ABOUT THE TEAM

Mel Herbert, MD MBBS FAAEM

Co-Host and Co-Creator of "Shabam!"

Mel Herbert is Australian by birth, which is why he talks funny, and went to medical school at Monash University in Melbourne. Now that he’s an American, he serves as an attending physician and Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC at the LAC+USC Medical Center in Los Angeles. Dr. Herbert is an internationally recognized and award winning educator in Emergency Medicine who is owner and editor of EM:RAP, an Emergency Medicine focused audio program. Since it’s inception in 2001, EM:RAP has used its successful blending of hard hitting clinical medical education with classy poop jokes to become the largest continuing medical education program in the world, with over 30,000 subscribers.

Mel created Foolyboo Inc., a non-profit company whose mission is bringing the very best online and audio education to the rest of the world according to his tried and true secret formula (poop joke + classy + education = gold).  Which is why Mel is not only the Executive Producer but also co-host and co-creator of 3 Foolyboo shows: "This Won't Hurt A Bit", "Shabam!" and "TalkingTesla". Mel actually drives a Tesla and talks about how awesome it is to his co-workers ad nauseum. His house runs off solar power panels and even though he would say that the long term effects of drinking Diet Coke will probably turn out to be bad for you, there currently exist no meta-analyses confirming this fact, and he loves it, so bottoms up!

Josh Kurz

Producer, Sound Designer, Writer and Co-Host of "Shabam!"

Some time before joining the Foolyboo team, Josh Kurz was an embryo, 53 times smaller than a US nickel. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Josh's attempts at an early age to fuse the abstract concepts of science and comedy through multimedia led to many nights filming in the basement and hours of unusable audio recordings (also remember this was before the internet). His passion for explaining difficult concepts in approachable ways has led him on reporting adventures for radio and television. He has explored science topics for NPR, "Radiolab," ABC Nightline, TEDed, and PBS, and he's tackled a variety of topics like ageless lobsters, the mystery of B-flat, cloning, string theory, and why some people (like he and Wendy Roderweiss) hate cilantro.

At Foolyboo, Josh is the sound designer and co-creator of SHABAM! a science podcast for kids. His passion has always been informal science education. That, and racquetball (not true). His favorite foods are sushi and German pancakes, he enjoys swimming and napping, and he becomes very sad when someone uses the phrase "begs the question" (because it's usually used incorrectly, but you look like a prescriptivist douchebag if you point that out...see?).

Wendy Roderweiss

Producer, Editor, Writer and Co-Host of "Shabam!"

Born and raised in Chicago, Wendy left for the west coast to attend the production program at USC's School of Cinematic Arts.  She has written and produced numerous films including a feature length documentary on hospice nurses,"Stopping for Death: The Nurses of Wells House Hospice", and she continues to work on a comedic short film series based on the five stages of grief.  

Before completely losing her Chicago twang to depths of Los Angeles’ consonant-free dialect, Wendy returned home to become a full-time instructor at DePaul University's School of Cinematic Arts where she is currently training the next generation of storytellers in the art and craft of filmmaking.

She also has a passion for audio, and with fellow Foolyboo-er Josh Kurz contributed to NPR's All Thing's Considered, Day to Day and Radiolab.  She produced the audiobook "Concrete, Invisible, Bulletproof and Fried: My Life as a Revolting Cock" with Chicago Musician Chris Connelly. As a producer and director at Foolyboo, she is co-creator and co-host of Shabam! a new science podcast for kids.

When not working on films, Wendy can be found singing Soprano in whatever chorus will have her, and talking motorcycle tech with her family at the Bonneville Salt Flats (Where they broke a land-speed record--thank you very much!)

She also hates Cilantro.

Ceci Herbert

Producer "Shabam!"

Raised on audio books in the back seat of a Volvo heading up and down the east coast of Australia, Ceci Herbert developed a keen ear for stories, and an insatiable appetite for great sounding audio. She is not only the Creative Director at Foolyboo she also produces 3 shows: "This Won't Hurt A Bit", "Shabam!", and "Talking Tesla".  

Her other passion is music. So it makes sense that she is a professional musician and the music supervisor for “Shabam!” Besides working with other artists to give Shabam it’s eclectic music feel, she also lends her voice and composing talents to the show. Which is great for Shabam because Ceci was touring the world singing in Rock and Roll bands since she was seventeen. Ceci has toured as a Backing-Vocalist/multi-instrumentalist for numerous bands including; Neil Finn, Jimmy Barnes, Diesel and Liam Finn. Her own band "Evil J & Saint Cecilia" have also produced albums and toured internationally with Eddie Vedder and Liam Finn. 

When she was 8, Ceci swam in the ocean every day for a year (then she turned 9). She’s terrified of using the porto-potties (or port-a-loos as they say in Australian) at music festivals for fear of them tipping over, and she loves Cilantro (Coriander).

Bill Connor

Recording Engineer and Mixer on "Shabam!"

You might be thinking, “Bill Connor sounds like the name of an Irish secret agent.” Well, you are probably correct. Since we only see him during work hours, his nightly occupation is unknown. But by day he’s Foolyboo’s audio mixmaster. He’s the sound designer for EM:RAP, co-producer and sound designer for This Won’t Hurt a Bit, as well as the recording engineer for Shabam! where he also mixes and masters (hence the nickname). 

Bill is also a filmmaker and works on various ongoing secret film projects (none of them Irish).

Bill has an MFA in cinema production from DePaul University and a BA in English from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. He lives in Chicago, bikes to the store, and changed his life dramatically by throwing away all of his partnerless socks.