Comedy podcasts have become an excellent medium for comedians to showcase their talents, experiment with new ideas, and make themselves more accessible to their fanbase. Recently, comedy podcasts have also begun to crossover into more mainstream media. Last year BBC America began airing a show based on the Nerdist Podcast. This summer The Comedy Bang! Bang! podcast also became the basis for a television show airing on IFC.
I love listening to comedy podcasts, and I highly recommend them to all comedy nerds and anybody else has time to waste. The following list counts down the ten best comedy podcasts out there right now.
10. Affirmation Nation with Bob Ducca
Launched: 30 May 2011
Updates: None since February
Bob Ducca (Seth Morris) would love to list for you his illnesses, his emotional issues, and pretty much anything else that he’s written down on paper. Affirmation Nation is a hilarious two to five minute show that focuses on the the strange life and thoughts of the peculiar Bob Ducca.
9. The Bugle (http://thebuglepodcast.com)
Launched: 14 October 2007
Updates: Weekly (on Fridays)
John Oliver (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart) and Andy Zaltzman (John Oliver: Terrifying Times) host this news podcast each week, satirizing stories from around the globe. Oliver and Zaltzman are sharp, and their satire is biting.
8. SModcast (http://smodcast.com)
Launched: 5 February 2007
Updates: Weekly (around midnight on Mondays)
SModcast is Kevin Smith (Clerks, Red State, etc) and Scott Mosier (a producer on some of Smith’s films) having a conversation about whatever catches their attention for an hour and a half to two hours. Smith and Mosier have discussions worth hearing.
7. The Pod F. Tompkast (http://www.paulftompkins.com/view_blog.php?id=20)
Launched: 29 July 2010
Updates: Sporadic but almost monthly
Paul F. Tompkins (Laboring Under Delusions) is a frequent, always hilarious guest on everyone else’s podcasts. It’s only sensible that he would start his own. The Pod F. Tompkast combines Tompkins interesting musings over very soothing music, clips from The Paul F. Tompkins Show at Largo, and skits in which Tompkins puts his large repertoire of characters into contact with one another. Tompkins is joined in his live material by other comedians. Comedienne Jen Kirkman also contributes regularly.
6. Doug Loves Movies (http://douglovesmovies.com)
Launched: 18 September 2006
Updates: Weekly to Bi-Weekly
Doug Loves Movies--consists of the always funny Doug Benson (Smug Life) and his guests from the comedy crowd talking about movies. The guests play games such as the Leonard Maltin Game in which Benson reveals a film’s cast members in the reverse order from Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide. Guests attempt to guess the movie’s title before others.
5. You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes (http://www.nerdist.com/podcast/you-made-it-weird/)
Launched: 25 October 2011
Updated: Often (at least weekly)
You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes (Impregnated With Wonder) is commonly a 90 to 120 minute interview with some comic talent. In every episode, Holmes has hilarious conversations with his guests about their views on comedy, sex, and religion.
4. The Nerdist Podcast (http://www.nerdist.com/podcast/nerdist/)
Launched: 8 February 2010
Updated: Often (at least weekly)
Chris Hardwick (see my review of his book for tons of info) hosts the Nerdist Podcast with his co-hosts Johan Ray and Matt Mira. The show is generally an hour-long interview with noteworthy comedians or entertainers who relate to nerd culture. There are also other shows in which Hardwick, Ray, and Mira just discuss different topics amongst themselves for an hour.
3. How Did This Get Made? (http://www.earwolf.com/show/how-did-this-get-made/)
Launched: 10 December 2010
Updated: Twice a Month (with mini-episodes on the off weeks)
Each episode of How Did This Get Made? features hosts Paul Scheer (The League), June Diane Raphael (Burning Love), and Jason Mantzoukas (The Dictator) and one or more guest(s) analyzing a particular film in an attempt to understand characters and plot(s) that are usually indecipherable. Listeners can see the film or not see the film; the humor of the podcast does not depend on it. The hosts have a way of clarifying the movie’s plot and describing its important scenes that will maintain every listener’s attention.
Last year, How Did This Get Made? was selected by iTunes as its favorite comedy podcast of the year.
2. WTF with Marc Maron (http://www.wtfpod.com)
Launched: 1 September 2009
Updated: Often (at least twice a week)
Marc Maron (This Has to Be Funny) is riddled with anxiety, haunted by his past behavior towards other comics, and struggles to hold his tongue. WTF with Marc Maron consists of interviews with members of the comedy world from Carrot Top to Louis CK. Maron is able to get some of the biggest names in comedy to sit down with him in his garage and open up. When Maron has a negative history with his guest, he addresses the tension from the beginning. He rarely avoids uncomfortable topics.
