The Blackout Diaries

Comedian Jayson Cross tells the story about the time he went out clubbing with a pinched sciatic nerve in his back, one of the myriad struggles of drinking in old age. Jayson joins CJ and Sean in the studio and tells an additional, crazy story about the time he stopped a hate crime while walking the streets of New York City. Jayson's night out with sciatica inspires of a theme of drunken injuries. We talk about the science behind why you get injured more often when drinking, along with some crazy past injuries, drinking related or not, like the park ranger who had the world record for surviving direct-hit lighting strikes.

A special St Patrick's Day episode! Recorded on the weekend where Chicago dyes the river Green, CJ and Sean discuss some of their favorite St Patrick's Day traditions, including The almost-hilariously-dangerous Cheltenham Horse-Racing Festival which is held in Ireland on St. Patrick's Day. That is compared to other, wildly dangerous horse races throughout the world before CJ and Sean re-read their favorite annual work of journalism- the transcription of all of the arrests made during last year's St Patrick's Day parade as heard over the Chicago police radio.

Comedian Nick Cartwright tells our live audience about the time he and a buddy did acid only for his friend to think Nick was controlling his brain to make him covet Nick, eventually leading to a half destroyed house and visit from the police. It's a great Blackout Diaries story in that its equal parts (like all perfect cocktails) scary and funny. Nick joins CJ and Sean in the studio to share more details on the story, along with more general talk on bad trips. CJ and Sean share some stories from bad trips, be it figurative, transcendent drug-induced trips, or traveling adventures, i.e. trips, that went bad. We detail how and why drugs make us falsely confident that we are having profound thoughts. Checkout Nick online at nikcartwrightcomedy for more hilarious comedy plus the odd piece of advice on cards and gambling.

Sean is frozen inside his house so CJ and Sean do an episode about the cold weather. We talk about the first-ever warning for exploding trees and how its so cold bars often take pity upon weary drunks, thirsty enough to brave the elements. CJ talks about how stadium security in Chicago, in this weather, lets you bring almost anything into the game. We discuss the legendarily cold Chiefs playoff game where fans listened to booze over doctors and had to get some of their fingers amputated. We also share the story of the Titanic chef who survived below-freezing water while drunk. Sean shares a story about the time he had a drunken injury in freezing cold Cleveland weather, surrounded by warm weather people.

Comedian, and lawyer, Charles Star comes to Chicago and tells the story about totaling his car, after leaving a winery, during his honeymoon- even though he was stone sober. Charles joins CJ and Sean to talk about what its like to be a lawyer, when every drunk you meet has a thousand questions for you. Charles also talks about some times when he was younger and his friends drove drunk which leads to a conversation on DUIs. CJ and Sean share statistics on how its thankfully declining in recent years. We talk about how much more common it used to be along with some stories from back home about half-baked plans for avoiding DUIs and one guy, from Sean's home town, who had 20 DUIs.

An episode devoted to the ups-and-downs, risks-and-rewards of Holiday Parties. CJ and Sean discuss some historically-famous holiday parties, like the First Ward Ball in Chicago, a corrupt, drunken political party thrown every Christmas time; the classic tradition of Saturnalias, which are winter parties with debauched drinking that a Lord of Misrule heads. We share some of our own stories, including office and apartment holiday parties gone awry, including the time a tree was destroyed at the bottom of a high rise. Sean gives some hilarious details on the classic holiday party treat (from years gone by) of mince meat pies, which were laden with so much booze everyone went to sleep with nightmares.

An episode on one of our favorite kinds of, highly-successful, functioning ne'er-do-wells: drunk coaches. Sean remembers Kevin Mackey, a visionary basketball coach who had been sober for 40 years before dying, but was an old fashion hell-raiser in Cleveland prior to getting sober. We also talk about some of our favorite drunk-coaching disasters from Alabama to Iowa State and Louisville and how drunk coaches always have some assistant that is willing to take the fall for them. Finally we discuss one of our favorite sports cons from the last few years- Bishop Sycamore which was not only a fake school and a fake football program but also a fake Bishop.

