What happens when you drop a troupe of improvisers into one of Japan's most charming neighborhoods with absolutely no rehearsal and one simple rule:

Everyone has to be a cat.

Inspired by the real streets of Yanaka Ginza—Tokyo's famous "Cat Town"—this Mystery Pod sends the BIT Players on a feline adventure through hidden cat statues, cat cafés, souvenir shops, quiet cemeteries, and the neighborhood's iconic staircase. From there... things get wonderfully out of hand.

Luxury cat hotels, CatTok influencers, alley cats, podcasts within podcasts, cardboard box commercials, organized crime, laser light shows, and Princess Donut all collide in a world where every player fully commits to the bit and every "yes, and..." makes the town even stranger.

As rival gangs form, tourists hunt for statues that may not actually be statues, and an entire community of cats prepares for the concert event of the year, one question remains:

Will anyone survive the laser show?

If you've ever wondered what happens when improvisers are given a real place, a ridiculous premise, and complete creative freedom, welcome to PodCAT Town.

Pack your catnip.
Practice your "meow."

And remember...

Sometimes the password really is "meow."

Credits

Director and Creator: Billy Merritt
Producer, Editor & Graphics: Hill Kane

Featuring:
Billy Merritt (Himself, Narrator)
Luke Bovard (Mr. SophistiCAT, Spokesman: BB's Finest Cat Litter Emporium | BB's Fine Cardboard Box Emporiums
Hill Kane (Mrs. SophisitiCAT)
Angela Washko (Cat Hotel Receptionist, Donut Shop Patron, FiFi - Cemetery Country Club, Polly Pussy)
Flannery Wilson (Cat Hotel Manager, Eco-Scruffy-Cat-Tourist #1)
Brent Kohler (Speakeasy Server, Eco-Scruffy-Cat-Tourist #2, Laser Light Show Producer)
Katya (M. Partridge - wealthy widow at Speakeasy, Fluffy - PodCAT Co-Host)
Don Slovin (Cat Mob Boss, Puffy - PodCAT Co-Host)
Jim Tripp (Bad Cat turned scaredy Cat turned Rebel Cat)
Amber Bellsdale (Princess Donut - Rebel Cat | Posse of Pussy Gangleader)
Gary Yorke (Cat Hotel Speakeasy Guest, Sparky - Sparky's Catnip)

Music: "Shark Bait" performed by Little Kahunas | Produced by the late, great Peter Miller.

Hosting: Libsyn

"The BIT" and "The BIT Improv Comedy Network" are trademarks owned by Billy Merritt.
© 2024–2026 Billy Merritt. All rights reserved.
Inquiries: TheBitComedyNetwork@gmail.com
Website: BITComedyNetwork.com

Production + Graphics: Hill Kane, Raising Kane Media + Marketing

Today on Bit Public Radio, Host Luke Bovard explores the strange and unpredictable world of misconception.

Correspondent Angelina Washington reports from Troy, New York, where a Flag Day celebration honoring Uncle Sam escalates into civic confusion, alphabet panic, and unexpected papal involvement.

Next, Mandy Keyes investigates food misconceptions at a farmer's market in Pashook, Iowa, where a simple question about tomatoes leads to nightshade conspiracies, unusual educational materials, and some deeply confusing ideas about reproduction.

Finally, in her first-ever field report, Gail "Shut Up Gail" Shephard accidentally investigates immaculate conception instead of misconception, uncovering mysterious pregnancies, impossible football outcomes, secret societies, and gardening techniques that defy explanation.

Misunderstandings were made. Conclusions were reached. Facts became optional.

Apologies

Residents of Troy, New York, Uncle Sam, Karate schools, karate students, karate parents, people named Xavier, Xander, and Yolanda, Zachary; Sesame Street, literacy advocates, the Vatican, Pope Leo, RC Cola, Fanta, farmer's markets, tomato growers, eggplant farmers, nightshade researchers, conspiracy theorists, sex education teachers, bananas, tomatoes, condom manufacturers, PBS cooking programs, Las Vegas sportsbooks, giant communities, golden geese, secret student societies, ACE Award nominees, workplace birthday cards. Also... SHUT UP GAIL!

