Troubled Waters

During the 2025 MaxFunDrive, we promised yall if we reach our support stretch goal, we'd make a special D&D episode! Well, we reached that goal and got right to work. Join Dave Holmes, Riley Silverman, John-Luke Roberts, producer Christian, and special guest Austin Taylor of Secret Histories of Nerd Mysteries on a rip roaring musical adventure! 

DM'd by Riley Silverman, recorded remotely over Zoom and in Los Angeles at MaxFun HQ and produced by Christian Dueñas and Laura Swisher.

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This week, our MaxFun friends Katie Goldin and John Moe join Dave for some Pixar films, custom popcorn buckets, and Muppet music trivia

Katie Goldin would like to plug Secretly Incredibly Fascinating and Creature Feature and recommends Pants 

John Moe would like to plug Depresh Mode, Sleeping with Celebrities, his band Math Emergency, and his upcoming class at The Loft and recommends Elderberry Wine by Wednesday

And finally Dave is on Bluesky!

Find us on Instagram and Bluesky

Written by Riley Silverman and John-Luke Roberts, recorded remotely over Zoom and...

This week, our MaxFun friends Helen Hong and Kevin Avery join Dave for Nintendo trivia, LGBTQ+ anthems, and Sesame Street pitches.

Helen Hong would like to plug Go Fact Yourself and Belly Laughs Festival

Kevin Avery would like to plug Maximum Film and The Great North and recommends Kara Morgan

And finally Dave is on Bluesky!

Find us on Instagram and Bluesky

Written by Riley Silverman and John-Luke Roberts, recorded remotely over Zoom and produced by Christian Dueñas and Laura Swisher.

Join the MaxFun fam:

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This week, our friends Teri Gamble and Jessica Lynn Verdi join Dave for TV spinoff trivia, improvised song sequels, and movie sequel bidding wars.

Teri Gamble would like to plug Horror Movie Survival Guide and Horror X and recommends Today in Gay 

Jessica Lynn Verdi would like to plug Mission Log: The Orville and recommends Naming Your Little Geek and Amanda Troop

And finally Dave is on Bluesky!

Find us on Instagram and Bluesky

Written by Riley Silverman and John-Luke Roberts, recorded remotely over Zoom and produced by Christian Dueñas...

This week, our guests Shanna Christmas and Mangesh Hattikudur join Dave Holmes for some songs about women in interesting places, cornfield horror flicks, and Sanrio character trivia.

Shanna Christmas would like to plug her upcoming special Highly Intelligent and her monthly comedy show and recommends The Comedy Reviewers

Mangesh Hattikudur would like to plug Part Time Genius and recommends From Ted to Tom

And finally Dave is on Bluesky!

Find us on Instagram and Bluesky

Written by Riley Silverman and John-Luke Roberts, recorded remotely over Zoom and produced by Chri...

This week, our guests Riley Silverman and Amy Spalding join Dave Holmes for some cubic trivia, wordcloud karaoke, and tax write off justifications. 

Riley Silverman would like to plug Tales From The Vortex and recommends The Joy Who Lived

Amy Spalding would like to plug On Her Terms and recommends Cover Story by Celia Laskey

And finally Dave is on Bluesky! Dave would like to recommend Pete Zias 

Find us on Instagram and Bluesky

Written by Riley Silverman and John-Luke Roberts, recorded remotely over Zoom and produced by Christian Dueñas...

This week our friends Oscar Montoya and Mike Drucker join Dave for some garbled videogame tunes, Wario-ized celebrities, and videogame movie trivia. 

Mike Drucker would like to plug Good Game No Rematch and recommends Two Point Museum

Oscar Montoya would like to plug Eurovangelists and Drag Her! and recommends Infinity Nikki

And finally Dave is on Bluesky! Dave would like to recommend Cotton Crown by The Tubs

Find us on Instagram and Bluesky

Written by Riley Silverman and John-Luke Roberts, recorded remotely over Zoom and produced by Christian Dueñas and...

For MaxFunDrive 2025 we thought it'd be fun to release an older piece of bonus content from behind the paywall! Enjoy! 

Here's a little sneak peek at this year's bonus content! It's a Motivational Speeches special, featuring a ton of MaxFun favorites!  

If you'd like to hear the rest, go on over to maximumfun.org/join  and become a member TODAY! It's the MaxFunDrive, the one time of year where your dollar goes the furthest! Get great gifts and support the shows you love! 

