Thursday, March 1, 2012 at 3:09PM Joel Mandelkorn 
Jesse Thorn and The Sklar Brothers get into it and then some in a recent A.V. Club interview. Lots of tangents, over-talking (in print form, no less!) and even a few inappropriate comments. Just the way I like my Sklar time. It's a fun read among some of the best podcasters working today (Maximum Fun, Jordan Jesse Go!, Sklarbro Country). Enjoy.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012 at 12:27PM Joel Mandelkorn New shows our up on The Plop List directory. Some big hitters, some fun self-made gems, all worth a listen. It's highlighted by the triumphant arrival of Dana Gould to podcasting land with his bi-weekly show, The Dana Gould Hour. We'll keep looking through the submissions and looking for new shows (or new to us) and keep adding to the directory in the near future. Keep listening and laughing. Or not. You can do whatever you want. The new shows:
The Dana Gould Hour
Comedy Cellar: Live From The Table
The Comedy Sideshow With Theo Von
The Rough House
This My Show
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 4:50PM Joel Mandelkorn 
Pete Holmes *Photo by Mandee JohnsonOn the heels of the recent SXSW comedy announcements, Katie Pengra of Culture Map Austin interviewed comedian and podcaster Pete Holmes. Host of You Made It Weird on the Nerdist Network, Holmes offered up some fun and still sincere podcasting insight for fans and potential new podcasters.
Check-out the full interview here.
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 9:28AM Joel Mandelkorn 
The Nerdist blog posted a nice write-up of their very own Vanessa Ragland receiving a nomination for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Woman of the Year honor. The co-host of Pop My Culture, Ragland recently launched her campaign to raise awareness and funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society over the next several months. During her campaign, Ragland is injecting a bit of humor, including a mini-fundraising goal of getting her father to cut his ponytail. Check-out the post for more details!
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 3:30PM Joel Mandelkorn 
Picking a favorite epsidoe this week in comedy podcast land was a simple one. Sure, I felt a tad uninspired going for the big gun of Conan O'Brien visiting Chris Hardwick, Jonah Ray and Matt Mira for an episode of The Nerdist. But I'm not sure there's any denying that O'Brien is a comedy icon of our times and receiving a long dose of the man in a less filtered format such as a podcast is always a treat. AT least that's what I'm going with for this week's submission to the Jesse Fox Splitsider "Week In Comedy" podcast round-up. My thoughts on the episode from Splitsider:
Conan O’Brien visiting audio nerd land with Chris Hardwick and pals isn’t necessarily the most obscure episode choice. Still, O’Brien is one of the few high profile comedians more willing to talk shop and get silly. The episode doles out a bunch of quality detailed revelations about O’Brien’s comedic relationships with guests and coworkers and how the day-in-day-out comedy grind shapes the show and even O’Brien’s own psyche. Chris Hardwick steers the conversation effortlessly, making it a breezy listen. As always, Jonah Ray is on point for several great comments and comedic tags. Matt Mira follows suit with a few quality asides, as well. There are a few fun faux antagonistic moments between O’Brien and Hardwick’s pals — probably not enough, though. During the 90-minute laid back talk, O’Brien is affable and neurotic, coming across like a sharpened version of his on-screen self. The real gems of the episode are just O’Brien opening himself up — both his distant and recent past — and putting on display his passion for comedy writing and entertaining.
The other picks from the Splitsider crew this week include a few newer shows, at least newer to us. Hooray for new things:
The Todd Glass Show #31, Part 2 - Paul F. Tompkins, Daniel Kinno
It’s That Episode #5 – Adam Lustick
The Nerdist #167 – Conan O’Brien
Probably Science #7 – Kyle Kinane
How Did This Get Made? #30 – Brian Huskey, Vanilla Ice
Honorable mentions this week include: Jordan & Jesse Go #211 (Tony Millionaire), The Best Show on WFMU (Michael Kupperman), The Dead Authors Podcast Chapter 6: Gertude Stein (John Ross Bowie) and Who Charted? #63 (Paul F. Tompkins).
Monday, February 13, 2012 at 4:18PM Joel Mandelkorn 
The A.V. Club offered up another strong batch of winning podcast episodes in their latest Podmass post. And, let's try to accept that Charlie Sheen hasn't completely destroyed our collective ability to use the term "winning." Or maybe he has. Pete Holmes continues to carve out a nice piece of the podcasting pie for himself with his weekly You Made It Weird. His show pulled off the WTF double dip this week. Here are the comedy episodes making the cut from the latest Podmass offering:
Comedy Bang! Bang! #143 "Grammy Spectacular" - “Weird Al” Yankovic, Todd Glass, Amy Phillips
How Was Your Week? “Best of HWYW Vol. 2” - Patton Oswalt, John Mulaney, Mike Daisey & Ted Leo
Mike and Tom Eat Snacks #48 "Dip Mix"
Monday Morning Podcast
Never Not Funny #1009 "Tipping The Valet" - Gulman
The Pod F. Tompkast #15
Sklarbro Country #80 "Ms. Sklarbro Int’l" - Keegan-Michael Key, Jason Nash, Chris Cox
The Thrilling Adventure Hour #57 "Sparks Nevada, Marshal On Mars: Do The Fight Thing"
Uhh Yeah Dude #309
Who Charted? #62 "Indie Cred" - Jake Fogelnest
WTF With Marc Maron #250 - Frank Santorelli, Tony V, Jimmy Tingle, Mike Donovan, Kenny Rogerson
You Made It Weird #20 - Joe Mande
You Made It Weird #21 - Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 4:01PM Joel Mandelkorn 
Click here for the complete post.
