The Dynamic Duo of Pop Culture and Horror: The Steve and Crypto Show’s Journey from Blog to Rondo Award-Nominated Podcast

“I love doing it. It’s my thing, you know. It’s a crazy world. It’s tough sometimes. But doing these conventions and doing this podcast, The Steve & Crypto Show kind of keeps me level headed. I love it. Like I said, I wouldn’t give it up or trade it for anything.”

STEVE STROUT

teve Strout is one half of The wondrous Steve and Crypto Show, a multiple time Rondo Award nominated pop culture and horror podcast based in the Pacific Northwest. Steve is a journalist with 20 years of experience writing and interviewing personalities in pop culture and horror. The dude is also an aspiring actor, having appeared in multiple indie horror films on screen and in voiceover roles with more in the scary works. Crypto Zoo is a drummer, hip hop vocalist and concert promoter. Being a lifelong nerd and horror fan, he is not with us today as he, or more specifically his wife is popping out a kid. Together, their contrasting voices and demeanors come together like Voltron to create the highly entertaining Steve and Crypto Show.

It’s time for a slice of horror!

BOOM: My team met you at Squatchcon, and we know you also reviewed one of our favorite events, Grit City Comic Show. How did you get started covering comic cons? What attracted you to this particular niche of journalism? Were you excited about the prospect of encountering so many robots?

Steve: First of all, it was an absolute pleasure meeting you at Squatchcon. That was a great upcoming, growing show. I’m really excited about the prospects for what it can become. And of course, Grit City, that is one of our, I almost like to call it a home base because it’s just one of our shows that we are a fixture at and we love doing that show. How I got started covering comic cons was probably almost 20 years ago. I just decided to start a website and blog covering conventions. Let’s actually go back a little further. I started working for another site. They were a wrestling news site, and they had me interviewing some performers, like pretty well known ones. So I started kind of doing that. And I’d always been into, you know, movies and comic books and nerdy stuff and gaming and especially horror. So, I just started going to cons and figured, you know, I should kind of promote and post about my experiences at these events. So, like I said, I started this site, which is still active, thestevestrout.com. And I just went from there. I just started, you know, photographing and posting little blurbs about different artists and creators. And then I started interviewing people and it just kind of grew. And eventually it turned into this, turned into The Steven Crypto Show. And as for Crypto, he’d always been a fan of the same stuff, and we kind of met and connected over this stuff. And I dragged him into the fold, and we’ve been talking about starting this podcast for a couple years and then finally got it going. And now it’s been almost four years that we’ve been doing this together, and, you know, in our almost 20 year friendship. I guess that kind of explains what attracted me to this niche of journalism. I’ve always loved this stuff, so it was natural. It was like a natural fit for me. And all of a sudden, for the podcast side of things, it was doing interviews. I would actually interview people over phone calls and in person, and I would end up having to transcribe full, lengthy interviews, like, literally type out everything. And that got a little tedious. And I taught myself how to do all the podcasting stuff and recording and editing and all that fun stuff. And I said, you know what? I ain’t typing out another interview, so we’re gonna just go for it and just podcast. We love to have conversations, so let’s just record them. Encountering a lot of robots is pretty cool. I dig the idea of it, as long as they’re not trying to take my job or take my spot on my podcast. Other than that, we’re good. I’m down with robots. I dig robots. Some of my favorite characters in movies were robots, like R2-D2 and C-3PO. So, yeah, robots are cool with me, and I definitely like to interact with them. Just don’t try to take my job, please. I need it. This keeps me from going crazy.

BOOM: Can you share a memorable experience or interaction with a robot from one of the events you’ve covered?

Steve: I don’t recall having any direct interactions with any robots from any events I’ve covered. But, I’ve seen some really cool, like, R2 units and like, BB-8’s and Wallee and stuff like that, that some really talented people have built. Like, there’s clubs based around building droids and stuff, and it’s so amazing and intricate, and these people are so talented and wonderful, but I haven’t really interact with any personally. I just, you know, observed from a distance.

