On Episode 66 of The Martin Lastrapes Show Podcast Hour—"Are You Up?"—I was joined by a motley crew of guests, all of whom conspired for a fun and lively episode. In all, there was my German nephew, Jannis, my American Nephew, Nathaniel Lastrapes, my wife/occasional co-host, Chanel Chakko, my mom, Kathy Lastrapes, my dad, Larry Lastrapes, and my father-in-law, Mike Chakko.
The episode came about when, the night previous, my called to let me know Jannis had come into town for a surprise visit. She wanted to get everyone together for dinner before he flew home to Germany, so we all got together the following night. Because Jannis is a fan (and a previous guest) of the podcast, I couldn't let him leave without having him on the show.
So, everyone came to my apartment after dinner and, after sitting around for a bit, Jannis, Nathaniel, and I got behind the mics. As the show progressed, I decided to take advantage of the live audience and began randomly plucking unsuspecting guests (READ: suckers) and putting them behind the mic.
We covered a number of topics, including:
- Jannis the globetrotter
- My mother's terrifying text messages
- Nathaniel's trip to San Francisco
- Chanel's trip to London
- The Germanwings plane crash
- Me stalking Chanel at the Virgin Megastore
- Love, happiness, and the meaning of life
All in all, it turned into a very funny, poignant, and surprisingly emotional episode.