Monday
Nicole Pence
Nicole Pence is an Emmy-nominated journalist living in Central Indiana.
Pence joined FOX59 in 2014 to help launch a brand new newscast, “FOX59 NewsPoint at 11PM.” NewsPoint will debut in the summer.
Most recently, the NATAS Lower Great Lakes chapter nominated Pence for an Emmy award for her work as a broadcast anchor in April of 2014.
Before coming to FOX59, Pence solo anchored Indianapolis’ number-one rated weekend morning program, Weekend Sunrise on WTHR. Pence helped to increase ratings nearly twenty percent year to year. Pence left WTHR in November of 2013.
Previously, Pence was nominated for a 2010 regional Emmy Award for her work at WLEX-TV in Lexington, Kentucky as the main morning co-anchor. Pence also received second-place honors as “Best News Anchor” in the 2011 Kentucky Associated Press Awards.
Prior to working at LEX-18, Pence reported for Indiana’s NewsCenter (NBC/ABC/CW) in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
A midwestern girl, Pence grew up in Columbus, Indiana. She graduated Cum Laude from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana with a double major in Communication Arts & Sciences and Spanish and a minor in Political Science. She also earned her Master’s of Public Affairs (MPA) from Indiana University-Purdue University at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs Indianapolis with high honors.
In her spare time, Pence loves to travel. She lived with a family in Segovia, Spain, studied cooking in Italy, climbed the Great Wall in Beijing, China, crawled through the Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, and tangoed in Argentina!
Pence is involved with several Central Indiana organizations, including Make-A-Wish, Pacers Cares, and the DePauw University Alumni Association. Follow her on twitter.
Tuesday
Costaki Economopoulos
Costaki Economopoulos is a comedian, true, but he’s also a football fan. Those two factors alone make him the perfect candidate to give us a comedic look back at the NFL each week with his new feature that’s also been picked up by The Huffington Post and Bleacher Report. With his Greek heritage, it’s not surprising that he’s been described as a “joke philosopher,” and we’re sure he’s not the only one saying that. Costaki is also a talented joke writer who’s punchlines have been heard on “The Tonight Show,” Showtime, BET, and MTV. Follow Costaki on facebook and twitter. Visit his website here.
Pat McAfee
Pat McAfee is Number 1 on the field as the punter for the Colts, and he is number one in the hearts of sports fans in Indianapolis. Well, at least he’s in the top 10. Drafted in 2009 out of West Virginia University, McAfee has not only been an important part of the Colts specials teams (and emergency QB if needed), he’s also become one of the faces of the franchise off the field. Follow Pat on twitter. Check out the Pat McAfee Foundation.
Mr. Skin
He’s seen tens of thousands of movies, but doesn’t remember a single plot. He’s Mr. Skin, the world’s foremost authority on female nudity in film, and he’s helping his followers learn the true meaning of “double feature.” From his humble beginnings as a young man collecting nude clips of hot actresses from PG and R rated movies, Mr Skin has turned his hobby into an empire. His website includes screen shots of naked celebs, movie reviews and his annual Anatomy Awards! So if you’re looking for a hard to find clip, or looking for a good rental suggestion for the evening, make sure to check out all the titillating archived data at MrSkin.com.
Wednesday
Mo Mandel
Mo Mandel is the hilarious hard partying host of BARMAGEDDON on truTV. As a stand up comedian Mandel has made numerous appearances on CONAN, CHELSEA LATELY, CRAIG FERGUSON, and has a very highly rated half hour special playing in rotation on COMEDY CENTRAL. As an actor Mandel has appeared on such hit shows as MODERN FAMILY, CASTLE, and HAPPY ENDINGS, and stared opposite Hank Azaria in FREE AGENTS on NBC. When Mandel is not telling jokes or hosting his new show he’s often writing sitcom pilots, which he has done for NBC, FOX, FX, FXX and THE DISNEY CHANNEL. Basically, the dude is talented and assuming hosting BARMAGEDDON doesn’t cause him to become a full-blown alcoholic, his future is bright and getting brighter.
Thursday
Sid Davis
Sid Davis, born Christopher Davis, grew up in a small farm town near Dayton, Ohio. The youngest of 4 children, was declared a very smart child….on paper. His razor sharp wit made him a distraction in school classrooms. Recognized early on as a great writer, Sid slowly honed his stage presence to project his hilarious and unique comic style that includes versatility for all occasions. He can switch a couple of things around and change his set from very clean, to PG to R. His versatility for audiences ranges from Churches, to clubs to cruise ships. Sid was a huge hit at the 2012 San Luis Obispo Comedy Festival and the audiences voted him into the festival’s Best in Fest Showcase (Which he unfortunately had to miss because of travel arrangements). Sid returned to the SLO festival in 2013.
