Alternate graphics and behind-the-scenes junk

I found four public domain images that seemed to work for the subject matter of The Vaudevillain, but wasn't sure which was best. So I polished them all, modified them and removed words so they'd be "finished," then tried to assess which seemed best.

The first one comes from Broadway Romances No. 5 (Sept 1950). The joke in the word balloon would be lost on anyone unfamiliar with the Niagara Falls routine by the Three Stooges. Another problem is that these images accompanying podcast episodes may be shrunk down to tiny thumbnails, so the caption would be illegible and the whole image might be unrecognizable. I liked how it clearly showed a theater with seats during rehearsal, but it's not very eye-catching or exciting.

The second candidate comes from Dime Detective Magazine, Vol. 67, No. 2 (June 1952). Provocative lady dancer, bad guy poking out from behind a curtain. Gunshot! Excitement! But there's no cop in this episode and the Vaudevillain wouldn't wear prison stripes.

The third candidate came from a dime novel called Work And Win #7 (January 20, 1899). "An Interesting Weekly for Young America." I like the confrontation on stage, but again, the details don't line up at all with this episode. No one onstage wore a European military uniform, there's no audience in the podcast episode. Given the apparent villainy of the man in uniform, the frontiersman on the left might be seen to represent Falk, and I'm leery of depicting him in much detail. Again, the words and overall picture might be unrecognizable when reduced to a thumbnail. I liked the image overall, but mainly the time period was wrong. Ideally This Gun in My Hand should look like 1930s-1940s, and I was aiming for 20th Century Vaudeville, not 1899.

I settled on this cover below from Dime Detective, Vol 65, No 2 (February 1951). Presumably any Vaudeville performance might include wild costumes. I didn't picture The Vaudevillain exactly like this guy, but the smoking gun, the threat, a little bit of skin, the black mask are all great pulp imagery. It's big enough that it should work in a thumbnail, the art is great, and it has some excitement.

Counting the full scripts for episodes 1 through 21, I've tricked myself into writing 56,688 words between Sept 13, 2020 and May 23, 2021. The first episode was released Oct 14, 2021, so I'm averaging almost three episodes per month. No promises on how the schedule will continue, because that kind of promise will start to feel like a burden. Just let it happen, man.

Since I'm more focused on trying to be funny at all costs, willing to let it go surreal or absurd or contradictory and straighten out any continuity errors with retcons or jokes or bullshit later, I don't feel the kind of pressure that I would from trying to write a half-serious novel or even a short story. In fact, painting myself into a corner becomes a fun challenge: how can I weasel my way out later? I throw this at the wall and see what sticks, not worried about it being accepted by editors. I thought I could trick myself into finishing The Lollipop Mutiny, a novel idea I've been kicking around for over a decade, but the pressure to get that just right has me stymied still. 

We're coming up on the end of Season Two in another five episodes. There's no external reason why I should group episodes as seasons, but I've decided each set of 13 will be called a season. Like I did near the end of Season One, I'm trying to end with a bang, either a nice cliffhanger or what I think is a funny episode. So I try to write 3-4 episodes in a lump before recording and releasing them, then release them with the best episode last. (The rest of the time, I usually write one, record it, and I'm on to the next one.)

Hope you're enjoying it. More to come!