I ate too many of my cookies.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
So I have the drops on the podcast exactly.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
Yeah, well, Danny'll put some in later, I'm sure, but
so so anyway, so I've decided since Eddie ripped my
cookies like a schmuck, he took a shot at my baking,
and you know, Coop kind of belittled some of the stuff.
So I've decided to make some cookies. Now, I'm still
not one hundred percent sure. I think I'll go basic.
(27:29):
Everyone loves chocolate chip. I might make some other cookies also,
but I definitely will have chocolate chip.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
I think I'm going that direction.
Speaker 3 (27:37):
And awesome a bunch of them, and it's pretty much
first come, first served. When they're gone, they're gone. I said,
I'm not going to bake more. I don't think you
have an oven in the back of your store.
Speaker 4 (27:46):
Andy, No, No, Now that said, we do have a
coffee shop next door. So if you're feeling some coffee,
there's that next door, literally right next door, and then
right around the corner are two pretty good bars. But
I mean we can play everything by ear. You know,
you got we got stuff to do.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
I get it sending, but that the main part, the
meat of the meet and greet for our purposes. There
is like two to four, but it'll go.
Speaker 3 (28:10):
On, and you know, I'm gonna stay and you know,
hang out as long as people are there to hang
out with me and all that.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
I'm looking forward. Now. I can't say the same about
Eddie and Coop.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
I don't know what's going on with those guys, but
I I plan on being there for the duration. I'm
looking forward to it. We'll have a good time. It'll
be Yeah, it's gonna be great.
Speaker 4 (28:27):
One more thing.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
That never goes well, Andy, the one more thing.
Speaker 4 (28:32):
I always say that on the calls. One more thing. No,
So at four o'clock we have the Brave New World
Comics epic Raffle every year, and we are having the
epic Raffle again this year. We're raffling off about fifteen
dollars worth of product, pretty pretty high end stuff. Usually
it's a like huge thing, but we decided this year
(28:55):
to make it even huge err by really focusing on
high end prizes. So there's some pretty dope stuff that's
going to be up for grabs. And everybody gets a
Raffle ticket just for showing up, and then you get
one for every twenty bucks you spend. So, and we
do have a deal for malor people, where you spend
twenty bucks, we're giving you a twenty dollars gift card
(29:17):
that's only for the militia as well. So, and I'll
remind all the people of this obviously, Yeah, let people.
We'll put it in writing in an announcement too. How
is this which should be.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
Out comic store? Is this all just comics? Is there
any sports stuff in the back or we?
Speaker 4 (29:36):
Yeah, So, usually I would have more sports stuff ready.
Right now, I'm gonna have a lot as much as
I can. We have a shit ton of cards. We
have so many cards, but I take them out seasonally
and usually I drop them week one of the NFL season,
just because I got to update the prices everything, you
know how that goes. So, but I will have a
(29:56):
selection available for at least militia that I would guesstimate
might show up who I think teams they might like.
So yeah, just based on the calls speculation. Yeah, you know,
and like just good ones. But yes, no, we definitely
do have We definitely do have sports stuff. We have
(30:19):
a big Bills flag flying in the store.
Speaker 3 (30:24):
On a table and break a table like Real Bill's Mafia.
Probably not right, that would be.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
Hey, I did announce twice every year, actually not even twice.
What is it, four years in a row now, Josh
Allen's played in the playoffs just in case people forgot,
but four years in a row, and every year I said,
if the Bills make it too, they don't even have
to win it, if they just make it to the
super Bowl, I will power bomb off our balcony into
a table.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
Okay, and that's happening recorded for posterity sake.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
I'm sure, yes, when you do it.
Speaker 4 (30:52):
Yeah, my life insurance plans good, that's great taking care
of I can write it off as a marketing expense.
It's wonderful. Like, really, where out you have to delete
this podcast the week I do it though.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
Well, Andy, thank you so much for hosting this event tomorrow.
I can't wait to meet you and everyone's going to
be there, hopefully have a great turnout. And I'll check
out some of the comic book stuff. I'm sure he'll
bring back some of the older stuff, will bring back memories.
Speaker 4 (31:17):
Yeah, do you remember what your dad used to like
do you have any memory of like specific I think
I don't think you ever said it.
Speaker 3 (31:24):
Yeah, so he he had some old like Superman stuff,
but he loved like, you know, random crap like Alfredy Newman,
that kind of stuff.
Speaker 4 (31:33):
Mad Okay, yeah, I think Mad magazine guy.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
He collected that, and you know some of the Spider Man,
Batman those were when he was a kid. That's pretty
much all they had when he was growing up. So
a lot of that stuff, and then as we were kids,
he had gotten some different random things.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
And so I'll check it out.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
But Andy, I will end it here, and again thanks
to everybody who's going to show up, and everything's in
the description on the podcast.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
Thank you for your thanks for hosting this, Andy, I
appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (32:02):
Yeah, thanks for coming, guys, I'm really excited. I'm very
excited to meet and greet with you and the Mallard
militia and just have a great time.
Host
Ben Maller
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