Nate Chappell, wearing dark-rimmed glasses and a blue shirt, holds a microphone.
Nate Chappell: beyond water cooler chitchat.
Nate Chappell wants to make small talk more interesting. His interactive comedy show, “Nate Chappell Asks You Several Questions,” is based on his podcast Several Questions, in which he asks (you guessed it) several questions of his guests, talk-show style. The next live show is Nov. 5 at Gib’s Bar (tickets through Eventbrite).
At the last live show in September, guests included his podcast co-host Johnny Fisher, Madison-based stand-up comic Allie Lindsay, City Cast podcast host Bianca Martin, and friends Joe Thompson and Kevin Willmott II. Audience members had plenty of airtime, too, especially when it came to some of the more divisive questions: “Would you survive diving into a pool of Jell-O?” was a recurring hot topic. (Some would gladly eat their way out of the pool, while others were afraid of drowning or hitting bottom.)
Chappell has a list of 100 questions. Guests pick a number at random, and that’s the one they answer live. Questions are all over the board: If you had to get a new arm put on, where would you put it? If you could go back in time and talk to yourself as a kid by appearing in a television show that you watched as a kid, what show and what role? Why don’t you want to live in a treehouse?
The podcast “started as a way to stay in touch with friends” who had moved away or gotten busy with kids or work, Chappell explains after the September show. Chappell, a father to two young children, works full time as a video and audio producer for Madison365. He says that even when he found the time and energy to pick up the phone, conversations typically focused on the mundane: “How’s work? How are your kids?”
He visualized that his podcast, in contrast, would leave aside what they’re thinking about and concentrate on the how they’re thinking. This is especially crucial in a post-pandemic world: “Since we hardly spend time with people any more, it’s hard to get past the basics without having specific questions.” Writing them down helps with getting past any residual shyness, too.
Chappell thinks the comedy series helps build community in Madison. “It’s something unique in this town. A little fresher and newer and different. Something you can feel involved in [as opposed to] just watching. If you’re into that, then you should come to Several Questions.”
Of course if you’re too busy with work or kids, you can catch up on episodes from the podcast.
