Today we’d like to introduce you to Bobby Pease
Hi Bobby, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
The Casual Hour officially launched in 2016, but our roots go back to 2009 when our
founding members, Bobby Pease and Johnny Amizich, bonded over video game and
pop culture discussions during their breaks and downtime while working at Apple.
Despite having no real experience, a few equipment purchases on Amazon, a couple
beers and a makeshift studio (which was really just a dining room table) later, the first
episode of The Casual Hour was born.
Our show started with the idea we’d cover all sort of pop culture — movies, TV, comics,
music — but the discussions became more and more video game focused until we
scrapped the rest and fully dedicated ourselves to talking about games.
We really felt like we needed a third voice to keep the conversation going, so our first
addition to the team was Patric Brown, another fellow Apple alum. Patric’s a talented
musician (he even created the show’s first theme song) and brought a new perspective
to the show. But Patric’s time on The Casual Hour only lasted a handful of episodes due
to his musical career taking off. He remains a cherished “friend of the show,” and he’s
always welcome back.
We also added Chase Koeneke, a friend of Johnny’s. Chase is a passionate gamer who
brought a lot of podcasting experience through his previous show Gamers on the Go, as
well as radio and podcast shows he produced in college at Mizzou. Chase came in
around the third episode, and has been a permanent member ever since.
Early days of the show were both sporadic and chaotic. The Casual Hour was “A
Podcast Ostensibly About Video Games,” as we were prone to tangents and were often
talking over each other. It also didn’t help that we were trying to work around three or
four different people’s schedules, some of whom worked retail and some of whom were
parents. It took some work, but we finally established a regular-late night recording
schedule and refined our conversations to a more organized format.
Each weekly episode of The Casual Hour features a “Whatcha Been Playing”; segment
where hosts discuss the new (and sometimes old) games they’ve been playing over the
last week, followed by a look into industry news. We also do a monthly “Deep Dive”
episode where one of the hosts would talk about a particular topic (from the history of a
game studio to a retrospective on an obscure piece of gaming hardware) and present it
to the others. Eventually, we added our “Monthly Preview” episodes, where we’d run
down all the interesting new releases coming out that next month, then make some
picks and predictions on what we thought were going to be our favorite games
(oftentimes being extremely wrong and getting roasted about it come the next preview
episode as we’d look back at the results.) And finally, we’d end each year with a big,
dumb Game of the Year episode, where we’d make up silly categories to give games
different awards (such as “Best Game You Bought But Never Played”) as well as having
long discussions/debates/arguments/tantrums about the best games that came out that
calendar year. We even recorded one Game of the Year show in the back of a Cici’s
Pizza after a long in-joke of being unofficially sponsored by the restaurant.
The show started as a recorded, audio-only podcast we’d do over Skype, but sometime
in 2020, we made the switch to connecting on Discord and broadcasting the show live
on Twitch. It was a rocky transition, but Bobby, the main editor of the show, learned a lot
about producing and got pretty good at it. We added on two additional livestreams each
week, and also started putting up “quick looks” videos with our thoughts and opinions of
new games on our YouTube channel. At our peak output, we were releasing five fully-
produced pieces on our channels each week.
In early 2024, Johnny began writing for the website Hard Drive and transitioned to
“friend of the show” status. Bobby and Chase have taken that opportunity to retool the
show a little and adjust the frequency of our content, but we’re still streaming three days
a week, and we’ll be celebrating our 400th episode of The Casual Hour podcast
sometime this year.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
You’d think talking about games into a microphone 1-3 times a week would be pretty
easy, but we’ve definitely had our issues. From audio and production problems to
debates about how to market ourselves, to just plain burnout.
We’ve also had to deal with some life curveballs. Work restrictions at Apple prevented
Bobby and Johnny from hanging out outside of work for a time, which led to Johnny
taking a hiatus from the show. We’d eventually get back to full strength after both left
Apple at different times for other work opportunities.
And we’ve struggled with what each of us wanted out of the show. Some of us just
thought this was a fun excuse to hang out with our friends. Some of us believed the
show could be more, trying to grow our audience or increase our production values. And
many of those thoughts and opinions have evolved and changed over the eight years
we’ve been doing this.