It's MaxFunDrive time again!!! If you like Troubled Waters and want to support the show, become a member of Maximum Fun! You can join for as low as $5/month and get access to some great bonus content from us and every show on Maximum Fun! 

This week, MaxFun hosts Allan McLeod and Dimitry Pompee join Dave for some celebrity name bidding, Shrek recasting, and Irish town names.

Dimitry Pompee would like to plug Curses! Be@rBrick and Eurovangelists and recommends Our Ancestors Were Messy

Allan McLeod would like to plug Walkin' About and T...

It’s not MaxFunDrive without a wild kickoff spectacular! Former real-life VJ and host of MTV's Spring Break 1999, Dave Holmes, takes your favorite MaxFun hosts through some wacky ‘90s- and Spring Break-themed mini games!!

Featuring: Dave Holmes, Jeremy Bent, Oscar Montoya, Dimitry Pompée, Tom Lum, Ellen Weatherford, Alex Schmidt, Brenda Snell, Drea Clark, Alonso Duralde, Dan McCoy, Jordan Morris, Manolo Moreno, Ella Hubber, Caroline Roper, Ella McLeod, John-Luke Roberts, Justin McElroy, Clint McElroy, Mike Cabellon, Sierra Katow, Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford, John Moe, Christian Dueñas, Christian Duguay.

This week, our friends Daniel Van Kirk and Brian Konowal join Dave for some acceptance speeches, celebrity/veggie combos, and songs about winning and losing.

Brian Konowal would like to plug 1923 season 2 and recommends Starling Street and the podcast Guardians of the Palaxy

Daniel Van Kirk would like to plug his upcoming tour dates, his special Rose Gold, his podcast The Midnight Air, and the movie Wine Club and recommends Squid Game Season 2

Dave is on Bluesky and would like to recommend Beyond the Gates

Find us on Instagram! We are @T...

This week our friends Erin Judge and Jenny Chalikian join Dave for some motivational speeches, Sparks songs vs This American Life episodes, and twin/vampire trivia.

Erin Judge would like to plug Romantic Comedy at the Ripped Bodice and Queens of the Dead and recommends Tomas Matos  

Jenny Chalikian would also like to plug Romantic Comedy at the Ripped Bodice and recommends Sixteenth Minute (of Fame)

Find us on Instagram! We are @TroubledPod. And we're on Bluesky now too! 

Written by Riley Silverman and John-Luke Roberts, recorded remotely over Zoom and produc...

This week our friends Zabeth Russell and Mel Stephens join Dave for some celebrity portmanteaus, Robbie Williams weirdo lyrics, and some dystopian airlines. 

Mel Stephens would like to plug Overshare Comedy and recommends the concept of Daniel Van Kirk

Zabeth Russell would like to plug Community Cookbook Roundup and Fiasco at the Elysian and recommends Chicken Nugget

Dave is on Bluesky!

Find us on Instagram! We are @TroubledPod

Written by Riley Silverman and John-Luke Roberts, recorded remotely over Zoom and produced by Christian Dueñas and Laura Swisher.

Join th...

We weren't able to record the show this week because of the ongoing LA wildfires, but we made a clip show for yall with some of our favorite segments with fellow MaxFun hosts! Featuring our pals Manolo Moreno, Renee Colvert, Ella McLeod, Tom Lum, Brenda Snell, Jackie Kashian, Dimitry Pompee, and Katie Goldin! 

Dave is on Bluesky!

Find us on Instagram! We are @TroubledPod

Written by Riley Silverman and John-Luke Roberts, recorded remotely over Zoom and produced by Christian Dueñas and Laura Swisher.

Join the MaxFun fam:

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Happy New Year! Our friends  Danielle Koenig and Ben Paddon join Dave for some 2023/2024 trivia, music turning 25 years old, and give a year-in-review  for 2025. 

Ben Paddon would like to plug Good Chaotic and Jump Leads and recommends Stitches in Time

Danielle Koenig would like to plug How To Survive with Danielle and Kristine and recommends Go Fact Yourself

Dave is on Bluesky!

Find us on Instagram! We are @TroubledPod

Written by Riley Silverman and John-Luke Roberts, recorded remotely over Zoom and produced by Christian Dueñas and Laura Swisher.

Join t...

This week our friends Jacob Givens and Des Bishop join Dave for our annual Troubled Waters Holiday Spectacular! We get into Muppets Christmas Carol, Hallmark Christmas movies, and do our best to pretend to like some very bad gifts.

