Saturday Behind The Scenes 7/27

Episode Summary

This is a raw "behind the scenes" bonus episode of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast rather than a standard sit-down show. Host Mike "BDP" Palmer, co-host Greg "Triple G," and guest engineer Michael Szczepankewicz are captured setting up the studio before recording — arguing about a stray cup in the shot, adjusting lighting on the "P" logo on the wall, wrestling with a wobbly chair and a front-heavy camera mount, framing shots, and debating whether to pull the foam windscreens off the mics.

Most of the runtime is mic checks and audio troubleshooting: swapping a microphone between dynamic and condenser modes, chasing a buzz, and dealing with Greg's necklace rumbling against his lapel mic until it gets re-pinned. Along the way there's the usual locker-room banter — a new suitcase bought for an upcoming trip to Nicaragua, a running joke about what someone smuggled into the hotel room at the last PCA trade show, and Greg noting that customers upstairs at the shop have started calling him "Triple G."

The crew eventually nails the cold open, delivering the full show intro and previewing the rundown for that week's episode: Diddy's sentence reduction, Poland and war headlines, and a block of cigar industry news including a Honduran production/regulatory story, Roma Craft, and Hoyo standardizing the sizes of two of its Hoyo de Monterrey lines — plus the closing "What's the Score?" segment. At the top of the tape they also speculate about who actually manufactures a particular cigar, landing on AJ Fernandez. It's a short, funny look at how the sausage gets made before the actual show starts.

In This Episode

1. 01
   Guessing the Factory: "Only AJ"
   The crew tastes a cigar and speculates that AJ Fernandez is the one producing it.
2. 02
   Setting the Shot
   Camera framing, the offending cup in the background, lighting the "P" on the wall, and a chair that may or may not hold up.
3. 03
   Mic Check Purgatory
   Endless "check, check" tests, pulling foam windscreens off the mics, and switching between dynamic and condenser settings while chasing a buzz.
4. 04
   Necklace vs. Lavalier
   Greg's necklace keeps rumbling against his mic, forcing a mid-take re-pin and a restart.
5. 05
   Nicaragua Trip and PCA Stories
   A new suitcase for the trip to Nicaragua sparks a running joke about what got hidden in the hotel room at the last PCA show.
6. 06
   The Cold Open
   Mike "BDP" Palmer finally delivers the official intro with co-host Triple G and guest engineer Michael Szczepankewicz.
7. 07
   Episode Rundown Preview
   Teasers for Diddy's sentence reduction, Poland headlines, a Honduran cigar industry story, Roma Craft, Hoyo size standardization, and "What's the Score?"

Brands & Cigars Discussed

Linked items are in our shop. Mentions without a link aren’t currently stocked or couldn’t be matched with confidence.

Transcript

"There you go. So this is a perfect cigar then. Who's making this for them, I wonder? Probably AJ.

Only AJ. Only AJ. You ready, Mr. Palmer?

Yeah, just one second. One second. Okay. I'll just...

Oh, I'm way off over here. I'm a little fucked up. I'm working on everything Mike here, this is a process, you know this. Oh that's better, except for that cup back there, right there, that cup?

That cup? I like that cup. Mike, he wants the cup, he says, cup an ounce. How's my lighting?

Your lighting is great. I'm kinda loud. I'm kinda loud? No, you're alright.

Check, check, check. This is just too loud. Oh, you have to say your name. La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la.

You have to say, Greg, check. Triple G, check. Greg, check. Triple G, check.

Triple G, check. Greg, check. Triple G, check. BDP, check.

The customers upstairs are starting to call me Triple G. You're a big deal. La, la, la. La, la, la, la, la, la.

I think we sound okay. Is it this cup that's in the way? Yeah, he doesn't like that cup. He doesn't like that cup.

And since he's a star, I just don't want trash in the background of my shot, that's all. Jeez. Can you see the pee behind me? I even used tape.

Was that a gun? Sounds like somebody chambered around. It needs that, you know, leave it on him, I have an idea. I don't like the way that looks.

Like, the way what looks? The way what looks, Star? The P? It needs to light up.

