In a world where making a living from art is becoming more and more difficult, New Zealand stand up comedian Taylor Ruddle interviews a different creative each week and discusses their process, revenue streams and practical steps to get started making money in their field.
Taylor has been making a living as a full time artist since 2023, so to some extent he knows what he's talking about. If you're a budding creative looking to learn how to break in in your industry, looking to start monetizing a hobby or just curious about how an artist makes a couple bucks these days, you'll love this podcast as Taylor interviews each guest with his friendly, warm vibes.
Today I had the honour of sitting down with one of my favourite local wrestlers BT Urruela, better known as Blade Lennox of UCW and beyond.
BT has had a super unconventional past in leading up to becoming a pro wrestler and I had been wanting to chat to him about it for ages. BT's journey began after high school in the military, takes a few turns between being a public speaker, an author and even a romance novel model before beginning training as a wrestler relatively late in life. It's a fantastic chat and I can't wait to work more with BT in Unified!
Follow BT / Blade Online:
https://www.instagram.com/bladelennox/ (https://www.instagram.com/bladelennox/)
https://www.facebook.com/BladeLennoxWrestler (https://www.facebook.com/BladeLennoxWrestler)
Follow Taylor Ruddle Online:
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/taylorruddlecomedy/) • Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TaylorRuddleComedy) • Tiktok (https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorruddlecomedy) • YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@taylorruddlecomedy)
26 Apr 2026
Hip Hop & Dance with YakkaBlakka
I'd been wanting to have a proper sit down with YakkaBlakka mostly known as Yak, a really cool dude I met through the Unified Championship Wrestling connection. Yak performs as the character Mr Star Power Archie Bower at UCW but much like myself comes to wrestling from a different art form, in this case it's hip hop and more specifically hip hop dance. Yak told me all about the history of hip hop dance in New Zealand and specifically Christchurch and he told me how a lot of teams from Christchurch compete on the world stage and really make their prescence known. He talked about a new movement they're working on bringing people from all different disciplines of dance together which has a real rising tide lifting all boats effect on the scene. Really really fascinating interview, I enjoyed it a lot, hope you do too!
Follow YakkaBlakka Online:
https://www.instagram.com/archiefknbower/ (https://www.instagram.com/archiefknbower/)
And catch him at any upcoming UCW shows where he'll likely be boxing my ears at some point or another!
Follow Taylor Ruddle Online:
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/taylorruddlecomedy/) • Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TaylorRuddleComedy) • Tiktok (https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorruddlecomedy) • YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@taylorruddlecomedy)
13 Apr 2026
Circus Performer & Comedian Michael AKA Mr Wizowski
In this episode I sat down with Michael AKA Mr Wizowski AKA Wazza, a stand up colleague of mine who has worked in the circus for years. I had been wanting a proper sit down with Michael to talk about what it's like, how you get started etc and this conversation definitely delivered. Michael and myself are reaching a similar stage of career where we are looking a bit more at stability with less travel involved so it was awesome to get to pick his brain about where he's at with that considering how well travelled he is. This is a great one, I really enjoyed it.
Follow Michael Online:
https://mrwizowski.com (https://mrwizowski.com)
https://www.instagram.com/mrwizowski/ (https://www.instagram.com/mrwizowski/)
https://www.facebook.com/MrWizowskiEntertainment (https://www.facebook.com/MrWizowskiEntertainment)
Follow Taylor Ruddle Online:
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/taylorruddlecomedy/) • Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TaylorRuddleComedy) • Tiktok (https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorruddlecomedy) • YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@taylorruddlecomedy)
30 Mar 2026
Renee From Tusken Traiders
Today I sat down with Renee from Tusken Traiders, an online business selling vintage toys and apparel, they have some freaking cool stuff from the 90s and 00's, very y2k coded. Renee has been doing this as her full time gig for just under a year so it was awesome to talk to her about what that experience was like, as well as getting a bit of an insight about the reseller industry. I'm huge into toys and collectibles so this was really cool to hear the nuts and bolts about how it all functions and Renee was an awesome guest to have on the pod. Big shout out to Liv Fox for putting us in touch!
Follow Tusken Traiders Online:
https://www.instagram.com/tusken_traiders/ (https://www.instagram.com/tusken_traiders/)
https://linktr.ee/tuskentraiders (https://linktr.ee/tuskentraiders)
Follow Taylor Ruddle Online:
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/taylorruddlecomedy/) • Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TaylorRuddleComedy) • Tiktok (https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorruddlecomedy) • YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@taylorruddlecomedy)
24 Mar 2026
Tattoo Artist, Painter & Designer Redgie of SoulWise Tattoo
This time I sat down with Redgie, a tattoo artist, painter and graphic designer who's had one hell of an interesting journey to get to where he is currently and judging by our conversation he might not be finished evolving yet! As it turns out Redgie has done a LOT of self teaching when it comes to art and tattooing so it was awesome to talk to someone with a DIY path like him. Another thing I was fascinated with is that Redgie goes on tours to tattoo people mostly in Nelson and Dunedin and I was curious about the logistics of these. It's a long one and we do go off on several side quests talking about things like consciousness, spirituality and identity but it was a very fun chat and I hope you enjoy it.
