Jeff Ornstein 0:01

Hi everyone, and welcome to Next Act with Jeff Orenstein. I am Jeff, and on this show we celebrate people on the cusp of greatness. Those building on past successes in some of the curious and inventive and sometimes unexpected ways they have achieved those and stepping into moments that could define their legacy. We'll talk about current projects, lessons learned, and the extraordinary opportunities ahead. So the best is yet to come. Michael Buster McMahon is a dynamic creative force behind short plays adapted for radio and public access television across three states. With a passion for storytelling, directing, and acting, he crafts work that range from horror western mashups, we're definitely going to talk about that, to ghost stories while nurturing talent and community along the way. Michael, welcome. I'm glad you joined us.

Michael "Buster" McMahon 0:52

Hi, thanks for having us. What's great about the series, it's a complete anthology series. You get some rom-coms, you get, as you said, ghost stories, historical fiction, which is always fun. You never know what you're gonna get when you tune into the show.

Jeff Ornstein 1:03

It's true. So, I mean, you're exactly the kind of guests we're looking for because you sort of dipped into so many different creative juices here. I mean, you write, direct, produce, you've been an actor, you've worked across different medias, radio, television, film. So I want to talk to you about some of the things you've done, and then we're gonna get into nitty-gritty about well, what was it really like? So you produced and released 13 short play episodes on public access in YouTube. Is that the Western horror?

Michael "Buster" McMahon 1:35

Yeah, as we're recording this, there's been 13 episodes released. We've got like another three in the can, and as soon as they're edited uh they're gonna get released. They're on 50 uh public access channels in three states Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, and then people can see them on YouTube. The name of the show officially is the Michael Buster McMahon Televised Radio Playhouse and Used Tire Company. Yeah. If you're looking on YouTube, if you put like Michael Buster, Used Tire Company, it'll probably pop up. Okay. Yeah, we're we're cemented into the title. We gotta lug all these used tires into the I wish we named it the balloon company or something, you know, as we're lugging the old tires and into the horror western mashup is was the last episode 13. Which is kind of cool 13. Now, did you write are these episodes that you've written?

Jeff Ornstein 2:18

Yes. Okay, so what is the genesis of a horror western? You don't hear about that a lot.

Michael "Buster" McMahon 2:24

A while ago, I don't know it was that dramatic. Yeah. Friends of mine, they were doing some uh radio plays, and and they wanted to use my murder mystery in one, and uh we did it, and uh it was very successful. And they said, all right, the next time we want to do, we want to do maybe a western. Have you ever written a western? And I said, No, but I bet you I could. And so I was working on a western, and it wasn't really going anywhere. And I had this other, I've got so many unfinished plays too. And there was one about troops in Afghanistan searching for for somebody, and they came across a lot of weird phenomenon. And that story wasn't going anywhere either. And one day I'm like, you know what? Both stories, like this posse is looking for somebody, these soldiers are looking for somebody. I wonder if the stories could be the same. And it was. It was basically a sort of a horror western uh mashup. This this gangster, he he's uh he's an outlaw, he's trying to go straight, takes a bounty job. And the guy that they're chasing after is a former minister, former man of God, who apparently hearing all these confessions, thought, yeah, that sounds like a nice lifestyle. So he switches sides too. And uh there's something unworldly sort of stalking both of them. It came out really great. It sounds fascinating.

Jeff Ornstein 3:37

I'm definitely gonna check that out. Tire comes. Episode 13. It's called Blackstone. Okay. So where do you draw the talent for these kinds of productions? Because it says you're heavily involving the community.

Michael "Buster" McMahon 3:47

Yeah, a lot of actors who are in uh community theater here. My my wife's a uh a respected choreographer for a lot of local uh theaters. So she has been able to bring me a lot of uh people too. I've known a lot of people from uh the you know the stand-up comedy world and and my own little theater experiences in the area. So between the two, we've and what's really great is like, you know, we I invite this person from over here and this person from over here. And when our first rehearsal, they walk in and like, hey! And of course they know each other because they've done uh before. So you've got sometimes some accidental built-in chemistry right off the bat, which is kind of right.

Jeff Ornstein 4:21

That's great. Yeah, it is. It's actually pretty I I've noticed that since I've just been in the industry for about five years. It's a very tightly knit community and it's very supportive. And so I know that dynamic when you when you walk in the room, oh, there's somebody I know from class or from that production. Yeah. I don't have a lot about your stand-up comedian days, and I am so fascinated by that.

