The podcast ‘How Long Gone’ brings bicoastal elite energy to the Turf Club

“How Long Gone,” an irreverent podcast hosted by two self-proclaimed “bicoastal elites,” brings its cheeky jokes live to an audience in the Twin Cities.

Hosts Chris Black and Jason Stewart will take the stage at the Turf Club in St. Paul on Monday at 8 p.m.

The thrice-weekly pop culture podcast debuted in March 2020 as a pandemic-era project for the longtime friends. The show gained momentum with a series of if-you-know-who guests from the worlds of music, fashion and food. High-profile cameos include Phoebe Bridgers, Charli XCX, Alison Roman and Hozier.

Black and Stewart have taken “How Long Gone” on the road in the past, but Monday will mark the pair’s first live performance in Minnesota, following the insistence of devoted local fans whenever the podcast has announced tour dates in the past.

“We finally decided to give in,” Black joked in a recent Zoom interview ahead of the pair’s June 19 show in Chicago, the first date on the tour.

“We like you guys,” Stewart said of Twin Cities fans. ‘You seem to like us. I’ve always wanted to go.’

A personal podcast performance may seem like an oxymoron when the medium naturally lends itself to passive on-demand listening during commutes or household chores. The live shows of ‘How Long Gone’ have the feel of a comedy set, with sporadic special guests and audience involvement.

“We love community building, as long as it’s not digital or online,” Stewart said. “We don’t record the live shows. We don’t upload them. What happens in the room, happens in the room, and we’re keen to create real value for people who are kind enough to pay their hard-earned money.”

Getting out of New York and Los Angeles, where Black and Stewart are based, is also a plus.

“It’s like the full version of touching grass to me,” Black said, adding that the live shows give the hosts a chance to learn more about their fans. The audience is slightly more male, according to Black, but is divided into 60-40 men and women.

“I think they listen to other podcasts. They care about clothes. They care about pop culture. They care about music,” Black said of the show’s typical listener.

When interviewing guests, Black and Stewart take a different approach than most shows, avoiding routine questions in favor of more free-flowing conversations. Gym routines and other household activities are common themes.

“People like to listen to an interview with someone and think, ‘This person is cool. I want to hang out with them. I’ll have a beer with them. I’ll go shopping with them,'” Stewart said. “Comparatively, I’m so happy to have learned which studio they recorded their fourth album in and what dates they plan to tour.”

The podcast has attracted increasingly famous guests, but the hosts don’t have a white whale booking on their radar.

“For me, the bucket list has kind of disappeared. You’re always surprised at who’s great and who’s not,” Black said.

“We are the bucket list,” Stewart joked.