A podcast of incredible stories, hosted by the huger than life Kevin Allison (The State), Risk is a mix of heartbreaking, brutal, charming, hilarious, amazing and life-changing tales. The tellers vary between comedians (Marc Maron, Patton Oswalt and Janeane Garofalo, to name a few), professionals, and graduants of Risk’s story-telling workshops, all with adventures, events and dramas that simply can’t but be told.
Mr Kevin Allison
First of all, Kevin is a delightful host. Forever broadcasting with a broad grin across his face, his love for the project is so effusive and infectious that it’s power is almost untenable and always undeniable. Even when he is simply hosting an interstitial or outro-ing from one of the many songs used to bridge gaps between stories, he does so with a heart, charm and love that makes one mushy inside. Kevin clearly loves that he gets this chance to share people’s anecdotes, always pushing to try and grow and build the project, holding workshops where he helps laymen and women to tell their own great yarns, some of which even graduate to appearing on the show. They also occasionally take submissions from anyone with an incredible enough tale and the talent to express it perfectly. That the podcast culls stories from so many different walks of life is another of its great strengths, this desire to constantly hunt out new stories and new tellers keeping that sense of freshness and life a permanent thread.
Risk is a podcast unified by several mantras held close to it’s heart, and either repeated each show, or imprinted onto it’s very logo and psyche. The first of these is the tagline: ‘True tales, boldly told,’ an idea which comes across in every episode. Punches are never pulled, the monologists unveiling personal revelations above and beyond the adventure itself, just for the sake of the story. They detail way beyond the superficial, offering insights into their mindset, constantly revealing new aspects and backgrounds for the stories, providing a constant drive and forcefulness that is at times almost brutal. The idea could be equally applied in reverse: ‘Bold tales, truly told,’ as the stories that are told are incredibly revelatory, told in a way in which you don’t come out with quite the same impression of the teller afterwards. They don’t seek to promote or protect themselves from the truths of their anecdote, granting each one an even greater pertinence. Each and every one of the stories courses with truth, bringing incredible vulnerability and great impact, even the stories which seem trivial are brought to life with a verve and strength that makes them delights to behold.
The second of these typifies Risk as a show: ‘where people tell true stories they never thought they’d dare to share.’ Many of the accounts are akin to terrible nightmares, where domino after domino falls, trapping the performer in increasing self-loathing, moral greyness or utter strangeness. Some of the told tales are so bizarre, explicit and unbelievable as to be almost confessional. Kevin’s stories of Kink Camp are beyond incredible, detailing sexuality and sexual behaviour in a way which manages to combine edges of filthiness, raunchiness and explicitness and a sense of joy, charm and humour. These stories are dark and daring, reaching into the murkiest depths of personal history and emerging with a treasure of a story to bring to bear. They are the kind of tales that while you are in their midst are utterly encapsulating, almost strangling you with their growing feeling of tension, building to crescendos and climaxes so variable they baffle belief. Their relentless truth and daring makes the show as life-affirming as it is harrowing; as much humorous as it is disturbing.
The final of these ideas is Kevin’s sign off line, imploring us to: ‘take a risk.’ All the stories are justifications for taking a chance. Even those which go to and from horrendous places do it with a sense of such ease and grace that make them as much aural dances as they are memoirs. From one account to the next, there is always the knowledge that risks are there to be taken, and whatever the fallout, to take the very risk and emerge with a story was to make one human. The show is essentially propaganda for taking that opportunity that the listener might never have taken, but by the stories very existence, be they those which are truly comic, tragi-comic or plain tragic, are always encouragements for that risk. It backs up the sense of community that surrounds the show, and a sense that any of these often inescapable, strange or macabre stories could have happened to anyone, an idea that all people share in the human experiment, and that taking risks is simply a part of being alive.
You can acquire Risk either via iTunes or the website www.risk-show.com. If you’re nice, you could also leave a review on the iTunes page, or donate to the cause on the website. If you have more time, you can use whatever wiles you have to help the show get reviewed by a major publication, as detailed on the website as well. Listen, it’s for your soul.