Smoke on the Fox (Hour 2)

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Broadcasting live from the Civic Media Studios in Green Bay.

This is Night Light with Peach Wabba.

Your inside source on everything entertainment from Wisconsin to Hollywood.

And now a guy who doesn't believe in sex after marriage, Pete Schwabba.

Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen.

It is time for Act Two of Nightlight on this Tuesday evening.

Great to have you with us as we talk about all the things in life that make us happy.

Comedy and TV and movies and cigars.

We got cigar talk tonight.

Norm Kepesky will be here at 7.35.

We'll read your texts and get caught up at about 7.20.

And our question of the night is...

What is your favorite sequel?

We've been having fun with that one and we talked a little bit about George Wentz passing today, too If you missed our one you can always catch that on the podcast on the app if you have the Civic media app, which is very easy to use you should have it if you don't Great to have you with me and right now we have a few more minutes with our pal Rob Brackenridge who is always fun to talk to Appleton based comedian and he is right side up now Rob

I have to ask you something.

I thought this was so funny.

I was looking at your website tonight and You did make me laugh comedy central's show.

Yeah

And so I don't know if we went to LA about the same time, but that was one of the first TV appearances I made as well as a comedian.

Now, I have kind of like, you're pretty animated and you got great energy.

So I'm assuming you made people laugh.

That was a horrible experience for me.

I'm standing there with my dry sense of humor and just getting nothing stared at.

I think Mark Cohen, the host, even made a joke at like, ooh, that was a rough one, you know, like whatever.

But I-

Rodney, you know, it was horrible.

What was he experienced like for you?

I

think I had a very similar.

I was on with Lewis Black.

Oh,

wow.

You remember those guys at Ron Pearson?

Yeah.

I remember Lewis Black.

Yeah, for sure.

I worked with Lewis.

I never worked with Ron Pearson, though.

Funny guy, though.

Yeah, Lewis, you would think because he's so angry all the time.

You think he just, you know, but he made the girl laugh.

It was right off the bat.

He just, it was a really pretty girl.

you know and uh she's like well I was on

you

know how Mark talks to one and gets a little story first he said uh so you were bitten in the butt by a horse she was yeah I was on I was on a um I was shoot and the horse bit my butt and then he goes okay well here's Lewis Black and Lewis comes up he goes oh uh good idea see where the horse bit you

And then she started laughing right away.

So it was only like five seconds.

So she made $5.

Oh

my God.

Yeah, it was horrible.

I literally, I was 0 for three.

I think I had three cracks.

I was like, well, this is a credit.

I just moved to town, a TV credit, you know, and it went on the resume, but it was one of those nights like we were talking about before where I'm like, I can't believe that happened to me.

And then I put myself out there like that.

It was terrible, you know, and it was my worst TV experience.

I did not make her laugh at all.

I thought maybe I could do, the next person, I didn't make them laugh.

I thought I could do impressions, you know, so I came up doing burn and fire, but it was trauma.

I mean, that kills, but she didn't know who burn

and fire.

Ah, nice.

Oh, that's great.

So, all right, so we were talking about, I wanted to ask you, like, who are you being as animated as you are?

I would imagine based on your act, like if casting directors were to show that would lead to like acting gigs because you kind of act your fun, your high energy.

Who are your influences growing up?

Was it comics that were like you or not necessarily?

Well, yes.

I mean, George Carlin was very animated, you know?

Yeah.

And his earlier days, later on, he just got to be kind of a curmudgeon, you know?

But in his earlier days, he was like, oh, where's the blue food, you know?

And I always love that, because it's just, that's what you want to see.

If you're looking at a face, you want to see that face be animated, you know?

Right.

And that's kind of what I do a lot, so.

What about now, Rob?

Are there people like when you see them on TV, you can't turn them off or they make you laugh?

Or are you like a lot of comics where they don't want to watch comedy

when they're off?

It's hard to watch it, actually, because I don't want to be influenced by it, too.

There's always

that.

Oh, I just came up with something.

And only maybe I heard that.

So it's kind of hard.

