Unique Competitions, Extraordinary Events and other Amazing Adventures. We aim for weird and wonderful, and we share the stories of champions and organizers from some of the world's most obscure events. From Heavy Metal Knitting to Barstool ski racing, to the search for the World's Ugliest Dog - we hope our listeners will add these events to their bucket lists and start seeking the odd and unusual in life.
Episodes
Oct 7, 2025
Oct 7, 2025
9 min
A scandal erupted at the World Stone Skimming Championship in Scotland when several competitors were disqualified for tampering with their stones. RoShamBo co-host and Stone Skimming competitor, Ted Ladue, has the story.
Jan 31, 2021
Jan 31, 2021
34 min
Although we just found out California's Kinetic Grand Championship is officially canceled for 2021, you can still hear all about this amazing race, lovingly called THE TRIATHLON OF THE ART WORLD. This is a crazy 50-mile race of Kinetic Sculptures with all-terrain human-powered art vehicles, engineered to race over road, water, mud, and sand. It’s for real and it's nuts! You can learn more about the race, plans for a virtual 2021 event, and get excited about 2022 here.
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Music for RoShamBo is provided by the amazing Cadillac Jones.
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If you enjoy the episode, please consider leaving us a review on your favorite podcast provider. And while you're there, check out our sister podcast, Helpful Humans. Helpful Humans shares stories about people who are creating good in our world by helping and empowering others. These are quick hits of positivity and hope, with episodes that are inspiring, heartwarming, and always interesting.
Jan 3, 2021
Dec 20, 2020
Dec 20, 2020
25 min
Ho ho ho-boy is this the most magical time of the year? Yes. Yes, it is. And if one Santa is good, a bunch of Santas doing Santa things is gooder, right?
Nov 17, 2020
Nov 17, 2020
41 min
Travel back to pre-Covid days with RoShamBo as we revisit the World's Ugliest Dog Competition. By far one of the most heartwarming episodes in the RoShamBo catalog, and a classic example of community and quirky coming together.
Jul 14, 2020
Jul 14, 2020
13 min
RoShamBo welcomes back Kriston Rucker, the co-founder of the US Air Guitar Championship to give us the scoop on the 2020 online championship. Watch for free on July 25th on Twitch ( https://www.twitch.tv/usairguitar ) and head over to https://www.usairguitar.com/ to learn more!
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May 19, 2020
May 19, 2020
20 min
As with so many extraordinary events in these strange pandemic days, the folks from the Kinetic Grand Championship knew that they couldn’t gather like normal this Memorial Day Weekend. So... they decided to come up with an online alternative. Introducing… The 2020 Kinetic Sculpture in Place!
RoShamBo was joined by Queen Professor President of the Kinetic Universe Board Kati Texas to find out all about this online Memorial Day Weekend event.
Check it out at http://kineticgrandchampionship.com/
Mar 10, 2020
Mar 10, 2020
40 min
“The CHIditarod is a race like none other. It’s a food drive, a race for charity, a beauty pageant, a bar crawl, spontaneous street theater, and not for the faint of heart. It’s fast, furious, cold, creative, exciting, and very, very fun.”
This episode originally aired back in 2018, but contains an update from the 2020 race that happened last weekend. 2020 marked the 15th anniversary of the Chiditarod and you can still check out pictures and links on the Chiditarod's original show page on RoShamBoPodcast.com
Feb 25, 2020
Feb 25, 2020
15 min
Oh how RoShamBo loves Finland... Home of the World Wife Carrying Championship, Mobile Phone Throwing World Championships and The World Air Guitar Championships... and now - adding to their RoShamBo ranks, we are thrilled to tell you the story of The Heavy Metal Knitting World Championship. This past July, the town of Joensuu hosted the first ever inaugural event and RoShamBo caught up with USA's (Lansing, Michigan) team - 9" Needles.
Mentioned in this episode:
Heavy Metal Knitting World Championship
Feb 11, 2020
Feb 11, 2020
30 min
A quirky little Colorado mountain town. A dead Norwegian grandfather on ice. A coffin race. All of this and more at Frozen Dead Guy Days. This year's festival is happening March 13-15 2020 - start planning your adventure today!
Mentioned in this episode:
RoShamBo's Frozen Dead Guy Days episode page
RoShamBo Episode that gives more info on the town where Ted moved
Jan 28, 2020
Jan 28, 2020
12 min
In RoShamBo’s world, Ian Stewart lands somewhere between Unique and Amazing. He’s a 6 time Guinness World Record holder who also happens to be a hypnotist, a comedian and a magician. You know, just your average Canadian daredevil.
Links mentioned in this episode:
The Plantation on Crystal River Manatee Tour
The World Sign Spinning Championship (episode page)
Jan 14, 2020
Jan 14, 2020
24 min
In the movie "To Have and Have Not", Lauren Bacall infamously said, “You know how to whistle, don’t you Steve? You just put your lips together, and blow”. And you know what, according to World Champion Whistler Carole Anne Kaufman, she’s not wrong.
Dec 17, 2019
Dec 17, 2019
11 min
Your 3rd grade teacher’s worst nightmare…. It’s the Red Bull Paper Wings World Finals!
Nov 19, 2019
Nov 19, 2019
14 min
Straight from the mighty Yukon territory of Canada - this is what happens when cold hair meets hot pools.
Links mentioned in episode:
https://www.surfertoday.com/surfing/the-best-river-surfing-waves-in-the-world
https://www.roshambopodcast.com/episodes/2018/5/21/s1e4-gurning
Nov 5, 2019
Nov 5, 2019
10 min
Get your Imperials, your Handlebars and your Alaskan Whalers ready - it's the National Beard and Mustache Championships!
