Mark Walberg – Beyond Beyond Belief

#41 Into the spider closet [S4E9 with Will Hines]

By Mark Walberg | December 18, 2018

Kyle is out this episode, but in his place we have guest host Will Hines! Will Hines is a comedian who performs at UCB LA and co-hosted the podcast “Don’t Get Me Started.”

Will hasn’t seen the original show before and is a hardline skeptic.

Story 1: The Wealthy Widow – A man marries a widow and goes looking for her late husband’s buried fortune.

Who tells this story?… since the man is dead and the other witness is a ghost? Will thinks maybe the widow murdered both husbands.
Everyone agrees the ghost taunting the husband is the best part.

Story 2: The Witness – A group of girls avenges their friend’s murder by summoning her spirit.

Tiffany thinks the girls just knew details about the suspect and relayed it to the police.
Will thinks it’s very similar to the movie The Craft.

Story 3: The Accident – A year after a man saves someone in a car accident, he finds himself in a similar situation.

The group debates the integrity of windshields.
The group uses the coincidence rule. Except for Will, who thinks it’s too obviously fact, that it must be fiction.

Story 4: Bad Dreams – A woman’s deadly predictions about her 30th birthday seem to be coming true.

All agree this is one of the better stories, with an actual twist ending.
Chris had a premonition about running to neighbors, and then seconds later ran into them. Is that really a premonition though?

Story 5: Mental – A couple pretending to have telekinetic abilities discover something incredible when they face real danger.

Is this just a story the couple told to drum up business?
It’s crazy to think she had powers but then could never use them again.

During our ad-break, we read and listen to audience-submitted stories that are very Beyond Belief…

The story results are revealed.

Our guest-host Will only guessed one correctly and 100 percent questions the integrity of Beyond Belief’s research.
To find out which stories are fact and which are fiction… you must listen to the podcast, or check out the full episode below or on Amazon Prime.

#40 Leafing the witness [S4E8]

By Mark Walberg | December 11, 2018

We’ve returned with the back half of our fourth and final season. And if something feels oddly familiar about this week’s batch of stories… it’s because we watched this episode in the past and recorded an unreleased episode as a test pilot. And as a bonus, we will be releasing the pilot episode this Thursday in all it’s horrifying, awkward glory. Thankfully, we can barely remember what happened in last week’s episode, so this should be pretty fresh for us.

Story 1: Caitlin’s Candle – After being saved from a mugger by a candle with seemingly supernatural powers, a woman brings it home only to find out that it once belonged to her deceased mother.

Why would the mom hide jewelry in a candle? And WHY would a robber steal a candle?
Everyone thinks this is a ghost making elaborate plans. Kyle thinks maybe the mom did this all to teach the daughter to believe in herself.

Story 2: The Flower Jury – When a man is murdered in a flower shop, a detective uses an unconventional approach to solve the crime.

Chris and Mark have heard about plants being affected by positive and negative emotions.
Kyle thinks it’s ridiculous that we could believe in ghosts and spirits but not a plant.
Jesse thinks the detective made up the plant thing to trick the suspect into confessing.

Story 3: The Mentor – Magician brothers living in the shadows of Houdini attempt a new death-defying trick.

Jesse loved the unnecessary backflips in their routine.
Are these magicians real? No one knows. Maybe David Blaine was inspired by them?
The curse makes everyone feel like it could be written.

Story 4: The Old Bike – two brothers find an old bike and discover something mysterious inside the handlebar.

Everyone agrees hiding a note inside a handlebar is ludicrous.
Jesse thinks it’s mainly coincidental with some convoluted stuff added on.

Story 5: The Music Teacher – A renowned pianist has a creative block until he meets with his first piano teacher.

This is a classic dead the whole time story.
Everyone thinks the chocolate was added by the writers. Maybe he just had a mental block and the teacher used the chocolate to snap him out of it.

In lieu of a fake ad, for the remainder of the season, we’re asking the audience to be part of our show. Call or submit online your beyond belief stories. Or if you have any questions for us, ask away. Or just call and tell us you hate us. Anything goes! Leave us a voicemail at 818-254-9876, email us at info@beyondbeyondbelief.com, or send us a DM on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook @beyondbeliefpod.

The story results are revealed.