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 3:33PM Joel Mandelkorn 
Long live the messy chaotic comedic underworld of comedy podcasts. Sure a whole heck of a lot of shows pushing themselves as comedy podcasts end up just being radio shows online or the dreaded bunch of dudes sitting around talking. The Todd Glass Show continues to go right at these stiff show formats with its assault on the audio chat show format. Not sure there's a non-sketch show that gets more sillier while keeping its grounding. I chose the latest Paul F. Tompkins (part 1 of 2) episode for this week's Splitsider "Week In Comedy" post. Check it out:
The Todd Glass Show keeps rolling along in the blissful comedic weeds – part radio show send-up and part comedy deconstruction crash course. The adding of podcaster extraordinaire Paul F. Tompkins to the fray brings both an expected dose of silliness, as well as a surprising bit of tension. Both Tompkins and Glass are two of the best at switching gears mid-bit. Absurd tangents to honest-to-god adult conversations. It’s all here. Listening to them prod one another along the way is great fun, too. Glass continues his obsession with throwing to fake breaks and over-examining jingles. There’s also actual stories shared, a few cop-related, and an insane visit with the “juice guy” from Glass’ gym (aka “the extremely foreign guy”) – a roided-out Tompkins’ character for sure. The show is at its meta best with the frenetic jumping in and out of bits. Tompkins ends up taking over the show for a hot minute while Glass combusts. The always-paying-attention sidekick, Daniel Kinno, skillfully pops in from time to time, as both the show’s fake irritant and wise observer. Glass, Tompkins and Kinno layer on a bit of substance towards the end with some earnest dialogue on comedic boundaries and the travails of political correctness. The 90-plus minutes of delirious randomness ends up creating another stellar comedic gem.
The other picks from the Splitsider crew this week:
Who Charted? #62 – Jake Fogelnest
A Bit of Chat with Ken Plume – Gillian Jacobs
The Todd Glass Show #30 – Paul F. Tompkins, Daniel Kinno
The Nerdist #164 – Fred Stoller
WTF with Marc Maron #251 – Matt Graham
Honorable mentions this week include a quality batch, not worth missing: Gelmania VI (Matt Besser, Lake Bell, June Diane Raphael, Paul Scheer, Steve Agee), The Pod F. Tompkast #15 (Martha Plimpton, Chris Hardwick, Jen Kirkman), Pop My Culture #67 "Live at SF Sketchfest" (Drew Carey), The Long Shot #419 “The ‘What a Bunt’ Episode” (Greg Fitzsimmons) and The Smartest Man In The World "Menageries."
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 11:40AM Joel Mandelkorn Brooklyn Comedy Social, a new web series bringing together a presumably random but very Brooklyn-y assortment of comedic minds to share some tea and talk started this month. The YouTube page offers up this brief description:
Brooklyn Comedy Social invites 3 comedians to tea and cakes while discussing the big topics each week.
The first few episodes feature comedians to take part are Janeane Garofalo, Dave Hill and Gabe Liedman. Definitely a fun watch. There's no other real information on the series online, right nwo. So, I guess we're going with all shows that don't get the iTunes treatment receive the ol' "web series" label. Either way, enjoy.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 10:14AM Joel Mandelkorn 
Paul Brownfield took the time to both praise and complain about comedy podcasts boom in a recent New York Times Magazine column. A former TV Critic for The Los Angeles Times, Brownfield spends a lot of time introducing comedy podcasts to the uninformed readers through the prism of the self-help approach and comedians-talking-to-comedians format that much of the digital arena takes on.
The essay spills a lot of ink talking about Paul Gilmartin's Mental Illness Hour - not a comedy show by a long shot. Brownfield also laments the lack of audience in the typical podcasting experience, lessening the purity of the comedy experience. Kind of an awkward theory that comes off as out of touch with the nature of modern entertainment and creativity. Apparently, comedy is only at its best in a live setting. There's some quality stuff in there admist all the old-man crankiness, too. Brownfield interestingly draws a line from Mitch Hedberg's comedy to the current honesty overload of comedy podcasts.
In lieu of my half-ass push-backs and references, check-out the complete column here.