Michael "Buster" McMahon 4:41

In the 90s, I I I opened up for uh uh Lisa Lampinelli, Julie Barr, uh, Kevin Knox. But you know, eventually you get tired of driving an hour and a half for a set amount of money and you know you used half of it on gas, and when you get there you eat. And then, you know, and when it's great, it's great, but you know, sometimes it's a rough way to go. I enjoyed it and sometimes I missed it. And um, once in a while I I will do it. I'll just show up somewhere and just just to see if I have anything in the tank. I always said this is gonna happen. It always happens. I go to an open mic, it goes well, so I go another one, and then I bump into somebody goes, Oh my god, you're still doing this. Hey, I've got this gig in in in real romantic Connecticut. I can't do it. Do you want to do it? And there's no good way to get to romantic Connecticut. And so you're driving there and you're like going, Oh God, why am I doing this again? I and this it happens every time.

Jeff Ornstein 5:29

Well, it's the passion from within. Yes. But I I just have a lot of respect for stand-up comedians because you're up there on your own with, you know, the storyline. Well, do you let me ask you, do you tell a story? Is it a character that's consistent to it, or are they are you a one-liner kind of guy?

Michael "Buster" McMahon 5:45

I I told stories. Um they'd go, it was me, uh, fictionized version of myself. Generally, even after I got married, I was still single in the act. Because, you know, the all the dating stuff, it it's funny. Right. I've gone to some open mic nights and I said, you know what, I'm gonna do it as if I was completely drunk, and somebody who forget like some of the punchline, just just for my own, like to to to mix it up for myself to see if it was fun. And then afterwards, people like, oh my god, you're you're you're you're cold stone sober. We actually thought you were on stage. I'm like, no, I just you know, it's sprite, you know. Sometimes you would just want to mix it up.

Jeff Ornstein 6:17

Okay. Totally reasonable. So what is uh the you know, so you're you're in front of the audience and you're behind the s the curtain sometimes. I mean, do you have a preference where you like to be, or is it whatever you take?

Michael "Buster" McMahon 6:30

I really like becoming a writer. And a lot of times I direct my own stuff just because sometimes who can you trust? I've had people direct my stuff and and sometimes it's worked out great. And sometimes it's like, what are they doing? And you complain like you know what are you doing? Well, you have no say. You signed off on this. I'm the director, right? I have the say, and and you're just sitting there going, Oh, and yeah, so a lot of times basically I I I direct just so I know that you know what I want to go out there is going out there. But right, uh a lot of times, uh, because that's that's how Woody Allen became a director. He was watching his work get butchered and then he started directing himself just out of out of necessity.

Jeff Ornstein 7:06

Well, I'm sure you know what I'm sure you're a lot easier behind the director nagging in his ear than Woody Allen ever was.

Michael "Buster" McMahon 7:12

I think maybe some of our styles are somewhat similar because I think we both give our actors a lot of leeway. Like a lot of times I'm like, I have a vision, but you know, you you're you're a respected performer. Let's say your interpretation of it. And if you go too far, you know, I'm gonna pull you back. But yeah, I I I I give them a lot of leeway.

Jeff Ornstein 7:32

That's excellent. So, with your community sport, it comes from the people you know, you've worked for in the past, your wife's got a font of talent that she can draw upon based upon her professional position. What about funding? How do you fund your projects? Are you applying for grants or is it everybody ponying up? How does that go down?

Michael "Buster" McMahon 7:52

Well, what's great, the uh public access, we recorded the first two episodes in West Springfield, Massachusetts, and all the other episodes afterwards have been recorded in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and they provide the studio, they provide the cameras. Wow. Yeah, it's the the public access system is great. More people should take full advantage of it. I mean, go out there and and even if you know the only thing that each one is asked, like Holyoke says, you can use this studio every time you want. The only thing we ask is we get to broadcast it on our channel. More people should do that. Right. Yeah, I got a neat little story I want to do. Uh, you know, go in there, they'll record it, and I don't know if it'll be any good, but that's out there for you to do that.

Jeff Ornstein 8:29

Yeah, no, that's fantastic. So I understand you also do casting, and I've recently been like really studious about the casting of productions and and watching every character and seeing how perfectly they were selected, or do you know, do I have an opinion, you know, Mr. Nobody? But when you're casting, is it really gut and intuition, or is there any kind of formula you use to figure out if this is gonna work?