Chris gets an interesting score. The results are controversial.
To find out which stories are fact and which are fiction… you must listen to the podcast, or check out the full episode below or on Amazon Prime.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6rj1ur

#34 Uncomplicated playtime [S4E2]

By Mark Walberg | September 18, 2018

The group discusses Frake’s use of illusions in the intro. Does he come up with them himself? They reminisce about Fox’s Breaking The Magician’s Code. And discover it was Valentino all along!

Story 1: Writer’s Agent—a slimy literature agent is haunted by a deceased client after he publishes her book.

Tiffany thinks maybe the whole thing was a sting by the police, including a phony book signing.
Kyle said he’s more or less played this scenario out in a game called Crack The Case.
Chris doesn’t believe any bit of this.

Story 2: Crypt Ghost—three kids find themselves in over their heads when they sneak into a cemetery to make a movie.

Jesse thinks the found footage element is just the writers ripping off The Blair Witch Project.
Tiffany thinks it sounds like an urban legend that kids could have believed in and then told.
Chris explains that ghostly markings are common and are on his list of The Ghostly Rules.

Story 3: The Doll—when Susan finally becomes an elementary school teacher she realizes one of the students may be someone from her past.

Kyle and Chris debate reincarnation.
Jesse and Tiffany don’t understand how this story got out. It’s a one-source story.

Story 4: Hubert’s Curse—when a construction worker doesn’t take a curse seriously, something strange starts happening to the tools.

The group thinks the ties to Merlin and the roundtable are ridiculous.
None of the hosts believe the curse is real, but they believe the carpenters believe it is.

Story 5: Shared Vision—a mysterious nurse diagnoses a sick child when all other hope is lost.

The group debates the supernatural logic. Is it a physic story, a ghost story, or a guardian angel story?
Jesse points out the writers are getting smart and tricked us by introducing the other elements first.
Tiffany thinks the nurse just noticed other subtle symptoms that the doctor missed.

Part 2 of our Ouija Adventure:

Chris and Mark decide to research Ouija boards by playing a game called Ouija or Noja. Real one-star reviews of Ouija boards are mixed in with fake ones, and it’s up to Kyle and Jesse to separate fact from fiction.

The story results are revealed.

To find out which stories are fact and which are fiction… you must listen to the podcast, or check out the full episode below or on Amazon Prime.

#32 The anomaly [S3E13]

By Mark Walberg | August 7, 2018

This is the season 3 finale! Will Mark win season three as he has with the previous two seasons? Will Chris get all five stories correct, as he’s never done in the history of this show?

Story 1: The Dealer—a shady blackjack dealer discovers the cards are stacked against him when a soldier sits down at his table.

Jesse doesn’t understand why the ghost would go through with this elaborate plan #GMEP
Chris doesn’t buy that the ghost would wait decades to come back and seek his revenge.

Story 2: Gratuity—a cab driver installs an insult machine for people who do not tip well, but fate steps in alongside a particular passenger.

The group discusses the pros and cons of tipping.
Everyone is surprised why this man isn’t fired.

Story 3: The Cake—a baker witnesses a frightening premonition after a mobster orders him to bake a special cake.

It’s very possible that this is just based on a mob hit.
Kyle thinks the baker is just stressed due to his dealings with the mob.

Story 4: 1st Time Offender—when a boy is arrested for theft, the judge lets him off with a warning, but only until a moment that’s beyond belief changes his mind.

This could just be a coincidence-based story.
Kyle thinks maybe this happened a long time ago.

Story 5: The Mirror of Truth—a beautician curses a vain woman, causing her to appear hideous.

Could be a psychological issue.
Could be a story that takes place in a different time.
Could be ripped off from The Twilight Zone.

The story results are revealed.

Chris is a statistical anomaly.
To find out which stories are fact and which are fiction… you must listen to the podcast, or check out the full episode below or on Amazon Prime.

The Season 3 results are revealed.

Chris wins season 3! And the coin is a close second.

#31 Why would you say no to the guac? [S3E12 with James Mastraieni]

By Mark Walberg | July 31, 2018

This week comedian James Mastraieni joins us in the studio. He performs regularly at The Upright Citizens Brigade and has a podcast called I’m Too Effing High. He’s not really a believer in the supernatural but shares a story about a maybe haunted drum set?

