Have A Drink With Me (Hey!)
Years and years ago my buddy Shawn Haran and I filmed small things together and wrote a lot of nonsense sketches. Around the same time I went on a URL spending spree buying odd domains like “whosgotthepoo.com” and “marklarowe.com” (to spite this photographer that told on me for drinking too much on a flight… Hey Gary from Seat 2D), but I also purchased “whiskeyfellas.com” and “haveadrinkwithme.com” in hopes of creating a merch store that sold shot glasses, flasks, and other “high-end” drinking accessories. I let the first three expire, but knew I had something with the latter.
I loved the name “Have A Drink With Me” and wanted to change it into a YouTube interview sketch. The plan was going to be based on me providing odd seating for my guest while I try to strike up interesting conversation. I loved the idea of a guest sitting in a rocking chair while I lay on a bean bag near their feet. I searched thrift stores endlessly for children’s chairs, bicycles, lawn chairs, and anything else I could pass as seating. I’m not sure what drew me to this idea, but I thought it was brilliant and honestly still think it’s great… Maybe I’ll do that after COVID. Shawn and I were actually able to film one episode. It was of us sitting at a long table next to each other at the short end, killing a 30 pack of PBR (minus the one we made the Dominos delivery guy shotgun with us). While we did generate some great banter about Cheers and Frozen, the footage we shot was useless due to the camera being focused on a crushed empty beer can the whole time.
In April 2015 I started working at Activision, working on the design team for Call of Duty. I worked with a ridiculously entertaining group of people on the design team (Yo Angel, Justin, Dara, and Brian!) and also got to work with this rad dad who I had absolutely timeless conversations with, Tom Flynn. We were chatting not too long ago about how we first became friends at Activision and I asked if he remembered how we met. He said we met when we were both washing our hands in the bathroom on my first day there, I turned to him and with a half-smile on my face and said “heh look at us”. I’ve never formed a bond so easily.
In August of 2015 Tom Flynn and I stood up at our cubicles while everyone else was working and held what my former bosses could describe as “something I shouldn’t have been paid for”; a 2-hour conversation on how the X-Men movie franchise’s timeline could possibly make any sense somehow. What made this exact moment immensely more beautiful was that my friend, (and our former HADWM producer) Samee Junio, had also texted me that day if I knew of anyone who was trying to start a podcast. Owning “haveadrinkwithme.com” and the intertwining tail Na’vi soul bond I made with Tom Flynn led us to the new pop culture podcast “Have A Drink With Me”.
Throughout 2015 and 2016 Tom and I discussed Star Wars, The Walking Dead, played Dungeons & Dragons with Katie from Paranormal Activity, and the best-selling book of Steven Ray Morris – “Molding a Jurassic Universe” that can be found on Amazon! We drank Four Lokos, White Russians, pickleback shots, and Moonshine. With Tom growing into a responsible adult with his family and with alcohol being the only thing I had going for me, I turned HADWM into a live comedy show at The Surly Goat. Shoutout to my favorite drink slinger, Amber Adcock.
What started out as an idea of an online store, HADWM turned into a podcast and eventually evolved into a weekly live comedy show. The show provided me with some of the funniest moments of my life with some incredibly talented people and even led to me meeting my writing partner and best bud, Tim McGovern, who officiated my wedding in July.
Today is the beginning of the return of Have A Drink With Me. It’s done a full circle back to an online store and this weekend it returns as a podcast. Season 2 of the show goes back to the roots of “here’s what we are listening to, and this is what our guest is making me drink” as I record a new episode with Tim McGovern where we talk about 90 Day Fiancé and drink Cosmopolitans. Over the last few months I’ve been in contact with some great guests and have been working behind the scenes to get a really entertaining return in order. Catch up on the show on iTunes and Spotify, follow the show on social media @hadwm, and check out our new products at shop.hadwm.com. Anyone who wants to join the HADWM mailing list just text me or something – 323.236.2874.
I’m Dylan Polniak and welcome to Have A Drink With Me.
Tonight’s Playlist:
P.S. Click and upvote this dumb thing I made.
