Debating, debunking and discussing hot topics.
There’s nothing better than a flat out raw conversation with your mates. Absolute nonsense, authenticity and silliness – all things we love and can’t get enough of.
For two Aussie blokes, that’s the epitome of their dynamics. Coming in with amusing banter, comical relief but also honest and open discussion, Joel Jackson and Jackson Tozer are creating the feeling of ease and curiosity through their podcast ‘So, What Do You Reckon?’
Loaded with fun and sometimes naughty remarks – but always with good intent, the duo is aiming to provide a release of stress for 18 to 34 year olds who are currently losing their minds because of the pandemic.
Here at Forte, Jackson and Joel gave us an insight onto their creative heads and their motivations to start this all. Giving listeners a little slice of paradise to help lift spirits, they reminds us that there are better days coming through laughing through the pain.
Tell us about yourself? How would you describe Jackson Tozer and Joel Jackson?
We decided to answer these on behalf of each other.
Jackson describes Joel; Joel Esteban Cornelius the 3rd Jackson (May not be his middle name/s) is a Logie and ACCTA award winning actor/musician. Joel has starred in Peter Allen: The Boy Next Door, Miss Fisher’s Modern Murders and The Karratha Junior Community Theatre production of Grease: The Musical. Born and raised in rural Western Australia, he has spent the last decade travelling the world as an actor and musician.
Joel describes Jackson; Jackson Tozer is a multi award winning comedy writer whose work has featured on Will Ferrel’s Funny or Die.com, recently he collaborated with the international superstar RUEL for his Ruelvision.tv series which launched early September. He’s most recognisable from his work on Mr Inbetween, Rostered On and The Bayview College High School Production of Grease: The Musical. He’s a faithful Geelong supporter, ex local and holds the record for most rejected applications for A Farmer Wants A Wife.
Congrats on the new podcast! Could you give a brief rundown on what ‘So What Do You Reckon?’ speak about? What can listeners expect from it?
Every episode we debate, discuss or debunk a hotly contested topic using fact, folklore and flat out BS while tearing shreds off each other. The banter is A+ and the silliness is at an all time high. Past episodes have covered Dating During the Age of COVID or whether pineapple should be on a pizza or which is best, cats or dogs? If you like Hamish and Andy at their most outlandish, this is most certainly for you.
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What pushed you both to start this new project of yours?
We wanted people to take a break from the constant news stream of COVID, international politics and severity of serious conversation. We hoped to remind people that there’s more to life than what’s on the news. We both totally understand the importance of serious conversation and being an adult… but sometimes being silly and having a laugh is just what we need. The podcast to us is that injection of joy, connection and carefree fun that had gone missing from the community.
Podcasting is quite popular these days, especially since COVID happened. What sets you apart from other podcasters?
Too true! And don’t we know it. We were hyper aware that podcast creation was the flavour of the month. We knew we wanted to be different and we wanted to get people’s attention, again and again and again. Making one-time listeners lifetime fans, rather than a flash in the pan listen. I think that’s what sets us apart.
We’ll be here once COVID ends. We both saw a huge gap in comedy being made for people our age, something to remind us all that the best is yet to come and that a huge belly laugh is actually the greatest thing. Not a yearly planner. Having fun and enjoying what we have is what’s most important to us, so this podcast was made with the intention to lift up our audience and give them the best show possible. We created this podcast to be the audience’s show; the discussions, the debate, they don’t end with us. Our audiences take it home and into their group chat or over dinner with their partner, it’s not just about us it’s about giving them something fun to talk about.
What’s the process like? How do you get topics and ideas to discuss during the show?
Before we started we made huge list of popular “age old debate topics”, pineapple on pizza, cats vs dogs, peanut butter; crunchy or smooth etc and recently we’ve been taking suggestions from listeners. Which has been awesome and really fun to interact with. Joel prepares by scouring the internet for facts and stories on the subject, making a list of talking points and references. Jackson turns his laptop on and connects his microphone to it.
Has there been any challenging moments since launching the podcast? If so, how’d you deal with them?
There was this little pandemic that really threw a spanner in the works, but we were able to record a few episodes together in person before the Victorian lockdown. Then we had to start recording remotely and it was really tough to capture that energy and connection over zoom. So much of the podcast is improvised and off the cuff and that’s so much easier to capture in person. So we’ve had to learn how to create that spark without being in the same room. I think like anything though if you repeat it and develop it enough it’ll find its feet and show you where to go. There’s a great saying in songwriting, “inspiration is for fools, the rest of us just show up.” Meaning you can’t wait for the inspiration to appear, you just gotta keep working at it and as hard as it can be sometimes, it’s damn fun.
What do you hope to achieve with this podcast?
World domination would be nice, but we’ll settle for a leading Australian comedy podcast. But really, the podcast started as an excuse for us to build our friendship. We really enjoyed making each other laugh and really admire each other as dudes and creatives. It’s now become something much bigger for us and we’re so proud of it. It’s a platform to start discussions and to help take peoples minds off their day to day stress. We want So What Do You Reckon? to become the 30-40 minute laugh that people look forward to each week.
Make sure to follow their page on Instagram for all things funny and check out their podcast below.