Some of Maron’s interviews have become famous for guests’s revelations, willingness to expose emotional vulnerabilities, and sharing of very personal stories. (The interviews with Louis CK, Todd Glass, and Paul Scheer stand out as interesting.) Other interviews have been very controversial. The unfolding of Carlos Mencia’s egocentrism over two interviews is the best example of this.
1. Comedy Bang! Bang! (http://www.earwolf.com/show/comedy-bang-bang-podcast/)
Launched: 1 May 2009
Updated: Weekly (on Tuesday morning)
Comedy Bang! Bang! consists of humorous interviews, strange characters, and long-running callbacks. The show is hosted by Scott Aukerman, a former writer for Mr. Show with Bob And David and the co-creator of Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis. Generally, one or more guests are introduced and are comedically interviewed by Aukerman. Inevitably one or more characters will crash the interview and redirect the discussion to some insane idea or topic. Usually Aukerman and all of the guests will then play some improv-style game such as “Would You Rather?”--in which the guests are presented with two ridiculous scenarios and are then given the opportunity to ask questions about either scenario to better understand their choice--or “Freestyle Rap Battle,” which should be self-explanatory.
Showing posts with label nerdist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nerdist. Show all posts
Friday, August 3, 2012
Monday, July 16, 2012
Review of Christ Hardwick's The Nerdist Way
Chris Hardwick's The Nerdist Way: How to Reach the Next Level (In Real Life)
(New York: Berkeley Books, 2011)
Chris Hardwick is a very busy man. He hosts AMC's Talking Dead and G4's Web Soup. He performs stand-up regularly, and has appeared on John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show and The Benson Interruption on Comedy Central. Around four years ago, Hardwick started a small blog called Nerdist that has expanded into the Nerdist website and the Nerdist network of podcasts. With co-hosts Jonah Ray and Matt Mira, Hardwick hosts the extremely popular Nerdist podcast which was adapted into a TV show that airs on BBC America. Hardwick has a strong fan following most of whom fit into the intended audience of his first book, The Nerdist Way: How to Reach the Next Level (in Real Life). And when someone like Hardwick sets out to write a self-help book for Nerds, there is a healthy air of authority hanging about the project.
The book is partially inspired by Hardwick's own life as a Nerd, including stories of his own struggles with anxiety, confidence, alcohol, his weight, and other setbacks and of his eventual successes. Hardwick defines a Nerd as an individual who is obsessive, apt to over-analysis and hyper-self-awareness. According to Hardwick, Nerds often suffer from high anxiety and low confidence and are hampered by a pattern of self-defeating thoughts and behavior. Hardwick writes, "Nerds slouch, they won't look you in the eye, they stare at the floor mostly, and they seem to be on a mission to wrap their entire bodies around the center of their chest" (110). Hardwick identifies a lack of confidence and excessive use of electronic devices as the reasons for these tendencies among Nerds. The thesis of The Nerdist Way is that Nerds must employ their talents and intelligence in some field about which they are passionate. The book aims to motivate Nerds to develop themselves into Nerdists: artful Nerds; “creative obsessives” driven to produce, to create, and to innovate.
The market is flooded with self-help books aimed at all manner of people. Hardwick finds a way to make these principles relevant to Nerds and that could make his attempt at writing a self-help book for Nerds actually work. Hardwick knows how his audience thinks and he knows that they respond to certain styles of communication and relate to a particular set of references. Hardwick's writing style resembles that employed by bloggers and micro-bloggers across the net, a style that is very familiar and appropriate to his target audience. In the chapter “RPG Your Life,” Hardwick encourages his reader to make a character page (like in Dungeons & Dragons) that represents himself or herself, taking inventory of his/her talents and outlook on life. By relating self-improvement to the sense of accomplishment that role-playing gamers feel gathering experience points and skills in a quest-driven, goal-oriented game structure, Hardwick finds an opening to teach Nerds the ways to mental, physical, and financial well-being, as well as to provide advice on time-management. And Hardwick does not do this in vague terms. Within The Nerdist Way, one will find methods for lowering anxiety, exercise programs, healthy diet plans, financial advice, and more.
Interestingly, the portion on physical fitness is the book's tensest moment. Hardwick approaches the subject of diet and exercise acknowledging that this is a subject with which many of his potential readers are uncomfortable. The section—in fact, the whole book—stands or falls on Hardwick's ability to sustain his point that a healthy diet and exercise are critical to overall wellness while not alienating his readers. It would be impossible for me to say just how successful he is at walking that line, as each reader will react in his or her own way. For most readers, I imagine that Hardwick's experience overcoming a weight and inactivity problem, his generally positive attitude, and his humor, serve to break down some of the barriers that so many of us have put up to preserve our self-esteem.
