What keeps someone creating after the industry changes, the paycheck shrinks, and the path gets harder?
This week on Here’s What We Know, we welcome comedian, producer, and podcaster Deadair Dennis Maler for an honest conversation about radio, stand-up comedy, podcasting, and the lifelong search for your own voice.
Dennis shares how growing up in punk rock shaped his do-it-yourself mindset, why radio first captured his imagination, and what eventually pushed him toward stand-up comedy and podcasting. We’ll talk about creativity, authenticity, representation, and how staying true to yourself might be the only business model that works anymore.
If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re on the right path or you’ve questioned whether it’s worth continuing to create, this conversation will remind you why the work still matters.
This episode is sponsored by:
(Be sure to tell them Gary sent you!)
In this episode:
- How Dennis went from punk rock DIY culture to radio to stand-up to podcasting
- The story of radio consultants who made everyone talk the same way for 10 seconds at a time
- The one thing that separates successful creators from those who burn out
- How Dennis’s tour guide job in Boston became his favorite platform
- The reality of building a creative career
- The real numbers: why most podcasts die, and how to build one that doesn’t
- What it actually takes to grind out content every single day
Quotations:
“Even if I were independently wealthy, I would still be doing this. I would still be finding a way to perform. I would still be trying to find a way to broadcast, talk to people, or entertain people.” – Deadair Dennis Maler
“I can watch the light up in their face when they laugh at how hard it is. And then I got addicted.” – Deadair Dennis Maler
“Everyone needs somebody else, whether it’s emotional, whether it’s mental, whether it’s pushing buttons, or whether it’s editing. We all need others in our lives, and I’m as happy to be there for someone else as I am when somebody else is there for me.” – Deadair Dennis Maler
Bio:
Deadair Dennis Maler is a comedian, actor, writer, & podcaster who has been heard on radio stations throughout the country including SiriusXM, DC101, The Party Playhouse with Jackson Blue, and more.
He has been featured on comedy festivals throughout the country, is the Comedy Editor for DigBoston, and hosts the Big Comedy Network podcast So, What Do You Really Do? and the YouTube show Word of the Day with Comedians.
Deadair Dennis is funny, loud, abrasively social, and allergy-free since 1981.
Guest Contact Info:
Website: https://deadairdennis.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deadairdennis/