New Studio, Same Us: Getting to Know Mick & Ashley (Ep. 113)

We’re recording during nap time for the first time, so if Michael wakes up, this episode is over. 😅 Today we play “Then or Now,” walking through what it was like to be an actor every decade from 1926 to today: silent films, seven-year studio contracts, live TV, pilot season, the national commercial that paid your rent for a year, and the self-tape era. We debate whether the audition room should come back, how getting an agent has changed, why actors don’t watch dailies (a Bali High lesson), and why the new triple threat is actor, writer, producer. New Mismo out now. 💛

Black Widow and Captain America take the mic for a Halloween Fit Happens! 🕷️🛡️ Preschool has us sick every three weeks, so we’re talking about staying fit (and sane) through sick season. That covers Mick’s 10-day workout drought and why movement is about mental health first, and his overhead press goal with two months left. Ashley’s check-in includes kettlebells, a Barry’s class with Create, and life after pregnancy. We also get into trainer Olympics numbers, whether Ashley should play a superhero, cooking more at our new table, sinigang as medicine, and holiday advice for avoiding the January spiral. Plus a very important elbow-coughing PSA. 💛 New Mismo every other Monday.

We pulled questions out of the Bali High hat again, and the first one was a big one: how do you separate your worth from your work?We get into it from the start:- what we'd tell our younger selves- the boundaries that protect our family time- Mick retiring after nine years as Emcee of Burroughs on Broadway- the worst career advice we ever got- the comparison trap Mick finally climbed out of (hi, Tom Holland)- making strong choices with thin sides- what we wish we'd known about contracts- how we think about juggling multiple income streams as a creative familyGot a question for the hat? Send it our way on Instagram.New Mismo every other Monday.

Big dreams, a two-year-old, and a whole lot of no's. We get honest about the friendships this season is costing us, the theater and improv we've let go of, and the lifers who get it anyway. Plus a dislocated kneecap during Le Dindon, a zero-rehearsal Stranger Things put-in that led to a best friendship with Mathenee Treco, and our new HERNEST table.

We're trying something new this week — a Q&A episode pulled straight from the hat. Residuals and SAG-AFTRA pensions, protecting couple time as business partners and parents, audition habits that used to work against us, roles we've turned down, comedy vs. drama prep, and how we decide what gets our time. Plus a recap of our 5-year anniversary trip to Yosemite. Send us your questions for next time!

Cortez burned his fleet so retreat wasn't an option. Michael Jordan packed one suit to Game 6. This week we'rasking whether "burn the ships" — the ultimate no-plan-B business philosophy — actually holds up for actors, parents, or anyone trying to build something with real stakes attached. We talk audition psychology, the 12-month rule, the year Ashley "scorched earth"-ed her way into a string of bookings, and end up at the zoo watching our toddler make his own risk-assessment call on a flight of stairs. Married actors, real marriage, real business talk.Full episode also available on YouTube!

This week's fit check gets honest — Ashley on falling out of motivation (and the psychology of why it happens), the story behind her wood-anniversary golf clubs, Michael's accidental takeover of the family's golf habit, and Mick's dislocated pinky toe, Hyrox sign-up, and overhead press PR chase. 💛Full episode available on YouTube!

LA production is down almost 50% since 2022 — but this isn't another stats episode. It's about what happens when the job isn't down the street anymore. Ashley and Mick talk through the real, hypothetical logistics of booking a pilot out of town: preschool, training clients, local hire rules, per diem, and the actual math of deciding if a job is worth the distance. Plus: what filming Bali High in LA meant for them as new parents, and the financial reality of what it actually looks like to "book a pilot." ♥Check out this video on YouTube!

New studio, new chapter. Mick and Ashley take the podcast into their living room for the first time — literally — with a full multi-cam setup, a couch upgrade courtesy of HERNEST, and our first Mismo guest of this version of the pod. :)With new listeners joining all the time, they take this episode to properly reintroduce themselves: how they met, how Mismo Productions came to be, and where their acting careers actually stand right now — messy, unresolved, and still very much in progress. Plus: rapid-fire questions on their relationship, parenthood, and their creative partnership, and a first look at Mismo's (four-legged) team member.

Are acting classes actually worth it? Mick thinks yes. Ashley thinks… it’s complicated. Two working actors, one honest conversation about how to keep growing when the jobs aren’t there — and what Bali High taught them that no classroom ever could.