The Tiki Talk Show

Episode Twenty-Six - The Donn of Tiki

This week, Ryley and Ellie get back to the interviews by welcoming Max Well, co-producer of The Donn of Tiki, to the show. Max and fellow co-producer Alex Lamb got interested in tiki in 2020. As filmmakers, they were interested in highlighting L.A.’s tiki bar culture before they fell down the rabbit hole of tiki history and the legend that is Donn the Beachcomber. The Donn of Tiki tells the story of Donn, born Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gant, as he formed the legendary character and bar brand that brought rum-based cocktails and exotic escapism to the forefront of American culture. Listen to Max explain the creative process behind the project, the fun diving into the differences between the Donn Beach the man and the myth, and what’s coming up next for wider distribution. Several of our previous guests were contributors for this film including Tim Glazner, Adrian Eustaquio, Marie King, Sven Kirsten, Otto, and Baby Doe von Stroheim. For more about Donn the Beachcomber listen to our interviews with Tim Glazner and Marie King linked below. Follow along with The Donn of Tiki team on their website thedonnoftiki.com and on Instagram @thedonnoftiki to stay tuned about physical and streaming releases.https://youtu.be/iE1bs4YU0Vs?si=1lgf8vUwicDKTRN4Thank you for joining us on this week’s episode of The Tiki Talk Show. If you’re interested in being interviewed, send us an email at thetikitalkshow@gmail.com. Click the link below to see our link tree and find us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also fill out our Google Form to get on our postcard mailing list. It’s been good talking to you.Linktr.ee/thetikitalkshow-Ryley and Ellie

Episode 25 - A Trip to the Mai Kai

This week on The Tiki Talk Show, Ryley and Ellie recap their recent trip to the crown jewel of North American Tiki establishments, The Mai-Kai. First opened in 1956, The Mai-Kai in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has been serving delicious food, great drinks, and a fantastic experience for decades. Ryley and Ellie headed south for a few days to get away from Maryland’s cold and snowy weather, and south Florida did not disappoint. Visiting The Mai-Kai was the center-point of this great trip, and they had the best tour guide to show them around. They met up with Hurricane Hayward, author of The Atomic Grog blog, who you’ll remember from Episode 16. Hurricane has devoted years, and many many words to capturing The Mai-Kai’s greatness first by detailing their extensive cocktail program through to their renovation and revival of the property. Ryley and Ellie were very fortunate to have his expertise and discerning eye as they meandered the gorgeous property and took in every little detail. Be sure to check out Hurricane Haywards blog for more Mai Kai greatness at www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/.Also featured in this episode is Tim “Swanky” Glazner’s amazing book on the Mai Kai which you can find at many major retailers across the world. Thank you so much to the Mai Kai and the amazing staff for the great hospitality. We loved every second, and can’t wait to be back!Thank you for joining us on this week’s episode of The Tiki Talk Show. If you’re interested in being interviewed, send us an email at thetikitalkshow@gmail.com. Click the link below to see our link tree and find us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also fill out our Google Form to get on our postcard mailing list. It’s been good talking to you and we’re looking forward to a great new year with you! Linktr.ee/thetikitalkshow-Ryley and Ellie

Episode 24 - The Future of The Tiki Talk Show

Ladies and gentlemen, we are back! After a brief hiatus, we are slowly getting back up to speed and bringing you more great interviews. We wanted to record a quick episode to let you know what we have going on. Throughout January, we were ran ragged and we are still recovering so no interview this week. We have a lot in store here in the next few months and a lot of very exciting announcements coming up. Until we are fully back up to speed, you have to deal with a quick episode with just Ryley. Thank you all for your continued support, we really appreciate it! We hope to talk to you all soon!

