Ep 268: Blooper Reel 2025

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Audit Podcast

Episode 268: Blooper Reel 2025
Date: December 16, 2025
Host: Trent Russell
Special Focus: Behind-the-Scenes with Editor Mary Charles

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Overview

This episode of The Audit Podcast is a special end-of-year "blooper reel," celebrating the unsung hero of the show: editor Mary Charles. Instead of focusing on traditional internal audit, tech, or SOX guidance topics, the episode provides listeners with an entertaining, candid, and humorous behind-the-scenes look at editing, show production, and those moments that usually end up on the cutting room floor. It’s a lighthearted homage to Mary Charles, featuring outtakes, spontaneous banter, and commentary about what it takes to keep the podcast running smoothly.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Importance of Editing & Mary Charles’ Role

• Trent (Host) describes how Mary Charles became integral to the show’s quality and flow.
  • Trent humorously admits he quickly abandoned editing the show himself:

    "It took me four hours to edit 45 minutes of audio. This is before we even did video." (01:02)

  • Realization of the value of a good editor led to Mary Charles taking over and becoming a key part of the production for nearly six years.
  • The editing process helps create a relaxed, conversational atmosphere for guests:

    "It's largely so that the guests know that they can say and do whatever they want. And ultimately we can edit anything out for them." (01:36)

2. Outtakes and Running Gags About Editing

• Throughout, Trent references talking to Mary Charles mid-recording as a recurring bit:
  • "Hey, Mary Charles, can you cut that?" or "Let's talk about this thing later."
• The same banter allows for a candid, less formal show experience and frequent riffs about what should (or shouldn’t) be cut.

3. Bloopers, Warmups, & Off-script Banter

• Examples of chatter that would otherwise be edited out:
  • Discussions about asking guests, "What's your favorite curse word?" without warning (02:47).
  • Reference to Phil Collins' pre-show vocal warmup, “SU Studio," and shared personal warmups:

    • "I do Ow. Wow. Brown cow. There you go. Brown cow. There's a clap for Mary Charles." (03:26)

  • Mistaken pronunciations and fun with last names:
    • The guest corrects Trent’s pronunciation:

      "Can you pronounce your last name?"
      "Mir. Because a lot of people do not pronounce it. Well, I've heard all kinds of things." (03:59)

    • Mispronunciations:

      "I would have gone messier. So way off." (04:04)
      "Some people have said misery, and I'm like, oh, gosh, I hope not." (04:07)

4. Personal Highlights about Mary Charles

• Beyond editing, Mary Charles is praised for her multifaceted skills:
  • Audio, video, infographics, social media clips, etc. (00:40)
• Notably, she is currently attending NYU film school, linking the "Misery" name joke with her passion for film.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Outsourcing Editing:

  "That lasted about two episodes. It took me four hours to edit 45 minutes of audio... So then I went back to Mary Charles and said, hey, can you just do this for us full time?"
  — Trent, 00:55

• On the Value of Editing for Guest Comfort:

  "It's largely so that the guests know that they can say and do whatever they want. And ultimately we can edit anything out for them."
  — Trent, 01:36

• On Mary Charles’ Impact:

  "Absolutely could not do the show without her. So thank you again so much for everything that you do."
  — Trent, 02:41

• Name Mispronunciation Fun:

  "Some people have said misery, and I'm like, oh, gosh, I hope not."
  — Guest (Mir), 04:07

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:03 — Introduction & praise for Mary Charles
• 01:36 — The value of editing and guest comfort
• 02:41 — Dedication to Mary Charles for her contributions
• 02:47 — Typical blooper banter: “Favorite curse word?” segment
• 03:13 — “SU Studio” warmup banter and audio warmup riffs
• 03:59 — Name pronunciation joke and Halloween/film school anecdote

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Overall Tone & Atmosphere

• Informal, humorous, and celebratory of the behind-the-scenes work.
• Playful references to editing, name mishaps, and what usually gets cut.
• A sincere appreciation of Mary Charles, relayed through candid, community-spirited banter.

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Conclusion

Episode 268 offers fans a rare, amusing glimpse behind the curtain at The Audit Podcast. Far from a typical audit or controls episode, it’s both a blooper-filled celebration and a heartfelt thank-you to Mary Charles, the editor who turns rough audio and rambling takes into the polished show listeners have come to appreciate. The episode is filled with good-natured jokes, meta-commentary on podcasting, and an authentic sense of camaraderie among the show’s core team.