Credits

Director and Creator: Billy Merritt
Producer, Editor & Graphics: Hill Kane

Featuring:
Billy Merritt - Himself
Luke Bovard - Himself
Angela Washko - Angelina Washington
Amanda Keyes - Lisa Steckman
Gail Shephard - Hill Kane
Amber Bellsdale, Brent Kohler, Don Slovin, Jim Tripp and Katya Vasilaky - various and sundry characters and oddball sound effects.

Music: BPR Theme Song: Lyrics Hill Kane, musical composition created on SUNO AI

Hosting: Libsyn

"The BIT" and "The BIT Improv Comedy Network" are trademarks owned by Billy Merritt.
© 2024–2026 Billy Merritt. All rights reserved.
Inquiries: TheBitComedyNetwork@gmail.com
Website: BITComedyNetwork.com

Production + Graphics: Hill Kane, Raising Kane Media + Marketing

This week on the Bit Improv Comedy Network, Billy and Gail head south — spiritually, geographically, and possibly medically — with Mike Roth of The Villages, Florida, who gives them a guided tour of America's most aggressively recreational retirement wonderland.

Mike walks us through The Villages' astonishing scale, its golf cart culture, its town squares, nightly dancing, festivals, clubs, rumors, loofah lore, pickleball intensity, and the particular magic of a community where everyone has a hobby, a schedule, and apparently a transportation-based signaling system.

From there, the BIT Crew takes one polite civic interview and lovingly drives it straight into a flaming roundabout of podcast-town chaos: The Villages Podcast Network, loofah codes, armed festival discourse, senior self-discovery, competitive pickleball escalation, and a Shooters vs. Pickleball championship that probably violates at least three HOA guidelines.

Charming at first. Then sun-drenched. Then deeply unsupervised.

The BIT Comedy Network apologizes to Mike Roth, the residents of The Villages, Florida, golf cart commuters, golf cart passengers, golf cart mechanics, anyone with a loofah attached to anything, people who know what the loofahs mean, people who insist the loofahs mean nothing, pickleball players, pickleball referees, the Shooters Club, Strawberry Festival attendees, town square dancers, low-priced alcoholic beverage vendors, coming-of-age seniors, alternative sexuality educators, upside-down pineapple enthusiasts, Central Park, trailer parks, retirement communities, HOA boards, Florida tourism officials, anyone named Lucky Luke, anyone who brought a gun to a fruit-based festival, and all listeners who thought "retirement" meant things would calm down.

Credits

Director and Creator: Billy Merritt
Producer, Editor & Graphics: Hill Kane

Featuring:
Mike Roth (Himself)
Billy Merrit (Himself, Narrator)
Hill Kane (Gail - Producer)
Angela Washko (Amazing Angela - Co-Co-host of Loofa Codes Podcast, Vinny from Vinny's Villages Guns N' Stuff, Chiquita Banana)
Luke Bovard (Lucky Luke - Co-host of Loofa Codes Podcast, Karl - American Idol reject )
Jim Tripp (Car Show Guy, The Producer, Paul - Lucky Luke's Friend, Bob, who should NOT drive)
Lisa Steckman (Co-host of Reber Rousers Podcast, Mandy from The Shooters' Club, Pickleball Couple #2)
Don Slovin (Co-host of Reber Rousers Podcast, Crazy Larry)
Flannery Wilson (Co-host of Wal*Mart Warriors Podcast, Sunrise Trailer Park, Pickleball Couple #2)
Brent Kohler (Co-host of Wal*Mart Warriors Podcast, CUBE Sex Shop, PickleBall Coach)

Music: "Shark Bait" performed by Little Kahunas | Produced by the late, great Peter Miller.

Hosting: Libsyn

"The BIT" and "The BIT Improv Comedy Network" are trademarks owned by Billy Merritt.
© 2024–2026 Billy Merritt. All rights reserved.
Inquiries: TheBitComedyNetwork@gmail.com
Website: BITComedyNetwork.com

Production + Graphics: Hill Kane, Raising Kane Media + Marketing