And it's hard for me to listen to comedy because I can see the setup and punchline.

I can't really enjoy it like most people.

I still like, Brian Regan always makes me laugh.

I mean, just people that just are constantly coming up with new stuff, you know?

Yeah, he's amazing.

Yeah, because I don't come up with new stuff.

That's, I mean, I do the same act basically.

I change it a little bit each time, because I try to make it fresh and real, but it's basically a script I do, you know?

Interesting.

All right, so I noticed also, I was checking out your website.

you've done shows like of all you've done casinos corporate gigs you said you did a parish recently you've been overseas tell us a little bit about like how are corporate shows compared to club shows for you

well I usually I mean corporate shows can can be either really good or really bad and a lot of times they're they're very iffy about bringing in a stand-up comedian because a lot of times you know sometimes the

bad words will slip out, you know, and then they're responsible.

The person that was responsible for booking you is always looking at the boss going, is the boss laughing?

That doesn't create a very natural, you know, relaxed atmosphere.

But the last one I just did was in Fond du Lac, and they did it at a theater, the Thelma Theater in Fond du Lac, which is a fantastic place to do comedy and to see anything.

And it was really just perfect.

The lighting was perfect.

The sound was perfect.

And it was packed with a bunch of people.

And it's just, you never know what you're going to get.

But I've had probably 75% of my corporate gigs are scary.

So what about cruise ships,

Rob?

Like, you have to be clean on cruise ships, right?

I mean, you did a Drybar special.

You obviously got the chops to work clean, especially if you're doing corporate gigs too.

Howard, have you done cruise ships?

Yeah, I've done five different cruise lines.

I like Holland America is a really good one.

The worst one is Carnival because in Holland America, you do a 10 minute welcome aboard show, then you do a one hour show on Monday.

And that's all you do for the whole week.

And you're out there for four.

So you do four shows, you come back, you get like 10 grand in your bank account.

Then Carnival, you got to do 13 shows per

week.

The first one's got to be for kids and then it's for the, the night one is for the drunk parents.

So I don't know who's worse.

The kids are the parents.

Yeah.

They make you do a show for kids.

Yes.

In the daytime too.

So it's like when you'd normally just be relaxed, amping, you got to come up with an hour of material that children will enjoy.

So it's terrible.

I don't do cruises anymore.

It's been 10 years since I've done a cruise and I I don't miss them at all I miss the money and I miss

I

like the trip Even that is you're just sitting in your cabin for so long.

There's only so

You

know, it's I don't like cruise and you got to be completely clean.

So yeah, you can't put poop once and stuff of a

Holland America.

It wasn't Norwegian.

It was a Norwegian cruise.

I still have the the complaint, you know, I saved it some way.

Ended by the comedian who said the word poop,

you know.

Rob, can we give you our little comedy catchphrase quiz?

Are you open to that?

Oh, sure.

They're not too tough.

I knew most of them.

I think you'll be fine.

Conrad, are we ready?

That's what you're gonna hear, buddy.

If you get it right.

Oh, I hope I can hear

that.

I think you can do this.

Ladies and gentlemen, Rob Brackenridge, Appleton-based comedian taking our nightlight comedy catchphrase quiz.

Here we go.

Question number one.

Did I do that?

He has glasses.

He's a little... Oh, who's that?

Did

I do

that?

Yes.

You're on the right track.

What?

Yeah, at a bow tie, right?

I can't think of his name.

Do I get a ding for that?

It starts with an E.

I know him.

I'll tell you, if you get this one, you're going to get all of them, because I thought this was the toughest one.

I wanted to start you

off.

Did I do that?

All right,

Urkel.

Urkel.

We have a buzzer, Conrad.

All right, we'll give it to him

Hiked up dance.

Yeah, you basically got it.

You just couldn't remember his name.

All right.

Here is a Chicago based comedian Everybody loves this guy.

He's been on this show.

He's so much fun And whenever he sets up a joke, he says hey Tim sounds like fun

Tim Kavanaugh Yay

Oh, I loved him.

Everybody loves him.

