Dr Ben and Friends

Team Dr Ben
  • 5.0 (14)
  • Medicine
  • Updated Weekly

Jump into Nashville's ultimate healthcare comedy podcast where Dr Ben celebrates healthcare heroes AND comedians!  No waiting, no Co-Pay.  Dr Ben is putting the MED in COMEDY!  

  1. 2d ago ·  Video

    Sterile, Fast, And Funny

    Surgical jargon can sound like nonsense until you realize it’s describing real, high-stakes work. We bring on operating room tech Herb Coleman alongside comedian Marianna Barksdale and turn a simple guessing game into a surprisingly useful tour of how the OR actually runs, with plenty of punchlines along the way. We unpack flash sterilization, what it is, when it’s used, and why “we need that instrument flashed” is not as dramatic as it sounds, but still seriously important for infection prevention and patient safety. Then we get into OR turnover: the rapid reset between surgeries that includes clearing waste, moving patients, restocking supplies, and getting the room ready to safely start again. If you’ve ever wondered how hospitals keep operating room efficiency high without cutting corners, this is the behind-the-scenes explanation you’ve been missing. From zone separation and those red-line boundaries to the surprisingly heated debate about music during surgery, we keep pulling on the thread of what makes a sterile field work: habits, teamwork, and constant awareness. We even talk about how the circulating nurse often becomes the room’s DJ, why some surgeons want silence, and why nonstop Disney songs might be the fastest way to break anyone’s focus. If you like smart comedy, medical stories, and learning how healthcare really functions, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a friend who loves hospital behind-the-scenes content, and leave a review with the strangest medical term you’ve ever heard. THANKS TO OUR GUESTS: Marianna Barksdale (Comedian, Actor, Writer, Stuntwoman) Instagram: @itsmariannabarksdale https://linktr.ee/mariannabarksdale Herb Coleman (operating room tech, former NFL defensive lineman) DR BEN AND FRIENDS PODCAST: This episode was produced by Angie Debelak with post-production editing by Ben Hill Sound. Thanks for listening to Dr Ben and Friends.  Laughter is the best medicine...unless you're treating bowel or bladder incontinence.  See you next time! Team Dr Ben SUPPORT THE SHOW: Share a message with Dr Ben and Friends! Support the show Follow and listen for free on Dr Ben and Friends website, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and iHeart Radio! Fan of the show? Record yourself! on Dr Ben's website and YOU could be featured on the next episode! DISCLAIMER: Dr Ben and Friends Podcast Quick heads-up folks: Dr Ben and Friends is your weekly dose of laughs and stories.  We celebrate healthcare heroes and pro comics.   This is infotainment-- think popcorn, not prescriptions or medical advice. If you're feeling funky, see your medical professional.  Your health?  That's on you.  We'll stick to the punchlines.

  2. 5d ago ·  Video

    Big Herb Tackles a 7-Centimeter Aneurysm

    He’s deadlifting 600lbs, training like a machine, and then one day his body hits a wall.  Herb Coleman thought he was just getting older until a routine check uncovered something that could have ended everything without warning: a thoracic aortic aneurysm measuring about seven centimeters, plus a leaking valve.  What happens next moves fast, from echocardiogram to an urgent call back to the hospital to emergency open heart surgery. We sit down with Herb, a former NFL defensive lineman drafted by the San Francisco 49ers who now works as an operating room technician, to talk about both worlds. He shares what it’s like to be in the OR when severe trauma rolls in, how surgical teams stay locked in, and why small moments with nervous patients matter.  Then he walks us through the day he was told he was “a bag of groceries away from dropping,” the reality of getting your chest opened, and the fix that saved his life: a mesh repair on the aorta and a bovine valve replacement. Herb has a strong sense of perseverance and comedy helps him celebrate his wins.  We celebrate Herb with comedian, actress, and writer Marianna Barksdale for the other side of the show’s mission: putting the med in comedy. We get into how comics build material, the art of delivery, crowd work when the room goes sideways, and why Marianna avoids roasts because she thinks she’s “too mean.”  Along the way, we make space for the real takeaways: don’t ignore shortness of breath, chest symptoms, sudden weakness, or a drop in exercise tolerance, and don’t let Google videos replace an actual medical evaluation. If you like true medical stories, healthcare heroes, and funny conversations with real stakes, subscribe to Dr. Ben And Friends, share this with a friend, and leave a review. What’s the biggest health warning sign you’ve ever talked yourself out of? THANKS TO OUR GUESTS: Marianna Barksdale (Comedian, Actor, Writer, Stuntwoman) Instagram: @itsmariannabarksdale https://linktr.ee/mariannabarksdale Herb Coleman (operating room tech, former NFL defensive lineman) DR BEN AND FRIENDS PODCAST: This episode was produced by Angie Debelak with post-production editing by Ben Hill Sound. Thanks for listening to Dr Ben and Friends.  Laughter is the best medicine...unless you're treating bowel or bladder incontinence.  See you next time! Team Dr Ben SUPPORT THE SHOW: Share a message with Dr Ben and Friends! Support the show Follow and listen for free on Dr Ben and Friends website, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and iHeart Radio! Fan of the show? Record yourself! on Dr Ben's website and YOU could be featured on the next episode! DISCLAIMER: Dr Ben and Friends Podcast Quick heads-up folks: Dr Ben and Friends is your weekly dose of laughs and stories.  We celebrate healthcare heroes and pro comics.   This is infotainment-- think popcorn, not prescriptions or medical advice. If you're feeling funky, see your medical professional.  Your health?  That's on you.  We'll stick to the punchlines.

