This outlet runs on your support! Paid subscriptions are the bread and butter but we also have a tip jar and a new run of shirts in the merch store! With the Outdoor Cat on it! A great Christmas gift for the Worcester dirt bag in your life. We’ll be slinging them at the Punk Rock Flea Market this Sunday at the White Eagle as well.
Dear Shaun,
I attended the Worcester Chili and Chowder Festival back in 2019. Simply put, I liked eating a bunch of chili and chowder. They haven’t done the festival again, and there’s no other experience like it in Worcester. How do I continue to chase this rush?
-Chowder Hungry
Dear Chowder Hungry,
There’s a movie that, sure, is full of schmaltz, nostalgia, saccharine monologues. It’s even shot with a fuzzy lens to make it feel more dreamy and magical. It has a hold on my consciousness and personality that I am embarrassed to admit. This movie is The Field of Dreams starring Kevin Costner. The big tagline is “If you build it, they will come.” More than anything this is an ethos of mine. If you build an open mic, people will sign up. If you offer a bonkers show where comedians spin a wheel to find out their set in a beloved hot dog restaurant, people will show up. If you host a roast of the City of Worcester and have it been a charity event, people will throw money at it. If you help create a thing called The Hotdog Safari, people will orbit. If you write Bad Advice, people will open their email 50 percent of the time. [ed. note: ~42 percent of the time] You get it.
So you can’t just walk around with a bib and shovel chowder and chili down your gullet with no responsibilities or cares. I get it that sounds fantastic. Who doesn’t want to indulge in heavy cream- and seafood-based foods at $15-20 a clip? In addition, who doesn’t want a bunch beef- and pork-based heavy stews served piping hot also served to you at $15-20 a clip? It sounds like a challenge that is both delicious and taxing. I help run the HotDog Safari, so I understand feedbag-adjacent ventures.
Big dog, bring it back. Sure, organizing is way less fun than participating. But it doesn’t even have to be a giant endeavor. It could just be for you or for you and your closest gluttons. Maybe it is a potluck situation, where you all bring your favorites. Or maybe it a form of protest? Wouldn’t it be fun if you all did a chowder in at City Hall and just held the Chili and Chowder Festival in the Esther Howland Chamber? Or have each chili or chowder table set up at a hydration station for a 5K or half-marathon? Or open up a chowder and chili based restaurant? Or invent a chili and chowder based tap-out of an old fire engine and travel the country serving like-minded individuals.
I have an inkling you sent this email just to convince yourself you were capable. You just needed the push. Well, consider yourself shoved. And as you’re falling you will perform a perfect swan dive into a bowl full of pork butt, ground beef, beans, paprika, cumin and more. Bon Appétit!
NEWS
On Friday, I’ll be doing a guest spot at the Rhode Island Comedy Connection for the hilarious Langston Kerman. I’ll be on the 9:30 p.m. show and you can grab tickets here.
Saturday is wild because High Command is playing for free at Ralph’s and that means it’s going to be chaos. They asked me to do five minutes for them before they go on. I look forward to this bomb more than any show I have ever looked forward to. If you can make it upstairs, please enjoy.