Episode 23 - Josh and Babz Collins

Happy New Year Tiki Talk Show family! Ryley and Ellie kick off 2026 with a chat spanning 10,000 miles. We were joined by Australia’s resident tiki power couple, Josh & Babz Collins. Originally from London, U.K., these two have left an indelible mark on tiki and vintage subcultures wherever they’ve gone. Music drew both Josh and Babz to the wide world of vintage, mod, tiki, and more, and it has certainly been an integral part of their passion and recipe for success ever since. What started out as regularly hosting bands and club nights at some of London’s best underground clubs and venues eventually led to multi-day music festivals to highlight garage, surf, rockabilly, mod, ska, and more. These events not only promised amazing music but intricate decor, costuming, and theming thanks to Josh’s background in theatrical production and Babz’s passion for vintage fashion. Eventually, the Collinses were looking to spread their wings and make a change, a decision that would take them half-way around the world. A journey through several of the South Pacific’s islands provided a deeper insight and appreciation for all things tiki, tropical, and exotic. It also provided several great carvings and other genuine artifacts that the couple still holds dear. That journey around the pacific culminated in their move to the west coast of Australia. Here, they let their imaginations run wild with dreams of a theme park, The Zombie Zoo, which unfortunately never saw the light of day. However, they did open the Hula Bula Bar, a tropical paradise in an area unaccustomed to such intricate, escapist surroundings. From there, the Devilles Pad brought forth images of a 1960s Las Vegas cocktail bar, owned by the devil himself. Lastly, their bar, The LuWow, highlighted a technicolor, exotic dreamscape introducing tropical cocktails to a new audience. Beyond the bars, Josh and Babz also make “camp & colorful trash cinema” reminiscent of B-movies from the 50s and 60s. Josh & Babz truly understand the two most important parts of the tiki revival period: how to be artistic and build something new, and how to bring people together to have a great time. Their influence on the international tiki revival scene has been instrumental. You can find Josh and Babz on Instagram @theluwow or at theluwow.com and thezombiezoo.com. And here’s a link to buy their book, The Lore of the LuWow: https://a.co/d/6OAP9e1Thank you for joining us on this week’s episode of The Tiki Talk Show. If you’re interested in being interviewed, send us an email at thetikitalkshow@gmail.com. Click the link below to see our link tree and find us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also fill out our Google Form to get on our postcard mailing list. It’s been good talking to you and we’re looking forward to a great new year with you! Linktr.ee/thetikitalkshow-Ryley and Ellie

Episode Twenty two - Charles Phoenix

Merry Christmas! This week, Ellie and Ryley sat down with the king of cool, Charles Phoenix, for a post-Christmas chat. Charles Phoenix is a mid-century expert, professional presenter, and writer who has written a number of books on the mid-century style we all love. Charles Phoenix is best known for his slide shows displaying mid-century Kodachrome photos, but he’s also an avid car enthusiast and a chef who’s known for the coolest kitchen creations. Charles Phoenix got a foundation of his love of style while going to his father’s car lot and seeing cars of the 1950s and 1960s. The chrome, fins, and dramatic changes between years drew a young Charles Phoenix into the mid-century style. By the 1980s, Charles was a thrift store connoisseur finding hosts of vintage clothes and forgotten treasures from years past. At this point, there was no term called “mid-century modern” or Googie, but Charles enjoyed driving around the San Fernando Valley finding old restaurants, coffee shops, bowling alleys, and anywhere else he could find mid-century eye candy. While he was doing this, he never let his love of cars fall out of sight so he regularly owned cars that he grew up idolizing. By the mid-1990s, Charles had collected a vast amount of vintage Kodachrome film slides depicting life in yesteryear. As his collection grew, he felt that he needed to share these photos with others so he could keep the spirit of post-war America alive. At first, he encountered mixed reviews from those who didn’t believe people would be interested in seeing these photos, but boy did he prove them wrong. His slide shows took off and eventually spread into a LA-based driving tour, visiting remaining Googie monuments. The attraction kept growing and eventually he began working of a number of books that he released throughout the late 90s and early-2000s. Never one to shy away from a new way to spread the mid-century style, he began using social media platforms to share his passion for the topic. Now, Charles does live presentations of his various slideshows across the country where you can watch his passion for uniqueness, creativity, and color feed the flames of nostalgia growing in your soul. But, if you can’t make it to the live shows, recorded versions of the presentations are available to watch on his website or YouTube. You can find Charles Phoenix on Instagram at @_charlesphoenix, on his website at charlesphoenix.com, or on his YouTube at www.youtube.com/@_charlesphoenix.Thank you for joining us for The Tiki Talk Show’s last episode in 2025. We’re looking forward to 2026 and all of the amazing things that will come with the new year. Be sure to check out our other show, Tiki Today, to see what’s going on now in the tiki space, made possible by all of the revival efforts of the past. If you’re interested in being interviewed, send us an email at thetikitalkshow@gmail.com. Click the link below to see our link tree and find us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also fill out our Google Form to get on our postcard mailing list. It’s been good talking to you, and we’ll see you in 2026!Linktr.ee/thetikitalkshow-Ryley and Ellie