He's great.

All right.

This is an easy one, Rob.

All right.

This is the third question.

Here we go.

Save up.

Oh, save up.

Southern comedian.

Yeah.

Jeff Fox ready?

No.

Oh.

Oh, Ron White.

No.

This guy's a little more obscure, but he worked on the club circuit all through the 80s and 90s.

And he's got he's got a buzzing insect in his name.

A buzzing insect bees.

So would it

be a bee?

You're on the right track.

Bob Burnfield.

No, I'm sorry.

Killer bees.

Oh, you remember that guy?

I remember that guy.

Yes, I never did work with him, but I remember his.

Headshot and everything.

All right, Rob is two for three.

Here's a here's an easy one for you get her done

That's Larry the cable guy

Or Dan Whitney, can I say Dan Whitney?

That's when I met him.

He was Dan Whitney I'm not even gave you a ding for that.

All right.

Here's here's one.

You're three for four buddy.

Oh behave

That's That's can we talk John Rivers?

No

He has another phrase where he goes, yeah, baby.

Oh, Mike Meyer.

Yes.

Four for five.

Rob Brackenridge, the pride of Appleton.

Wild.

I'm a wild and crazy guy.

Steve Martin.

Yes.

Five for six.

Here's another one.

All righty then.

Jim Carrey.

Yes.

You're going to get this one, too, buddy.

I get no respect.

Rodney I was almost embarrassed to ask

you that one.

I was the nervous kid My mom hugged me

just lose a few bones.

Okay.

I Did a woman wants she had to reach into her broad account to do

No matter how I made an egg it came out scrambled.

Okay.

All right last one for you Rob.

Take my wife, please

Yes, that's.

Take my life, please, of course.

I know, I mean, I just I lost it.

It's.

His

name rhymes with Benny.

And Lenny.

He's not an old man.

He's a. Rhymes with Benny, not an old man, any young man.

Young

man, Tammy Youngman.

Get a ding.

Get a ding.

Oh, I got a ding.

Rob, you crushed it.

We put you on the spot and you delivered.

Next time you're here, we got to do some road stories.

I know you got a ton of them on your website.

I didn't even get to dig into those, so.

We'll

talk to me going up to the north pole with the red hot chili peppers next.

Oh, yes.

OK.

I love that, and more celebrities running into bathrooms and restaurants and barely making it too.

I think all that stuff is fun.

We'll cover it all.

Thank you, buddy, as always.

Thank you.

You got it.

All right, check out Rob.

Go to his website, robbrackenridge.com.

Doesn't get any easier than that, folks.

He's going to be in Eagle River soon, and check out his Dry Bar Special.

and follow them on TikTok.

We are coming right back.

We're going to read your texts, and then we're going to welcome Mr. Norm Kepesky from Appleton Cigar.

We'll be here in the studio at 7.35.

This is Pete Schwabba and Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio Network.

You're listening to Civic Media.

Stay up to date on the latest news and information for your local community and Wisconsin by signing up for our free email newsletter.

Visit civicmedia.us slash email to get

started.

Is that not working?

Oh, there we go.

I can't, I can't talk if I don't see myself.

That's just how I'm wired.

It's not TV Pete.

I can't make love to my wife unless I'm on the TV in the background.

Is that strange?

You know, actually, Robin Shcherbatsky had that same problem.

Who did?

It's how I met your mother.

Everything with you is how I met your mother.

Our question of the night folks is what is your favorite sequel?

We'll get through some texts here and People listening on the stream Dave on the stream says better called Saul spin off, but we'll accept that absolutely love that show I like it better than Breaking Bad Dave.

What do you think about that?

Dave also says back to the future great choice and then a little herb who I assume has to be Dave's brother unless he has an alter ego

Because their dad was the football coach in Marinette.

So Lillard says the unknown man three quill Does that make sense to you?

I don't know that But we'll accept it JB Thompson the guy behind the guy behind the guy Says the godfather of Green Bay part do obviously.

It's like our third one You guys write me a check.

I will make another movie.

