Comedy Podcasts: your suggestions please

(i already listen to best show, but not as much as i could/should)

probably anything on the earwolf network. esp. ronna & beverly or professor blastoff, but Comedy Bang Bang and others are pretty woman-friendly.

Superego, Judge John Hodgman, The Long Shot, The Dork Forest, Greg Proops' Smartest Man in the world...there's loads!

If you listen to Best Show, you may already be familiar w/ How Was Your Week w/ Julie Klausner, which is pretty much the antithesis of the Carolla crowd.

i guess i should listen to 9 more episodes then (I probably will, I rarely give up on anything prematurely)

It absolutely becomes better and funnier once you become accustomed to the rhythm of the show. Rather than listening for the next 9 weeks (including the music! which is cut out of the podcast, FYI, but if you're listening live, you can basically skip the first 15-20 minutes of the show to avoid it), I strongly recommend listening to a handful of episodes from the last few years that have in-studio guests that you're interested in.

I especially recommend concluding that with the two-week punch of Christmas 2010 where: first Julie Klausner was in the studio, and a couple of listeners turned up to get AP Mike drunk on Four Loko beforehand, and then: the week after, Hodgman and Scharpling drink Four Loko on-air throughout the entire three hours and CHAOS ENSUES.

Ahhhh the Four Loko eps are outstanding

Judge John Hodgman is the only podcast I listen to regularly and it's not dude-ical at all. OTOH it's not really funny either.

Judge John has become a lot less funny lately, the plaintiffs need to step up their game


Greg Proops' Smartest Man in the world...there's loads!

― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 5 July 2012 11:02 (1 hour ago)

co-sign on Smartest Man as a massive male-talking antidote to bro-ed out dick-focussed humour.

(Each episode is just Proops freestyling onstage once a week, for 45 minutes to an hour 45, on the likes of Joan Of Arc, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Greek philosophers, grammar and usage, drugs are great, history was written by men who then raped their maids, Obama is a disappointment and Hilary should have won, celebrity encounters and the Negro Leagues.)

Don't forget the Ohio Players

I really like Janet Varney's "JV Club" on Nerdist. Just scrolling over her guestlist, it only just occurred to me that every single interview so far has been with a woman. I guess it's not straight up comedy either, but often funny and informal.

I don't think I could handle an hour of just Greg Proops talking.

the podcast has gotten me into him to the point of watching Whose Line repeats at the gym

I've been listening to Best Show Gems for a couple of years, but I finally listened to a full Best Show episode, and it was terrible. Tom Scharpling by himself is the least interesting asshole ever.

― President Keyes, Thursday, 5 July 2012 08:18 (Yesterday)

and his non-Wurster callers are morons

lol the AV Club's review of this week:

A show that partially relies on live calls from listeners is always a risky endeavor, but The Best Show’s free-for-all format is particularly susceptible to ruination by calls from bores, loudmouths, and amateur comedians. This week’s Best Show is plagued with some of the worst calls in recent memory, yet Tom Scharpling manages to create a solid episode through sheer force of will. With the dud calls pouring in and no Jon Wurster for reinforcement, Scharpling goes on delightful solo tangents on George R.R. (“Railroad”) Martin, fireworks, and his teenage attempts to win a Frisbee from a rock radio station. The stories are welcomed asides in an episode that unfortunately illustrates why few other comedy shows let listeners in on the action.

Judge John Hodgman is the only podcast I listen to regularly and it's not dude-ical at all. OTOH it's not really funny either.

WHAT?! i love JJHo!

When the Hodgman podcast is funny, it's fantastic ("Rashomom", about three generations arguing over the existance of a grey house next door) -- but there are also not-funny episodes that are also fantastic, like the two sisters arguing over coddling children that became a very moving discussion about small children and heavily emotional life events. The only really painful episodes for me are litigants who try to be funny and fail.

it does come down alot to the litigants. i remember there were two... brothers(?) and one of them was so blaze and monotone (i think they were arguing over renovations and bats) that it was completely hilarious. the apocalypse scenario couple was good too, mainly for the subject matter. I also crack-up every time they mention the Canadian House of Pizza-and-Garbage.