Michael "Buster" McMahon 8:59

The first time I ever really directed it was it was a musical when I was in college. And I had my choreographer on my right side and my um music director on the left side. I'm like, I'm thinking of this person for the role, can they sing it? And they'd be like, No. You know, and so I kind of like that dynamic. Like I I try to do that now, even non-musicals. I I like to get like, hey, I'm thinking of this person for this. It was funny because back when I did the musical, I wanted a female devil, and and we were doing Dam Yankees, just because you know, you have more women casting. Right. And I said, This is the way we can do this. And you know, both my choreographer and and my music directors were like, you know, have you did you see Tim's audition for the devil? I'm like, Yeah, I know, but I want to go like, no, did you see his audition? Yeah, that's our devil. And I don't mind being talked out of of something. And a lot of times when we when we do this, I have a lot of uh repeat people in in the shows, people that I I I've learned to trust. Uh, you know, John Wal Waters has his uh Dreamlanders, he calls his. Uh Preston Sturgis had his troop, and I guess they're Buster's brigade. I love it, it's great. I know that this person like I had an actor in in one of the shows, and he was just basically filling a part, and then I saw him in something else, and I'm like, oh my god, I am really underusing this guy's talent. So I tried to give him you know more fun roles in future productions just because I'm like, I just needed somebody to play this this this sailor, and you know he did it, and he yeah, he did a fine job, but it wasn't uh a part that you know he he's gonna stand out in. But I'm like, damn, I underused him.

Jeff Ornstein 10:28

You know what? Judy Dench won an Academy Award seven minutes on film, so you know she's you can stand out quality, not quantity, right?

Michael "Buster" McMahon 10:36

Absolutely. People forget, like in the first Beatle Juice movie, like Michael Keaton's only in the film for like 18 minutes or something, and and you forget that. Really? You know? Yeah, it's I I I don't remember like, but it's not very much at all.

Jeff Ornstein 10:47

That's amazing because he's really good. I mean, you don't see Michael Keaton, you just see Beetlejuice, which I guess is the whole point. So you've got writing and acting and directing and casting and production. Is there one thing that stands out where you're like, you know, when I walked away from that, it was just perfection. It was just great. I was so pleased how my participation in that project went down.

Michael "Buster" McMahon 11:10

I had three of my uh 30-minute plays. And and my show is it's it's about half-hour long, so you sometimes you get a 30-minute story, sometimes you get two 15-minute stories. I had a production at a local theater group. It was three of my 30-minute plays with a compassing story, a guy basically telling the story saying that, hey, live theater has everything that movies can, you know. So he did a story of a 30s uh screwball comedy, the murder mystery, and a 80s teenage sex com. And uh which never gets old. And every well, he was upset because uh he wanted to do a sci-fi uh thing and uh there wasn't the budget, so he's like, oh, we're gonna do this. And you know, you always hear directors say, Oh, what an amazing cast. And I'm like, I think sometimes when you have such a great perfect cast, you almost can't take credit for it. It's an accident. You know, it's just sometimes it just accidentally happens. Like, damn, these guys were great. And like, boy, I'm quite the caster. Half the time.

Jeff Ornstein 12:04

I think I think you could take a little credit. Because you know why? When something looks great to the viewer, you know, I'm a designer by trade and now acting as a new venture for me. But when something looks great, it's because it looks effortless. Yeah. And nothing is effortless. Right. Nothing is effortless. So if the cast was looks great and it's just everyone was in sync, that doesn't happen just because the stars are aligning.

Michael "Buster" McMahon 12:27

Somebody's I think there's there is some little bit of luck that that that does come involved. I'll grant you that. A little bit of luck. I mean, yeah, we're talking like yeah, uh we're gonna talk about 80 films like the movie Ghostbusters. There's no way you set out to come up with this horror comedy drama. There was no way that you were purposely trying to hit every target. And as perfect as that that film is, it had to be an accident. Right. You can't possibly set out to make that film and have it come out that good.

Jeff Ornstein 12:56

Right, right. There's a happy accident there. The planets did align. That is a great film. All right, so you can tell me if it's off limits, but can I ask your story slam experience?

Michael "Buster" McMahon 13:09

Uh sure. Well, some of the uh areas uh they have different kinds, but there's this a local one here in the in the Springfield area called Story Slam. And I enjoy doing it because as a stand-up comedian, when you're on stage and you have to have a laugh, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. But Story Slam, sometimes, you know, you get a mix of stories. People go up there, they they'll tell uh a tragedy. Somebody will tell something else. And I can go up there and I can tell a story, and if there's a joke, if there's a funny bit once a minute, you know, which you can't get away in stand up, the audience enjoys it. I was in a show one time where where one person talked about their botched suicide, why they hate their father, that their abortion. And I was in the middle telling a funny story, and the person running it hated, like, oh, you stamp comedians think you're, you know, this is just ha ha time. I'm like, no, you kind of need this. Yeah, a little comic relief never hurt anybody. So, yeah, so the last story uh apparently I am, and I can't appeal this. I've been banned from the local story slam company because one of my stories that the well, the story that I told was a true story, and that's supposed to be true stories. I told a true story that happened a long time ago, and apparently it mirrors a current internet legend. I have no explanation of it other than, you know, because there's other people involved, they were telling the story. Did our story get out? And did inspire the internet legend, which is a great story slam in itself.

