THE SECRET ORIGIN OF HADRON GOSPEL HOUR!
“If The Monkees and The Young Ones held an Atari tournament on the set of Dr. WHO, it might sound a little bit like Hadron Gospel Hour.” – Kent Hackett, PodWire Platinum
In September 2013, Richard Wentworth and Michael McQuilkin sat down at Richard’s Lowell, Massachusetts home to discuss an idea for a podcast.
The idea was simple: an audio comedy/sketch show with a dystopian sci-fi sitcom/adventure framing sequence.
The story of a tortured scientist, forced to wander through the quantum fallout from his failed experiment’s accidental misfire, was a concept that Richard had begun to explore in the backstory for a previous musical project. The central conceit — that of a rift in the fabric of the multiverse, through which our heroes witness a multitude of nightmarish and comical scenarios in a host of parallel worlds — could be easily adapted to a sitcom/adventure… and could provide the genesis for loads of sketches.
When Michael heard the pitch, he knew that this multiverse was ripe for exploration… and exploitation.
For comedy.
For adventure.
For entertainment.
Convinced that they had something special, McQuilkin and Wentworth quickly went to work on Hadron Gospel Hour.
“The show is a crazy ride… highly entertaining, produced to an excellent audio standard…” – GoodPodcasts.com
Hadron Gospel Hour is a unique experience in audio entertainment that features original science fiction sitcom/adventure, sketch comedy, and music. Hadron Gospel Hour’s mix of sci-fi and smart comedy invites comparisons to such diverse pop culture phenomena such as The Monkees, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Dr. WHO, Thirlling Adventure Hour, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, The Young Ones, and 70’s Hanna-Barbera cartoons. Shows are downloadable for free via hadrongospelhour.com, iTunes, and a large number of podcasting apps.
“Hadron Gospel Hour promises to achieve both great storytelling and acts of random humor… The first episode has a whacky beginning, a comedic middle, and an ending that takes the whole thing up two notches.” – AudioDramaReviews.com
Hadron Gospel Hour chronicles the misadventures of a self-obsessed scientist, a hapless IT guy, a sentient lab and a quantum-fractured maintenance worker as they try to fix a catastrophic rift in the fabric of reality. Joining the gang in the Hadron Lab are a host of odd characters, celebrity guest stars and musical acts from throughout the infinite timelines of the multiverse.
GUESTS!
Hadron Gospel Hour often features appearances from special guest stars and musicians. Guests have included Christine McGlade (Moose from the popular Nickelodeon TV series You Can’t Do That On Television), the band Reindeer (featuring members of Swirlies, Scarce, and The Bevis Frond), Canadian metal rocker/film star Jon Mikl Thor (from the band THOR, and cult films like “Rock n’ Roll Nightmare”, “Zombie Nightmare” and “Recruits”), comedian Kevin Harrington (Geek Comedy Night), musical comedian Kelly Roberge (All of Us Solo Quartet), horror host Uncle Death, and Amy Macabre (voice actor in Double Duty Nurses, burlesque performer, musician and poet).
THE PLOT!
Hadron Gospel Hour follows the adventures of tormented scientist Dr. Francis “Oppenheimer” Valdini (Series creator and co-writer Richard Wentworth). While trying to find a way to weaponize the ‘Hadron Effect’ and create the most destructive force ever known to mankind, Oppenheimer unwittingly tears a rift in the fabric of spacetime, remaking our world, and the parallel timelines of the multiverse, into an infinite succession of horrors! Trapped outside of spacetime in his sentient lab A.S.H. LE (Lisa McQuilkin) and desperate for human companionship, Oppenheimer kidnaps IT guy and part-time indie filmmaker Mike Wilkinson (Series co-creator and writer Michael McQuilkin). Oppenheimer convinces Mike to join him in his quest to heal the rift and restore order to the multiverse.
More information on Hadron Gospel Hour can be found on Facebook at facebook.com/hghshow, on Twitter , at tumblr at Hadron Gospel Hour, on instagram at Hadron_Gospel_Hour, or at the Hadron Gospel Hour website.
Additional requests for information can be directed to , and press inuiries to Tim Conway at . Or you may simply use our contact form here on this site.
THE CREATORS!
, co-creator, writer and producer of Hadron Gospel Hour, is an accomplished film and voice actor, musician and illustrator. He has appeared in several films, including Maria Menounos’ short film “Longtime Listener” opposite Wilmer Valderrama (“That 70’s Show”), and most recently in Menounos’ film “Serial Buddies”, where he joined a cast that included Christopher Lloyd, Chris MacDonald, Henry Winkler and Artie Lange. He is the voice of AfterBuzz TV podcast empire and has annouced every Afterbuzz show since the channel launched in 2010. He lives in Lowell, MA with his partner and two children.
Michael McQuilkin, co-creator, writer and producer of Hadron Gospel Hour, writes and directs and produces comedy, drama and horror films under the banner of Burning Snowman Productions. Mike also makes electronic music as Esotronica and was a founding member of the Boston rock n’ roll band IIJ. Michael lives in Melrose, MA with his wife (and voice of A.S.H. LE) Lisa McQuilkin.
A WHO’S WHO OF HADRON GOSPEL HOUR!
It takes many hands (and voices) to make Hadron Gospel Hour. Here’s a look behind the scenes at some of the unique meatbags who keep HGH running!