I'll figure out a way I'll get Tony Goldman back here.

Lauren Holly will do it all again

but Conrad will play the lead.

What do you think about that?

I love it.

I bet you do.

There's no money, just so you know.

Let me just get my face out there.

Learn your lines,

yeah.

Jesse on the text line from the 608 says, Andor, Rogue One is firing away the best installment of the entire Star Wars universe.

Look at that.

What do you say to that, Con?

Rogue One is a fantastic

movie.

It is good movie.

I liked it.

I loved it.

I didn't know what I was expecting, but after that movie, I was just like...

Wow, that's the best Star Wars movie I've seen in

a while.

Absolutely.

I can dig it.

And it's, she says, or he says, or Jesse, I don't know if that's a he or she says, it's not even close.

It's Star Wars for adults.

It teaches us the sacrifice rebellion actually costs.

Yeah, fair enough.

Annie from Watertown, she says alien, who to thunk we could still get freaked out.

And then here's the second part of that.

It cracked me up.

And he texted back and said aliens rather.

because Aileen is not the sequel.

She says, so embarrassing.

That's nothing to be embarrassed about, Annie.

Annie says, JoeDirt2.

Thanks.

I needed to laugh today.

It's

not a joke.

It's by far the best movie ever.

Conrad loves JoeDirt2.

I know you're full of it, though.

Conrad's dad checking in.

The920 says, my favorite sequels are actually two.

Godfather2.

Again, a lot of people say it's better than the first one.

And from 2022, Top Gun Maverick.

I'll agree with you, Steve.

I agree with your dad a lot, Conrad.

I think Top Gun Maverick was better than the first one.

You know, I think my dad should have done the mustache during that time after Top Gun Maverick.

Oh yeah, like Miles Teller.

Like a lot of people wanted that mustache after

that.

Steve, if you haven't seen the offer...

A show, I think it's on Peacock.

It's about how they got the Godfather made, the original Godfather, about how this producer had to just muscle the project through.

It is spectacular.

He says, question Pete, when do you plan on releasing the sequel for the Godfather of Green Bay?

I didn't know there's this much of a demand, but I'm on it now.

The star power, me,

is

why, I think so.

Yeah, well, you kind of took yourself down a few pegs with Joe Dirt too.

But Tyler from Wisconsin Rapid says, Blade Runner.

2049.

Oh, is that what it was?

Yeah, 2049.

Blade Runner 2049.

Ryan Gosling was a good Joe.

I want more life.

Father.

Tyler.

Inside baseball there.

I like it.

Conrad's mom says back to the future.

We've had a few of those.

Love that movie too.

Well, we'll be back to the future too.

That's a great

move.

But it is.

I liked it better.

I didn't love the third one, but I love the first two.

The third one is not the best, but I think too.

Two is my favorite, and then one.

Tyler from Wisconsin Rapids says billions of beavers.

There we

go.

The only one they have so far is hundreds of beavers, and it's brilliant.

Great movie if you haven't seen it.

Billions, you're talking serious sequel-age in the future.

Lee from De Peer says, Groundhog Day.

LOL.

That's a great joke.

A lot of sequels.

Love it, Lee.

Tom from New Berlin says, how humble was George Wendt?

Great artist.

Agreed, Tom.

Thank you.

Luke Mathers, Civic Media's own.

D2, The Mighty Ducks is the best sequel.

Luke is not even wavering.

There's an exclamation point at the end of that.

Well done, Luke.

Barb from Waukesha says, I love all the Toy Story sequels.

I agree.

I love the first two the best, but they're all great, Barb.

Sydney from Oregon says, my favorite sequel is Barbershop 2.

Okay.

I only saw the first one.

That's Cedric the Entertainer.

I did not see that.

All right.

Thank you, Sydney.

Stadietti says, Pete, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to read this text without any flubs or mispronunciations.

You know what, Stadietti?

I had enough of your bull.

But I'll take on that challenge.

He says, good luck.

An excellent sequel is Aliens, starring Sigourney Weaver.

The text will self-destruct in five seconds.