BOOM: What’s the funniest or most unexpected thing you’ve seen happen at a convention?

Steve: Funniest thing I’ve seen, happen at a convention we should probably not discuss here. Lots of unexpected stuff, though. Like, some of my favorite artists and creators, after mingling with them year after year, they remember me and consider me, you know, a friend and acquaintance. Like, one of my coolest moments is meeting the actor Doug Jones, the amazing monster character actor from, like, The Shape of Water and Hellboy and all those movies. I met him at a convention, and they meet so many people at these shows, the celebrities. The next day, I was out and about and just in line getting coffee, and he came up to me and was like, hey, Steve, how you doing? You having a good weekend? Like, that was pretty unexpected and kind of flattering that, you know, one of my favorite performers remembered me. That’s pretty cool. Then we’ve kind of stayed acquainted, and he’s actually visited thestevestrout.com. We’ve interviewed. He’s one of the really long interviews that inspired me to stop transcribing and just start recording audio. And, of course, he’d been on the Steven Crypto show, too. So, I mean, that was kind of unexpected thing that I’ve seen happen to me personally. But you can expect anything at these shows, to be honest. Actually, one thing. There was a actor, an actress name escapes me, but it was in the celebrity area at a convention, and the two were good friends. And the actor was John Berryman. Can’t remember the actress, but they were friends, and they were, like, jumping up on their table that they were signing on and making funny, slightly inappropriate gestures toward each other and stuff across the hall. And it was pretty hilarious. Definitely unexpected. Let’s go with that.

BOOM: Who are some of the most interesting personalities you’ve interviewed at these conventions? Any robots?

Steve: Most of my interviews with convention personalities, I will do, like, before the show to kind of build up and hype and get people excited for the show and their appearances. But there’s been a few interesting ones at shows. Again, name escapes me, this was years ago, but I interviewed a special effects makeup artist that had appeared on the Face/Off series and hearing stories and talking about their craft and everything, which is something that’s always really fascinated me, even though I don’t have artistic talent or I’d be trying to do it myself. But that was an interesting conversation. Haven’t interviewed any robots yet, though, so maybe, maybe one day I’ll meet a nice robot that’ll sit down and do an interview with us. That’d be kind of cool.

BOOM: In your future, do you think we’ll be able to have holographic guests? If so, who would you most like to interview as a hologram?

Steve: If they’re hologram, they probably don’t have to be alive, I’d assume, so I would probably like to interview, how about, like, Vincent Price? He just always seems like a hoot, Llike, great personality, nice guy, entertaining guy. I think he would be a good one. Him or Boris Karloff? Yeah, let’s go with that. And not to really try to speak for Crypto Zoo, who is indisposed at the moment, by the way. Congrats to him. He’s about to have a baby. I bet he would like to interview, I’m guessing he’d probably like to interview the same people, knowing his taste for horror. So, yeah, we’ll just go with that.

BOOM: How do you think the popularity of conventions has evolved recently?

Steve: There was kind of, like, a little downtick in conventions during the pandemic, and I’ve seen it slowly come back up to pre-pandemic levels, especially this past year. Everything seems to be almost back to normal and booming. I don’t know if the popularity has changed. I feel like if you look maybe ten years ago, like a couple years right before the pandemic, when there was, you know, really big shows and stuff and pop culture, like The Walking Dead and stuff like that, I think that was kind of a boom period for conventions, for the pop culture side of things and celebrities and stuff. But recently, they’re kind of evolving and leaning more towards collectibles. I don’t know. I’m curious to see where it goes. The only thing I don’t like about it is it’s these things started as, like, comic book conventions, and it’s kind of going, getting away from that, which we need to not happen. Because you think all this stuff is all based on comic books. All this stuff people love. You know, all the Marvel movies I mentioned, you know, a few years ago, The Walking Dead was huge. That stuff’s all based on comics. So for these shows to get away from that, is kind of, kind of tough. But we’ll see. Let’s see where it goes. I’m here for the ride either way, and we’ll definitely be talking about a lot on The Steve & Crypto Show.