Comedian Cameron Gillette shares a story recorded at our live show, where he had to leave a music festival, drunk and high out of his mine, shotgun in an ambulance after his girlfriend passed out in the heat. Cameron meets his girlfriend's mom for the first time at the hospital but isn't sure if he fooled her, or hospital staff, into thinking he was sober. This leads to a theme on how hard it is to fool people when drunk. CJ and Sean share their own stories of times they attempted to fool people when drunk, only for it always fall apart and we detail some studies that prove why drunks can not fool sober people. Check out Cameron's hilarious album for free on youtube- THE BEST SET I WILL EVER HAVE and follow him on IG.

An episode on one of our favorite kind of national news stories: cop embellishments. The FBI arrested NBA coaches plus "Italian Mobsters" this week, making some ridiculous claims on how these groups schemed to cheat poker players. We talk about this story along with some of our favorite examples of cop embellishments over the years like the time The Chicago Police accused jack ass home brewers of terrorism, when Boston PD shutdown the entire city over a Cartoon Network advertisement, or the time, out by Sean, where a cop tried to get out of a DUI by calling in fake bar fight. Remember to checkout the live show each Friday in Chicago and CJ Sullivan's other podcast, BOTTOM LINE BOMBS on SGN. And look for the podcast to return to weekly releases now that the crew is done filming our TV pilot.

Nate Craig, one of our favorite comedians and a long time friend, joins us in the studio to promote his latest album, "MARRIED TO IT". Nate's album is out starting today online! We play a clip from the album and Nate talks about how the recording went and what it was like to celebrate afterwards after not drinking for a nearly a full year. We further talk about reunions, as having Nate as a guest is a reunion of our old podcast, The Visitors Locker Room. We talk about how most reunions are a disaster, but none more so than rock band reunions or men getting back together for fantasy football drafts. We list some of our favorite rock band reunion debacles and CJ details the debacle that was his fantasy football draft.

Semi-autobiographical podcast on drinking and the Catholic Church, inspired by the new Chicago-raised pope! CJ and Sean tell stories about growing up in the Catholic Church and how common drinking was at all religious ceremonies. Comedian Joe Kilgallon, one of our regulars at the live show, joins us in studio to also share some of his own stories about attending a Catholic, all-boys highschool. In recent news, and still on the subject of religion, Sean talks about the historical importance of Jimmy Swaggart, a grifting preacher who died this week. And, most importantly, the new Big Man Himself, 'Da Chicago Pope calls into the studio to answer some questions and give The Blackout Diaries an official blessing. Checkout Joe's latest comedy album, "Life & Death", on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNVc-f4Z3KM 'Da Chicago Pope can be followed on Instagram via our buddy Mick Betancourt's profile: https://www.instagram.com/mickbetancourt/?hl=en Mick is a hilarious writer and performer from Chicago.

Comedian Carolyn Dickey shares a few hilarious stories at our live show, each showing how much her sister defends her when they party together. Carolyn's sister always has her back. Carolyn joins CJ and Sean in the studio and discuss what its like to drink, eat and live with sisters and brothers. This leads to a theme on siblings. We share some funny stories about our siblings either partying too hard, and us having to monitor them, and a few with the reverse happening. We also share some studies on the effect siblings have on your drinking and a couple funny news stories about drunk siblings. Check out Carolyn's weekly comedy show, every Thursday in Chicago at My Buddy's

Summer block buster / Fourth of July Episode where we talk about how people spend the holiday week. Sean recaps seeing the newest Tom Cruise movie, where an old couple was more entertaining than the movie itself. CJ and Sean discuss fireworks, the fourth of July and the hilariously unsafe rules most lakes have around boating, where the consensus seems to be : if rich people want to kill themselves, so be it. CJ talks about how he might grade a hot dog eating contest and how, in general, those contests have become to specialized and commercial.