Jacob Givens would like to plug his podcast Waterproof Records

Des Bishop would like to plug his upcoming live dates and his podcast Berner Phone and recommends Down with Tech by Nathan Macintosh and Brave by Raanna Hershberg

Dave is on Bluesky!

Find us on Instagram! We are @TroubledPod

Written b...

This week, our friends Matthew Broussard and Gregory Lay join Dave for some word cloud singing, Zucc puns, and Tickle Me Elmo trivia. 

Matthew Broussard would like to plug his special Hyperbolic and recommends 3Blue1Brown

Gregory Lay would like to plug Greg in LA and recommends Tom Sibley's Substack

Dave is on Bluesky! 

Find us on Instagram! We are @TroubledPod

Written by Riley Silverman and John-Luke Roberts, recorded remotely over Zoom and produced by Christian Dueñas and Laura Swisher.

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This week our pals Chris Grace and Jordan Morris join Dave for some mundane Thanksgiving revelations, learn about some colorful characters, and hear a few new turkey noises.

Jordan Morris would like to plug Free With Ads, Jordan Jesse Go, and Youth Group and recommends Family Time by Thien Pham

Chris Grace would like to plug  Chris Grace: As Scarlett Johansson and Sardines recommends I Saw The TV Glow

Dave would like to recommend Dulling the Horns by Wild Pink

Find us on Instagram! We are @TroubledPod

Written by Ril...

This week, our pals Danielle Radford and Allen Strickland Williams join Dave for some real and fake villainous books, motivational speeches, and punny biopics.

Allen Strickland Williams would like to plug his new album Ran Through and recommends No Name by Jack White

Danielle Radford would like to plug Goblin Mode and her Dropout appearances and recommends The Bell Witches by Lindsey Kelk 

Dave would like to recommend Dulling the Horns by Wild Pink

Find us on Instagram! We are @TroubledPod

Written by Riley Silverman and John-Luke Roberts, recorded remot...

This week, our MaxFun pals Oscar Montoya and Mallory O'Meara join Dave for spooky movie pitches, sexy monster lingerie, and music about ghosts and butts. 

Oscar Montoya would like to plug Eurovangelists and recommends Brain Damage, Frankenhooker, and Basket Case

Mallory O'Meara would like to plug Reading Glasses and the upcoming books Daughter of Daring and The No-Pressure Book Journal. Mallory recommends Brea Grant's short film MLM 

Dave would like to recommend  Jimmy and Stiggs

Find us on Instagram! We are @TroubledPod

Written by Riley Silverman and John-Luke Roberts, recorde...

This week, our MaxFun pals Steven Ray Morris and Brenda Snell join Dave for some witchy trivia, bootleg zoo animals, and Mandy Moore appreciation. 

Steven Ray Morris would like to plug See Jurassic Right and Jordan, Jesse, Go, and recommends  Video Visions at Videoteque

Brenda Snell would like to plug Secret Histories of Nerd Mysteries and recommends Ann Reardon's YouTube channel

Dave would like to recommend The Camp 100 by Simon Doonan

Find us on Instagram! We are @TroubledPod

Written by Riley Silverman and John-Luke Roberts, recorded remotely over Zoom and pr...

Our friends Megan Sass and Mike Cabellon join Dave for some celebrity/toy biopics, an "It" musical, and critique some bad dishes. 

Mike Cabellon would like to plug TV Chef Fantasy League and recommends Artisan LA Jewelry

Megan Sass would like to plug Recolonizers and recommends Kinky Comedy

And finally, Dave Holmes is on Twitter @DaveHolmes.Dave would like to recommend Van Gogh by Mette

Find us on Instagram! We are @TroubledPod

Written by Riley Silverman and John-Luke Roberts, recorded remotely over Zoom and produced by Christian Dueñas and Laura S...

This week, it's another MaxFun crossover! Dimitry Pompee of Eurovangelists and Katie Goldin of Secretly Incredibly Fascinating join Dave for some ChatGPT reviews, fake locations roll call, and a list of things you can and cannot touch.

Katie would like to plug Secretly Incredibly Fascinating and Creature Feature and recommends Dane Pavitt's bird dino sounds

Dimitry would like to plug Eurovangelists and recommends Here We Go

And finally, Dave Holmes is on Twitter @DaveHolmes.

Find us on Instagram! We are @TroubledPod

Written by Riley Silverman and Danielle Radford, recorded remotel...