  3. 6d ago ·  Video

    Emotional Support Hammer And Other OR Mysteries

    Knock knock, howdy folks, we’re bringing the operating room to the mic, one weird term at a time. Dr. Ben is joined by his teammate in surgery and OR tech Herb Coleman plus the wildly multi-talented comedian, writer, actress, and stunt double Marianna Barksdale for a game we call “What The Heck?”  The rules are simple: we hand Marianna real surgical and medical field vocabulary, she takes her best swing, and then we reveal what it actually means. First up, “surgical count” sounds harmless until you realize it’s one of the biggest patient safety guardrails in the OR. We talk through how teams count sponges and instruments before, during, and after a procedure, why emergency trauma cases can turn the pace into fast motion, and what happens when the numbers don’t match including the very real possibility of bringing in X-ray to confirm nothing was left behind. Then we tackle “laminar airflow,” the behind-the-scenes engineering that helps protect the sterile field. Herb breaks down how one-direction airflow reduces contamination and why controlling particles matters when you’re trying to keep pathogens away from an open surgical site. We wrap with “instrument set,” the curated sterile tool kits that make each specialty run, plus the chaos a missing screw can cause and, yes, a debate about mallets and an emotional support hammer. If you like smart comedy, real hospital stories, and practical insight into how surgery actually works, hit play, subscribe, share this with a friend who loves medical facts, and leave us a review with the strangest healthcare term you’ve ever heard. THANKS TO OUR GUESTS: Marianna Barksdale (Comedian, Actor, Writer, Stuntwoman) Instagram: @itsmariannabarksdale https://linktr.ee/mariannabarksdale Herb Coleman (operating room tech, former NFL defensive lineman) DR BEN AND FRIENDS PODCAST: This episode was produced by Angie Debelak with post-production editing by Ben Hill Sound. Thanks for listening to Dr Ben and Friends.  Laughter is the best medicine...unless you're treating bowel or bladder incontinence.  See you next time! Team Dr Ben SUPPORT THE SHOW: Share a message with Dr Ben and Friends! Support the show Follow and listen for free on Dr Ben and Friends website, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and iHeart Radio! Fan of the show? Record yourself! on Dr Ben's website and YOU could be featured on the next episode! DISCLAIMER: Dr Ben and Friends Podcast Quick heads-up folks: Dr Ben and Friends is your weekly dose of laughs and stories.  We celebrate healthcare heroes and pro comics.   This is infotainment-- think popcorn, not prescriptions or medical advice. If you're feeling funky, see your medical professional.  Your health?  That's on you.  We'll stick to the punchlines. Share a message with Dr Ben and Friends! Support the show Follow and listen for free on Dr Ben and Friends website, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and iHeart Radio! Fan of the show? Record yourself! on Dr Ben's website and YOU could be featured on the next episode! DISCLAIMER: Dr Ben and Friends Podcast Quick heads-up folks: Dr Ben and Friends is your weekly dose of laughs and stories.  We celebrate healthcare heroes and pro comics.   This is infotainment-- think popcorn, not prescriptions or medical advice. If you're feeling funky, see your medical professional.  Your health?  That's on you.  We'll stick to the punchlines.