Story 1: The Handyman—after a cheating husband kills his wife, her spirit comes back for revenge in a “creative” way.

Mark wonders if it’s too fiction too be fiction, or if that theory is just thrown out the window.
James believes this could happen, but not the way they told it.
It’s revealed Mark has watched Faces of Death, and is horrible for it.

Story 2: Anatole—an elderly man brought to prison kills his cellmate and then mysteriously escapes.

Tiffany doesn’t know how this story gets out if the cop said he never turned the old man in.
The group wonders how much you can do when you astral project.

Story 3: Makeup Magic—a woman, who feels self-conscious about her appearance, is given a makeover by a mysterious woman.

Everyone agrees this story is a bit sexist.
Chris doesn’t buy that the “guardian angel” would be timid.

Story 4: Screwdriver—when a son moves to college and finds himself in danger, he’s helped by a mysterious and familiar good samaritan.

James is more interested in what’s going on between the mother and the son.
Chris thinks Finding Nemo is based on this story.
The group thinks this is a coincidence-based story.

Story 5: Charlie—a man turns his luck around with the help of a bathroom attendant.

James is infuriated with this story – why is it all about the guy?
No one knows who could corroborate the story.

The story results are revealed.

Chris misses out yet again on guessing all the stories correctly. Moving ever closer to becoming a statistical anomaly…
To find out which stories are fact and which are fiction… you must listen to the podcast, or check out the full episode below or on Amazon Prime.

#30 Don’t Wake Deadbeat Daddy [S3E11]

By Mark Walberg | July 24, 2018

The group reminisces about the game Don’t Wake Daddy.

Story 1: Deadbeat Dad—a cheating gambler who wants nothing to do with his ex-wife and son, sees his run luck out caused by a mysterious woman.

Jesse points out the loop group/background noise is ridiculous in this story.

Story 2: Ghost Town—a photographer lost in the desert stumbles into an old ghost town, but soon realizes he may actually be in the old west.

Chris points out that the time period of this story is actually before the old west time began.
The group debates whether one person telling this story is enough proof.
The group realizes this of similar structure as The Wizard of Oz.
Kyle thinks it was a drug deal gone bad. Then this guy made up the story to get the cops off him.

Story 3: The Sewing Machine—when a man tries to sell his grandma’s sewing machine, it starts acting up on its own in shocking ways.

The group argues whether the dress just appeared, was made by the sewing machine, or was found by the machine?
Jesse feels this is a case of the complicated theory.
Mark argues that MGM wouldn’t let the costume designer take the costumes home with her.
The group realizes that most times there are possessed inanimate objects in Beyond Belief, it turns out to be fact.

Story 4: The Sleepwalker—a dad suffering from sleepwalking vanishes one night, only to turn up in an unbelievable place.

Jesse thinks the dad was just having an affair and used sleepwalking as an excuse to escape his family.

Story 5: Money Laundry—a woman, about to be kicked out of her apartment, has a run in with some thugs who might actually turn her luck around.

The group thinks this one sounds like a coincidence.

The story results are revealed.

Turns out the writers “exaggerated the truth” of story 3. Huh?
Everyone is shocked by the results of story 4.
To find out which stories are fact and which are fiction… you must listen to the podcast, or check out the full episode below or on Amazon Prime.

#29 Dr. Seuss’s trash can [S3E10 with an 11-year-old]

By Mark Walberg | July 17, 2018

Tiffany is out, but we have a special guest-host, 11-year-old Wolfe Yanovich! We hope he can bring a unique child’s perspective to the stories of Beyond Belief. So far he just thinks the acting is bad. Like, 90’s bad. And he’s like, right.

Story 1: Devil’s Tattoo—when a biker forces a woman to get the tattoo of the devil, something strange happens.

Wolfe thinks maybe the tattoo artist is religious/superstitious and believed that the gun worked on its own.
Jesse doesn’t believe that police would throw out this case.

Story 2: Static Man—a businessman about to close a big deal is cursed for tearing down forests.

Everyone thinks the slow-mo scene was not shot in camera, but just the actors moving really slowly. Also the protest signs weren’t very good.
Wolfe thinks this sounds like Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax. He also criticizes Frakes’s puns.
Wolfe thinks they should have cursed a congressman or something. You would get more done that way.
Maybe this is a real condition and they just created a story around it.