Learn more: https://www.nationalbeardchampionships.com/
Oct 22, 2019
Oct 8, 2019
Oct 8, 2019
25 min
During our coverage of Dragon Con 2019 we discovered a subculture - within the subculture of Dragon Con. People that spend their time at the Con helping others in need. They are Cosplay Medics and they're the hero's HEROES.
Sep 24, 2019
Sep 24, 2019
17 min
Sure they're great for hauling things - but did you know that you can race 'em and use 'em for crazy tricks? Well you can. And it is awesome.
Sep 10, 2019
Aug 20, 2019
Aug 13, 2019
Jul 30, 2019
Jul 30, 2019
19 min
Want a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts? No problem. But there is one catch…
Jul 23, 2019
Jul 16, 2019
Jul 16, 2019
24 min
Extreme Bird Watching is for real, and The World Series of Birding is the largest and most prestigious birding competition around.
Jul 9, 2019
Jul 9, 2019
18 min
Cheese Rolling! The crazy thing with the cheese wheel flying down the hill with a bunch of crazy people chasing it. That one.
Jul 2, 2019
Jul 2, 2019
26 min
Every July 4th America celebrates it’s independence. Sometimes it gets weird.
Jun 18, 2019
Jun 18, 2019
17 min
We all know someone with that spectacular laugh. The one that makes you crack up just hearing it, or the one that helps you find your friend in a crowd. Welcome to the World’s Best Laugh Competition- put on by yours truly, RoShamBo!
Jun 4, 2019
Jun 4, 2019
28 min
Ted went back to Scotland for the 2019 World Stone Skimming Championships. Along the way there, there was adventure to be had.
May 28, 2019
May 28, 2019
22 min
This episode has it all: bar stools, ski slopes and bad ideas.
Learn more at http://www.cabinfeverdays.com
May 21, 2019
May 21, 2019
22 min
Golden Eagles, Stick Wrestling ,Gilgamesh, goats, and possibly minotaurs. This is the World Nomad Games!
May 14, 2019
May 14, 2019
19 min
Using the wrong tool for the right job can be a lot of fun. Exhibit A: This (mostly) off-road race for non-off-road cars. Perfection.
May 7, 2019
May 7, 2019
16 min
Sport Stacking-AKA Cup Stacking-combines speed, dexterity and well, a lot more speed!
Apr 30, 2019
Apr 30, 2019
17 min
Remember the game tiddlywinks you played as a kid? There’s way more to it than you ever imagined. It’s not just child play!
Apr 23, 2019
Apr 23, 2019
20 min
Want to get naked and run around with other naked people and do other sporty things naked? We thought so.
Apr 16, 2019
Apr 16, 2019
11 min
The Official name is “Suwa Taisha Shikinen Zouei Onbashira Taisai“ or Onbashira but we called it Log Riding because that is the part you want to know about!
Apr 9, 2019
Apr 9, 2019
33 min
Do you like all things Tiki? Do you like bartenders? THIS IS THE THING FOR YOU! The Iron Tikitender is the quest to find the world’s best tiki bartender.
Apr 2, 2019
Mar 26, 2019
Mar 12, 2019
Feb 26, 2019
Feb 26, 2019
25 min
It’s more than Puppets. It’s Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge LIVE at Dragon Con!
Feb 12, 2019
Feb 12, 2019
34 min
Wormcharming, a small food competition and 2-legged horses! Confused? You won’t be.
Jan 29, 2019
Jan 29, 2019
3 min
“The CHIditarod is a race like none other. It’s a food drive, a race for charity, a beauty pageant, a bar crawl, spontaneous street theater, and not for the faint of heart. It’s fast, furious, cold, creative, exciting, and very, very fun.”
Jan 15, 2019
Jan 15, 2019
41 min
Dogs are magical, special creatures. It’s hard to believe that there are any truly ugly dogs, but these guys and gals push the bound of conventional beauty!
Dec 28, 2018
Dec 28, 2018
19 min
On December 23rd 2009 George Trosset called up his son and said “ I need you and your wife to be at the beach house tomorrow morning, in Elf outfits… I’m gonna be Santa and your gonna be Elves, and we’re going SURFING.”
Dec 25, 2018
Dec 25, 2018
22 min
Making gingerbread houses for the holidays is a tradition. At the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club in Atlanta, they took that tradition and added some southern charm and is now the Gingerbread Trailer Park Contest.
Dec 18, 2018
Dec 18, 2018
26 min
Ho ho ho-boy is this the most magical time of the year? Yes. Yes it is. And if one Santa is good, a bunch of Santas doing Santa things is gooder, right?
Dec 4, 2018
Dec 4, 2018
39 min
What is mountainboarding, exactly? Well it’s a gravity based sport that allows you to ride a board with air tires, over almost any terrain. Grass, dirt, gravel, cobblestones, skateparks - all good. Snow, not so good.
Nov 20, 2018
Nov 20, 2018
41 min
It's the year 2018 and robots are still controlled by humans. The humans make them fight. They consider the carnage and destruction of the robots entertainment. The humans call it Robot Battles and it happens every year at DragonCon.
Nov 6, 2018
Nov 6, 2018
52 min
Puns. Some love them. Some hate them. We definitely love them as you would know if you listened to any of our shows. And we are not alone! Each year punsters gather in Austin, Texas for the wordy cause known as the O. Henry Pun-Off World Championship.
Oct 23, 2018
Oct 23, 2018
44 min
Sign Spinning, like many great pursuits, began as a way to relieve boredom. One guy with a sign decided he’d start flipping it around. Soon another saw it and started doing it too. And as it goes, competition broke out and a sport was born.