Pete, here is where you hum the Mission Impossible theme music.

I'm not gonna do that.

He says, I hope Conrad brought in his French horn and bongos to back you up.

Oh, God, four days, people.

I got the fever.

Tom Cruise.

I just saw the one where he drove the motorcycle.

Does his own, Sean Penn says he's the best stuntman in Hollywood.

He's got brass guts.

I, no way I would do anything up that high.

Sydney from Oregon also says my favorite sequel.

Oh, we already read that barbershop too.

Sydney texted us twice.

Like his text had a sequel.

That's fantastic.

PJ on the stream says Austin Powers gold member.

Oh, that's a great one too.

Love it.

My son Joe was about three or four when I showed him that.

And Mike Myers is like, he's like frozen, right?

Or somebody comes out at 18 years and

he goes to

the bathroom and he starts taking a pee that lasts like five minutes.

And my son is like four and he just kind of, he does like one of these smirks.

He goes, he's going a long time.

I'm like, the kid gets comedy.

All right.

Norm Kepesky, ladies and gentlemen, is waiting in the wings.

I'm looking at him right now.

Made the drive up from Appleton, fought the traffic.

One of the owners of Appleton Cigar.

He joins us next to talk about Smoke on the Fox, a must-see event.

This is Pete Schwabba in Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio Network.

on Nightlight with Peachwama.

I am Peachwama.

Rachel from the 608 says, she says, best sequel is Shrek 2.

I won't hear any arguments seriously.

I will shut this app down right now.

Please don't do that, Rachel.

We need the app and we like the app.

All right.

I'm very excited to have this next guest on the show.

He was here a few months ago and we ended up...

We ended up kind of tying the knot, so to speak, Norm.

Norm became a sponsor of the show and his company, Appleton Cigar, it is my pleasure to welcome the very talented, very knowledgeable Mr. Norm Kibeski.

Good to see you, buddy.

Good to see

you, T. Thanks for coming back.

So I didn't scare you away last time.

Oh,

not

at all.

Do you like the commercials?

I have.

Okay.

They've been great.

They've

been great.

We get some customers talking about it, so we're getting some

impact.

All right, fantastic.

I would love nothing more than to, I would assume,

You own a cigar shop the range of and I know you said last time we were here, you guys pretty much leave politics at the door.

So what do people talk about mostly sports

movies?

It's a fair bit of sports movies

kind

of their life experience, whether it was career oriented or military law enforcement.

Just kind of pop culture.

What's going on in the world today, but we check politics and religion at the door.

All right.

So well done.

That probably keeps people coming back.

I would assume it's good to see you.

So tell us you got this great event.

It's the second.

You can still get in on the ground floor, folks.

If you love cigars or just community, check out Smoke on the Fox.

Norm, tell us all about this amazing event.

Yeah, so about two years ago, my partner Weston and I, we had this idea that we wanted to do, instead of kind of one cigar vendor at a time, like just having Ashton come in or just having Perdomo come in, we wanted to get all of our reps in one location all at the same time.

Oh, wow.

These guys are great salespeople.

They're great human beings to begin with.

but they just love telling stories and entertaining folks and kind of doing it over the common bond of the cigar.

And what's the differences of these cigars that you like versus what I like?

And so we started the, we came up with this idea, Smoke on the Fox, and we got all of our vendors, got them to start signing up and putting the date on the calendar about six months in advance.

And we coordinated with Lines Tilbury down in Nina, Wisconsin.

And they, uh, they were gracious enough to say, yeah, let's play ball.

Let's see what we can do.

Um, once we get past our costs, we get, we send all the proceeds to Fox cities veteran council.

They work on, uh, they work with veterans that are at risk for homelessness or mental health disorders, different things of that nature.

And so, uh, Tim Cody is, uh, is a big customer of ours.

He's in all the time, bringing in different, different.

sponsors and people that he's trying to help on the fundraising side for his organization.

We're kind of his home away from home.

Nice.

So that's how we got tied up with Tim and being a military family.

My son's in the Marine Corps right now.

We really wanted to lean into that space.