Transcript

[A]

Hello, everybody. Welcome to another episode of the Audit podcast. Mary Charles. I think you can just leave whatever comes out and this one in here. I don't even know if you need to do any editing. I will leave it to you. I think we've talked about Mary Charles once or twice where we actually let it happen in the show, but not very often. So for those that don't know, if you're wondering, hey, the show's not terrible. Why is that? Has nothing to do with me and everything to do with our fantastic editor, Mary Charles. She does the audio, she does all the video stuff. She does all the clips, the infographics, all that kind of good stuff. And so we realized, or I realized pretty early on, like, a few episodes in that we're gonna do some level of editing. And so I found Mary Charles and I said, hey, can you just teach me, like, these two, three things. How to cut something, you know, how to fade something, whatever it was. And then I'll. I can do all the editing. And that lasted about two episodes. It took me four hours to edit 45 minutes of audio. This is before we even did video. And so then I went back to Mary Charles and said, hey, can you just do this for us full time? Or at least do all the episodes for us? Become very reliant. I have and the guests on Mary Charles's editing skills to the point where I tell most guests, like, hey, there's. I talk to the editor multiple times during the episode. So I'll say, like, hey, Mary Charles, can you cut that? Or, hey, Mary Charles, let's talk about this thing later. Whatever the case is. And it's largely so that the guests know that they can say and do whatever they want. And ultimately we can edit anything out for them. So it's in largely so we can keep the conversation very conversational. Nobody sees, like, the blinking red dot that says record. And then they get a little tight. That's why I'm able to do these intro takes here for like eight minutes. And we cut them down to like, two because I'm not super prepared for them. And I just keep rambling on similar to what you're experiencing right now. So anyway, with all that said, like I said multiple times, it's me going, hey, Mary Charles. Hey, Mary Charles. Hey, Mary Charles. So we thought for this kind of end of year blooper ish episode would just be a bunch of me, me talking to Mary Charles. I feel like I've said mary charles about 20 times already. I have not heard this. I Have no idea what's about to happen. So you might hear it 20 more or 100 more times. I don't know. But with all that said, Mary Charles has been with us for. We're going on six years now. Absolutely could not do the show without her. So thank you again so much for everything that you do. And here we go. So maybe this is just gonna be the blooper reel. Like, it's just gonna be your episode.

[B]

I love it.

[A]

Mary Charles, we're definitely gonna cut out this preamble here. The same. He asked this one question to everybody, and it was always, what's your favorite curse word? I talked to. So, Mary Charles. We can say hi to Mary Charles. She's the editor that makes all this actually work. I talked to her about this once, and I was like, what if we, like, hit the record button? And then the very first question, they have no idea it's coming, and we go, what's your favorite? Just for fun. One second. Mary Charles, cut all that st stuff out.

[B]

We could do the SU Studio.

[A]

I'm not sure what that is. What is that?

[B]

Phil Collins and he used to do the SU Studio. Get his voice warmed up before he. He sang and everything like that. And then they made a song. SU Studio. So.

[A]

Oh, okay. I do. I do. Ow. Wow. Brown cow. From. There you go. Brown cow. There's a clap for Mary Charles. This might be kind of outside the scope, what we're talking about. And this is one where. Hey, Mary Charles. And so Rob waved. Mary Charles. She's the editor.

[B]

Hey, Mary Charles.

[A]

Thanks for all your work, but she'll see it. Mary Charles, I think, you know, to cut all this out that we've been talking about. First one, make sure. Can you pronounce your last name? So I'll make sure to get that right on the intro.

[C]

Mir. Because a lot of people do not pronounce it. Well, I've heard all kinds of things.

[A]

But Mizir, I would have gone messier. So way off.

[C]

Yeah, a lot of people. Some people have said misery, and I'm like, oh, gosh, I hope not.

[A]

Speaking of Halloween season, our editor is also a huge film person. She's actually at NYU film school right now. Have you seen that movie Misery? All right, so, Mary Charles, we can start right about now.

[D]

Hey, everyone, thank you very much for listening to this episode of the audio podcast. Well, whatever platform you're listening on right now, I'm sure there's a subscribe button somewhere. So please hit the subscribe button there if you're listening through itunes or Spotify, feel free to go give us that five star rating. It only took me about 16 seconds to give myself a five star review and it really helps to get future guests to come on the show, so we'd really appreciate that. Lastly, be sure to check out the show notes and follow us on all our social media channels, on Instagram, on LinkedIn and on TikTok. Also, if interested, please sign up for our weekly newsletter from the Audit Podcast.

[A]

Thank you all. Have a great one.