The comedy podcast universe is ever expanding, not unlike the universe universe. We’re here to make it a bit smaller, a bit more manageable. There are a lot of great shows and each has a lot of great episodes, so we want to highlight the exceptional, the noteworthy. Each week our crack team of podcast enthusiasts and specialists and especially enthusiastic people will pick their favorites. Also, we’ll keep you posted on the offerings from our very own podcast network. We hope to have your ears permanently plugged with the best in aural comedy.
How Was Your Week with Julie Klausner #136 - Nicole Holofcener
JOSH: “If you have a dog, I’d like to feed it Cheerios.†The delightfully whimsical and always unpredictable Julie Klausner returns this week to answer the tough questions: “After Bugs Bunny, which cartoon character would I want to have sex with?†The answer, of course, is the Pink Panther because he’s debonair, “Frenchishh,†and would look good with Klausner’s furniture. All valid points. How Was Your Week also briefly dissects the television landscape with mordant recaps of Homeland, Saturday Night Live, and the series described as “Fantasy football for gay guys,†American Horror Story: Coven. This week, Klausner chats with writer/director Nicole Holofcener about romantic comedies, working with the late James Gandolfini, and the real life meet-cute between her and frequent actress Catherine Keener. Sandwiched between Klausner’s entertaining musings and her compelling interview with Holofcener, fans of How Was Your Week are treated to a musical surprise as our intrepid hostess debuts her original interpretation of the previously lyric-less portion of the Eric Clapton classic “Layla.†If you’re looking for an entertaining hour of comedy, and perhaps a new ringtone, this week’s How Was Your Week is for you.
Sklarbro Country #168 - Mitch Hurwitz, Chris Cox
PABLO: If this is your first time on the internet and you haven’t yet had the pleasure of reading a 8,000 word analysis of the televised media landscape, then you’re unaware that we’re living in Golden Age of Television. And in this golden age where the showrunner is king, Mitch Hurwitz wields a gigantic turkey leg by the name of Arrested Development. On this week’s Sklarbro Country, the creator of the FOX/Netflix cult classic joins Randy and Jason to discuss everything from his early years as a writer for The Golden Girls to what he has in store for Arrested Development, both season 5 and the eventual movie. In little time, Hurwitz strikes up such a quick rapport with the Sklars that you’d think he was the lost triplet. By the end of the episode, Hurwitz is so endearing and quick-witted that it left me wanting more appearances of him outside of the writer’s room, like his guest spot as substance abuse counselor Cool Eric on Workaholics.
MARC: Sal, Joe, James & Brian are four guys who met back in high school in Staten Island and later, in 1999, started a sketch group called The Tenderloins. You might have clicked on their online sketches on MySpace back in the day or, today, you might enjoy them in their TruTV show, The Impractical Jokers. They’re still The Tenderloins, though and, over the past year and a half, they’ve managed to put out 12 episodes of a podcast. These guys have an informal, friendly and engaging style that clearly is appealing – during the show they tell the story about how they were invited to attend the New York premiere of Grown Ups 2 back in July because Adam Sandler is a fan of their TV show. There are no sketches in evidence in this episode. Instead, they talk about playing video games, teen celebrity crushes, masturbation (related to the previous topic), and more. By the end, you’re convinced these guys are not only really who they seem to be, and you also wouldn’t mind hanging out with them sometime.
Never Not Funny - Patton Oswalt
ELISE: It’s the elusive full free pisode of Never Not Funny with Patton Oswalt, who reveals that he’s definitely appearing at Pardcast-a-thon this year. The episode begins with an allergy-ridden Jimmy and a fairly long discussion of fantasy sports leagues, but things kick off when he and Patton share stories about lashing out at clueless pet owners who leave their dogs in their cars. The conversation meanders through assassinated presidents, therapists, spoil-sports, mispronounced names, Richard Pryor, painting with kids, Smokey and the Bandit 3, superheroes, and Patton’s famous Star Warsfilibuster on Parks and Recreation. Half the fun is hearing Patton indulge his comedy geek side, throwing in trivia ranging from The Mary Tyler Moore Show to Brooklyn Nine-Nine and educating us all a little in the process.
This Week on the Splitsider Podcast Network
The Complete Guide to Everything: Electronic Dance Music
This week we discuss Electronic Dance Music (EDM), an entire genre of music that Tim just learned about by reading an article in the New Yorker, officially making him an irrelevant old man. To be fair, Tom doesn’t really understand much about it either, and the two of us just fumble our way through trying to decipher something that is meant for people much, much younger and cooler than us.
It’s That Episode: Charlie Sanders Gets Existential with ‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives’
Charlie Sanders (Key and Peele) watches an episode of “Diners Drives ins and Dives.†Craig and Charlie get distracted by a dog in the room and then get into a conversation about how podcasting is worthless and life might be pointless. Enjoy?
The Jeff Rubin Jeff Rubin Show: ‘Hoarders’ Cleaner Matt Paxton
This week on the Jeff Rubin Jeff Rubin show, Jeff talks to Extreme Cleaner Matt Paxton from the show Hoarders. They talk about how he got into cleaning hoarders’ houses, what things you discover when cleaning a hoarders house, what makes people a hoarder, and what it takes to get out of a hoarding lifestyle.
You Had To Be There #116: Negate the Cool
This week, Nikki and Sara “Healthy Teeth†Schaefer praise musical ear muffs and Louis CK motifs before tackling that whole Miley-Sinead situation and debuting the world’s greatest gif.
Elise Czajkowski is Splitsider’s Associate Editor.
Pablo Goldstein is a writer from Los Angeles, CAÂ
Marc Hershon is host of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast and author of I Hate People!
Josh Sorokach is a comedy writer living in NYC who was once referred to as a “Poor Man’s Joshua Jackson†while on a date.