The guy who wanted the bats out of his attic was classic, for real. Totally deadpan, slow lazy drawl, perfect timing, never stretched it too far. He had Jesse cracking up.

"They come in through the chimney, apparently. It's not uncommon in old houses. It's just uncommon to leave them there."

I've been listening to Best Show Gems for a couple of years, but I finally listened to a full Best Show episode, and it was terrible. Tom Scharpling by himself is the least interesting asshole ever.

I think that... he can be a little reactionary, in the sense of coming across as someone who would've been quickly branded as being "rockist" back in the day on ilx

but...

aside from the fact that jon wurster is purely one of the funniest human beings ever, scharpling is a perfect straight man... and i think after repeated listenings scharpling's schtick even solo grows on ya. or at least it does on me. i think some of his criticism of pop culture or whatever often is too facile or whatever, but i still enjoy hearing him grouse about shit

plus some of the callers in and of themselves are legit hilarious. "fredericks" from new port richey... "spike", etc.

anyhow, av club quote up there otm. i personally love all the shitty callers!

(though)

yeah i also had an appreciation curve with best show, i hated it the first time i tried it but now i'm totally into it. 3 hours is a lot of show though, so i don't always listen to the whole thing.

same here. i try to get on board after the first half-hour block of music, but in reality i usually don't make it until the second hour is creeping in

Yeah I totally get the rockist vibe from him. Can't tell if the the complete dickbag thing is a character or if he really hates good things so much.

He would totally be considered a troll in these parts

But then so would most everyone with received wisdom

Oh, he's totally a troll, but sometimes he's the most hilarious troll around.

I actually kind of dug the stuff he did with Marc maron, as he comes off as more of normal guy

Of course maron has his own music problem--listening to tony millionaire school him on Yes was fun

A normal guy

Things that make you cringe initially often end up being great sources of entertainment, or at least not boring ones

anyone going to any of the live CBB shows? trying to decide if it's worth $25

I've been watching the tv show and I've decided that Scott Aukerman's face gives me the willies. I much preferred hearing him on the podcast - there's something slightly demonic abt him?

hehe. i do find him to be my least favorite part of the podcast, and the TV show featured him a bit tooo much (i've only been able to see 1 episode). or maybe it is just his face.

Really enjoyed Dave Hill's subway story in the newest You Had To Be There ep:

http://youhadtobetherepodcast.tumblr.com/

xpost It's bad, I had to stop watching. I've had a couple of nightmares about him recently!

anyone going to any of the live CBB shows? trying to decide if it's worth $25

I was going to ask you this. I'll probably only go if I know someone else who is.

Whoa, Nerdist got bought:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/legendary-nerdist-entertainment-industries-347123

wow

oh my, that's nuts!

want my thrilling adventure hour tv show now

yes plz

God I hate the word "brand"

For those of you who think the Best Show might be a little bit of a snooze, you should check out Seven Second Delay. It may be a bigger train wreck at times, but the wrecks are way more entertaining.

i went down a nostalgia hole and decided to look up what happened to the comics from the sketch/improv troupe I used to watch perform back at the University of Arizona. Turns out two of them have podcasts-- Graham Elwood (Comedy Film Nerds) and Paul Goebel ("the Paul Goebel Show"). Another, Micah Wright, became a comic book artist who got in trouble for telling people he was in the Special Forces or something.

I love Graham Elwood!

Graham Elwood is also on Doug Benson's "rental car" episodes in between episodes of Doug Loves Movies.

Why did I never know Neil deGrasse Tyson does a radio show called StarTalk and that a lot of it's available in podcast form and it's awesome and smart and funny? BEST. DAY. EVER.

OMG i didn't know that either, going to check it out right now. <3 him and so disappointed he's going to be doing a show with Seth Macfarlane.

Isn't Macfarlane just producing (i.e. bankrolling) it?

how can the CBB tv show possibly be as horrible as it is, btw? makes me sad. because holy shit is it unfunny.

i feel bad for having not listened to 7 second delay for the last couple of years