The AV Club: Podmass January 19-25

Catching up on podcasts seems to be the norm. If you're forced to skip around and not be one of those hardcore completist, The A.V. Club's weekly Podmass highlights and recaps is always a great reference guide for a quick catch-up session. Once again, the comedy shows win the day with the overwhelming majority of the "best" spots. The A.V. Club elders also took time to note The Sideshow Network's Jerky Boys show. We need more terms other than "retro" for going back to the past for creative content. Not passing judgment - just thinking it's the norm now and we should have more shades of labelling looking back.

I can't forget that both The Nerdist and You Made It Weird pulled off the not-really-that-rare "WTF" - double episode acclaim. Also - let's all celebrate The Bugle releasing their first independent show. Here are the comedy episodes making the cut from the latest Podmass offering: 

The Bugle #179 "Playas Gon Play"
Comedy Bang! Bang! #141 "Ladies Night"  Tig Notaro, Ronna & Beverly
Doug Loves Movies - Pat Wilson, Josh Freese, Brendon Walsh, Graham Elwood
How Was Your Week? #46 “Consequences” - Chris Gethard, Katie Notopoulos
Judge John Hodgman #49 "The Master’s Disaster"
Mike and Tom Eat Snacks #47 "Pirate’s Booty"
Monday Morning Podcast
The Nerdist #160 - Graham Elwood
The Nerdist #161 - Stephen Merchant
Stop Podcasting Yourself #201 - Jon Dore
The Thrilling Adventure Hour #55 "Captain Laserbeam!: Even Bluebirds Get The Blues"
Walking The Room #87 - Rob Delaney
WTF With Marc Maron #247 - Ralphie May
You Made It Weird #15 - Nick Thune
You Made It Weird #16 - T.J Miller

             

Plop of The Week: Pop My Culture #64

I'm still living in the past it seems. A podcast highlight of the past week reflected the same remincing spirit. I picked the Pop My Culture part 1 2011 recap show for my Splitsider "Week In Comedy Podcasts" selection. It's an incredibly fun listen. Even includes your obligatory Paul F. Tompkins guest appearance, too. Here's the lowdown via my Splitsider excerpt:

Cole Stratton and Vanessa Ragland, the ever upbeat and often offbeat Pop My Culture hosts, take this whole intimate just-hanging-out-don’t-mind-if-we-do podcast thing up a notch with their first installment of their 2011 Year-In-Review show. They bring back five of their favorite guests from the past year for a jovial party to discuss their 2011 favorites and loathsome least favorite things pop culture-y. Part 1 focuses on the positive. Pop My Culture doesn’t take the easy way out and offer up some half-ass clip show with commentary. They basically recorded their own party. A party with lists! It’s a treat to listen in on an honest, adult and free-flowing conversation among a group of talented and fun folk. Don’t worry – Stratton and Ragland are still in charge, keeping the loose format from bursting into full party chaos. Their party/podcast guests for the night include: Tony Hale, Rob Paulsen, Meredith Salenger, Paul F. Tompkins and James Urbaniak. Each of them adds their own perspective to the proceedings. Above all, Stratton and Ragland’s force of personality and likeability again manage to make pop culture something grounded, adult and enriching. Go figure. Although, Part 2, turning to the what-I-don’t-like game, could always descend into a brawl.

     

Here's the complete list of the Splitsider episode picks from the other contributors. Special points for improv4humans going on a crazy good run of late. The Long Shot, too.

Jordan, Jesse Go! #206 - Eddie Pepitone
improv4humans #8 - Sean Conroy, Brett Gelman, Curtis Gwinn
Pop My Culture #64: “Pop The Cork: The Best of 2011, Part 1” - Tony Hale, Rob Paulsen, Meredith Salenger, Paul F. Tompkins and James Urbaniak
The Smartest Man In The World "Elbows"
Comedy Bang! Bang! #139 - Bob Odenkirk, Brian Huskey

Honorable mentions include: Fitzdog Radio (Andy Richter), The Long Shot #415 (Brett Gelman), The Nerdist #156 (David Cross), WTF with Marc Maron #224 (Russell Brand) and You Made It Weird #13 (Nick Kroll).

