479: Evan Voyles— The Connoisseur of Irony
4/14/20261 hr 49 min
Neon lights aren't supposed to be profound. They're supposed to buzz, flicker, and sell you a cold beer or a bad decision. But Evan Voyles—founder of The Neon Jungle—has made a career out of bending that expectation into something stranger… and maybe a little wiser.
Evan is a self-taught craftsman who works with fire, gas, and fragile tubes of glass to make signs that don't just glow—they say something. His work has been commissioned by brands, collected as art, and—on more than one occasion—made people stop and wonder if the joke is on them.
In this episode, Mike sits down with a guy who makes a living lighting things up—literally—and wrestles with why any of it matters. They talk about the strange line between art and advertising and why irony is harder to come by than you'd think.
It's a conversation about craft, culture, and the quiet satisfaction of making something with your hands… even if what you make is a glowing reminder not to take any of it too seriously.
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Clips
Showing 10 of 12Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMike Rowe· Host0:00
[bass music] Mike Rowe here, It's the Way I Heard It. Boy, oh, boy, Chuck.
Chuck Klausmeyer· Host0:07
[laughs] Yeah.
Mike Rowe· Host0:09
I mean, that was fun.
Chuck Klausmeyer· Host0:11
That was a lot of fun. Like, I've been experiencing Evan for the last two or three years- [laughs] Yeah ... because I've been calling him. You know, we've been talking about these great neon signs and when he's gonna make one for us, and then of course, getting him to be on the podcast. It's like, I've experienced quite a bit of him before today.
Mike Rowe· Host0:29
[laughs] Well, for those of you in the audience who, uh, have commented on the new signage, uh, here at the Way I Heard It world headquarters, um, the neon in question was made by my old friend, Evan Voyles. Uh, he made a sign that says The Way I Heard It, which is now always, uh, affixed just beyond our guests- Yep ... here in PH3. And, uh, over my shoulder is a more ambitious logo for mikeroweWORKS, all done in neon.
Chuck Klausmeyer· Host0:58
Yeah.
Mike Rowe· Host0:58
All handmade, all bent glass, all, I think, beautiful. And, um, you know, like most people, I've always been attracted to neon. There's just something so nostalgic and evocative.
Chuck Klausmeyer· Host1:14
It's sexy.
Mike Rowe· Host1:15
It is sexy.
Chuck Klausmeyer· Host1:16
You know?
Mike Rowe· Host1:16
Like- And not in a dirty way. [laughs] No, it- it- it- it's... You know what? I think, to me, neon is a kind of... It epitomizes pulp fiction- Right ... somehow.