  4. Sep 30 ·  Video

    Two Peas And A Lung

    A pea plant grew inside a man’s lung, and that sentence is not a punchline.  Our friends kick things off with a round of Headline Or Hoax, putting two outrageous-sounding “medical headlines” in front of Marianna Barksdale and Herb Coleman and asking them to trust their gut, their brain, or both. You get to play along too, and the twist is a reminder that real life medicine can be stranger than anything you see on your feed. Once we reveal the real story, we dig into the how: inhaling a seed, why the lungs can mimic other scary conditions, and how symptoms like coughing and trouble breathing can send someone down the path of scans, surgery, and big questions. It is equal parts hilarious and unsettling, and it highlights why case reports and credible sources matter when you are trying to separate fact from internet fiction. Then we shift to a very modern kind of health misinformation: the social media trend claiming beer on your skin leads to a better, safer tan by “activating melanin.” We explain why there is no scientific support for beer as sunscreen, what UV exposure actually does to your skin, and why influencer-style “proof” can be so convincing. If you care about skin health, sunscreen safety, and spotting viral medical myths before they spread, this one is for you. Subscribe for more games, laughs, and practical science, then share this with a friend who loves a good headline. After you listen, leave a review and tell us: which “headline” would you have believed first? THANKS TO OUR GUESTS: Marianna Barksdale (Comedian, Actor, Writer, Stuntwoman) Instagram: @itsmariannabarksdale https://linktr.ee/mariannabarksdale Herb Coleman (operating room tech, former NFL defensive lineman) DR BEN AND FRIENDS PODCAST: This episode was produced by Angie Debelak with post-production editing by Ben Hill Sound. Thanks for listening to Dr Ben and Friends.  Laughter is the best medicine...unless you're treating bowel or bladder incontinence.  See you next time! Team Dr Ben SUPPORT THE SHOW: Share a message with Dr Ben and Friends! Support the show Share a message with Dr Ben and Friends! Support the show Follow and listen for free on Dr Ben and Friends website, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and iHeart Radio! Fan of the show? Record yourself! on Dr Ben's website and YOU could be featured on the next episode! DISCLAIMER: Dr Ben and Friends Podcast Quick heads-up folks: Dr Ben and Friends is your weekly dose of laughs and stories.  We celebrate healthcare heroes and pro comics.   This is infotainment-- think popcorn, not prescriptions or medical advice. If you're feeling funky, see your medical professional.  Your health?  That's on you.  We'll stick to the punchlines.

  5. Sep 28 ·  Video

    PATIENT CHAMPION

    He chased quarterbacks for a living, then he switched careers and started protecting patients instead.  Herb Coleman joins us in Nashville to talk about the real work of an operating room tech, what it means to be a “patient champion,” and how an OR runs on trust, preparation, and tight teamwork long before the surgeon makes the first cut.  If you’re curious about behind-the-scenes healthcare jobs, patient safety, or how surgical teams stay coordinated under pressure, you’ll get a clear, honest look at the machine that makes surgery possible. We also hang with comedian, actress, and writer Marianna Barksdale, who’s adding stunt work to her already fearless comedy life. That sparks a fun and surprisingly thoughtful comparison between performing on stage and taking hits on set, plus a reminder that bodies have limits and orthopedic reality always shows up eventually. Along the way, we swap stories about injuries, surgeries, and the kinds of medical moments that make even tough people go pale. Herb shares how the NFL affected his body, what he misses, and what helped him after retirement, including the simplest advice that’s also the hardest to follow: keep moving. We get into football film study, life “in the trenches,” and why his favorite OR cases feel like being a mechanic with power tools. We even hit diet and the shock of going from 7,000 to 8,000 calories a day to learning “pushbacks” from the table. If you laugh, learn, or both, subscribe to Dr. Ben and Friends, share it with a healthcare hero or sports fan in your life, and leave a review so more people can find the show. THANKS TO OUR GUESTS: Marianna Barksdale (Comedian, Actor, Writer, Stuntwoman) Instagram: @itsmariannabarksdale https://linktr.ee/mariannabarksdale Herb Coleman (operating room tech, former NFL defensive lineman) DR BEN AND FRIENDS PODCAST: This episode was produced by Angie Debelak with post-production editing by Ben Hill Sound. Thanks for listening to Dr Ben and Friends.  Laughter is the best medicine...unless you're treating bowel or bladder incontinence.  See you next time! Team Dr Ben SUPPORT THE SHOW: Share a message with Dr Ben and Friends! Support the show Follow and listen for free on Dr Ben and Friends website, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and iHeart Radio! Fan of the show? Record yourself! on Dr Ben's website and YOU could be featured on the next episode! DISCLAIMER: Dr Ben and Friends Podcast Quick heads-up folks: Dr Ben and Friends is your weekly dose of laughs and stories.  We celebrate healthcare heroes and pro comics.   This is infotainment-- think popcorn, not prescriptions or medical advice. If you're feeling funky, see your medical professional.  Your health?  That's on you.  We'll stick to the punchlines.

