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**(By Alex Exum) **This Thanksgiving and Christmas, I decided to do my show live.*GASP*I know! Who does a show on Thanksgiving? Perhaps, I’m a workaholic. Or maybe I actually enjoy my job, unlike most of you. Whatever the case may be, I am a firm believer that audiences should not be abandoned during the holidays. Here’s why:
Holidays are rough for most of us. The food may be great. Maybe you are coupled up and loving your life. Maybe you are part of one of those mystical families that actually get along (or is Santa more real than those are?). But I have never heard of a single person who has ever had a holiday season where they enjoyed themselves the entire time.
Is a stress-free holiday even a possibility? From travelling to seeing your great aunt who will ask you, yet again, when you’re getting married, or trying to explain your job as a digital content creator to a bunch of old people who look at you like they don’t know whether to offer you a Xanax or a “real job” – the Thanksgiving dinner table often turns into a battlefield. And at the end of it, we are all more exhausted than after the longest week of work.
So people are counting on their live shows. They need to disconnect. If anything, they need the shows even more during the holidays than any other time.
It is a great way to find new listeners Most shows are off during Christmas and Thanksgiving. Radio stops regular broadcasting and play cheesy holiday music. Live podcasters go on a break. During these days, audiences are left orphaned, with no clue of who to turn to. So finding a live show during Thanksgiving or Christmas will feel like you are welcoming them in from the cold. Do not leave your people out on the sidewalk. There is always room for more in the digital space!
Odds are, after they listen for the first time on Thanksgiving, they will be so grateful for the moment of peace or of laughter that the live show gave them, that they will keep coming back.
I had more fun than I would have if I had just sat there all day, waiting for the magic When you love your job, everything you do feels like magic. When I decided to do my regular show on Thanksgiving, and made a bunch of strangers laugh, I had the best holiday ever. We tend to put so much pressure on the holidays because we need to rest! And have a good time! And enjoy spending time with our relatives even though we do not get along at all and are at opposite ends of the political spectrum!
No. I refuse. I will keep on doing my show on holidays and have a way better time than everyone who is flaunting their Christmas dinner on Instagram (come on, Carol, that’s store bought, we’re not stupid).
Alex Exum is the host of Live Talk Tuesday – Thursdays 7 p.m. PST at livetalk.live and thefringe.fm. Reach Alex by e-mail at alex@alexexum.com