Cameron James,left,and Alexei Toliopoulos are in search of the mysterious author behind a fan fiction written about the cartoonish Soviet Union super-villain,Ivan Drago.Credit:Tom Wright
Falling down an internet rabbit hole,Toliopoulos find himself on the book-review website GoodReads,where the story becomes weirder still. The handful of reviews forDrago are as preposterous asRocky IV;each reviewer seems to have discovered the book by accident,after a chance encounter with a Buddhist monk,while backpacking through the mountains of Peru,or been handed a copy from an enigmatic surfer in Chala. The only common thread is that no one set out to readDragobut all were permanently changed after reading it.
Adding to the mystery is the biography of Noy. He’s described as a former sports journalist from Perth,who “disappeared in January 1992 after a long battle with alcohol and drug addictions. Presumed dead,a memorial service was held in his honour in Perth in December 1995".
Dolph Lundgren in Rocky IV as Ivan Drago,the star of the Finding Drago podcast.
Joining Toliopoulos is fellow comedian Cameron James,who acts as the straight man. James questions each new lead and witness,as well as the conclusions Toliopoulos draws,all with good humour. Their friendship is real and a large part of the appeal of this buddy podcast,as is the sensitivity and care they bring to their interviews. Discussions that could so easily be played for laughs,as one might expect two comedians to do,are instead full of empathy and warmth.
“Telling this story as a podcast was interesting because it allowed us to tell a wide story where we were allowed to explore things[like interviewing a fan fiction expert or a Russian comic] that would help colour or just slowly provide context for the listener,” says Toliopoulos.
What begins as an investigation into the book and its author becomes a show about the stranger corners of the internet,secret identities,fan fiction and pop culture.
If you’ve binged on too many true-crime podcasts recently,FindingDrago might be just what you need. It follows the familiar structure of so many documentary podcasts,presenting a slow burn mystery that pokes fun at the genre along the way.