Plop of The Week: The Long Shot #413 & #414

Took a week off for the Splitsider's Jesse Fox's end of the year podcast recap. I'm back and ready for 2012. Yet, I'm still looking back at the recent holidays. For my Splitisider pick I went with a double episode pairing from one of my favorite shows - The Long Shot. They changed up their format a bit and offered up two short holiday themed episodes. These quickies revealed a little more of the behind-the-scenes dynamics among the hosts. The format changed really showed off how they group has a lot of entertainment punch to offer - no matter the format - as they continue on. Here's the recap for the Splitsider "This Week In Comedy Podcasts":

Just like The Long Shot did over the holidays, I’d figure I’d try something different with my pick this time out. I made it a two-for-one. As Jamie Flam would say: “Boom.” The best comedy group in podcasting treated listeners to two holiday greeting quickies and a slight format shift. The “Secret Santa” and “New Year’s Resolution” mini-sodes serve as a sweet reward for longtime fans and double as a great primer for the group’s chemistry, honesty and silliness. Four seasons in, there’s a well-worn dynamic among Amber Kenny, Eddie Pepitone, Jamie Flam and Sean Conroy. The Secret Santa show features the group worshiping its non-denominational holiday obelisk and visits from Intern Alex and Sound Guy Jorge. There are some heartfelt exchanges with Pepitone and Conroy still sneaking in the character riffs. The “Resolutions” episode is pretty much the “let’s get specific” game with Conroy challenging everyone to go detailed with their 2012 goals. A highlight is Flam disappointing Pepitone with his grand but generic goal of “taking over the world” in 2012. Conroy continues to be one of the most underrated performers in comedy podcasting, hosting the motley crew and tracking and adding to the comedy no matter the subject matter or tone. He and his co-hosts are hitting their stride as we hit the New Year. The combo of heart and obnoxiousness that reaps delirious rewards.

      

Here's the complete list of the Splitsider episode picks, including a shout-out to the always charming (and far too often underappreciated) Pop My Culture. Plus, for pure comedy - don't miss out the Honorable Mention of improv4humans:

Who Charted? #57 - David Wain
How Did This Get Made? #27 - Doug Benson
The Nerdist #154 "Stand-Up Cluster 2"
The Long Shot #413 & #414
Pop My Culture #63 - Jim Rash

Honorable mentions include Comedy Bang! Bang! #138 (Andy Richter, Paul F. Tompkins), improv4humans #7 (Brian Husky, Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh) and My Brother, My Brother And Me #86 "Get It."

The AV Club: Podmass 2011 Picks

Not to be left out of end of the year list making, the A.V. Club podcast elders offered up a voted-on Top Ten Podcast list for 2011. Comedy overwhelmingly won the year with 9 out of the 12 shows mentioned being Plop List directory shows. A few of the flagship shows made the list, including WTF, Comedy Bang! Bang!, The Nerdist, Best Show on WFMU and Pod F. Tompkins. The A.V. Club also included a few dissenting podcast thoughts from its contributors. Thankfully there was at least somebody over there giving Jimmy Pardo's Never Not Funny a little bit of love. Here's the A.V. Club final 2011 list:

10: Mike And Tom Eat Snacks
9 (tie): The Thrilling Adventure Hour
9 (tie): Superego
9 (tie): The Tobolowsky Files
8: The Bugle
7: The Mental Illness Happy Hour
6: This American Life
5: The Nerdist
4: The Best Show On WFMU
3: Comedy Bang! Bang!
2: The Pod F. Tompkast
1: WTF With Marc Maron

Check-out the complete Podmass year-end post here.

Mike & Tom Eat Snacks Moves To Nerdist

The irreverant and thorougly silly snack-riffic show, Mike and Tom Eat Snacks is now calling The Nerdist Network home. Last week's hershey kiss episode marked the first new show on the Chris Hardwick operated network. The show had been missing-in-action for over a month. No word yet on what the network shift might mean to the show. Suffice to say, the real question is how many new snacks are left for Michael Ian Black and Tom Cavanagh to argue about.