Comedian Manny Petty makes his debut at our live show and tells the hilarious story of when he accidentally took his parents to a nude gay play, a week after coming out to them. Manny then joins CJ and Sean in the studio and we talk about the play and how people used to attend more blind features -- where you know nothing about the play or bar back then. This is also Pride month so we talk about the Chicago Pride Parade, which is one of the best in the country and which Manny has marched in several time. CJ and Sean tell some of their favorite stories around Pride month, including the time CJ and a drinking buddy won a couple contests because so loving couple will ever know trivial details about each other, as well as drinking buddies know each other. If you are in Chicago- make sure to get to Zanies on Thursday June 26th to see Manny Petty do his first headling set there as well.

The Blackout Diaries talks golf! Comedian Jason Burke joins us in the studio to share the story about his bachelor party, which was at The Waste Management Open in Phoenix, a golf tournament that is closer to a whiskey fest than an athletic event. Jason talks about some of the dos and donts to planning a good bachelor party in the sun and how his party was mostly "donts". CJ and Sean then tell some golf stories, including an insane John Daly one, some of their own golf stories and a news story about a famous LA course that was raided for also running a prostitution ring. We also share some studies on alcohol's role in golf injuries, particularly head injuries.

Special Blackout Diaries Memorial Day Weekend Episode. CJ and Sean talk about how the start of summer always sneaks up on a people and they realize their alcohol tolerance is not what it was at during the close of last summer, which is one of the reasons why Memorial Day Weekend is the busiest DUI weekend in most states. We also talk about summer blockbusters , specifically the new Mission Impossible movie and how CJ and Sean both love Tom Cruise, to the point where Sean has been ejected from parties for defending him. CJ shares a story about his uncle who loved to get drunk and watch the Yankees on Memorial Day- how his uncle ruined a Bob Hope show during the Vietnam War. We also talk flags and flag rules and why Trump's warm wishes on solemn holidays are always hilarious.

An episode on our favorite sport- horse racing! Comedian Sohrab Forouzesh tells a story from our live show about accidentally giving a horse drugs, along with accidentally receiving some himself. CJ and Sean talk about horse racing before that, sharing some of their own stories about bets gone awry and why the Preakness is The Blackout Diaries preferred stretch of the Triple Crown. We share some stats on horse racing and CJ details a famous incident he saw when a drunk guy got on the track at The Preakness years ago. https://www.instagram.com/sohrabisbrown/?hl=en

Comedian Victoria Flynn shares some stories at our live show about all the times she probably should have been kidnapped while drinking. Victoria joins CJ and Sean in the studio and shares what it was like to attend college in Montreal along with some other kidnapping-inducing drinking stories. CJ and Sean then share stories on the only two kinds of kidnappings that are objectively funny: men who stage a fake kidnapping to stay out later and men who drunkenly steal a college mascot. Former Blackout Diaries sweetheart and Jeppeson's Malort marketing guru Sam Mechling also tells a story about being kidnapped during the Kentucky Derby and having to be ransomed for the loose change his friends had.

Comedian Joe Fernandez tells some stories, at our live show, from when he and his ex shared the same apartment after a breakup so he had to improvise whenever he had a one night stand, often leading to stupid lies or bad hotels (or both). Joe joins CJ and Sean in the studio and we talk about those nights and how difficult your social life becomes when your roommate situation is awkward or bad. This leads to a theme on bad roommates. CJ and Sean share some of their own stories, including the drug den CJ used to live in and how marriage did not make living together easier for Sean. We also share some stats on how people are keeping roommates longer post covid. Checkout Joe's comedy albums, DEMENTED and UGLY, online or if you are in Chicago stop by Will's Northwood on Sundays where he hosts the best open mike in the city.

The Blackout Diaries Podcast is back after a break spent on filming the TV Pilot. Unfortunately we received some tragic news that a dear friend of the show, Mike Polino, passed away from a rare auto-immune disorder. Mike owned The High Hat Club, which is where the Blackout Diaries performed for two years while The Lincoln Lodge was moving. He was a great dude and a hilarious presence behind the bar. We share some Mike stories -- including one he told at the live show about his attempt to fake an injury to avoid relationship trouble. Mike's bar The High Hat Club, was filled with characters and is sorely missed. This leads to a discussion on closed or dead bars- bars that closed up shop and that we miss. We share stats on how bar and restaurant closings are not nearly as common as people think along with some stories about our favorite closed bars.