The transition to live recordings was another significant challenge. It exposed us to a
broader audience and required us to be more camera-ready than our previous late-night
pre-recorded sessions. Juggling three live recordings a week, along with the social and
production aspects of the show, has been a monumental task, especially while
balancing our personal and professional lives.
It’s also sometimes just really depressing to record a video game show these days.
There have been significant layoffs in the industry in 2023 and 2024. There’s also been
the remnants of Gamergate hanging over the medium for years. Thankfully, our show
has avoided any direct backlash or drama, but it can be difficult to be upbeat about
games or talk about the minor minutiae of the games we’re playing when we know so
many people are losing their livelihoods or are being subjected to targeted harassment
campaigns. But the show has also been cathartic in providing a platform to voice our
displeasure about the corporate greed or astroturfed movements that we see happening
so often Or other times it offers us and our audience a moment to escape from those
disappointing realities for an hour or three each week.
Balancing a full-blown podcast production while working full-time jobs and maintaining
personal lives is difficult not just for us, but for our friends and families who support this
weird and wonderful venture too. But we believe anything worth doing is worth doing
well, even if it means making a few sacrifices. It's always been a bumpy road, but one
we continue to find worth traveling.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Hopefully, we’ve covered a decent amount of this in previous questions, but here are a
few thoughts.
Our Monday and Friday streams (we call them Casual Mondays and Casual Fridays
respectively) focus a little more on what each of our hosts like to play. Chase is big into
card and strategy games, so we play more of those on Mondays. Bobby digs more of
the survival and crafting type games, so you’ll see more of those on Fridays.
Wednesday is for our main weekly podcast called The Casual Hour that has been going
since 2016.
Another thing we hang our hat on is not just doing the expected thing. Many podcasts
about video games really only talk about games and industry news, and they do that at
a very surface level. And while we certainly fall into this too, we also try to push those
conversations further, providing real insight, historical context or just expertise on the
topics we cover. We also added a number of additional segments and special shows
over our run, including our Deep Dive and Monthly Preview episodes. Those are things
we haven’t seen from the podcasts we watch and listen to, so it’s something we feel
makes us unique.
We’re also just really proud of being from the Midwest. Most American game companies
and journalistic outlets covering games are based on the coasts, and sometimes we just
don’t feel very represented. We think that adding our perspective to the mix (as well as
the great work by other Midwestern podcasters) helps to make this whole subculture
richer as a result.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Bobby:
Since starting The Casual Hour, there hasn’t been a single week where I wasn’t excited
to record the show. Through this journey, I’ve gained two lifelong friends and a deeper,
more fulfilling passion for gaming than ever before. Gaming has been a part of my life
since I could hold a controller, and sharing that passion while helping others discover
their own has been incredibly rewarding.
This show has given me the privilege to play games with my closest friends, connect
with the developers of some of my favorite games, and forge new friendships —
experiences I will forever cherish. Even though my wife isn’t as passionate about games
as I am, we occasionally find a game we both enjoy. Her unwavering encouragement
and support for this wild idea of a show has made the experience even more enjoyable
for me.
It’s incredibly gratifying when colleagues and friends reach out for game
recommendations, share articles they think I’d like, or when I find a game so captivating
that I can’t stop thinking about it even when I’m not playing. These moments are deeply
enriching, and much of this joy stems from the time spent running The Casual Hour.
Chase:
I really enjoy having this outlet to both express myself as well as consider my own
opinions. By sharing my thoughts about games weekly for nearly eight straight years
(and often having two other people challenging those thoughts) I’ve become a better
critic, writer and thinker.
Having this show to look forward to (especially during the COVID lockdown period) each
week has been a godsend. It’s kept me sane. It’s kept me passionate. And it’s brought
me closer to my fellow hosts on the show, as well as friends and fans who continue to
support us.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thecasualhour.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/thecasualhour
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/thecasualhour
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/thecasualhour
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/thecasualhour
- Other: https://twitch.tv/thecasualhour