MICHAEL MCQUILKIN – Co-creator, voice of Mike Wilkinson
Michael McQuilkin co-created and writes Hadron Gospel Hour with Rich. He stars as Mike Wilkinson, and has also voiced the roles of Barry Starr, Professor Hawkins, Ensign Crankcase, Mitch from ProductCorp and many more. Mike does the dialog editing for every episode, and drawing from his , he has also written music for the series, including the Planetarium Theme (from Ep, 9 – The Phenomenon of Bi-Location), “It’s Mandatory” (from Ep.14 – Legs in the Business), and the bulk of the score for the Hadron Halloween Special. True to his character, Mike is an indie film writer and director with many shorts and features under his belt.
RICH WENTWORTH – Co-creator, voice of Oppenheimer
Rich Wentworth co-created and writes Hadron Gospel Hour alongside Mike. He stars as Dr. Francis “Oppenheimer” Valdini. Rich also voices the characters of Commander Funk, Slaaa’arg, Rick from ProductCorp, Mister Gormenghast, and many others. Rich does sound design and SFX for every episode, and also writes much of the music for the show, including the HGH Theme, “Man in The Wall” (from Ep. 16 – Legs in the Business), “You Can Do It” (from Ep. 8 – Headhatz and Horror Hosts) and “Cyrus’ Kombucha Freakout” (from the Hadron Halloween Special). When not HGH-ing, Rich draws illustrations for posters, magazines, books and comics.
LISA PERRY MCQUILKIN – voice of A.S.H. LE
Lisa Perry McQuilkin stars as A.S.H. LE on Hadron Gospel Hour. Lisa has also written sketches for the show, including “Thick Pants, Ladies”. When she’s not rocking the sassy A.I., Lisa is an antiques guru with a penchant for mid-century oddities and Victorian curse words. Lisa also plays Debbie Dunks on the hilarious .
MICHAEL ATKINSON – voice of Cyrus
Michael Atkinson stars as Cyrus on Hadron Gospel Hour. He also voices the characters C-Monet and Googar Zoozar. Michael is an accomplished , and contributed lead vocals to two HGH musical numbers: C-Monet’s “Taste Ya Body” and Cyrus’ “Man In The Wall”. Michael is also a stand-up comedian (and a two-time Andy Kaufman Award Finalist for his performance art-styled comedy). Michael created the podcast , which he stars in alongside Lisa McQuilkin.
KEVIN HARRINGTON – voice of Higgs_B
Kevin Harrington stars as Higgs_B on Hadron Gospel Hour. He has also voiced characters like Subdermal Sal, Wyngaarde the Wise, and Chud from Surveillance: Multiwood. Kevin created the legendary nerd salon/performance event Geek Comedy Night. As if that weren’t enough, Kevin is also a stand-up comedian, ace improviser, and a frequent host and performer at Boston area Burlesque and indie theater events — and yes, he kills Draculas.
WENDY MACLEAN – voice of Beth
Wendy MacLean stars as Beth in Hadron Gospel Hour. She’s also voiced characters like Clytemnestra the goth knitting show host, and many others.
REBEKAH MORRIS – voice of Michelle
Rebekah Morris voiced the role of Michelle in Episode 9, in addition to voicing many other characters. Rebekah also wrote and performed in the “You Ain’t No Dracula” sketch.
TIM CONWAY – voice of Freddie Plastic
KATEY FALVEY – voice of Maggie
PRESS!
Interviews
Unscene Comedy Interviews Rich and Mike
http://unscenecomedy.com/2014/08/stuff-we-like-an-interview-with-the-hadron-gospel-hour-podcast/
Mike and Rich chat with the Malden Observer
http://malden.wickedlocal.com/article/20140726/NEWS/140728766
Question time with PodCake
Reviews
Fangirl Nation
http://fangirlnation.com/2015/07/30/the-hadron-gospel-hour-is-your-next-favorite-podcast/
AudioDramaReviews
http://audiodramareviews.com/2014/03/23/hadron-gospel-hour-1/
Ladies of Comicazi
http://ladiesofcomicazi.com/2015/06/10/three-things-sci-fi-edition/#more-2938
GoodPodcasts (audio link)
https://player.fm/series/goodpodcasts-71571/good-podcasts-ep-034-hadron-gospel-hour
Radio Drama Revival (audio link)
http://www.radiodramarevival.com/episode-404-stuck-lost-elevator/
Mentions
TV Tropes page
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Podcast/HadronGospelHour
Yahoo! Finance story about World Audio Drama Day
I want to thank you all for this show. It has become my life, I listen every day. I enjoy the characters so very much. I live in San Francisco. We have listening parties for the show. I love all the characters. My favorites are Commander Funk, and Cyrus. Cyrus is so funny.
Keep up the super job.
PT
Listening parties!!! Fantastic. Please take a pic of the next one and share it with us! Glad you’re enjoying the show Paul.
Thank you for putting this amazing show together! The writing is clever, the character well drawn and the audio quality is great – thank you for sharing all your work and talent!
Thank you for listening, Gabi! We work hard on the show, and it’s nice to hear when folks enjoy it.
There is A LOT that I could say about Hadron Gospel Hour that has been said already…but I’m not going to say the typical stuff like I’m selling “Product”.
What I am going to say is that Hadron Gospel Hour is the most witty, spontaneous, genuine, sincere, and imaginative podcast ever. It’s one of the most ingenious things I have ever heard in an old radio show format.
Every character is a part of me in some way and the obscure and zany pop culture references take me back to my childhood in the 1980’s.
It’s great to find such a thing as Hadron Gospel Hour in my life!!!!!
Found this amazing gem of a podcast through the couple of collaborations with Paul Gannon and Eli Silverman’s Cheap show. Absolutely magnificent! I’d love to know if you’d ever bring it to Soundcloud!