I'm A Comedy Podcaddict and I'm Proud of it

Over the course of the last few years, the staggering amount of growth within the medium of podcasting has given me a new addiction. All together, I think I subscribe to 25 podcasts, mostly all comedy related. If you, like myself, have a job that involves lots of sitting at a desk, if you listen to your iPod while you work out, or you have a long commute to work, I highly suggest you get hip to the dip, A.S.A.-muthafuckin-P.

There are so many to chose from it's ridiculous. I don't want to show preference towards one over the other so I'll just list and briefly describe all of the ones that I would recommend to a first-time podcaster.

1. Comedy Death-Ray Radio : A podcast based on a live show at the UCB Theater in Los Angeles, this podcast is hosted by Alternative Comedy Guru and all around genius, Scott Aukerman. Each week he has a new set of guests and almost always, there is a person who plays a character for the duration of their appearance; i.e. Nick Kroll, James Adomian, Seth Morris, Andy Daly). I'm an avid fan of this podcast and I would find it to be a daunting task to find anything negative to say about it. It's almost 100 percent improv-based, they often feature in studio musical guests, now that they run out of Ear Wolf Studios, and it is a sure-fire guarantee to get you into laughing fits so intense, you'll have to pull over your car off of the highway, just to not kill everyone around you. (Speaking from personal experience, there). It's also the founding podcast of the newly-formed Ear Wolf Podcasting Network.

2. Comedy and Everything Else - Hosted by Jimmy Dore and Stephanie Zamorano, this is one of the longest running podcasts in the history of the medium. Every Monday, a new episode is posted and sometimes, if not all the time, it features a guest who sits in with them for the majority of their show. This is a great podcast for comedy fans who like to hear working comedians discuss the machinations and perspective of a Stand-Up, in regards to how to properly run a venue, how to work a crowd, and basically gives the listeners great tips on how to grow as a comedian. They also discuss topical issues and things that they feel deserve attention in the media and within the comedy community. I highly suggest listening to the entire series of Kyle Cease episodes, including the Matt Besser episode. Personally, this is my favorite podcast to listen to from start to finish, simply because Jimmy is constantly giving great advice to those who want to be comedians, themselves.

3. Doug Loves Movies - Hosted by Doug Benson, this is probably my favorite podcast to listen to while I'm at work. Every week a set of 3 guests and Doug discuss movies, new or otherwise, and a lot of the times, they just riff off of each other about whatever they feel like until Doug remembers to start playing movie-based games. The games they play are relatively simple and yet equally as addictive once you get the hang of them.
One is called "Build A Title" where, either Doug or a guest of his choosing, will name a movie. Then, the other guests have to build on that movie title, using either the first word as the last word in the chain, or the last word as the first word of the new movie in the chain. An example would be: Heat, then Body Heat, that could then be Jennifer's Body Heat, and so on and so forth. His most popular game, by far, is the Leonard Maltin Game. This is essentially a version of "Name that Tune", but using the names of bottom-billed actors instead of notes in sequence. It's a great game to listen to and an even better one if you're, like me, a walking IMDB and end up yelling at my laptop every time a contestant can't come up with the answer. The guests all play for audience members and the winner garners their audience member prizes if they win. The losers get to name a "Shit Head" at the end of the show that Doug announces as the show ends.
It's an immensely fun podcast and I highly recommend it to movie buffs, comedy nerds, and fans of hilarity in general.

4. WTF with Marc Maron - Far and away, this is the best example of a Litmus Test for any first-time podcast listener. If you can handle Marc Maron's brutaly honesty, unrelentingly introspective, and constantly self-deprecating nature, you are ready for the world that is podcasting, on a whole. His neurosis is a metaphor for the current state of the medium itself. Maron, who was previously most famous for his time spent on Air America Radio, started this podcast a little over a year ago and in that time, the show has grown into one of, if not the most popular comedy podcasts on the Internet. Deservedly so, as he always has great guests like Louie C.K. , Janeane Garofalo, and Patton Oswalt, and that's just to name a few. I recommend starting with his episodes with Nick Kroll as El Chupacabra. They'll have you on the floor with laughter. Not to mention, his interview skills are awesome, so his guest interview spots are, by my view, the best in the business.

