This past week our very own Dusty Stokes wrote an article called 5 Podcasts Worth Listening To. We had some nice responses to it, as well as an inquiry to review a podcast called King Falls AM. Now, some might think it odd to just randomly email a site, hoping they review your product, but in this digital age you have to hustle and get your name out in anyway possible, and I applaud Kings Falls AM for doing just that. In full disclosure, if after listening to a couple episodes, had I thought it was terrible, I would likely not have reviewed it. Not that I would shy away from writing a bad review, but even those types of reviews require proper time spent listening to provide knowledgeable feedback. Thankfully for them (and myself), I really started digging it; they put on a hell of a production.

This review will be different than most because it is certainly something you have to experience for yourself. Usually, my goal is to recommend you spending your hard earned money on a product, but they have all the episodes (ad free) right on their website for everyone to enjoy, so there is no reason you shouldn’t check it out if the premise interests you.

The show centers around the not so sleepy town of King Falls and their early morning (2am-6am) radio show King Falls AM with hosts Sammy and Ben. Each episode is a short snippet of the show where many strange things seem to happen on a very frequent basis. Sammy and Ben usually have some news, and then often take calls from the many eclectic members of the community. Also interspersed are some advertisements from some interesting local businesses. I’ll admit the first couple episodes had me unsure if I was going to continue but by the 3rd and 4th where we have lake monsters and werewolves I was certainly intrigued. By the time they introduced Howard Ford Beauregard III (villain, mastermind, vampire?) in the 6th episode, I was hooked.

What makes this show better than most of the podcasts out there is the production. Frankly, they give the same attention to detail that the old radio shows I listened to with my grandfather had, and you can tell a lot of work goes into the production for the show. There are a lot of different voice actors, and you will certainly have your favorites. Every time Deputy Troy makes an appearance I can’t help but laugh at his interactions, and of course we can’t forget the lovely Ms. Emily Potter who seems bring a grounded presence to the show.

There are a few different types of humor to the show that will appeal to different groups. There is quite a bit of subtle humor which I enjoy, mostly within the residents interactions and relationships. Every episode, Sammy and Ben would have me laughing at how they would poke fun at the townspeople. There is also some out of the box absurd humor like a shootout between a ghost of a former president and his assassin, werewolf impregnation, and other things that will make you think this is the craziest town ever. If you enjoy that type of spectacle then this show is definitely for you in every way, but even if you don’t the more subtle humor will keep you engaged and laughing right along (even if you scratch your head at the absurd parts).

The only other caveat I have with this show is it seems like certain story-lines are started and then not resolved. For this review I listened up to episode 21, and it seems like there are so many unresolved story threads I want to know more about. I did go on the subreddit for the show to do a little extra research and did get a little something spoiled, but it was a resolution to a very early episode, so I am excited to catch up to that point. While I am happy that is upcoming, I hope they do go back and not leave things so open ended on some plots. In essence, I am 9 months in on Sammy’s tenure and would like to see more conclusions.

Even with some issues, I would listen to this podcast weekly if it were on. It’s understandable with the scope of production that they could not make that happen. I would suggest not binge-ing on it, but make a routine where you just listen to a couple episodes a week until you catch up and then you will always have some King Falls available. Since they contacted the site and I was curious about a few things, I sent them off some questions I had, which they graciously answered.

Rich: Why don’t you tell us a little about yourself.

Kyle: we’re Kyle & Eric from The Make Believe Picture Company and all the twitter info is: @KingFallsAM (Ben) @KingFallsSammy (Sammy) – @MakeBelieveKyle & @MakeBelieveEric and we also have a bi-weekly news articles called The King Falls Gazette located at: http://kingfallsgazette.blogspot.com/

R: What made you decide to do a fictional comedy podcast?

K: Eric & I are a writing team and we just want to tell stories, but while we’ve done independent film and web series work, it’s just not cost effective. We knew we could tell the story we wanted to tell with a show like King Falls AM and we absolutely loved the idea of it going back to the old radio plays from the 30’s & 40’s, stylistically.

R: Does the town of King Falls mirror your own hometown in any way? Any of the townspeople based on real life citizens?

K: We are both from the middle of nowhere Florida, so there’s a few little glimpses into names of places if anything, but no real people, no real places. Thankfully.

R: How many characters do each of you do? One or two sound similar to me, but for the vast majority it feels like they are all completely different actors.

K: We currently have a cast of about twenty actors & actresses. We lend voices here and there when we have to but we try to let the talent handle the hard stuff.

R: The production value seems extremely high compared to several podcast and I think is a huge plus for you. Everyone sounds so natural, are there a lot of outtakes or is it a lot of practice and nail it in one?

K: All our cast are professionals, so it goes quick and Cameron our composer is adding so much legitimacy with his music, but there’s definitely cutting up and getting the giggles here and there because some of the actor’s takes are so funny (or ridiculous) but not as much as you’d think.

R: Does doing only a couple episodes a month stop you from following stories you otherwise would have if the show was more frequent?

K: We’d love it if we were able to do a weekly show or even three a month, but to keep the production standards high and to work around 40/50 hour regular work weeks it just isn’t feasible. But we still hit the storylines we want to land on.

R: What are some things we can expect in the coming months?

K: (NO SPOILERS) We are in the middle of a pretty trying time for Ben so we are definitely going to see him continuing to work through that. It is an election year so we’ll be covering the Mayoral Election of course, but you just never know what’s gonna happen in King Falls.

I’d like to thank Kyle for introducing me to the show and taking the time to answer some questions. Feel free to listen to a few episodes and see if it is for you at KingFallsAM.com or the any of the usual social media sites listed below.

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