Meet Alan Warner

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alan Warner. 

Hi Alan, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
During the pandemic, I was thinking about literature. 

I thought to myself, what if I read L. Frank Baum’s public domain work The Wonderful Wizard of Oz but changed every instance of the word “wizard” to the word “lizard”. 

I did a “Find and Replace” on my computer and printed out the text. But no one seemed to want to give it the time of day, except for the small portions that I would read aloud. 

And from then on, the podcast was born. 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I had to think up lots of voices for the characters which was more difficult than I presumed. Then, I also had to remember which characters were which for the next episode. 

Trying to get more listeners is extremely difficult. I tried buying a lizard costume and running ads but neither seemed to help very much. 

I spent a good amount of time listening to the NPR Star Wars radio drama, which was a wonderful production. But getting my podcast to people’s ears is tough, indeed. 

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My work is the excellent podcast, The Wonderful Lizard of Oz. 

There is also a Little Lizard Story about little Dorothy and Toto that has wonderful sound effects and scores. 

Relevant. Educational. A Masterpiece! 

Relevant – There are an endless amount of possibilities to rework art that is in the public domain. But, alas, most of it has been lost to history. Have you ever felt like you needed more courage, or brains, or a heart transplant? It is our job to unearth and look at the gems of the past in a whole new light. 

Educational – Literary criticism is a lost skill. Am I right? It is best to critique ancient texts in the light of a new modern area. We might just be surprised at how incompetent authors of the past (and present) actually are! 

Perhaps, we all have imposter syndrome and are just lizards hiding behind a curtain? 

A Masterpiece – Well, I’d say to give the podcast a listen for yourself. But it has a 5-star review. One review is from Ginny Hogan who was profiled by Forbes Magazine as a rising satire star. So, you know it has to be good!!! 

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Lizards stick their tounges out to smell!

Contact Info:

• Website: anchor.fm/lizarding
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wonderfullizard
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy2FWQIY2CoA4TEfCeWPSWw