The audience once again voted him “Best in Fest” and he headlined the festival’s Best in Fest Showcase, which was broadcast live on the SIRUS Comedy Raw Dawg Channel. AGAIN in 2014 the audiences of SLO voted Sid Best in Fest where he hosted the Sunday showcase in the 1500 seat Fremont Theater. During his airline tenure at the Charlotte airport he penned, Space Available; a hilarious suspense story about an airline baggage handler that uses his free flying to track down a man who stole his identity. “I based the characters on friends from the airport,” Sid shares. “I’m very proud of the story and hope to have it produced into a motion picture someday.” Visit his website here.
Joey Chestnut
Joseph “Jaws” Christian Chestnut is an American competitive eater. The 6-foot-tall, 240-pound competitive eater is currently ranked first in the world by the International Federation of Competitive Eating. He is a Vallejo, California native who currently resides in San Jose, California.
On July 4, 2007, Chestnut won the 92nd Annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, beating six-time defending champion Takeru “Tsunami” Kobayashi by consuming 66 hot dogs and buns (HDB) in 12 minutes, which set a new world record. The following year, he successfully defended his title by winning a 5 hot dog eat-off after tying Kobayashi in consuming 59 HDB in 10 minutes. On July 4, 2009, Chestnut outlasted Kobayashi again, by consuming a new world record of 68 HDB and winning his third consecutive title. On July 4, 2010, Chestnut took home his 4th consecutive Mustard Belt eating 54 HDB. The 2010 contest was a runaway victory, as Kobayashi did not compete due to a contract dispute with Major League Eating. On July 4, 2011, he won his fifth-consecutive championship with 62 HDB. 2012 marked his sixth consecutive win, when Chestnut tied his own world record from 2009 by devouring 68 HDB. In 2013, Chestnut captured his seventh straight title, eating a total of 69 HDB, breaking his previous world record. In 2014, Chestnut captured his eighth straight title eating a total of 61 HDB.
Joey Chestnut is currently engaged, having proposed to his longtime girlfriend Neslie Ricasa just before defending his title in the 2014 Nathan’s competition. (From Wikipedia)
Friday
Alonzo Bodden
Even before appearing on NBC’S ‘Last Comic Standing’, Alonzo Bodden knew there was nothing, absolutely nothing that would ever make him give up comedy. “That’s the drug”, he says “when they laugh it’s like I’m a jazz musician and they hear it, and they get it. It’s power to take the crowd wherever I want them to go. I love it when they laugh, especially when they relate through laughter. It’s a beautiful thing. It also means I’m going to get paid, which is nice.” Bodden didn’t always make his living as a stand up comic. A graduate of Aviation High School, for 9 years he earned a paycheck as a jet mechanic for Lockheed and McDonnell Douglas. While comics around the country were making audiences laugh at airline jokes, Bodden was working on the top secret Stealth Bomber. It was during a stint as trainer that Alonzo discovered his ability to entertain a group of people. I was teaching airplane mechanics when I realized it was more fun to make them laugh, Bodden explains, I was laid off one more time and I never looked back, although it was nice to have a steady paycheck and benefits. He enrolled in a comedy class and the rest as they say, is comedy history. Alonzo has always appreciated the benefits of doing stand up comedy, one of which is having fun on stage. He recalls one of his favorite experiences, I was working at the Brea Improv and in the middle of my set, a guy had a seizure. After the paramedics carted him off, I went up there, did 10 killer minutes on seizures and then got back to my set and the show kept rolling. It was great. Bodden has ventured off the stage to have fun with his many roles on television and in film. He was the security guard, bouncer, crook, and/or a cop in ‘Bringin Down the House’, ‘The Girl Next Door’, ‘Angel’, and ‘Grounded For Life’, to name a few. Alonzo won the Season 3 grand prize on NBC’s ‘Last Comic Standing’ after placing as runner-up on Season 2. Alonzo describes his material as cynically good natured in an angry suburban Negro kind of way. While he strongly believes that all young comics should study Bill Cosby, he freely admits that his mom is the funniest person he knows. When his family and friends attend his shows he loves and appreciates it. One of the great things about Bodden’s career is that he can make you laugh and fix your Learjet. One day Alonzo hopes to have his own Learjet. Visit his website. Follow him on twitter.
Joe List
Joe List began his comedy career in Boston, Massachusetts in 2000 just weeks after graduating from high school. Since that time List has been featured on Comedy Central’s ‘Live at Gotham’, ‘FoxNews Red Eye’ ‘The Artie Lange Show’ AXSTV’s ‘Gotham Comedy Live’ and was also a semi-finalist on NBC’s ‘Last Comic Standing’. List has also twice been featured at the prestigious ‘Just for Laughs’ festival in Montreal as well as the Vancouver Comedy Festival and Oslo
Comedy Festival. His album ‘So Far No Good’ can be heard regularly on Sirius Radio. List is also the co-host of his own popular weekly podcast ‘Tuesdays with Stories’ as well as being a regular on Robert Kelly’s ‘You Know What Dude’ podcast. When he’s not out on the road List now resides in New York City where he can be seen regularly at the Comedy
Cellar, Carolines on Broadway and Stand-Up New York. List considers himself to be a really nice guy. Follow him on Twitter. Visit his website here.