Were there fireworks yesterday? Yes? I couldn’t tell because my ears were plugged up with earbuds. I was listening to podcasts, which are kind of like the Internet’s fireworks. They are colorful and loud and the founding fathers loved them and Katy Perry has a song about them (“‘Cause baby you are a Pod-cast/Come on, show ‘em what you’ve amassedâ€). What’s that you say? Those things aren’t true? You aren’t true. Podcasts are true. Speaking of true podcasts, all of this week’s picks are true, even the ones that involve mostly make ‘em ups. Here they are:
JESSE: How Did This Get Made? #40: “Judge Dredd† – Erica Oyama
Episodes of HDTGM can have a few different tones. In spite of the subject matter, this one showed the gang at their most analytic. They end up talking for nearly ten minutes about whether the robot Rob Schneider hides in is controlled by spaghetti. And another ten minutes about how Armand Assante has nearly identicle eye-spacing as Sylvester Stallone. (What do you think? Assante Stallone) Needless to say, Judge Dredd ended up being a fountain of absurdity, which makes sense to anyone who has watched Judge Dredd. The three hosts are so enraptured by the film that sadly Oyama doesn’t get to chime in too much, other than with her killer Stallone impression. They mention that they’ve probably been too focused on Nicolas Cage’s career that they’ve missed all the gems from Stallone’s. May I suggest doing Demolition Man next because it was seemingly built around a Taco Bell product placement?
JOEL: Doug Loves Movies “Live from the Gramercy Theatre in New York City†– Michael Ian Black, Jason Mantzoukas, Dave Hill, Nikki Glaser
The comedy podcast bounty often leads to missing out on some of the classics. (My 2012 low-grade shame.) Doug Loves Movies is one such show that shouldn’t be missed for too long, as it’s one of the most consistently fun listens. It’s always packed with obnoxious guests ready for the games and heavy riffing. And the special live DLM episodes, not recorded at Los Angeles’ UCB Theatre, often treat listeners with extended games and extended guest dicking around. Black and Hill waste no time getting into a “who’s book is better†argument, which, of course, turns into a stellar smart-ass-off. Mantzoukas stands out amongst the stand-ups with his extended shitting on Prometheus and the creation of his fake jerking-off-during-movies app. Mantzoukas also starts up a classic sweaty, sexy dolphin riff circle with his fellow guests. Benson sneaks in a quality emotional outburst about talking teddy bears. The games eventually get going leading to some semi-serious brainstorming and failed gamesmanship. Bad jokes, obnoxiousness, movie talk and overall inappropriateness abound in this particularly packed episode of Doug Loves Movies.
LINDSEY: Superego Episode 3:14
The beginning of the month means two things: that there is a new episode of Superego, and an e-mail race between the podcast reviewers to see who gets to cover the new episode of Superego. I won this week! This month’s installment features G.I. Joe, Pete Sampras and Don Pardo who are all obviously relevant in our society and therefore the perfect subjects for improvised comedy. Reverend Leroy Jenkins also makes an appearance to bless your business and wipe the urine off your claws. (This is needed. You guys are filthy.) The bits are inspired and great and everything, but my favorite part of this podcast is when characters break and you can hear laughter in the background from the taping, which happens in Rob Delaney’s segment (of course) featuring an author who loves the alphabet, murder and Marilyn Manson. She then teaches us about food secrets, which has been a thing for years and I am happy that it is finally getting the attention it deserves. Gourley, Carter and the gang seriously deliver the goods, even though I’m a little disappointed at the lack of a sketch with H.R. Giger discussing his thoughts on Prometheus. Oh well, there’s still enough unicorn tits, cleavage jokes and Dan Harmon to make a girl happy.
MARC: Storyworthy - Blaine Capatch
I really get a kick out of hosts Christine Blackburn and Hannas Phinney’s “Shotgun Storyworthy†version of their show, with a dozen contestants spinning a wheel with topics and having to spitball a one-minute tale on whatever comes up. So, when a comic I’m familiar with, Blaine Capatch, jumped onboard, I was curious to hear it. The hosts kick things off with a hefty amount of banter, including pinpointing where the show is fictionally emanating from each week, before getting around to their guest. The guest — in this case, Capatch — has five minutes to tell a personal story – something that happened to them. It was interesting to hear, with all the hell gigs and TV writing work and doing the color commentary for LA’s Derby Dolls roller derby games, that the veteran stand-up goes with his vivid memory of seeing a “black triangle†UFO when he was a kid, riding in the car with his parents in Pennsylvania. There’s a lot funny about the story, although the story itself isn’t humorous and you get the idea that this not only really happened but it’s a memory that’s made an impression. The episode wraps up with a mini-Shotgun Storyworthy nod, with Blaine spinning the show’s “Wheel of Truth†and neatly reeling off a one-minute riff about growing up.
ROGER: The Benson Interruption # 17Â -Â Live at the Del Close Marathon - Matt Besser, Megan Beuringer, Matt Walsh, Rory Scovel
The undisputed star of this special Benson Interruption was the new James Adomian character Vic Garcia, an undercover cop of 27 years turned abrasive stand-up comedian. Considering that Garcia is fresh out of the oven, and that his clear comedic and brassy influences are Tony Clifton, Andy Kindler and Tom Leykis, it took awhile for the sizable live audience to warm up to the guest “co-interruptorâ€, even though those attending the Del Close Marathon would’ve certainly known that a) it was a fictitious character they were witnessing and b) James Adomian knows what he’s doing. Eventually, as improv savvy guests like Matt Besser, Matt Walsh and Rory Scovel all played along with Adomian (who was never credited for playing the role) and the character’s weird and funny back story and idiosyncrasies were created and unearthed - like how Garcia insists that each venue hides a gun in the green room for him to try and find before every show - the crowd laughed longer and harder. Adomian himself apologized for the performance, and host Doug Benson made sure to tweet that the character will never appear on the show again and that Garcia does not appear on the other sixteen episodes of Interruption. The mea culpas were hardly necessary, since the only thing funnier than some of the things Garcia said was the horrible treatment of Ben Schwartz, who due to poor time management was only able to get two words out of his mouth before the closing theme played the podcast out, as if he was a member of Fleetwood Mac on a Kenan Thompson hosted television show.
Honorable Mention:
Fitzdog Radio - Jay Mohr
Guys With Feelings #114Â - Lena Dunham
The Champs - Retta
The Long Shot #515 – Graham Elwood
Jesse David Fox is a writer, cat person, and Jew (in that order). He lives in Brooklyn. His iPod is broken.
Joel Mandelkorn is the co-Founder of The Plop List, Producer at CleftClips, Producer of The Super Serious Show.
Lindsey Allen lives in Austin, TX. She has perfect teeth and a nice smell. A class act, all the way.
Marc Hershon is host of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast and author of I Hate People!
Roger Cormier is so stoned he looks like the cover of a Yes album.