It does. Oh, sorry, I don't have a light on me. It needs a light. It needs a light.

Can you aim that light on it? That's what I'm gonna do. Alright, aim the light. Stand in the one with the wheels.

Yeah. Are you gonna jump? Oh, jeez. This is how we lost Palmer.

Alright, this chair does not feel sturdy. I just wanted to know I broke one of those armrests like that. Yep. Probably the one that you sink in.

And get this thing out of my ear. At least you took his shoes off. Oh, that's better. See what I did there?

Yeah, that is better. It's better. That's better. Yeah, it's better.

Yeah, it's better. It's always better. Oh, that's better. Is there still a fan on?

There is. Ah. Oh, that's better. That's better.

That's better. Better. Better. Better.

Better forever. Oh, I got to turn. Let me see you again. Here I am.

Okay. You look at it just a little, it might be a little too big. I have to back you out a smidge. All right.

Too big. Backing out a smidge. Oh, now you're showing my belly. Smidge announced.

I have to sit like this. Suck that gut in. I can't read and breathe and everything at the same time. Oh, well.

I mean, it's still smaller than him, so... Are we ready? That's fucked up. Yes, we're ready.

I am the star. Ready. Okay. Ready, CB.

Something all over your shirt. Is there lint all over your shirt or something? He just asked me, lock that up, don't talk about it. " Oh, that's better.

There's no guarantees that it won't be on the... On the... Because of, like, auto-flip? No, because...

Because it's Palmer that does it. It's not even a robot that fucks it up on a Palmer. No, it's usually a Palmer fucker. So much closer.

Yeah, I like the shot like this. Do you? I do. Why?

Because it looks better? It looks better? How'd you get it? I don't know.

I'm still far away compared to him. Relax. Oh, I thought you were going to sit down. Zoom his out.

Do you see him? Zoom me out? I don't see his ankles. I don't see his ankles.

I don't see him. I don't see his ankles. Zoom me out? Cooked you?

Did you watch his show last night? He was on again last night. No. He's on all the time.

I don't watch his show. Do you? I don't either. Oh, careful.

If I'm on Facebook and it goes live, I don't mind checking in. I just like watching it start. Give him a little peek. Oh.

Mike, I unscrewed it. I saw, thank you. This is broken. Look at all this birthday work.

Broken. This. Check, check. Broken.

Oh, see, I backed it up. I thought it was too close before. This thing is so heavy. Right, it wants to pull forward.

And then when you add the iPad, the first time it went . Is he centered? I don't know if he's centered. I'm centered.

And you can see the P over the shoulder. P is appropriately lit. My new suitcase came yesterday. It's very nice.

Oh, very good. What came in? My new suitcase. My suitcase for the trip to Nika.

How many anal beads can you put in there? Why? How many do I need to leave there for you? I don't know.

What did you bring to the last PCA? That wasn't me. You hid that in our room. No, no.

Was it anal beads or was it a dildo? I don't remember. It was anal beads. Oh, he gets so confused.

He has both. I mean, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know what either one looks like.

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know what you're calling it. I don't know what it is.

Oh, and just for the record, I've seen a lot of people use the same mics that we use. They don't use the poofy thing. This thing? Yep.

Want me to take that off? Yeah. Let's see if it's better. Yeah.

They just use that. It's supposed to open the "p" and the "t". No. Take yours off too.

Greg, like, you're wearing this necklace and then some, And then somehow you managed to twist the whole fucking thing. Yeah. Oh, it's very loud. Well, because somebody took the necklace and wrapped it around the clock.

No, it was hanging. If it wrapped, it's not my... It's good. I fixed it.

I fixed it. See, now you sound perfect. Perfect. I'm about to be on, dude.

If you want to watch, I'm going to be on. I'm going to set up my phone for live. Set up my phone for live. I'm going to do an Instagram Live just on me.

Just on me? I don't even know how to do that. Just hit the live button. I don't know.

I don't do that. No, no. Alright, are we ready? Yes, sir.

3, 2, 1, go. We're going to break it! Poor money. Poor money.

