I don’t feel like I have any room to speak on the wonderful comedic mind of Harris, or his tragic death, but I did want to just pay my respect to a well-respected and clearly loved man. I have been listening to every podcast that Harris was on and trying to find as much Harris-related things as I can since his death, and am sad that it took his death for so many, myself included, to truly appreciate his many talents.
It is quite possible that The Only People Who Matter might not exist without Harris. One day, Chris asked me (Will) if I ever listened to podcasts and I said that no, I never had. And Chris said that I should check some out as he was quickly becoming a big fan of several (CBB, Joe Rogan). Well I decided that I would check some of them out but didn’t know which ones I would enjoy listening to, so I just did a little Bing search for top podcasts to listen to and I found Marc Maron’s WTF. I had remembered reading about this podcast before and knew of Maron as a stand up so I figured this was my best bet to ease into this new world of podcasts. So I downloaded a podcast playing app and searched for Marc Maron and found a few of his recent interviews, one of which was with Harris. I didn’t know who he was but in the description it mentioned Parks and Rec and I thought, hey, I like that show, I’ll check this one out.
That interview was my first taste of what a podcast was, and it was a really good interview. I feel as though I listened to every word that Marc and Harris said moreso than any podcast I have listened to since simply because I was trying to be completely enthralled in the experience, or maybe because Marc is a great interviewer and Harris is a very personable guy who has great stories and tells them well. Whatever the reason may be, I was hooked. I told no less than 5 people about the interview and about Harris and how they should all check it out. After this, my next venture was into Joe Rogan, then Nerdist, then Comedy Bang Bang where I have remained. Other Earwolf podcasts as well, but CBB is the only podcast where I listen to each and every episode. I’m off on a tangent, I apologize.
Harris made me excited about podcasts and what they could be, and how much fun I realized that I could have doing my own. And because of that, Chris and I decided to start The Only People Who Matter podcast. Which then led to the web series and this website. And soon, our first feature film.
So, if you think about it, if you are a fan of ours, you should be thankful to Harris Wittels. I know that Chris and I are. Thank you Harris for your talent, your comedy and from the many wonderful things I’ve read and heard about you from friends and loved ones, your warm and kind heart. You are and will continue to be missed by so many.