Who are the Three Armigos in the Midwest and what do they do? Are they Armenians in sombreros? Is this some type of typo, “amigos”? No. Dave Mahdasian, Raffi Mahdasian and Armen Saryan are the forefathers of the podcast The Three Armigos, which was all but an idea a few years ago. Our roving Chicago AYF Olympics mascot The Chicago Amo sat down to interview them.
Amo: How did it start up?
Armen Saryan: Doing a podcast was Dave’s and Raffi’s baby. We wanted to do something like this for a long time as a hobby. So as the universe would have it, Dave ran into Armen about podcasting, how it can be done, and started talking about all these things, funny ideas, and said, ‘Let’s do this.’ We did a dry run, trying to figure how to do this and since I work at a radio station, the quality was super easy, we had the equipment, and things rolled into place.
Raffi Mahdasian: Launched two years ago, most of their podcasts are about our Racine church, living in Racine, being Armenian, being in AYF, and we did a few podcasts on AYF too. We like to tell stories. People like to listen to them, even from different countries! We discuss the funny anecdotes about our famous Racine Madagh picnic, our experiences, the AYF seminar bus and so much about our childhood that revolves around AYF.
Amo: What experiences do you talk about?
Dave Mahdasian: We are telling non-Armenians about these odd stories, how we are under 18 years old and going to Olympics and Seminars in PA and NY, they look at you like you’re crazy. But our parents always let us go, and we felt like a little communal group in AYF that the odars never understood. We bring the unique Little Armenia experiences to the radio waves.
Raffi Mahdasian: One of our greatest connections to the outside world is with those American friends who have for years before the podcasts, heard all the stories of our crazy Armenian adventures, and now are hearing them again as adults on-air. They enjoy hearing about it too, and say, “Oh, I remember when you came back from that event,” or “Yea you told me that years ago!”
Amo: What is one of your best Armigo experiences?
Armen Saryan: Hands down, one of the most fun experiences for us was the Milwaukee AYF Olympics a few years ago. It was really exciting. There we had the idea to do the play by play at the softball tournament. And moving up in the world, we can’t wait to be helping MC the track and field events at the Chicago Olympics this year.
Amo: What will you do at Olympics?
Raffi Mahdasian: At the track at Chicago Olympics track Sunday, Sept 1, we will be up in the Press Box and are going to put a new and fresh spin on “announcing” and keeping things interesting during the down-time, making it an even more fun day! So come hear and see the Three Armigos at the AYF Olympics this Labor Day weekend.
Every month, this animated trio boasts an impressive 1,000 listeners as far as Brussels and Tokyo. Amo says “Abrees” for coming so far to promote the silly, funny, adventurous piece of being Armenian in the Midwest. Meet Us In The Middle – of the AYF Olympics track!
To check out the Three Armigos Podcast, check out their Facebook page—Three Armigos Podcast.
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I grew up in Racine in the 50s and 60s. My mother was from one Armenian church and my father was from another Armenian church.
Every Armenian/American should read and understand this article.
https://historycooperative.org/journal/contested-memories-divided-diaspora-armenian-americans-the-thousand-day-republic-and-the-polarized-response-to-an-archbishops-murder/