Under the Mountain

I don’t listen to any podcasts or watch any vlogs on a regular basis.  I’ve tried most, but none have ever captivated me for long.  The other day I discovered Game Classy, however, and for now my habits in this regard have changed completely.  I’m hooked.  No one is more surprised than I.

Many of the podcasts on gaming and miniatures have never appealed to me, because they’re usually a group of generic guys sitting around a table talking.  But there’s something different about Game Classy.  I think it’s a combination of a few things.  The guys who make Game Classy are good conversationalists.  The fact that they can make things I care little about so interesting is testament to that.  But they also have strong character-type qualities that I normally associate with skit actors.  The diverse interests of the cast work in the show’s favor, too: one is an RPG enthusiast, one is mainly a painter, and the (quieter) third is somewhere in between.  Whatever it is, I’ve consumed the entire series in the last three days, which is unprecedented for me.

Off the top of my head, the only other time I’ve been this entertained by other people’s conversations is when I first met Deke of Soda Pop Miniatures at PAX2010 in Seattle.  Because of his display of his lightening whit, I overstayed my welcome at the Soda Pop booth every day of the convention.  My most memorable conversations with Deke had little to with gaming; they were his anecdotes on life in general.  I’d share some of those stories here, but this is not really the forum for that and I’d never do them justice.  Suffice it to say, Deke is gifted with the storyteller’s art and rare ability to make the mundane meaningful.  If you ever find yourself wandering past the Soda Pop booth at a convention, try to get him talking and you’ll see what I mean.