Story 3: The Bloody Hand—two detectives attempt to solve a bizarre murder case involving an ex-husband, a wife, an expensive necklace, and a booby-trapped coffin.

Wolfe thinks this coffin is a horrible booby-trap and questions how the detective knew everything?

Story 4: Where Have All The Heroes Gone—two young thieves get a shock while robbing the home of a recently deceased western star.

Wolfe thinks it’s ridiculous that the robbers would talk about robbing them in front of cops and fans.
Chris and Kyle think maybe their fear got the best of them, or they made up the story so they didn’t seem like cowards.
Wolfe wonders why the robbers would tell this story?

Story 5: War Surplus—a struggling college student is unnerved by a vision of a man who looks like his dead father, only to find that following the man may lead to a promising future.

Mark doesn’t believe that a used army jacket would find its way to a surplus store.
Jesse thinks maybe the kid simply made up the story.

The story results are revealed.

Wolfe got three right on his first try!
To find out which stories are fact and which are fiction… you must listen to the podcast, or check out the full episode below or on Amazon Prime.

#28 Don’t let your ghost cat on the counter [S3E9]

By Mark Walberg | July 10, 2018

The group talks about how great it would be to interview Jonathan Frakes and James Brolin for the show. Would Frakes play along and would his predictions be correct? Did he record all of his material in a single day? Would Josh Brolin be a good host for the reboot?

Story 1: For the Record—Lauren and her fiancé, born on the same day, search for the truth of their birth.

The group points out how strange the voices of the actors are.
Chris points out that the daughter’s blood type has to match her parent’s. Turns out Jesse doesn’t know his blood type.

Story 2: Halloween—old man Harold Ratcher hates Halloween, scaring away the kids each year, but someone is about to scare him back.

The group agrees this is one of the spookiest stories on Beyond Belief.
Chris doesn’t think there was anything supernatural or ghostly going on. The props get in the way of his believability.
Kyle thinks the tropey-ness makes it feel fiction. There were a lot of slasher films in the ’90s.

Story 3: Precious—A child psychiatrist is called in to help a little girl who spends a too much time with her cat. Her dead cat.

The group thinks there was just an old picture on the roll of film.
Chris tells us that his psychic heard a passing dog say “my butt hurts.” Turns out the dog had hemorrhoids; ergo animals could have psychic abilities.

Story 4: Get your kicks at Motel 66—a police officer suspended for a teen beating stops at a motel with his wife, only to be haunted by vengeful ghost.

The group thinks the kernel is that a cop killed himself in this motel.
Kyle thinks they put in the Billy the Kid element to make us think its fact.

Story 5: Phantom Drifter—on a road trip, a bickering couple pick up a hitchhiker who ends up having some sage advice.

Kyle thinks the couple actually went to a marriage/couples counseling retreat.
Jesse thinks the drifter just sounded like he was reading fortune cookies.
Chris said this segment gave him chills.

The story results are revealed.

Will Chris finally get all of the stories correct? Nope.
To find out which stories are fact and which are fiction… you must listen to the podcast, or check out the full episode below or on Amazon Prime.

#24 Weeng weeng weeng weeng [S3E5]

By Mark Walberg | May 1, 2018

Mark still can’t decide on an intro, and there’s a theme to this episode: Dreams. And Revenge. Umm.

Story 1: The Nightmare—a woman who’s having nightmares of her husband dying, sets into a motion a specific sequence of events.

Mark still believes that dreams can predict the future. Jesse thinks it’s more like deja vu.
Most don’t believe that a person could stab a bush with shears in such a way that it would impale someone.
Tiffany thinks the woman killed the man and came up with this crazy story.
Everyone is impressed by how smart and competent they portray the groundskeeper.

Story 2: The Stalker—a widow & daughter are plagued by visions of a horrible ex-boyfriend through the fathers compact.

Turns out men don’t know what women’s compacts are.
No one understands how a man can be thwarted by shining light in his eyes.

Story 3: The Impossible Car Dream—a boy’s dream of his dream car comes true, but with a twist of vengeance.

Tiffany feels this is realistic but doesn’t see how it was told.
Jesse points out that it feels like a local news story, but who pieced it all together?
The 16 year old son was definitely played by a middle aged man.
They point out the weird dream sequence and how repetitive it is.