  6. Sep 24 ·  Video

    Less Than Eight, Intubate

    A lot of people hear medical jargon and instantly tune out, but we think the fastest path to understanding is laughter plus a great story.  We’re playing “What The Heck,” where our ER physician, Dr Domenic, brings real emergency medicine terms and our Nashville comedian, Kristan Barczak, takes her best shot at guessing what they mean before we translate them into plain English.  Expect mispronunciations, a brief international apology tour, and the kind of explanations you’ll remember later because they’re tied to a joke.  We dig into the Glasgow Coma Scale and why it matters in trauma care, overdose care, and any moment an emergency room team needs a quick, shared snapshot of a patient’s consciousness.  We also talk about airway management and the logic behind the sticky phrase “less than eight, intubate,” including why doctors rely on simple rules when seconds matter. If you’ve ever wondered how clinicians decide when someone can’t protect their own airway, this makes the decision-making feel a lot less mysterious.  Then we take a hard turn into high-stakes procedures and heart rhythms: cricothyrotomy as a last-resort emergency airway, and torsades de pointes as a dangerous arrhythmia that can look like a twisting waveform on an EKG. We close with a story about reading an EKG in a way that sounds absurd until you understand it, plus a quick reality check on trust, second opinions, and why “Dr. Google” doesn’t replace a clinician at the bedside.  If you like medical comedy, emergency medicine stories, and learning without feeling like you’re in class, hit subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show. THANKS TO OUR GUESTS: Kristan Barczak (Comedian, Writer, Mom) Instagram: @kristanbcomedy https://www.kristanbarczak.com/ Dr Domenic (Chief Medical Officer, Emergency Medicine Physician, Pilot, DJ) https://www.staypositive.news/article/tristar-skyline-welcomes-new-chief-medical-officer-dominec-martinello-md DR BEN AND FRIENDS PODCAST: This episode was produced by Angie Debelak with post-production editing by Ben Hill Sound. Thanks for listening to Dr Ben and Friends.  Laughter is the best medicine...unless you're treating bowel or bladder incontinence.  See you next time! Team Dr Ben SUPPORT THE SHOW: Share a message with Dr Ben and Friends! Support the show Follow and listen for free on Dr Ben and Friends website, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and iHeart Radio! Fan of the show? Record yourself! on Dr Ben's website and YOU could be featured on the next episode! DISCLAIMER: Dr Ben and Friends Podcast Quick heads-up folks: Dr Ben and Friends is your weekly dose of laughs and stories.  We celebrate healthcare heroes and pro comics.   This is infotainment-- think popcorn, not prescriptions or medical advice. If you're feeling funky, see your medical professional.  Your health?  That's on you.  We'll stick to the punchlines.