Follow Redgie Online:
https://www.facebook.com/soulwisetattoo (https://www.facebook.com/soulwisetattoo)
https://www.instagram.com/soulwisetattoo/ (https://www.instagram.com/soulwisetattoo/)
https://www.soulwisetattoo.com (https://www.soulwisetattoo.com)
Follow Taylor Ruddle Online:
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/taylorruddlecomedy/) • Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TaylorRuddleComedy) • Tiktok (https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorruddlecomedy) • YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@taylorruddlecomedy)
23 Mar 2026
Musician & Comedian Troubadette
This week I had a yarn to my pal Troubadette, a musician and comedian who's been swinging away at the full time hustle for 2 years now. We talked about Troob's backstory a bit and how they got into the position they're in currently to be able to pursue art as the main thing and do enough relief teaching work to have a base to work from and pay some of the bills off of. One part of the podcast that I feel is particularly pertinent was Troubadette talking about how they've had many doors essentially closed in their face in the traditional music industry and so comedy was an unexpected area where they felt accepted and like they could make some real progress in. The guts of the episode is about what life can be like when you take something you used to do as a hobby and try to make a living from it. Overall this episode is a great listen and in the afterward debrief we agreed that we were surprised at how deep it got at points. I think you'll enjoy this a lot. Troob even sang us a song in the middle!
Follow Troubadette Online:
https://www.instagram.com/troubadette/ (https://www.instagram.com/troubadette/)
https://www.facebook.com/troubadettenz (https://www.facebook.com/troubadettenz)
https://troubadette.net/ (https://troubadette.net/)
Follow Taylor Ruddle Online:
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/taylorruddlecomedy/) • Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TaylorRuddleComedy) • Tiktok (https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorruddlecomedy) • YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@taylorruddlecomedy)
10 Mar 2026
Musician Seán Tinker 2024 Interview from Ruddle Me This!
I originally recorded this podcast for my previous podcast Ruddle Me This, and given that I've just uploaded Sean's 2026 interview I decided to port this one over to the new feed for better visibility.
Sean was just recently doing music full time when we recorded this back in 2024 so you can listen to this one and then the one from 2026 to get a bit of perspective about what's changed and what Sean wishes he knew when starting out.
Follow Sean Online:
https://www.seantinkermusic.com/ (https://www.seantinkermusic.com/)
https://www.instagram.com/seantinkermusic/ (https://www.instagram.com/seantinkermusic/)
Follow Taylor Ruddle Online:
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/taylorruddlecomedy/) • Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TaylorRuddleComedy) • Tiktok (https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorruddlecomedy) • YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@taylorruddlecomedy)
10 Mar 2026
Musician Seán Tinker
I sat down with Sean Tinker, a fella I've known for many a year. We initially met doing stand-up shows together but at the current time Sean is making his living as a musician playing pub gigs and corporates. We recorded a podcast in 2024 on my old podcast, Ruddle Me This where we talked about what it was like that early into his career as a full time musician and we thought it would be cool do a catch up 2 years later. Sean's going strong and it's great to hear his insights about what he wished he knew when he started out.
You can also check out the previous interview right in this feed as I've reuploaded it here, dropping very soon.
Follow Sean Online:
https://www.seantinkermusic.com/ (https://www.seantinkermusic.com/)
https://www.instagram.com/seantinkermusic/ (https://www.instagram.com/seantinkermusic/)
Follow Taylor Ruddle Online:
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/taylorruddlecomedy/) • Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TaylorRuddleComedy) • Tiktok (https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorruddlecomedy) • YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@taylorruddlecomedy)
9 Mar 2026
Comedy Club Owner Pip Taylor
In this episode I sat down with the owner of Good Times Comedy Club here in Christchurch - Pip Taylor. Pip and I have been working together for a relatively short amount of time, since late 2024 I think. Pip's one of the kindest people I've ever met and it was great to chat about what it's like from her point of view running a venue. As always we talk about how she got started, when she made the jump to full time, pitfalls and things she wish she knew when starting out, and all that good stuff.
Come along to catch a show, 224 St Asaph Street in the Christchurch CBD, I'm usually up there once or twice a week.
Follow Good Times Comedy Club online:
https://www.instagram.com/goodtimescomedyclub/ (https://www.instagram.com/goodtimescomedyclub/)
https://www.facebook.com/GoodTimesComedyClub (https://www.facebook.com/GoodTimesComedyClub)
Follow Taylor Ruddle Online:
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/taylorruddlecomedy/) • Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TaylorRuddleComedy) • Tiktok (https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorruddlecomedy) • YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@taylorruddlecomedy)
1 Mar 2026
Tattoo Artist Liv Fox
The first episode of my (sorta) relaunched podcast, Make Art, Make Money! Liv Fox is a Christchurch based tattoo artist who was kind enough to sit down with me for about an hour and talk about the ins and outs of being a self employed tattoer.
We covered Liv's journey going from apprentice to tattooer to self employed to owning a studio and what are some of the lessons and pitfalls along the way.
Check Liv Out Online:
https://www.instagram.com/livfoxtattoo (https://www.instagram.com/livfoxtattoo)
https://www.tiktok.com/@livfoxtattoo (https://www.tiktok.com/@livfoxtattoo)
Follow Taylor Ruddle Online:
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/taylorruddlecomedy/) • Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TaylorRuddleComedy) • Tiktok (https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorruddlecomedy) • YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@taylorruddlecomedy)
19 Feb 2026
Make Art, Make Money Intro/Primer
In a world where making a living from art is becoming more and more difficult, New Zealand stand up comedian Taylor Ruddle interviews a different creative each week and discusses their process, revenue streams and practical steps to get started making money in their field.
Taylor has been making a living as a full time artist since 2023, so to some extent he knows what he's talking about. If you're a budding creative looking to learn how to break in in your industry, looking to start monetizing a hobby or just curious about how an artist makes a couple bucks these days, you'll love this podcast as Taylor interviews each guest with his friendly, warm vibes.
Follow Taylor Ruddle Online:
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/taylorruddlecomedy/) • Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TaylorRuddleComedy) • Tiktok (https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorruddlecomedy) • YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@taylorruddlecomedy)
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