Community tends to rally around rounder veterans pretty well.

Sure.

And so what's better cigars, good camaraderie, maybe some good beer if you're into that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Tim Cody, of course, the president of the Fox Valley Veterans Council, right?

He's been on the show a couple times.

They had a big event recently.

Were you involved in that?

I was not.

My wife and I, we had our 25th wedding anniversary.

So we were on a trip for

that.

Nice.

All right.

That's a good excuse, Norm.

Keep your family together.

Tim approved as well.

I got to say so.

Tim's approval.

All right.

I don't make a move without Tim.

Neither does Conrad.

We just, Tim Cody's our guy, right?

He is.

Yeah.

I actually don't like him personally, but he does good work.

All right.

So I was kidding, Conrad.

You know, Norm, you know, you don't tell Tim.

I've got me in a headlock last time he was here.

He

said he was going to listen

to me.

So it might be

too

late.

Tim, you know where I live, buddy.

Let's do it.

I'm kidding.

Let's shake hands.

We're friends.

All right.

So this is the second annual Smoke and the Fox.

It's from six to nine on June 2.

Right.

So what can people expect?

Let's say, Norm, people want to go there.

You mentioned veterans.

They want to be supportive, maybe, but they don't smoke cigars.

Is there stuff for people there?

It's at Lion's Tale.

I'm sure they can have a drink.

But what else is there for them?

Are there vendors or?

So we got our different vendors that are coming in.

Cigar related.

I mean, that's that's what we're all about.

Right.

And so it's going to be heavily focused on cigars.

But Lion's Tale is they have their brewery tour.

OK.

Take that ticket purchase comes with either two or four drinks.

I'm a fan of their root beer to be honest.

I think it's crushes.

Yeah.

And so you can, you can take that tour.

You can, uh, we were going to have food trucks come in line stills helping to source those barbecue truck.

And I think a taco truck.

Nice.

So yeah.

So are there tickets?

Like, where would people get tickets or find out more information?

I noticed you have different ticket packages.

Yep.

Are they expensive or what kind of, what do you offer?

They're value driven.

So we have a Toro and Toro Grande Toro or Toro package and that's different cigar sizes for the non indoctrinated.

The Toro package is 14 cigars and two drink tickets.

And then the Toro Grande package is 20 cigars and four drink tickets.

And you get to pick your table to sit with whichever vendor you would prefer.

So 20 cigars, how long?

I know you're a cigar smoker.

Do you smoke a cigar every day?

No, not every day, but if I'm smoking a cigar, it's probably six that day.

And so I might go through three, four days without a cigar, but if I'm in the lounge, I'm lighting one up after another.

Did you say you'll smoke six in one day?

Oh, easily.

The whole thing?

Wow.

So, is that just because you're being social or you just love the way different cigars have different... It's both.

Okay.

Yeah.

Huh.

Yeah.

That's interesting.

So, how long would 20 cigars be expected to last a guy like me?

I smoke one when my brothers are in town or when there's a special occasion or something.

Like, that could last you a year,

really.

Oh, easily.

It could

last you a year.

Okay.

Yeah.

For people who don't... And this... You brought us cigars last time we were here, which was very nice.

If you don't have a humidor at home...

It took me a couple weeks to get to that cigar because I saved it from when my brother visited.

How do you keep it primed, I guess you'd say?

So if you don't have a human or probably the best thing you could do is put it in a Ziploc bag and just set it on your bookshelf.

Something

that's not going to get direct sunlight and stay fairly moderately

tempt.

And when you smoke it, you take the Ziploc bag off of it,

correct?

Yeah.

We kind of have this accurate order.

You

even had a word for it.

That's right.

Is there anything new at Smoke on the Fox?

Like if people are listening and they went last year and had a great time.

Is there anything different this year?

Do you have music or anything?

We do.

We got an audio company.

They're bringing in the sound system and we're just going to pump in some nice background noise and we're not going to really do live music because it's all about the socialization.

Yeah.

So we don't want to cover that up.

We don't want to wipe that out just by making noise for the sake of making noise.