MAXFUN CROSSOVER ALERT! 

Our MaxFun friends Ella Hubber and Alex Schmidt join Dave for drag queen/marijuana strain trivia, back to school movie "facts" and songs about dogs and summer.

Alex Schmidt would like to plug Secretly Incredibly Fascinating and SIF LIVE in London and recommends David Squires

Ella Hubber would like to plug Let's Learn Everything and Unstoppable and recommends Tom Lum's video about carbon dating

And finally, Dave Holmes is on Twitter @DaveHolmes. 

Find us on Instagram! We are @TroubledPod

Written by Riley Silverma...

Laura Merli and Chris Duffy join Dave for some motivational speeches, trivia on movies based on books, and twisted up songs.

Laura Merli would like to plug Belly Slappin' Fun and recommends Cora Bora

Chris Duffy would like to plug Let's Hang Out and recommends Liz Glazer

And finally, Dave Holmes is on Twitter @DaveHolmes. Dave would like to recommend I'm In Love (Subaru)

Find us on Instagram! We are @TroubledPod

Written by Riley Silverman and Danielle Radford, recorded remotely over Zoom and produced by Christian Dueñas and Laura Swish...

Bethany Hall and George Motz join Dave for some chef trivia, musical athletes, and long gaps between sequels.

Bethany Hall would like to plug About Those Miscarriages I Had and Other Messes I've Made and recommends Bluey

George Motz would like to plug Hamburger America and recommends his kid's crossword puzzles

And finally, Dave Holmes is on Twitter @DaveHolmes. 

Find us on Twitter and Instagram! We are @TroubledPod

Written by Riley Silverman and Danielle Radford, recorded remotely over Zoom and produced by Christian Dueñas and Laura Swisher.

Join the M...

This week, our friends Emily Catalano and Jen Kober join Dave for some Legend of Zelda wordplay, Chappell Roan trivia, and strange summer festivals from around the world.

Emily Catalano would like to plug HEY and recommends Godzilla Minus One

Jen Kober would like to plug No Flies on Me and recommends Bitch

And finally, Dave Holmes is on Twitter @DaveHolmes. Dave would like to recommend Flamer

Find us on Twitter and Instagram! We are @TroubledPod

Written by Riley Silverman and John-Luke Roberts, recorded remotely over Zoom and produced by Chri...

This week our friends Christian Dueñas and Casey O'Brien join Dave Holmes for some made up lyrics, international cover song trivia, and pop city wordplay.

Christian Dueñas would like to plug Primer and Troubled Waters here on Maximum Fun and recommends The People's Joker

Casey O'Brien would like to plug 14 Stories in a Bathroom and recommends Primer 

And finally, Dave Holmes is on Twitter @DaveHolmes. Dave would like to recommend Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution

Find us on Twitter and Instagram! We are @TroubledPod

Written by Riley Silverman and John...

This week, our friends Jim O'Heir and Greg Levine of the podcast Parks and Recollection join host Dave Holmes for some graduation speeches, mockumentary trivia, and TV show recap podcasts.

Greg Levine would like to plug Parks and Recollection and recommends Selling Sunset

Jim O'Heir would like to plug  Parks and Recollection and his upcoming book Welcome to Pawnee

And finally, Dave Holmes is on Twitter @DaveHolmes

Find us on Twitter! We are @TroubledPod

Written by Riley Silverman and John-Luke Roberts, recorded remotely over Zoom and produced by Christian Dueñas an...

This week, our friends Daniel Van Kirk and Jenn Harris join Dave for some cat actor trivia, musical word clouds, and Met Gala fashion critiques. 

Daniel Van Kirk would like to plug Rose Gold and recommends The Offer

Jenn Harris would like to plug She's Clean and recommends Oh, Mary!

And Finally, Dave Holmes is on Twitter @DaveHolmes

Find us on Twitter! We are @TroubledPod

Written by Riley Silverman and John-Luke Roberts, recorded remotely over Zoom and produced by Christian Dueñas and Laura Swisher.

Join the MaxFun fam:<...

This week Richard Sarvate and Kevin Casey White join Dave Holmes for very long titles to the Planet of the Apes franchise, bird call competitions, and LGBTQIA+ trivia in comics. 

Richard Sarvate would like to plug his album They're Gonna Know and recommends Drug Church and Paul Morrissey's Ice Cream vs Everything

Kevin Casey White would like to plug his album Harangue and recommends Idles

And Finally, Dave Holmes is on Twitter @DaveHolmes.Dave would like to recommend Fiddlehead Fern Cafe

Find us on Twitter! We are @TroubledPod

Written by Ri...

