angel – Beyond Beyond Belief

#44 Frakes and geeks [S4E12 with Samm Levine]

By Jesse Chapman | January 8, 2019

Kyle is sitting out but we have guest-host actor and podcaster Samm Levine. Samm has watched the show before, and also had a neighbor who bragged about acting in an episode of Beyond Belief.

Samm is a hardline skeptic of all things supernatural. A big believer of known skeptic James Randy and the million-dollar challenge.

Samm has appeared recently on the show Movie Trivia Schmoedown.

Story 1: Witness To Murder – A ghost hunter who captured ghosts on film meets a mysterious end.

Samm tries to unpack Chris’s belief in ghosts.
In talking about the integrity of true stories in BB, Samm tells us the actual true story of Cool Runnings.
Most people find this story too be ridiculous and very writery.

Story 2: Roulette Wheel – A down on his luck gamboling addict finds himself on a mysterious winning streak.

Samm does not believe that odds could allow this to happen. Also, the pit boss would have thrown him out way earlier.
Chris thinks there are so many gambling stories that this could have happened.

Story 3: The Phrenologist’s Head – A doctor given a Phrenologist’s Head finds a smudge on it that leads to a miraculous discovery.

Samm explains that the doctors would have figured it out eventually upon surgery…And a lawsuit.
Chris believes that something could have happened to lead the doctor down the right path.
Jesse wonders if Freud’s ghost is involved in the smudging.

Story 4: The Bridge – A hiker crosses a shaky bridge and is helped by a mysterious woman who turns out to be more than she appears.

Jesse thinks the woman had her mom’s name in her subconscious and projected onto the woman.
Samm thinks it’s a single-source story where the woman miss remembered the events. points to Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink.

Story 5: The Cigar Box – A girl buys an antique, which turns out to belong to a neighbor.

This segment stars Campbell Lane, who does VO for the second half of BB.
Jesse thinks there are one too many coincidences.
Samm walks through how it could have happened – he was just a bitter old man who died after being denied his antique box by a little girl.

Friend of the podcast, Misty Stinnett (who has a new podcast Go Help Yourself) shares some self-help tips. But some are fact and some are fiction.

The story results are revealed.

Samm tells us a story of when he “met” Jonathan Frakes.
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.

#42 Futzing with the wrong drivers [S4E10]

By Jesse Chapman | December 25, 2018

Jesse pitches his Beyond Beliefe App which would randomize BB stories from all four seasons. This way you would get a fresh mix bag of stories each time.

This leads to a discussion of each host’s voting strategy and meta-game.

Story 1: Moonstruck Beach – An aspiring writer moves to a secluded town and finds herself the target of a dangerous man.

How can a ghost use printers and why wouldn’t the printer immediately warn her.
If it was true wouldn’t moonstruck beach be an actual book?
Tiffany wonders how many people need to die for this woman to get a best selling book?

Story 2: Healing Hands – A nurse caring for a dying patient, witnesses a strange visitor.

Jesse hates single-source stories.
Chris believes it, according to the ghostly rules.
Mark talks about how lazy he is.

Story 3: Aspen Sunny Side – A group of friends mountain biking get a bad feeling when one doesn’t return.

Most people have bad feelings all the time, so this could definitely have happened.
Kyle thinks it was accidental astral projection.
Tiffany wonders why no one just uses a phone.
Jesse found this story very complicated. None of the character actions make sense.

Story 4: Night Walker – A scammer is approached by his neighbor to scam her husband only to discover she isn’t exactly human.

Vampires? Everyone agrees this is just nuts.
Since there was another true vampire story on BB, could this one be true?
Kyle dives into the Vampire Rules and doesn’t know if she could hide her fangs.

Story 5: Hot Car – a couple, framed by a mysterious woman, get karmic retribution after being released from jail.

Did the woman confess to easily?
It’s a coincidence-based story, so the group believes it.

Friends of the podcast Max Labella and Ashley Walker join the studio and listen to audience-submitted stories.

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.

#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.

#17 Dear Flight People [S2E11 with Chuck Hayward]

By Mark Walberg | February 13, 2018

Today we review Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction season 2, episode 11. Kyle is out but we have a special guest host: Chuck Hayward! Chuck is a writer on the Netflix series Dear White People and wrote the feature films Fat Camp and Step Sisters. Chuck believes statistically that there must be life on other planets. He also states that energy cannot be created nor destroyed, ergo ghosts exist. This week’s episode is disaster themed! We’re also drinking tequila.

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#06 Subpoena the parrot [S1E6]

By Mark Walberg | October 31, 2017

“What do you guys think? Should we just end this podcast?”

Today we review Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction season 1, episode 6. Mark steals Kyle’s trademark intro and it feels pretty good. Brolin eases into puns that make no sense like, “are we telling the truth, or is this just hard to digest?” Reminds Kyle of Sandra Bullock’s character from Demolition Man, Lenina Huxley, who mixes up expressions, like “you really licked his ass!”

A farewell to James Brolin! It’s JB’s last episode as host. Jesse would love to sing him off, but doesn’t know any Barbra Streisand songs. Chris thinks James Brolin was sleeping in his oversized jacket this whole time. Tiffany is just disappointed that the whole episode wasn’t hosted by literally a jacket.

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