The AV Club: Podmass December 8-14

The A.V. Club offered up another thumbs up list to podcasting this week via their Podmass recaps and "best" list. It's a legnthy list with a lot of the usual favorites and, again, comedy shows take up much of the recognition space. Here's the comedy episodes making the AV cut this past week: 

The Best Show On WFMU
The Bugle #175 "Putin The Boot In"
Comedy Bang! Bang! #135 "Scavenge and The Wisemen" - Erinn Hayes, Paul F. Tompkins, Dan Telfer
Doug Loves Movies - Sarah Silverman, Brian Posehn, Edgar Wright
How Was Your Week? "Twittertudes" - Kristen Schaal and Ari Graynor
Mike And Tom Eat Snacks #42 "Hershey Kiss"
The Nerdist #149 - J.J. Abrams
Never Not Funny #1001 - Harland Williams
Sklarbro Country #72 "That's So Selleck" - Steve Rannazzisi, James Adomian
Thrilling Adventure Hour #51 "Sparks Nevada, Marshal On Mars"
Uhh Yeah Dude #301
Walking The Room #81 - Patton Oswalt
WTF With Marc Maron #234 - Jillian Lauren
WTF With Marc Maron #235 - Donald Glover
You Made It Weird #10 - Alec Sulkin

Check-out the complete Podmass recaps here.

             

2012 SF Sketchfest Packs In The Podcasts

The SF Sketchfest announced its lineup for its 2012 fest, including a slew of quality comedy podcasts offering up live recording shows. The comedy festival highlights sketch comedy and much more over several weeks, January 19 through February 4th to be exact. I'd venture to say this may be the greatest concentration (over a few weeks, albeit) of live comedy podcast shows at one festival. Congrats to all the shows making the San Francisco trek. Even more so - congrats to all the lucky digital comedy fans in the area. Tickets are on sale here.

With so may great podcasts at the fest, you might as well just check-out the full list:

SModcast
WTF with Marc Maron - Geoff Bolt, Will Durst, Pete Holmes, Arden Myrin and Laraine Newman
The Nerdist - Guests TBA
Doug Loves Movies - Guests TBA
The Benson Movie Interruption: Road House - Guests TBA
Never Not Funny - Pat Francis, John Slattery
Kevin Pollak's Chat Show - Guests TBA
The Smartest Man in the World Proopcast
Walking The Room
Superego - Paul F. Tompkins
Pop My Culture
RISK! - Steve Agee, Robert Ben Garant, Nikki Glaser, Joshua Grannell, Myq Kaplan, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Natasha Leggero, Rick Overton, Sheng Wang and more

For the full 2012 lineup, check-out www.sfsketchfest.com or follow the fest on Twitter (@SFSketchfest).

The AV Club: Podmass December 1-7

The A.V. Club elders did their thing again. You know that thing? The one where they consume a shitload of media and entertainment and then act all knowledgeable about it, maybe even with a little better-than-the-rest-of-us vibe? Yeah, that thing. Honestly, I'm always in awe of the output of their staff. Even if it's all a lie, they do a damn good job of lying to us.

They also took the time to check-out two new shows (new to them): You Made It Weird and The Dork Forest. Both are quality shows with distinct outputs compared to their peer shows, thanks in large part to their great hosts (Pete Holmes and Jackie Kashian, respectively).

Their Podmass picks for favorite podcast episodes are again comedy dominated with many of the usual suspects. A few more selections than the last week out: 

The Best Show On WFMU
The Bugle #174 "Britain’s Back Baby!"
How Was Your Week? #39 “Horror-curious” - Nick Kroll, Gabe Liedman
Judge John Hodgman #43 "Triple Word Scorn"
The Nerdist #147: Jimmy Pardo
Sklarbro Country #71 "Sklarbros And Sklarhos" Tom Segura, Chris Cox
The Smartest Man In The World "Crackers"
The Sound of Young America - Carrie Fisher
Superego #3:10
Uhh Yeah Dude #300
Walking The Room #80 "Fashion Fight and The Horse Ending"
Who Charted? #53 "Ace Of Baritone" - Myq Kaplan
WTF With Marc Maron #232 - Henry Phillips

Check-out the complete Podmass recaps here.

