Indy INC: Colt Cabana Talks Midwest Tour, Podcast, Rivalry With Adam Pearce, More
Through their "Five Dollar Wrestling" series, Colt Cabana and his comedic cohort Marty DeRosa built a respectable fan base, heaping large doses of irreverent and off-the-cuff riffing upon some of pro wrestling's underappreciated and hard-to-watch moments. Now they're taking their show on the road with a Midwest tour of "Comedy and Commentary to Bad Wrestling Matches." Cabana recently spoke to WrestlingINC.com regarding the evolution of this project as well as the success of his "Art of Wrestling Podcast" and his recent in-ring work against longtime rival Adam Pearce.
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Colt, you've got four big dates coming up on the Midwest tour. Please share a little about your ongoing collaboration with Mary DeRosa and how this particular project has developed over time.
Right now I'm in the middle of doing this very show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for 26 straight days. The show itself is critically acclaimed, getting reviewed as a four-star show by multiple publications. It's kind of our spin-off from the "Five Dollar Wrestling" project and it's pretty much evolved into Tosh.0, but with all the clips being about wrestling.
Do you guys have a system on how you choose material or what direction you're going to go with a given match?
The whole show is completely improvised. There's no written material and I have a catalog of about 200 different clips I can play at any time from 1970s matches to classic Scott Steiner promos. We've got it all!
With over 200 episodes under your belt, your podcast "The Art of Wrestling" is still going strong. You've featured a cavalcade of intriguing guests, you've done live shows and recorded episodes all around the world. Given how many folks in the business that have followed your example and started their own podcasts, it's hard to argue that your work in this area has been anything short of groundbreaking. Where does "The Art of Wrestling" go from here? Do you feel the need to adapt or compete in the crowded landscape of competing "wrestler-to-wrestling" shows?
The good thing is that I got basically a four-year head start on everyone. I have a very loyal and great listenership. There's a type or kind of fan that I don't want listening and I'm okay with them not listening. To me it's all about finding the correct audience?not just any audience. From here, I'll continue to use the podcast as my staple and continue to grow more around it.
I recently spoke with Adam Pearce regarding the "Eighth Level" steel cage match that the two of you had in Hopkins, Minnesota on July 19. Adam told me, "When I won that match, perhaps the greatest wrong of my wrestling life was finally righted. But knowing Colt Cabana the way I do, he'll make some pedantic wise-crack about it in between stuffing his maw with Subway and planning his next great tweet." Seriously, Colt?what's his deal?
A) I don't know what "pedantic" means.
B) He's just jealous because he's a sh*tty tweeter.
C) Who knows? It's been an on going thing with Adam. We did recently have an incredible match in Hopkins inside a steel cage. I thought the war with him was over, but it seems to have just begun. Stay tuned.
If folks can't attend any of the "Comedy and Commentary to Bad Wrestling Matches" shows in person, can they view the shows another way? For fans that want to see you lace up and hit the ring, where will you be working in the near future?
The "Comedy and Commentary" show is all about the live experience. We're bringing wrestling and live comedy together. I can always be seen wrestling all around the world. ColtCabana.com has all my dates including AIW in Cleveland, touring Newfoundland for LCW and I'm doing a Live Podcast as a part of the Northwest Podcast Festival in Vancouver on Sunday Oct 5th.
Cabana and DeRosa will perform at Rockstar Pro Arena in Dayton, Ohio on August 29. They'll do subsequent shows in Louisville, Kentucky; St. Louis, Missouri and Chicago, Illinois. Complete dates and ticket information can be found on Colt Cabana's official website.