Hardwick's use of humor also helps to overcome the cynical and detached attitude that many of us who have come into adulthood in the past twenty or so years have espoused. Hardwick circumvents some pretty large obstacles to package a self-help program in a way that will reach a portion of his target audience. The book is rife with sarcastic and self-deprecating humor that serves to keep his serious message from seeming artificial and recontextualizes the book's principles of self-discipline and hard work in a Nerdy light. Still, Hardwick maintains a positive tone throughout the book.
In some sense, Hardwick is merely reproducing principles that have been hawked by self-help gurus for decades. Additionally, he has no credentials as a therapist or counsellor, only the authority of a now-successful Nerd looking back on his own journey. Aside from his own experience with anxiety and self-doubt, Hardwick's treatment of setting goals and reaching them is unlikely to work on someone suffering from an anxiety disorder caused by a chemical imbalance or deep psychological trauma. Nevertheless, Hardwick has a desire to help, the insight to reach his audience, and he is an important voice in Nerd culture, spreading an affirmative message and I applaud him for it.
[The word Nerd and its variants are capitalized throughout to stay consistent with Hardwick.]
(New York: Berkeley Books, 2011)
The book is partially inspired by Hardwick's own life as a Nerd, including stories of his own struggles with anxiety, confidence, alcohol, his weight, and other setbacks and of his eventual successes. Hardwick defines a Nerd as an individual who is obsessive, apt to over-analysis and hyper-self-awareness. According to Hardwick, Nerds often suffer from high anxiety and low confidence and are hampered by a pattern of self-defeating thoughts and behavior. Hardwick writes, "Nerds slouch, they won't look you in the eye, they stare at the floor mostly, and they seem to be on a mission to wrap their entire bodies around the center of their chest" (110). Hardwick identifies a lack of confidence and excessive use of electronic devices as the reasons for these tendencies among Nerds. The thesis of The Nerdist Way is that Nerds must employ their talents and intelligence in some field about which they are passionate. The book aims to motivate Nerds to develop themselves into Nerdists: artful Nerds; “creative obsessives” driven to produce, to create, and to innovate.
The market is flooded with self-help books aimed at all manner of people. Hardwick finds a way to make these principles relevant to Nerds and that could make his attempt at writing a self-help book for Nerds actually work. Hardwick knows how his audience thinks and he knows that they respond to certain styles of communication and relate to a particular set of references. Hardwick's writing style resembles that employed by bloggers and micro-bloggers across the net, a style that is very familiar and appropriate to his target audience. In the chapter “RPG Your Life,” Hardwick encourages his reader to make a character page (like in Dungeons & Dragons) that represents himself or herself, taking inventory of his/her talents and outlook on life. By relating self-improvement to the sense of accomplishment that role-playing gamers feel gathering experience points and skills in a quest-driven, goal-oriented game structure, Hardwick finds an opening to teach Nerds the ways to mental, physical, and financial well-being, as well as to provide advice on time-management. And Hardwick does not do this in vague terms. Within The Nerdist Way, one will find methods for lowering anxiety, exercise programs, healthy diet plans, financial advice, and more.
Interestingly, the portion on physical fitness is the book's tensest moment. Hardwick approaches the subject of diet and exercise acknowledging that this is a subject with which many of his potential readers are uncomfortable. The section—in fact, the whole book—stands or falls on Hardwick's ability to sustain his point that a healthy diet and exercise are critical to overall wellness while not alienating his readers. It would be impossible for me to say just how successful he is at walking that line, as each reader will react in his or her own way. For most readers, I imagine that Hardwick's experience overcoming a weight and inactivity problem, his generally positive attitude, and his humor, serve to break down some of the barriers that so many of us have put up to preserve our self-esteem.
Hardwick's use of humor also helps to overcome the cynical and detached attitude that many of us who have come into adulthood in the past twenty or so years have espoused. Hardwick circumvents some pretty large obstacles to package a self-help program in a way that will reach a portion of his target audience. The book is rife with sarcastic and self-deprecating humor that serves to keep his serious message from seeming artificial and recontextualizes the book's principles of self-discipline and hard work in a Nerdy light. Still, Hardwick maintains a positive tone throughout the book.
In some sense, Hardwick is merely reproducing principles that have been hawked by self-help gurus for decades. Additionally, he has no credentials as a therapist or counsellor, only the authority of a now-successful Nerd looking back on his own journey. Aside from his own experience with anxiety and self-doubt, Hardwick's treatment of setting goals and reaching them is unlikely to work on someone suffering from an anxiety disorder caused by a chemical imbalance or deep psychological trauma. Nevertheless, Hardwick has a desire to help, the insight to reach his audience, and he is an important voice in Nerd culture, spreading an affirmative message and I applaud him for it.
[The word Nerd and its variants are capitalized throughout to stay consistent with Hardwick.]
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