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Answers by Bryan Callen (Actor and Comedian) and Brendan Schaub (Former MMA Fighter), co-hosts of The Fighter and the Kid, on Quora:
Brendan Schaub: For me, I've always been a silly guy and a creative. I was given the abilities to run fast, punch hard, and compete. Growing up in Denver, Colorado, I didn't really have an outlet for my creative side. I was blessed enough to be able to play at the professional level in two different sports. I don't think I would be where I'm at today even if I just did straight entertainment as a kid. My whole bit and story comes from my background in sports, growing up in locker rooms, dealing with a hundred different personalities, getting to know guys, and trying to fit in through ways other than sports. Your athletic ability doesn't do much for you in the locker room. I think that helped me the most in entertainment, it was a hard route to go but I don't think there's anything better if you can do it.
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Bryan Callen: A baptism of fire. I felt like I was completely in over my head. I didn't know anything, I didn't know what I was doing, I didn't know anything about cameras. It felt like one of those dreams where you're at school and you look down and you're completely naked, that's how I felt every single day. To get over that, I kept treading water, kept my eyes and ears open, and I didn't really get through it. I did the best I could, and it was a good learning experience.
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Bryan Callen: I think there are a couple of ways to go about it. One is: are you somebody with something to say? Or are you someone who can lead by example? A lot of people say they're going to start a podcast and they are very general about how they will start it. What that really means is that they are going to get together with their buddies and talk, and they assume that most of us want to hear what's going on. You have to be someone who lives a different lifestyle or is always growing and want share your experiences. I think that the reason that TFATK took off and continues to grow is because you have two guys who have found success in risky ventures. Let's just take acting/standup and fighting/professional football, those aren't your orthodox career trajectories. You have two guys who are marching to their own drum and listening to their own internal compass. I think people find that inspiring.
The second thing is that we are holding each other to a high standard and always coming back to the drawing board and assessing how we can make the podcast better, more relevant, funnier, and even more transparent.
Brendan Schaub: I don't think there's a scientific equation to a successful podcast. We aren't telling you how to perform brain surgery or trying to do something inspirational like Tony Robbins. People listen to us because they think we are their friends. If you don't have a good group of friends but you can tune into us two or three times a week, you'll feel like you're in on the conversation. It just so happens that your buddies are into entertainment and professional fighting. I don't think there's a blueprint to a successful podcast. There are some podcasts where they are killing it and I don't see how it's happening and then there are others where you can see the reason to their madness. Podcasting is so new, there isn't one way to go about it. I think the thing that separates us is consistency and being real. Bryan and I own this show, we are the producers, the creators, we decide what goes into it. We don't have suits in our ear telling us what and when to say things and that's a huge difference. There are other podcasts out there that try to be like us but if I want to buy an Apple iPhone I'm not giong to go into Apple to tell me how great the phone is, I'm going to talk to other people who have no vested interest. When you listen to certain podcasts they sometimes have an agenda and Bryan and I don't have one. If I think something sucks even if I was a part of it, I'm going to tell you how I really feel.
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