Cookies For Breakfast

Welcome to my first review!

A few weeks ago, I was the Podcast Movement Evolutions conference with my good friend Imran Ahmed, the Captain, of Great Pods. We were talking about how few people do honest podcast reviews these days and he suggested that one way I could help independent podcasts like mine was to review them. Essentially, he’s finding it hard to get enough reviews for his site because there’s just not that many people doing reviews of podcasts and so many of those who are focus on the big names. So, here we are.

For my first review, my warm up, I chose a podcast I know well. Cookies for Breakfast is hosted by Spark Tabor. Spark is a very, very funny comedian who lives here in Philly. He’s a multi-time winner of “Funniest person in…” contests (Cincinnati, The State of Ohio, Chicago etc.) and tours all over as an in-demand comedian. I should know. He’s been my best friend since middle school. Yep, there’s the grain of salt for this review. I’ve been on the show a few times myself and obviously have nothing but love for Spark. Which is why I chose this show as my warm up!

With that being said, I do want to review this critically. The show covers topics including pop culture, movies, current events, sports, and sex. If those are topics you enjoy, then this show is probably going to be one you’ll enjoy.

So first the pro’s. Most of the episodes are very funny. Spark is funny enough himself obviously and I personally think the best episodes are the ones where Spark flies solo. His brand of humor is my own as well (naturally, we’ve been friends for over twenty years). But he also brings a number of great guests on too. And most of the time, when they are other comedians, the show can be uproariously funny. Like, don’t listen in public because people will think you’re a bit off funny. Like, don’t listen around your mom because then you’ll be stuck explaining why you are laughing at a dick joke on a podcast funny. And, let’s be honest, most of us don’t laugh enough these days. So even if I didn’t know and love Spark, I’d subscribe and tune in to these episodes.

Now, the negatives. Like I said before, I think Spark flying solo is when the show is at its best. And most of the time when he has other comedians, it’s so funny. But when he invites his friends on (like myself, yep I’m part of the problem here), the show can be hit or miss for me personally. I will say here the caveat is I don’t normally like chat shows. Not my thing. So when it’s Spark chatting with Joe Schmo about a topic I don’t care about, it gets boring to me real quick. And when it’s Spark chatting with Jill… Schmill… about a topic I do care about but Jill doesn’t have any info and she’s just rambling about her opinion, I find myself thinking “why am I listening to this?” Again, the caveat being there are a lot of people who actually are looking for that kind of show. And if that’s your thing, I truly think you’re going to love this show. But for me, it means I have to check who is on the show. Because If I don’t know them personally, and they aren’t a comedian (and occasionally even if they are), that episode just ain’t for me.

Overall, I’ll say this about Cookies For Breakfast. If I didn’t know the host and was lucky enough to somehow stumble on this independent show, I’d be super happy that I did and would subscribe a couple minutes into the first episode I chose. And given what I said about it not being the kind of show I normally go for, I think that says a lot about the humor and joy that comes from listening to Cookies For Breakfast. I give it a 9/10! Check it out today at greatpods.co/podcast/cookies-for-breakfast.

Thanks for reading!