‘Mediocre’ podcast duo finds new audience in film
The two stars of “A Mediocre Documentary With Tom and Dan” are not given to hyperbole. They named their podcast “A Mediocre Time With Tom and Dan,” now an Orlando institution, to zing rampant radio boasting.
But Tom and Dan rave about the film, director Kirk Murray and the movie’s surprisingly uplifting message, which is served with a lot of coarse language.
“To inspire me, arguably a fairly jaded cat, I was like, ‘This was really good,’” said Daniel Dennis, 41, the anxiety-ridden, quick-witted star who grew up in DeLand.
Co-star Tom Vann, 36, says the duo thought only their listeners would be interested in the movie, which has its sold-out world premiere Sunday at the Florida Film Festival. The 10-day movie showcase wraps up Sunday.
Yet Murray’s work could reach people who have never listened, said Tom, who is
from the Kendall area of Miami.
“It’s a cool story about two dudes that decided to go out and do something on their own and were successful,” Tom said. “And they’re regular guys and family men and they’re crass but they like jokes. Overall, it’s inspiring.”
Murray, who is 35 and grew up in Oviedo, listened to the two men on “The Monsters in the Morning,” an Orlando mainstay on Real Radio 104.1, in the early 2000s.
“When they left, the show didn’t feel the same. Those two guys made the show funny for me,” said the Full Sail University alum. “The biggest thing I loved, and still love, about them is how they riff off each other, and the quickthinking jokes.”
Tom started at Real Radio at 21 and worked as Dan’s intern. They began the podcast in 2009, with management’s permission, and realized it was connecting when listeners showed up at an event and drank the establishment out of beer.
But a fake email, claiming outrage over the podcast, was the catalyst for them to go out on their own, they said. Dan left in 2012, and Tom was gone the next year.
The film was the brainchild of Murray, who moved to Los Angeles 10 years ago and works in reality TV (“Treehouse Masters”). He came back last year to shoot the documentary.
“The idea came to me, and I emailed Tom. Tom is the business guy,” Murray said. Tom saw an opportunity to get their brand out, Murray added, but Dan was resistant.
“Dan is an artist,” Murray said. “He is the creative wing. He usually handles that side of things. So he was a little skeptical.”
Murray says he won them both over with the message: “I’m a fan and this is a love letter to the fans and you guys.”
Tom and Dan prefer the term “listeners,” or the rougher “T&D’s scumbags.”
“Our podcast is blue. We have clean content that we do on other podcasts,” Tom said. On “Mediocre Time,” “we joke around, we’re super blue, we curse … At the end of the day, we talk like everybody is talking to their friends. That’s what I think people appreciated so much.”
But they also have a business story to share. The two University of Central Florida grads have built T&D Media and diversified beyond the podcast. They do “A Corporate Time With Tom and Dan,” a cleanedup version that has put them back on Real Radio.
“They left the business because they wanted to do things a certain way,” Murray says. “It’s David and Goliath. Goliath came around and saw David as equal.”
Dan puts it in more sarcastic terms: “Either we won, because they’re buying the content from us. Or they won because we’re still doing it.”
Yet Tom says it’s a good feeling being on Real Radio and notes the crucial change. “Our listeners are our bosses,” Tom says. “They literally determine whether we can do business or not.”
The men have dual revenue streams through advertising and subscribers (at $2.95 a month), although they say they’re working far harder than they ever did in radio and that small businesses aren’t easy. They keep connecting with fans through events; another movie screening with a Q-and-A will be April 18 at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Orlando. (Tickets, starting at $44.95, are at drphillipscenter.org.)
“Life is about learning how to pivot,” Murray said. “These guys did that really well, and they saw the writing on the wall that radio is slowly dying and things are turning more to the on-demand, honest, fresh approach to content.”
The movie lets listeners see Tom and Dan at home with their wives and children. The men say they lead boring lives away from the business. Tom describes himself as shy, although he donned a bear suit to play Drunky the Bear and perform stunts before thousands. They’ve had their moms as guests, and their wives do a show for subscribers.
“We’ve literally told everybody everything about our lives. There’s no secrets anymore,” Tom says. Both have talked about losing their fathers. Tom’s dad died in Hurricane Andrew, and Tom has discussed his brother’s death after a seizure.
“We actually have the Dead Dads’ Club — a lot of our listeners relate to that,” Tom says.
“It’s super sad, but it’s cathartic, I think, to tell it,” Dan says. “Nothing makes it better, except joking about it does. I don’t understand why that works.”
They’ve found that opening up has helped their listeners. “I’m diagnosed with severe anxiety, but what’s cool is we talk about that a lot,” Dan says. “That leads to hundreds of emails that I get from listeners.”
Tom says they have met people who have followed their example and taken a chance. “That’s the American way,” he said. “Let’s find something we’re really passionate about and try to make a living.”