Ep. 19: Mike St. Hilaire – Freelance Audio Engineer and Reality TV Veteran

Mike St. Hilaire, or “Ponch,” has worked for nearly 20 years as a sound engineer on many of your favorite reality shows. What shows? Oh, only Survivor, The Amazing Race, The Real World, Bug Juice, and even prison reality show Lockup. Ponch has visited more than 80 countries during his career, and he sat down with me in New York after he had returned from shooting the latest season of The Amazing Race. For an additional inside look at what The Amazing Race is like, check out this excellent interview from The AV Club.

We talk about how a summer job became an 18-year career, some of the challenges of capturing reality as it happens, some of his favorite spots across the globe, and his nascent stand-up career. We have an entertaining chat filled with lots of digressions about Real World seasons, comedy, the World Cup, and whatever else comes to mind.

Check out Mike all around New York at open mics, as well as Wednesday, July 9 at Bob DiBuono’s Character Flawed!

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