The M-Balm Effect - Rochester Wiki

The M-Balm Effect is a Rochester-based hot talk podcast/webshow. Hosted by M-Balm (Harold Brush), the show first began on YouTube in 2019. The description of the show is as followed:

"The M-Balm Effect, where raw reality meets hard banter! Hosted by M-Balm, this podcast is your one-stop shop for unfiltered discussions on real-life experiences, hot-button topics, and the downright bizarre, all served with a side of dark humor. Guests are invited onto the show to dive deep into the murky depths of eccentric conversations."

The show began broadcasting LIVE in May of 2019 through YouTube and Facebook a little later that year. In July of 2020, the podcast format of the show was syndicated onto multiple podcast platforms such as Spotify, iHeart and Apple Podcasts. Later on in 2020, the show began broadcasting from the Twitch platform.

History

2019

In April of 2019, the show uploaded it's first episode titled "The Greatest Man To Ever Live". The episode was pre-taped and the content included a night out at a local bar in Webster and meeting a man who claimed that he was "the greatest man to ever live". The M-Balm Effect at the time only had two co-hosts alongside M-Balm, Zu Keeper and Uber Mike. The show was broadcasted from Zu's apartment up until October of 2019 when the show was re-located to an actual dedicated space for the show's studio.

The show in it's beginning stages, with the original TME Crew, M-Balm, Uber Mike & Zu Keeper

2020

In January of 2020, the show split up into two different shows with Ghost, Omen and Austin Dash who were new co-hosts of the show. M-Balm, Omen and Ghost hosted TME: Afterburn and Zu Keeper, Uber Mike and Austin Dash hosted TME: Blitzed. M-Balm unveiled that there will be a TME Undisputed championship while revealing the championship belt on Blitzed. The show went back to being just one show under The M-Balm Effect again after the pandemic due to COVID-19. In May of 2020, Uber Mike left the show and left the crew down to just five crew members.

Throughout the year, The M-Balm Effect had various guests on the show including Rochester's very own Richard Leigh otherwise known as RLShow, Rochester metal band "Perspectives" and even DJ Primal! The show had an addition of a female to the show who went by the name Cori. The crew upgraded their equipment including microphones and a new table for the studio. The show parted ways with Cori in November of 2020. After almost a year of revealing the show championship, Omen won a one year old Christmas cookie challenge in order to become the first ever TME Undisputed Champion.

Richard Leigh as a guest on the show, while the crew play with his beak

2021

In January 2021, it was revealed on the show that video game streaming will be offered on The M-Balm Effect. It will include a variety of games being played as well as challenges for the TME Undisputed Championship.

The show mascot Joyce, which is a mannequin of a savage old lady with a scythe and in a wheelchair that sits in the studio, started having segments where she talks to the crew and even gave one of the co-hosts a lap dance. M-Balm explained on an episode of TME: Afterburn that Joyce is actually a reference to someone he personally knew.

On the January 23rd episode of The M-Balm Effect, an announcement was made that a minor title known as the TME Full Effect Championship will be brought onto the show. The title will be put on the line on and off of the show, 24/7 in any challenge whereas the TME Undisputed title will be put on the line on the show once a month during big event challenges.

During the February 20th show, it was announced that there would be an extension of the show called "ROC HARD" which will feature local bands from Rochester and surrounding areas in studio hanging with the TME Crew. On February 27th, "ROC HARD" debuted with special guests Soma Slumber kicking off the first ever episode.

May 1st, the show celebrated it's 2 year anniversary with a best of 3 Mortal Kombat match between Ghost as Fujin and Omen as Sub-Zero. Omen lost his title to Ghost by Brutality in the 3rd and final match, solidifying the new reign of Ghost as Undisputed Champion.

Omen & Austin discussing things on the show

2022

The podcast was for a time available in a video format on the Spotify platform. M-Balm announced in an episode of the show that he didn't see the purpose of it as the show is available in video format on other platforms.

In mid 2022, it was announced that Zu Keeper would be stepping away from the show.

The last episode of the year was the revival of "ROC HARD" with "The Ripper" Reinhold from Rochester metal band PERSPECTIVES coming in studio and hanging out with M-Balm.

Reinhold AKA Ripper from PERSPECTIVES as a guest on the show

2023

M-Balm announced on the 1/7/2023 show that he and his wife are expecting their first child this year.

On the 1/21/2023 edition of the show, the crew welcomed long time listener Andrea, as a brand new co-host for the show.

The show closed the year out with guests such as Glasswaves, Gerry Motions AKA DeadXOLaughter and Paddy Mull.

M-Balm breaks the 4th wall alongside Andrea

2024

The first show of the year kicked off with retired professional wrestler, Eric Emanon as a guest. This marked the first episode that the show's format went exclusively to streaming LIVE on YouTube and The M-Balm Effect official website.

It was announced that Geoffery Rogers of GSL News, will be a guest on the show on February 24th, 2024.

In mid January, The M-Balm Effect posted an announcement stating that the podcast was now affiliated with local venue Montage Music Hall's brand new Montage Studios Network. M-Balm also partnered up with Montage owner Randy Peck to co-host a brand new podcast "Talking Music" (and Other Stuff) Podcast.

At the end of January, the show parted ways with co-hosts "Ghost" & "Omen".

On February 2nd, it was announced that seasoned streamer and bandmate of "Plague Sermon" Justin Montgomery would be joining the TME Crew as it's newest acquisition as a co-host.

In August, the show parted ways with Justin Montgomery. It was around this time that M-Balm started making some changes to the format of the show.

Billy And Charlie In Studio

Haley "The Bear 4.0" Roback On Episode #222

2025

The year started off with new faces added to the TME Crew. Billy Brown and Charlie Wilson-Hacker joined the show as co-hosts.

As of January, a few episodes were removed due to a request.

Haley "The Bear 4.0" Roback, formerly of the band "The Bunny The Bear" which is a band based out of Buffalo, NY, made a guest appearance on February 8th, 2025. This was episode #223 of the show, the episode is a little over 3 hours long. Haley and M-Balm discussed just about everything, from the year they met in school to the moment Haley performed on stage at Warped Tour 2015. It was an episode to kick off 2025 with some deep ended conversations and some comedy.

Haley explains life as a mom, some of the experiences on tour and what the future holds for her music career.

On the February 15th episode #223 of The M-Balm Effect, Billy, Andrea and M-Balm discussed the tragic case of Sam Nordquist. They dived into what they knew at the time and discussed more in depth of one individual involved in this horrific crime, Kyle Sage. They shared conversation screenshots found on a USB that was left inside of a convenience store in Canandaigua, NY.

They dived deeper into the case on episode #224 the following week, discussing about Patty's Lodge and their role in all of this, as this was the location of where Sam met his fate. They also brought up that there were two more suspects arrested, who were involved in this heinous crime.

Theme Music


Song Title	Artist	Dates Used
"Chaos"	Gunnar Olsen	April 30th, 2019 - July 4th, 2020
"Rabid"	Ethan Meixsell	July 4th, 2020 - January 16th, 2021
"Syndrome"	Michael Briguglio	January 16th, 2021 - Present