BOOM: What’s something that people might not know about the preparation and effort it takes to cover these events?

Steve: Now, preparing for these shows is a little bit of a task, you know, because we like to do promotion leading up to the show. So we spend months getting ready for each event because, you know, we’ll go through and find lists of vendors that are intriguing and talk about them on the show. We’ll try to have a guest or two, like a celebrity or a popular artist or something before the convention itself. So, like, we’re working on these events well before they happen. And then while we’re there, we’re going around and networking and possibly doing some interviews or stuff like that, and just working on accumulating more content and material for The Steve & Crypto Show. So, there’s a lot of preparation and effort that goes into it. Then, of course, only until recently, we’ve been invited as guests to a few shows. Before that, we were somehow pooling money so we could buy passes and stuff. I mean, we still got to come up with, you know, pay our hotels and travel and everything. So it’s still part of the preparation and effort. Like, we got to do real life so we could afford and still be able to do these things. But, I wouldn’t give it up for anything. I love doing it. It’s my thing, you know. It’s a crazy world. It’s tough sometimes. But doing these conventions and doing this podcast, The Steve & Crypto Show kind of keeps me level headed. I love it. Like I said, I wouldn’t give it up or trade it for anything.

BOOM: If an alien robot landed in the middle of a comic con, would they blend in?

Steve: If an alien robot landed in the middle of a comic con, you ask, would they blend in? Honestly, depends how noisy they were. If they made a bunch of noise, people would probably notice, but the comic con is usually pretty noisy, too. So, yeah, I think if they were pretty close to average human height in size, they would probably blend in seamlessly. But, I mean, if they were, like, big, like Thanos, alien like, they probably wouldn’t blend in too well. They would stick out like a sore thumb, you know? Yeah, I kind of, I don’t know if I actually want to see an alien robot land in the middle of comic con. Like, if they just landed, what about those vendors that are in that space in the middle of the show? Like, would the alien just land and crush them and hoard a bunch of comics or art or hurt people? I don’t know. I don’t know.

BOOM: If you could attend any convention in the world, which one would it be, and why?

Steve: If I could attend any convention in the world, it would probably be like the Midsummer Scream Convention or Creep I.E. Con, both down in California, they’re both big horror conventions where all the top horror actors and stuff are at, and all the best vendors and all these companies that I shop through online and everything, all have booths at these shows, and I would love to go, you know, do dealings with them in person. So that’s probably why I’m a big horror fan. So I would do that. Actually, I probably wouldn’t mind going to the Star Wars Celebration either, because that’s, like, the one place where all the stars from the Star Wars franchise come together for that event. New shows coming out, all the performers are there. The legends that are still with us, they’re usually there. Like, I mean, these people all pop up at conventions here and there, but you don’t get them all in one place like that. So that’s kind of cool, too. That’s my number two.

BOOM: Are there any upcoming events that you are particularly excited to cover?

Steve: There is an event coming up that I’m really excited to cover, because we are guests at it. In Spokane, Washington, there is a convention a couple years old called the Halloween Xspo, and it’s basically like a horror and Halloween convention. And they invited The Steve & Crypto Show to be guests, like, real life guests, which is kind of cool. Like, we’re gonna be mingling with the celebrities and stuff of the show. I’m really excited about it. I’m excited to cover it, because there’s a good chance I might get to get some of these other guests on our podcast, which would be, you know, a dream come true. So, yeah, I think that’s an event that I’m really excited to cover. I recently attended an event in Tacoma, Washington. It’s called the Haunted Farmers Market, and it’s literally set up outdoors, couple city blocks, like a farmers market, and all the vendors, but it’s like vendors selling, you know, oddities and art and, like, taxidermy stuff and just all kinds of spooky cool collectibles and art, food and everything, and it’s just cool. It’s like a, it’s like a convention. It’s kind of like a horror convention, but it’s outside. And it’s just awesome. And that I want to do more coverage of in the future. Like, I did a little bit. I was so hyped up and into it and checking things out that I didn’t shoot enough video and stuff, because we’ll put videos, we’ll put reels and stuff out on Instagram, and I do things on TikTok. I did put out a TikTok, a short TikTok clip about that show. But I didn’t have much video footage, so that’s another event I want to cover again. They have that, like, every month, so look forward to that. Then, of course, getting back to Grit City Comic Show, that’s always a favorite. Crypticon Seattle, another favorite. Yeah, we’ll just see where it takes us. And I’m excited to cover all of them, you know. I’m excited to cover any show where they’ll have this.