  7. Sep 21 ·  Video

    BTS: Connecting Through Comedy

    You’ve laughed at a comedy special and thought, “I could never do that.” We get it, and we also know there’s a real process behind the magic. Stand-up comedy looks effortless from the crowd, but the truth is messier, funnier, and way more human. From Nashville, we sit down with Kristan Barczak, a rising comedian and writer, plus Dr. Domenic, an emergency medicine physician and chief medical officer who loves comedy but cannot imagine stepping up to a mic.  The big question driving everything: how does someone actually get into stand-up comedy without freezing, failing, or quitting after one rough night? Kristan walks us through the exact path from “what if I took improv classes?” to falling in love with stand-up, taking a class to learn joke structure, and building the confidence to ask for spots while juggling family life. We talk open mic reality, beginner luck, and the weird moment when you get better but the bar gets higher. You’ll also hear practical insights on whether stand-up is scripted or improvised, how comedians use set lists, and why reading the room can make or break a clean set, especially when the audience includes kids. We also swap stories about career milestones, from flow-state shows that reset your standards to Dr. Ben’s early leap into performing at a hospital staff meeting.  If you’re searching for open mic tips, comedy writing guidance, or a behind-the-scenes look at the Nashville comedy scene with a healthcare humor twist, this conversation delivers the honest version. Subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review, then tell us: what would be the hardest part of doing your first open mic? THANKS TO OUR GUESTS: Kristan Barczak (Comedian, Writer, Mom) Instagram: @kristanbcomedy https://www.kristanbarczak.com/ Dr Domenic (Chief Medical Officer, Emergency Medicine Physician, Pilot, DJ) https://www.staypositive.news/article/tristar-skyline-welcomes-new-chief-medical-officer-dominec-martinello-md DR BEN AND FRIENDS PODCAST: This episode was produced by Angie Debelak with post-production editing by Ben Hill Sound. Thanks for listening to Dr Ben and Friends.  Laughter is the best medicine...unless you're treating bowel or bladder incontinence.  See you next time! Team Dr Ben SUPPORT THE SHOW: Share a message with Dr Ben and Friends! Support the show Follow and listen for free on Dr Ben and Friends website, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and iHeart Radio! Fan of the show? Record yourself! on Dr Ben's website and YOU could be featured on the next episode! DISCLAIMER: Dr Ben and Friends Podcast Quick heads-up folks: Dr Ben and Friends is your weekly dose of laughs and stories.  We celebrate healthcare heroes and pro comics.   This is infotainment-- think popcorn, not prescriptions or medical advice. If you're feeling funky, see your medical professional.  Your health?  That's on you.  We'll stick to the punchlines.

  8. Sep 17 ·  Video

    Surgical Showdown with a Comedian!

    How many “ailments” can you remove in 60 seconds without buzzing? We ran a surgical showdown with Kristen Barczak and a patient named Garth with a cowboy boot blister. What would your theme song be? Before the chaos, we go full operating-room theater with a surgical timeout, a named patient, and a procedure serious enough to deserve a chart but silly enough to spark instant jokes.  Meet Garth, who rolls into our makeshift OR with a cowboy boot blister and a whole lot of problems that need “fixing.” Kristan talks candidly about why real surgery was never the path, then immediately finds herself weirdly locked in once the scrubs go on. From there it’s rapid-fire commentary, distraction tactics, anesthesia blame, and the very real feeling of trying to focus while everyone is watching. We count what actually counts, break down the final score, and wrap with a post-op “press conference” that turns honesty into the punchline. If you love comedy podcasts, improv games, timed challenges, or anything with a game show edge, this one is a quick hit of pressure and laughs. Subscribe for more bits like this, share the episode with a friend who gets competitive, and leave a review with your best buzzer-game strategy. What song would you demand as your “surgery” theme music? THANK TO OUR GUESTS: Kristan Barczak (Comedian, Writer, Mom) Instagram: @kristanbcomedy https://www.kristanbarczak.com/ Dr Domenic (Chief Medical Officer, Emergency Medicine Physician, Pilot, DJ) https://www.staypositive.news/article/tristar-skyline-welcomes-new-chief-medical-officer-dominec-martinello-md DR BEN AND FRIENDS PODCAST: This episode was produced by Angie Debelak with post-production editing by Ben Hill Sound. Thanks for listening to Dr Ben and Friends.  Laughter is the best medicine...unless you're treating bowel or bladder incontinence.  See you next time! Team Dr Ben SUPPORT THE SHOW: Share a message with Dr Ben and Friends! Support the show Follow and listen for free on Dr Ben and Friends website, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and iHeart Radio! Fan of the show? Record yourself! on Dr Ben's website and YOU could be featured on the next episode! DISCLAIMER: Dr Ben and Friends Podcast Quick heads-up folks: Dr Ben and Friends is your weekly dose of laughs and stories.  We celebrate healthcare heroes and pro comics.   This is infotainment-- think popcorn, not prescriptions or medical advice. If you're feeling funky, see your medical professional.  Your health?  That's on you.  We'll stick to the punchlines.

See All (43)

5
out of 5
14 Ratings

About

Jump into Nashville's ultimate healthcare comedy podcast where Dr Ben celebrates healthcare heroes AND comedians!  No waiting, no Co-Pay.  Dr Ben is putting the MED in COMEDY!  

Information

  • Creator
    Team Dr Ben
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    43
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Dr Ben Comedy
  • Show Website
    Dr Ben and Friends

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