5. Never Not Funny - The longest running American comedy podcast, Never Not Funny is the brain-child of comedian Jimmy Pardo and producer and entrepreneur, Matt Belknap. It's conversational, party-style, talky podcasting at its best. Every week they bring on guests like Scott Aukerman, Pat Francis, and my personal favorite re-occurring guest, Jon Hamm to help bring more life to each episode. Hamm is shockingly funny, given his uber-serious role on Mad Men and every time he makes an appearance on the show, his rapport with Jimmy Pardo is undeniable. The show is in its 7th season, moving into the 8th and they have 2 versions of the show: one free, twenty minute version, or a paid subscription version which normally runs about 90 minutes. It's worth paying the money, as each episode breaks down to pennies on the dollar and they also give you the option to pay for video of each episode as well.

Potential Twitter Interview with Kyle Cease (? !)

Fans of comedy should by now know the name Kyle Cease. He's had his fair share of Comedy Central love: A Special, another Special, Top Rated Comedian in whatever Comedian list they invented a few years back, etc. etc. He's released a comedy CD: One Dimple and a DVD: Weirder. Blacker. Dimpler. Needless to say, even though I just kinda did, the man has established himself as a time-tested comedian.

As of recent, Kyle, along with Louie Anderson decided to start a company called Stand-up Comedy Boot Camp. It is a program that anyone can sign up for, but obviously, it is implicit in the name that the course would benefit Comedians in particular. It is a program that can run anywhere from 2 to 5 days, depending on what each participant chooses, ending in a graduation ceremony.

Now, here is where this idea and reality have found conflict: After the Comedy Boot Camp website launched, the first promo video they used to attract clientele was, to be kind, over-the-top serious. It was filled with innuendo and suggestions that the class could offer someone personal break-throughs that could change their lives and not so much about how it could make you a better comedian. Once the rest of the comedy community found out about the camp, the site, and then in turn the video, parodies instantly hit the Internet. (Check out Duncan Trussell and Natasha Leggero's parody on their podcast the Lavender Hour). That video was then taken down and a new video was put in its place.

The second video was less over-the-top serious in the same way that Terminator 3 : Rise of the Machines was less violent than T2: Terminator 2. Ever so slightly were the over all tones changed and there were new snippets of footage from the course itself that featured comedians giving students advice. BUT, it also featured a line that asked if the students and/or potential students viewing the video wanted to become million dollar head-liner comedians. All while, a very serious Nine Inch Nails song was playing underneath of the entire thing. Here is the parody video for that one:


Enter, Doug Stanhope. After these videos and promo ads began floating around, Outspoken Comedian and overall speaker of his mind, Doug Stanhope wrote a blog post that EVISCERATED the merits of not only Stand-Up Comedy classes in general, but he took special time out to completely destroy Kyle's Stand Up Comedy Boot Camp. It was not pretty, nor was it anywhere near the word "nice". After that blog post hit, Kyle decided that he was going to speak out against his naysayers.

This is when Kyle goes on Jimmy Dore and Stephanie Zamorano's podcast, Comedy and Everything Else. 3 Kyle Cease interviews, 2 supplemental content episodes, and 1 counter-point interview with guest Matt Besser later and to my mind and to many people's minds within the fandom of comedy, this issue is still not resolved. After that, what started floating around was the idea of a debate or a discussion between the two opposing sides: one being Kyle Cease and his positive viewpoint on the merits of the Boot Camp, and the other being a Comedian or respected figure who would argue against it.

Here's where I come in. Many of the comedians who have spoken out against the Boot Camp have done just that: they have spoken out against it or just plain attacked it or just simply taken a giant shit on it. Given that fact, Kyle does not want to debate other comedians as he feels he has nothing to explain to them. BUT, after a few Twitter exchanges between Kyle and I, I am getting the feeling that he is willing to do a Twitter interview with me. I assume he feels more comfortable doing this with someone like myself because I am at best, a shitty open mic-er and basically just a fan of good comedy.

I would very much like this to happen and the entire interview would take place on Twitter and would also be transcribed and posted here for all you non-twitterers out there. If you would like this to happen, please show your support by contacting Kyle on Twitter @kylecease and let him know that I'm a fair dude and he should totally like, you know, fucking do that shit.