This week, Ellie Hino and Jupiter Zirkua join host Dave Holmes for some romcom wordplay, horror comedy trivia, and motivational speeches

Ellie Hino would like to plug her debut album Soft Bones and recommends Troll Hole

Jupiter Zirkua would like to plug their album Ganymede Gives Up The Ghost and recommends Teddy Hold On and the Gabey Lucas

And Finally, Dave Holmes is on Twitter @DaveHolmes.

Find us on Twitter! We are @TroubledPod

Written by Riley Silverman and John-Luke Roberts, recorded remotely over Zoom and produced by Christian Dueñas and La...

It’s MaxFunDrive, folks! If you like Troubled Waters and want to support the show, please consider becoming a member of Maximum Fun for as low as $5/month and get access to some great bonus content from us and all of the shows on Maximum Fun!

This week, fellow MaxFun hosts Ben Harrison and Christian Duguay join host Dave Holmes for some Ghostbusters music trivia, real and fake Godzilla monsters, and Pixar movie wordplay. 

And Finally, Dave Holmes is on Twitter @DaveHolmes.

Find us on Twitter! We are @TroubledPod

Written by Riley Si...

It's MaxFunDrive! Here is a sneak peek at our bonus content: a special throwback episode with Jordan Morris and Sarah Morgan!  

If you wanna listen to the whole thing and support Troubled Waters and Maximum Fun, go to maximumfun.org/join and become a member! 

It's MaxFunDrive, folks! If you like Troubled Waters and want to support the show, please consider becoming a member of Maximum Fun for as low as $5/month and get access to some great bonus content from us and all of the shows on Maximum Fun!

This week, fellow MaxFun hosts Brenda Snell and Jackie Kashian join Dave Holmes to learn what U2 have been up to since leaving The Sphere, some word cloud singing, and the Chuck E Cheese extended universe.

Brenda Snell would like to plug Secret Histories of Nerd Mysteries and Wheel of...

This week, our friends Cailin Peluffo and Ashley Ray learn about the weird world of Dune and Doonesbury, box office flops, and give strange acceptance speeches.

Caitlin Peluffo would like to plug her album Dirty Bird and recommends Nobody Presents Greg Stone and Before He Was Super by Steven Rogers 

Ashley Ray would like to plug her album Ice Cream Money and her podcast TV, I Say and recommends Household Name by Niles Abston

And finally, Dave Holmes is on Twitter @DaveHolmes.Dave would like to recommend All of Us Strangers

Find...

Our friends from the new MaxFun podcast Sound Heap, John-Luke Roberts and Eleanor Morton join Dave Holmes for some garbled Elton John tunes, niche podcast pitches, and fake reality tv show.

John-Luke Roberts  would like to plug Sound Heap, now on Maximum Fun and recommends the podcast Poetry Unbound 

Eleanor Morton would like to plug her show Haunted House and recommends Sound Heap

And finally, Dave Holmes is on Twitter @DaveHolmes.Dave would like to recommend Tartovski by Bodega

Find us on Twitter and Instagram! We are @TroubledPod

Written by Rile...

This week, our MaxFun friends Ella McLeod and Jeremy Bent join host Dave Holmes for discontinued snack talk, EGOT trivia, and motiviational speeches

Jeremy Bent would like to plug Eurovangelists and recommends The Overstory by Richard Powers

Ella McLeod would like to plug Comfort Creatures and her books Rapunzella and The Map That Led to You and recommends Ordinary Unhappiness

And finally, Dave Holmes is on Twitter @DaveHolmes.Dave would like to recommend Beautiful Song

Find us on Twitter and Instagram! We are @TroubledPod

Written by Riley Silverman and John-Lu...

This week, our friends Tom Lum and Adam Cayton-Holland join host Dave Holmes for some self-help tips, musical trivia, and Steamboat Willie's insane behavior.

Tom Lum would like to plug Let's Learn Everything here on MaxFun and recommends Answer in Progress

Adam Cayton-Holland would like to plug his comedy special Wallpaper and recommends Stella Maris by Cormac McCarthy

And finally, Dave Holmes is on Twitter @DaveHolmes.Dave would like to recommend Tartovski by Bodega

Find us on Twitter and Instagram! We are @TroubledPod

Written by Riley Silverman and John-Luke Roberts...