BOOM: If you had a robot sidekick to help you cover conventions, what tasks would you assign to it?

Steve: If I had a robot sidekick to help cover conventions, I don’t know if I would have it do much more than, like, go around and film stuff and, I don’t know, go get us snacks when we’re stuck at a table. Maybe the robot could learn how to edit our podcast too, and take some of that load off my shoulders. I mean, I doubt I’ll ever have a robot sidekick, but that’s what I would have them do.

BOOM: How do you keep track of all the amazing panels, events, and cosplayers at these conventions? Do you wish you had a built in data storage unit like me?

Steve: Keeping track of all the panels and all the stuff at the shows? I do wish I had a built in storage, but I guess that would be why having a robot sidekick would help. So I guess maybe that’s what I should go for. Maybe I do want a robot sidekick to be like my planner.

BOOM: What futuristic gadget would make covering conventions easier for you? Perhaps a flying camera drone or multiple clones of yourself?

Steve: You know, the perfect futuristic gadget for covering conventions would be some kind of a transporting device, so I could, like, teleport to the conventions. Cause one, I wouldn’t have to pay for hotels, so I could just teleport to the show for the day. Teleport back home. Two, nobody likes flying, so I wouldn’t have to. Yeah, teleportation device would be the perfect futuristic gadget to make this whole thing easier. Even the podcast The Steve & Crypto Show would be easier too, because, you know, sometimes we have trouble getting in the same room to sit down and record our podcast. We could just teleport to each other’s places and save gas money, too. So that’s it. That’d be perfect. The perfect gadget for someone like myself would be teleportation device.

BOOM: How do you stay informed about the latest in pop and comic culture? What media do you consume?

Steve: I think the best way to stay informed about the latest in pop culture and comic culture, and even horror, is through 1. conversation with other knowledgeable people, 2. social media. It’s perfect. It’s free, it’s all there. So, just dig into X or Instagram, Facebook, and wherever else. All the news is always posted, you know. There’s a few websites I’ll look at, but mostly I just scroll through and I find interesting stuff. And as for media I consume, I do, I go to movies, I try to see the latest movies. I read comics when I have time. I read books. I listen to other podcasts, because what better way to learn by, you know, emulating your peers in certain ways, way to improve, you know what I mean?

BOOM: Do studios and filmmakers send you films about robots for you to screen and review? How can people send their films to you for review? And what genres of films are you looking for?

Steve: So yeah, I actually do get studios and filmmakers sending me films. Maybe not about robots, I don’t think any have been about robots yet. But they have sent me stuff to review and I do it as I can. When I find time, I do it. I’m usually looking to review horror stuff because I love horror films. They could send me films, they could reach out to me on social media. They know where I’m at, it’s @theSteveStrout pretty much everywhere. Or email, they can email me [email protected]. That’s always a way to get them to me. And I just have one thing that I offer to filmmakers or studios that if I watch the movie, and I don’t enjoy it, I won’t post a review, because I know how much heart and soul and love people put into their craft and I don’t want to just trash something. I will offer private critique and opinion. And, you know, if they prefer I do post a negative review, I do it if they really want me to, just to have the review out there, but I would rather not, if that makes sense. But yeah, send me your movies. I want to check them out. I’ll watch just about anything. But I prefer horror, thriller, Sci-Fi so yeah, if you got a movie, send it along.