Jeff Ornstein 14:28

Right, right. So they came to you and they said you're an imposter and you're not story slam.

Michael "Buster" McMahon 14:34

Yeah, they said uh we got a couple complaints and we've we've looked this up and they they showed me a link to the internet story, and there are a lot of common threads to it, and I have no explanation other than that either it's a very strange coincidence, or maybe this happens a lot more often than people think. And then, or maybe our story inspired the legend, which would be cool. But I'm not gonna tell you which story because people will judge me because they'll say, Oh, yeah, I've played the internet story. Yeah, there's no way that happened to you. So I'm not gonna tell what story it was. I think the glory's on the story, the glory is getting banned. Yeah, I'm banned from a couple casinos too, and I aware that as a badge of honor that there's billion-dollar organizations that are afraid of me. So yeah, you're right. It's a badge. It's a badge of honor.

Jeff Ornstein 15:20

Sure. So I wanted to know also because you've worked in multiple medias, radio, TV, film, stage, do you have a preference for one, or does one pose challenges that kind of get under your skin? Or how do you weigh all those against one another?

Michael "Buster" McMahon 15:36

There's nothing like live stage that inspired everything that came afterwards. So I mean, there is something. I'm an old school guy, I love to do vaudeville bits, uh, I love to do Anna Casel routines, except I always use like a female abbot because you're always wondering like why are they putting up with each other? But all right, you know, by incorporating a female straight person, you can say, ah, they're a they're a couple. Right. And of course the the the female has to be the straight person because you know they get to slap me around, which is you know a little more acceptable on stage than if it was the other way around. And uh I always can tell when my my female partners are are mad at me because they wanna they want to practice some of the scenes.

Jeff Ornstein 16:14

They really want to let's practice that part where I give you a good slap. So we've we've only got time for one more question, but you know, you're clearly a storyteller, you know, and it's like again, stage, radio, uh film, you know, live, rehearsed. You just love the storytelling. So can you tell us like, do you know where that came from? Or has it always been that way, or your whole life? Or is there a story you really, really want to tell that you haven't told yet?

Michael "Buster" McMahon 16:43

Yeah, I guess well in college I wrote it, I wrote a musical to uh impress a woman. When I was a 19-year-old boy do anything, right? Right. Any smoke to give her a flower. I wrote her a full-length uh libretto. And I kind of like to see the story come to life, and many years later I started uh writing them, and I don't even know why. And then this became doing the public access and putting them on YouTube. I'm like, all right, well, maybe a hundred years from now, somebody will find them. Students will have to be forced to watch these things and and wonder what my symbolism and my meaning is behind it. And you know, because we we don't know much about this guy, Michael Buster McMahon, but he clearly had some issues, you know?

Jeff Ornstein 17:23

And where did that Buster come from anyway? Before we leave, we're way over time. Where did Buster come from?

Michael "Buster" McMahon 17:29

I attribute to Buster Keaton, one of the greatest entertainers of all time. When I was younger, I was in a lot of musicals, and at the time I was a lousy dancer and I couldn't sing, but I knew how to fall down. And so they always give me. I was Fred Casey in Chicago because he he gets shot and falls down. You know, I mean they they throw me off stages and I've fallen off ladders, and Buster just seemed like uh, you know, learn where your cushy parts are and you land on it. That's that that was the key to a good prop fall.

Jeff Ornstein 17:54

Well, you fall down, but you get back up, just like the song says. So it's a pleasure having you on the broadcast.

Michael "Buster" McMahon 17:59

Hey, this was fun.

Jeff Ornstein 18:01

And I hope you had a good time. We're gonna have hopefully have a lot of our viewers try and seek you out and listen and see some of your productions. And I'm sure they're as clever in in in life as they are on this tape recording. Oh, I hope so. Thank you. Thanks for tuning in to Next Act with Jeff Orenstein. Follow, subscribe, and stay connected to your favorite socials at www.nextdackpodcast.com. Keep chasing your next act. The best is yet to come.