Poor real money. Yeah, poor realty money. By the way, he has sent you a gift, but it is delayed in shipping. No, it's not.

It's already delivered. Oh, did it show up? Oh, this is what he told me yesterday. No, it said it delivered yesterday, or the day before.

No, no, that was the, that thing was sent, that's for Phil's, that's for Phil. Oh. There's another one coming. Did we start the show?

Yes. Oh, okay. The necklace, I don't know if the necklace is gonna work. Why?

Because you, you're already rumbling against it. Oh, my God. Check, check. Okay.

Okay? Sure. You're right, it moves. Yeah, as soon as he shifts.

Yep. Well, it's around my neck. Do you want me to do this? Okay, guys.

Yeah, look, I did just it. You can't move. All right. I'm going to pin it to him.

Start the shift. We're going to remove the neck. You go ahead and start. I'm going to remove it from him.

He's going to remove it from me. All right. Welcome to a Cigar Hustler podcast where cigars start the conversation, but anything can happen. I'm Mike BDP Palmer, your host, alongside my co-host.

Here again, Triple G. He's over there. Nobody pushed the button. And then in engineering, who you also can't see, uh, Mr.

Michael Szczepankevic, uh, please ignore the rumbling noise. Why don't we just start over? Use this for a B-roll, just disconnect it. Through the hole.

Through the hole. So, okay, do you want me to pin this on my... Was that B-roll? That was B-roll.

Yes, that was B-roll. Oh, nice. Okay. All right, you ready?

Ready. I'm sliding. Action. Oh, I didn't even see where you were going.

Oh, now I can't see you because of the light on the little screen over there either. Perfect. Welcome to a Cigar Hustler Podcast where the cigars are premium, the opinions are unfiltered, and the conversations have no boundaries. P.

Palmer, alongside my co-host for the week, Mr. Triple G... Back again. Here we are.

and keeping us sounding our best, our guest engineer for the week, Michael Szczepankewicz. Hello. Whether it's cigars, sports, business, current events, pop culture, or the craziest stories making headlines, if it's worth talking about, we're gonna talk about it. Alright, no scripts, no safe answers, just honest conversations, big laughs, and the kind of show that can go from premium cigars to absolute chaos in a matter of seconds, so light up your favorite cigar, kick back, join us, because once the conversation starts, there's no telling where it'll end, this is a Cigar Hustler Podcast.

Dun, dun, dun! On today's show, Diddy gets a reduction in sentence again. Oh, yeah. Poland is going to war.

Uh-oh. Everybody needs a good wienering. At In Cigars, Honduras says, you can't do that here. Let's see.

How do we get on the, oh, this isn't, oh, that's, okay, we're in cigars. How do we get in on the Roma? How do we get in on the Roma info train? Hoya says, Ola, standardization, the sizes of two of its Maria Mencini's.

Yes Women Can Be Nights, and we explain the Honduran Discount. " What just happened there? I'm so confused about everything that he said. Yeah.

Good, so now you have to listen to the show. Yeah, now I have to be quiet and listen. You have to listen to the show. I totally want to change this to dynamic, just like mid-show.

You just hit a button? Yeah. Let's see what happens. Greg Dim, you lied a little bit, you were right.

I told you. All right, I'm going to touch this real quick and see what happens. I don't want to listen to me. I know things.

Oh, it is on dynamic. Oh, it is on dynamic. I'll try condenser. Oh, no, no.

That's terrible. Now I'm gone. Now I'm gone. Oh, you're back.

Now I'm buzzing. Now you're buzzing. Here we are. What's line?

What's line? Nothing. Hold on. Hold on.

Let's see. Go ahead. Try it again. Nothing.

Nothing. Oh. Dynamic. Now it's really bad.

I didn't do anything different. I'm gonna turn this off real quick.

Show Notes

Go behind the scenes with A Cigar Hustlers Podcast as we look back at the week of July 27th. From the moments between takes to the laughs, setup, outtakes, and everything that doesn't make the final show, this B-roll gives you an inside look at what it takes to put the podcast together. If you enjoy seeing the real personalities behind the microphones, this one's for you.