Atlanta podcast explores murder via stand-up comedy in ‘Wisecrack’
Jodi Tovay was in Scotland in 2017 to check out the popular Edinburgh Fringe Festival when a sudden downpour forced her into a makeshift comedy club that smelled of mildew and beer. On stage was up-and-coming stand-up comic Edd Hedges.
Hedges told a story of being bullied as a kid in Britain, coming to his small hometown to do a show years later and awakening to a man ominously banging on the door of his parents’ home. That man, he said, was his bully, who had just viciously murdered his own mom and stepdad.
Tovay, a true crime producer now based in Atlanta, was rapt. She approached him after a show seeking more details about his story.
Hedges was wary. “I didn’t know it was a true crime story,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a recent Zoom call. “I didn’t have the heart to tell Jodi, ‘You’ve got the wrong guy here. I tell jokes in pubs.’”
It would take several years and a tricky dance between producer and subject to turn his story into a podcast dubbed “Wisecrack.” All six episodes are available on major podcast platforms now. Atlanta-based Tenderfoot TV, known for true crime podcasts such as “Up and Vanished” and “Monster,” oversaw the production with Tovay’s company.
The result: a big hit. “Wisecrack” after its release last month peaked at No. 1 on top comedy shows and No. 1 for true crime and top series in the U.K. on Apple podcasts.
“I’m happy and surprised,” said Donald Albright, Tenderfoot co-founder. “You never know what you’re going to get with a limited series.”
When Tovay and her producing partner, Charles Forbes, started pitching the idea for a possible TV series, she received a lot of negative feedback from gatekeepers. “Don’t put crime and comedy together,” she was told. “Whenever someone tells me, ‘Don’t do that,’ I get extremely curious. I want to try!” In 2020, Tenderfoot gave her a greenlight to work on the podcast.
“Wisecrack” uses plenty of Hedges’ stand-up comedy, especially in the first two episodes. But over six episodes, Tovay also peels the onion, revealing new details of the crime Hedges talks about on stage and Brett Rogers, Hedges’ childhood tormenter and the man who committed the murders.
“This wasn’t a whodunit like most true crime podcasts,” Albright said. “It’s more character driven in a community most listeners aren’t familiar with. The hope was to make it funny enough to keep the comedy audience but offer enough crime to keep that audience.”
Hedges ghosted Tovay for years but eventually allowed her to explore his life. She flew to England to talk to his family, the murderer’s father and people in the town he grew up in.
Over time, Tovay unspools the murderer’s life and her discoveries impact “how Edd sees his childhood and the person who he thought was his true enemy,” she said. “It’s a story of emotional transformation.”
Hedges told the story at the Fringe Festival in part because it was his first solo headlining gig there and he wanted to make an impact.
“This story was the one I was most uncomfortable with so I decided to lean into that,” Hedges said. “I did three trial shows to see if people were interested. They were hooked. People were gobsmacked. I then had to make it funny.”
That was the tough part, he said. He decided to add fictional details to leaven the darker moments. “I had to ham up some bits,” he said. “It’s easy to shock an audience but it’s difficult to bring them back. If I use trauma for my own gain and I fail, it’s doubly bad.”
So what is true and what is not? “Wisecrack” explores the delicate and often fraught relationship between Tovay and Hedges as she tries to unpack the truth and Hedges works through his own childhood issues.
“I was suspicious of Edd,” she said. “He was suspicious of me. We have a big fight at the end of episode 5.”
Over a span of years, they are on good terms now.
“I’ve stayed at Jodi’s house multiple times,” Hedges said. “We’ve driven from Atlanta to Charleston together. Jodi has become very good at putting up with my nonsense.”
“I would call Edd a very dear friend,” Tovay said. “I feel like I’m his older sister.”
The success of the podcast has made a TV or streaming series a possibility again. “We’re fielding a lot of lovely overtures from some very fancy people I’ve never had the honor to pitch before,” Tovay said. “Everyone saw the vision. Now everyone is knocking on Edd’s door to do tours.”
Spending time in Atlanta has given Hedges fresh, nonviolent comedic material. “I have an hour show about the Clermont Lounge,” he said. “I got destroyed drunk!”
Tovay’s favorite moment? “We took Edd to Walmart. He got lost and we had to page him like he was a lost child.”
If you listen
“Wisecrack,” available on all major podcast platforms.
About the Author
Rodney Ho writes about entertainment for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution including TV, radio, film, comedy and all things in between. A native New Yorker, he has covered education at The Virginian-Pilot, small business for The Wall Street Journal and a host of beats at the AJC over 20-plus years. He loves tennis, pop culture & seeing live events.