Makes sense.

My guest is Norm Kepesky.

He's one of the owners of Appleton Cigar.

You have a relationship with Rose Bauman, who's on the show.

And will she be there?

And what part does she play in Appleton Cigar?

So Rose covers my weekday morning shifts.

So

she's there almost five days a week, 52 weeks out of the year.

The gal does not like vacation.

So she'll take a few days here and there.

on the whole.

She's in there on the weekdays and she oversees all of her liquor selection and beer ordering and then helps me pick out what cigars are coming in next.

Kind of what's doing exciting.

She does a lot of our a lot of our sampling of cigars.

So what a vendor brings us new stuff.

I have a palette that works for my flavor profile so I can nick her Agua Maduro.

Rose is far more well spread out.

She'll smoke a lot of different things.

It's Connecticut's Dominicans, Hondurans.

She just has a far more varied palette.

And so it helps us to keep the human orbit more diverse

in its options.

She was a good, fun guest.

I think JB probably introduced her to me too.

Did JB introduce us?

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah, JB Thomas.

He's

the guy behind the

guy.

I

figured he did,

but

I didn't know if... All right, so all the proceeds or some of the proceeds go to help veterans, right?

Yep.

Once we get past our costs.

Okay.

Is it an expensive thing to put on?

It is.

Yeah.

It is, but it's worth it for the cause.

Right.

And do you anticipate more people this year than you had last year?

So far, that's the way it's looking.

Nice.

Yeah.

Okay.

So let's talk about cigars.

I used to, I haven't had a drink in a while, but I used to love a cigar with a glass of whiskey.

If people go to smoke on the Fox or just want to come into your place,

Um, I know you have liquor there too.

How do you like to smoke a cigar?

What do you like?

Would you like a beer or cocktail you mentioned root beer?

I mean, what's your drink of choice?

I actually like a cigar and black coffee.

That's

my,

that's my favorite.

Yep.

Like both kind of, of the earth type thing, tobacco and beans.

I'm a farm kid at heart.

Yeah.

I grew up in the dirt and I just, I love that.

No kidding.

Black coffee and a cigar.

Yep.

And you do that in the morning.

Kind of whenever I get to that cigar,

okay,

I don't know we start the day with coffee, but I Have a cigar I tend to have coffee with it.

That's fascinating.

I was not expecting that so what what do people typically like if they have is beer more common or whiskey

Either an Irish whiskey or one of the Bourbons Okay, there's so many varieties of bourbons out there nowadays.

It's so Such a hip thing to be into that

right

they're coming on coming out with them faster than we can keep track of them

So there's a lot of exploration that guys are doing with their cigar.

They'll tend to stick with a cigar that's in the regular rotation.

They're familiar with it.

And then they'll play with different whiskies or different bourbons.

If they're in their down home mood and it's always a maker's mark night, then they maybe will play with a different cigar selection.

Interesting.

That's kind of how the pairing seems

to go.

So does the cigar dictate the booze or vice versa or is it a mix?

Typically it's the cigar dictates the booze.

Interesting.

Yeah.

So do people do beer?

I can't see personally doing beer with a cigar, but I'm sure there are people that do.

There are a few and it tends to be more on the lighter beers, more

your

loggers and Pillsners.

Nice.

What are you aware of?

I mean, you're probably more locked into the liquor world than I am.

I found recently, I was never a beer drinker, but I did discover recently I like blue moon non-alcoholic beer.

Okay.

I think it tastes refreshing and it's like whatever, but I've also tried non-alcoholic whiskey.

They're not there yet.

Like the beers are great.

Do you know anything about that world?

They're working on it.

Okay.

the guys that I think are doing the best mocktails is what they're called,

are the ones

that aren't even trying to recreate the liquor experience.

They're just trying to make a great tasting drink all on its own.

I need that burn, that whiskey burn that I don't get from the fake.

And it's like 35 bucks a bottle for like, I just want something that kinda tastes like Tallamore Dew, you know?

Oh, yeah, that's pretty specific.

I'll keep an eye out for you.