BOOM: Who is someone you follow and think is underrated that we should know about?

Steve: There are so many other amazing, talented creators out there, whether they’re making comic books, movies, other podcasters, authors, so many talented people that the world should know about. There’s too many to list. What I recommend is we have a Facebook group, The Steve & Crypto Show, where we like to post and promote a lot of other creators and stuff there. That’s one way. Just dig in, search, ask around, find these people. Go to conventions. I urge you to go to conventions and support these other artists and creators and talented people. Like, there’s just so, so many that deserve to be noticed. Like, I wish I could make a list, but it would be endless. This interview would be about ten years long.

BOOM: It’s time for a shout out. Who would you like to acknowledge and thank today, and why are they receiving your kudos?

Steve: Again, this is another one of those things, an endless list of people that like to give shoutouts to and acknowledge. Today, right now, I want to acknowledge my co host Crypto Zoo, aka Caleb Lowery, that we go back a long way and he’s just a good dude. There’s times when I’m stressed about the show and I’m feeling like I’m, you know, spinning too many plates or something and he’ll let me know I’m doing a good job with what I do, with my part, and I want to acknowledge that and thank him for that and thank him for sticking this thing out to.

BOOM: Where can we find you in cyberspace?

Steve: You could find The Steve & Crypto Show just about anywhere you listen to podcasts, whether it be Spotify, Apple, Podchaser, any of the main things. We’re on, iHeart. Everywhere. Or just go to steveandcrypto.com and it’ll bring you right to the show. And also, we post old episodes over at thestevestrout.com. Like, I’ll post, you know, like five or so. I’ll embed them in a post on there to give you a chance to catch up or go relisten to some in your browser while you’re working on something. Then, of course, I did mention the Facebook group. Just go to Facebook, search The Steve & Crypto Show. Join that group for over a thousand strong and growing. And then directly you could find Crypto Zoo, he’s @cryptozoo88 on X and Instagram. I am The Steve Strout on X and Instagram. And, uh, yeah, I mean, honestly, you can search The Steve Strout anywhere and I’ll pop up on TikTok, Facebook, Threads, just everywhere. That’s the best way to find us. And of course, I got to, uh, remention steveandcrypto.com as the main place. Go listen to the podcast, spread the word, leave reviews and all that good stuff. It really helps us grow and we appreciate it, and it drives us to keep going and get better.

BOOM: I hear people can get a free Steve and Crypto sticker. How can they do that?

Steve: If you ever run into us at a convention or even in public. If you know us personally and you run into us, there’s a good chance that we probably got a pocket full of Steve and Crypto Show stickers. So, just ask for one. Or if you’re not going to see us anytime soon, drop us a message and we’ll just have you throw us a little something for postage and we’ll send you stickers. And of course, we have merch, too. So, if you want to find merch, go to Etsy and search for Steve and Crypto merch. We have a ton of cool stuff on there, but the stickers, we try to keep them free. Unless we got to send them to you. Postage ain’t free, sadly.

BOOM: Last question. How can we make the world a better place?

Steve: We can all come together and make the world a better place by listening to The Steve & Crypto Show. That’s the best way to do it, because I don’t know. I don’t have no reasoning. I’m just trying to urge you to come listen to our show. Give us a chance. I think you’ll enjoy it. Might not make the whole world a better place, but it’ll make those moments of you listening better. So there you go.

BOOM: Thank you so much, Steve, for coming on the show and discussing pop culture in all its current glory with me.

Steve: BOOM, it has been an absolute pleasure chatting with you and an honor to be invited on your Transmissions. And I’d love to do it again sometime. So thank you again, and keep doing this, you’re doing some cool stuff here and having some really cool guests, and I look forward to following your work. It says you’re following us. I’d like to follow you guys and see what you get into.

Did you know that you can record a video or type a comment for this POPcast transmission?

Add to Steve’s Wall of Love!

BOOM’s Transmissions, a post-aPOPalyptic POPcast brought to you by BOOM Rattle BOOM LLC.