
Michael Sanchez Looks Behind the Curtain
From Talking Writing by Martha Nichols, John Vogel, and Neva Talladen
May 5, 2026 · 1h 0m · Season 6 · Episode 12
About this episode
Musician and filmographer Michael Sanchez discusses his artistic journey and experiences in music and comedy with host John Vogel.
For this episode musician and filmmaker Michael Sanchez sits down with TW creative director John Vogel. Michael grew up in Newcastle, Delaware, where he started playing and recording music. One of his bands from that time, the New Death Show, eventually pared from four-piece to duo and migrated to Seattle. Later Michael would move to Brooklyn, San Francisco, Chicago, and then Philly, settling into different artistic projects along the way, including his band The Way It Is and a solo project, Electric Dylan. In San Francisco he started trying out comedy, which started to become more serious during his time in Chicago. There, he and four other comedians started a showcase called Comedians You Should Know, which ran at a local pub every Wednesday starting in 2010. In 2015 and 2016 the showcase expanded to LA and New York. Throughout this time period, Michael was also creating videos both for himself and as a contractor for different artists and corporate institutions. Early on he and his friends filmed a no-budget superhero movie called The Return of Great Guy , which stalled due to hard drive issues. For this interview, Michael fields questions from John's Perfect Recognition…
People in this episode
Host: John Vogel
Guest: Michael Sanchez
Topics covered
- music
- comedy
- artistic projects
- interview
- creative process
Keywords
- Michael Sanchez
- John Vogel
- music
- comedy
- artistic projects
- The Way It Is
- Comedians You Should Know
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: The Way It Is, Comedians You Should Know
Books & works: The Return of Great Guy
Places: Newcastle, Delaware, Seattle, Brooklyn, San Francisco, Chicago, Philly
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