Yeah, if you hear something, I love a glass of whiskey and a good cigar.

What is your favorite kind of cigar?

You kind of mentioned it before, but if people are listening and they haven't ever really smoked or been exposed to that world and they're curious, what would you have them start with?

I would have them start with the lovely brand elegante that was so lovely as a cigar brand was founded in the early 1900s, late 1800s, early 1900s.

And it was actually a Green Bay product when tobacco was one of our major exports for the state.

And a couple of guys from the Green Bay reenergized the brand and started making it again.

And so that was their original offering.

And it's on the light side of medium.

It's very flavorful.

It does not have that strong cigar punch that kind of people associate with cigar smoking.

And it's just very aromatic and easy on the palate.

Is that something like that when people start smoking cigars, they escalate like the strength like coffee or booze or something, or do they tend to like kind of like what they like and that the potency doesn't matter?

They like what they like.

Yeah.

Yeah.

There's a lot of variety in it.

Similar to the booze and yeah, folks like what they like and there there's definitely gonna be some that progress into something darker But wherever you wherever you find yourself, that's tons of me where they stay

good advice alright, so smoke on the Fox happens June 2nd If you haven't been to Appleton cigar folks you hear me talking about it here periodically and the commercials running check it out.

It's just a great atmosphere

No politics or religion, but that opens up your whole world to other things to talk about over a cigar.

They got booze.

And we'll talk more with Norm after a very short break here.

Well, I'm going to ask Norm what he's watching on TV too.

Maybe see if he wants to see Mission Impossible.

Peach Wabba Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio

Network.

You're listening to Civic Media.

Find the latest news, information, and archives of all your favorite shows on the Civic Media

website, civicmedia.us.

Pal, Norm Kepesky from Appleton Cigar.

Check out Smoke On The Fox, folks, June 2nd at Lion's Tale Brewing Company in Nina from 6 to 9 p.m.

It just sounds like such a great event, Norm.

And you got different ticket packages.

Is there an actual website where people can go?

Yeah, appletonscigar.com.

You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, et cetera.

Excellent.

You have another thing you wanted to talk about coming up called Life Fest.

Life Fest, tell us about that.

Yeah, so Life Fest is a nonprofit organization and we put on a big family, family friendly festival down in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in early June.

I've been a part of the organization 23 years now.

Oh, wow.

And so I'm part of the team that we bring in about 30,000 people.

It's about what we attract for attendees.

And so that's that's a good sized town for our area.

And so we talk that we build the city, we run the city and then we pack it up.

That's that's kind of what I'm a part of.

And how long does that last?

That's a three day music festival.

Yeah.

Okay.

And Life Fest, is it you said it's non-denominational?

Yeah.

Is it like Christian music or Christian rock, that kind of stuff?

Christian music and Christian rock.

Okay.

So we'll have bands like Skillet or Third Day from some some of the old classics, Newsboys, Man Who Wills.

POD super chicks.

I mean,

I'm sure right now some of these bands

but

but that's a that's become like a booming Market Christian rock.

I mean I back when I was growing up.

Yeah, you kind of like we're like barely ever heard of it

Yeah,

but you're talking about these bands that have already not coming gone but are still around maybe but it's been around for a long time

Yeah, they figured out how to cross over and over into the secular world.

Yeah Speak to that world and talk about things that are relevant to everybody

whether you have some kind of faith or not.

Okay, when is that?

That's early July.

I think July

9th.

Okay.

Will there be cigars there?

If you know where to look.

You got a guy?

You got a guy.

All right, very cool.

We'll check out Smoke on the Fox, folks.

It's going to be a fun event.

Life Fest.

Where can people find out information on Life Fest?

Lifefest.com.

Lifefest.com.

All right.

And

food.

Oh yeah, we got tons of food.

We got a whole, whole downtown, I think with 30 different vendors.

Everything from the fried Oreos to dipping dots on down the line.

So this is like a town that springs up just for the event and then you close it down.

That's right.

That's right.

It's at Sunnyview

Expo Center.

Really?

Okay.