Story 4: The Dresser—a hot shot decorator takes over the mannequin display, only to discover some may not want him there.

The group agrees this is one of the wackiest stories yet.
Jesse thinks the man came up with this mannequin story to get out of the job.
Can it be too fiction to be fiction (TFTBF)?
Somewhat similar to The Twilight Zone episode The After Hours.

Story 5: The Burial—a tale of premature burial in the historical South ends in a shocking discovery.

Historical stories tend to be fact.
Kyle thinks it sounds like an urban legend for a southern hero.
Jesse couldn’t understand a word any of these men were saying.

Break: This episode is brought to you by the Beyond Beyond Belief $1 Used Car Lot!

The story results are revealed:

Jesse points out a new theory: historical story so it’s fact (HSSIF).
The coin got 100% of the stories correct!
To find out which stories are fact and which are fiction… you must listen to the podcast, or check out the full episode below or on Amazon Prime!

Special Thanks!

Music provided by Free Vibes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDS7… • Roadtrip by Nicolai Heidlas and Stefan Schaulinski: https://soundcloud.com/nicolai-heidla… • Creative Commons — Attribution 4.0 International — CC BY 4.0 • https://creativecommons.org/licenses/…

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5j6oa1

#23 Ghosts, who dat? [S3E4 with Claire Berger & Christian Honce]

By Mark Walberg | April 24, 2018

Usual hosts Tiffany and Mark are out, but we have two guest hosts: returning champ/actor Claire Berger and screenwriter Christian Honce. Claire stars in a new movie Bad Exorcist available on iTunes or anywhere you watch cool movies. Christian explains that since he was a child he has nightmares literally every night. One in particular is about his mom with a creepy glowing figure behind her. Recently when visiting his mom, this vision came back to him and he grabbed her right before she backed up over their dog, nearly falling… fact or fiction?

Story 1: E-Mail—A couple buys a used computer and starts receiving mysterious emails from someone trapped in a tomb.

Jesse is yet again frustrated that there are so many female short haircuts.
Claire doesn’t understand why the story doesn’t focus more on husband’s unhealthy obsessed with the computer. Feels writery.
Jesse is annoyed that it’s never explained how the trapped man communicated with the new owners.
Christian thinks the man in the tomb was just emailing via a Blackberry.

Story 2: Blood Donor—after receiving a blood transfusion, a man finds that he can see murders as they happen.

Chris believes that if you hold onto a loved one’s possession after they’ve passed away you can often times connect with the them.
Jesse has a theory – he thinks the man who saved the woman was actually the murderer all along.
Christian thinks maybe the man is the murderer who has just repressed his memories.
Claire thinks there should be records of the blood transfusion if this is fact.
The group dissects the choice of naming a laptop a Renzlo Power 700.

Story 3: Epitaph—a gravestone craftsman is given orders to create an elaborate gravestone for a dead man against the wife’s wishes.

Jesse feels this is another case of Ghosts Make Elaborate Plans.
What’s the kernel of truth? Christian thinks it’s shady people taking advantage of people in emotional distress—the stone carver is so good at handwriting (since he does it for a living) that he forges the paperwork.
Quote of the story: “You know they say it’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind.” No one says that.
The southerner’s theory: Christian believes that if you change the characters to southerners, it can go a long way to explain how certain stories could have happened.

Story 4: Stitches in Time—a woman down on her luck has an odd dream of when her mother and her made a quilt together.

Jesse doesn’t understand why the grandmother would stuff a quilt with money and not tell anyone.
Claire argues that she is a woman who wants people to work hard and earn what they deserve.
Christian explains that if the money was in the quilt it would make noise when they used it.

Story 5: Soldier—a soldier in Vietnam is rescued from death by a strange man who turns out to be more than he seems.

Christian believes he’s heard this story before. But does that mean that it’s more likely fact or fiction? And is it possible it’s just an urban legend?
The group thinks maybe he had his dad’s dog tags the whole time and was just trying to impress a cute nurse.
For the most part, historical stories are fact based. Will it hold up?

Break: This week we play a game called TALL TALE TOMBSTONES, where we’re tasked to guess which bizarre tombstones are real and which are made up.

The story results are revealed:

To find out which stories are fact and which are fiction… you must listen to the podcast, or check out the full episode below or on Amazon Prime!