What Was The Macinchat Variety Show?

The Macinchat Variety Show was recorded throughout most of 2001 by Bill Soucy (also known as "Dr. Soos" formerly of "The Fantasy Football Podcast") and Mark H. Delfs (also known as "Mr. X" of "The Late Night With Mr. X & Just Julie Podcast") who created and starred in the internet-based radio show. The show was completely about the Macintosh operating system and was more of a comedy show than a real talk show. Delfs and Soucy produced many skits, including placing phony phone calls to local businesses asking questions related to the Macintosh. Other skits included fake commercials and "Stump the Mac Geek," where listeners could write in Macintosh-related questions to stump either host. One mainstay of the show was a skit featuring "Ed MacMahon," who was a parody of entertainer Ed McMahon who would walk onto the show when host Delfs would appear to walk out of the show to take a break. Another popular segment was "Jargon Watch," which featured a new technical expression or term that Soucy often turned into a comical moment. Most often the hosts would have full pitchers of beer in the studio while recording the show which added to the lunacy of some of the skits.

The show could have been considered an early Podcast, though there was no RSS support in those days for delivering audio feeds. Instead, Delfs and Soucy created the show in an extra bedroom on a series of different Macintosh computers, and edited down to a final MP3 that was posted to a server that anyone on the internet could listen to at any time. The show had a few sponsors which would often send in free products to have mentioned on the show. Some of the sponsors included RamJet memory, Red Hook Beer, and All-U Sportswear.

The show was abrubtly ended in late 2001 when the hosts made some career changes. There were approximately 20-25 shows in total (we are currently trying to find the missing episodes), each ranging about an hour to an hour and a half long.

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