             

Plop of The Week: The Nerdist #147 with Jimmy Pardo

Okay, so this week's favorite episode pick goes to podcast mash-up, of sorts. Yes, hosts being on other hosts' shows is a tried and true method for establishing a non-sucky entertainment standard in podcast land. I'm only human. Funny is funny. And this week's Jimmy Pardo guested episode of The Nerdist gets the extra nod thanks to Pardo adding honesty to the abundant humor. My pick of the Splitsider "This Week In Comedy Podcasts":

When The Nerdist guys gather 'round for a recorded hang out session, it usually goes in two directions: traditional interview reverence or plain ol' dicking around. Well, with always funny Jimmy Pardo in for a visit, we get a stellar laugh/learn combo episode. From the start, Pardo has a ton of fun at the expense of both Jonah Ray and Matt Mira. Ray's skill at finding the moment for an inappropriate/dumb joke is a perfect fit alongside Pardo's similar brand of silliness. I'm officially advocating for a Ray visit to Never Not Funny. Chris Hardwick keeps the show moving along, even venturing into heartfelt territory where the foursome discusses the link between comedy and tragedy. Full of charm and vigor, Pardo's honesty about his past, his show and the people in his life are a delight. Hardwick also finds time to fanboy his favorite Pardo moments, including an awkward Pardo/Lisa Loeb memory. Throughout, Pardo offers up plenty of passionate podcast insight. And, then there's a healthy dose of FLARB. It doesn't all have to make sense. That's half the fun.

     

Here's the complete list of the Splitsider episode picks, including the inclusion of Earwolf's brilliantly cracked-out Gelmania:

RISK! #308 "The Family"
Superego #3:10
Gelmania #2 - Megan Mullally, Adam Scott, Natasha Leggero, Jackie Clarke, Gil Ozeri
The Nerdist #147 - Jimmy Pardo
Here's The Thing #4 - Chris Rock

More comedy podcast recognition via the always handy honorable mentions: Comedy Bang! Bang! #134 (Kevin Nealon, Ben Schwatz, Amy Phillps), Dead Authors #4 "Benjamin Franklin" (Scott Aukerman), Illusionoid 9th Transmission "Invastion of The Cybernetic Cyberfreaks, Making It With Riki Lindhome #21 (Doug Benson) and WTF with Marc Maron #233 (Anthony Bourdain).

The AV Club: Podmass November 10-16

Several days late passing along the almighty A.V. Club's podcast picks from last week, also known affectionately and literarlly (marketing synergy!) as the "Podmass." On the comedy front, the usual suspects take center stage. Should we be bitter about it? Let's go with "no." Good is good, even if it's at an annoyingly consistent clip. Some cool new shows get a "New To Us" shout-out from the A.V. Club elders: This Is That and Deep S##! With Baron Vaughn. On to the comedy selections this time out:

The Best Show On WFMU
The Bugle #172 "Berlusconi Bows Out"
Comedy Bang! Bang! #131 "Mayor Of Hollywood" Jason Mantzoukas, Andy Daly
Judge John Hodgman #41 "Out Of REC-order"
The Nerdist #141 - Dave Attell
Never Not Funny #924 - Scott Aukerman
RISK! "The Best Of RISK! Part 2"
Scott Free #14 "We’re Back!"
Sklarbro Country #68 "Beware Of Falling Fat Guys" - Will Forte
Thrilling Adventure Hour #47
Uhh Yeah Dude #297
Walking The Room #77 "Wigtown and The Lice Family"
Who Charted? #50 - Rob Schrab
WTF With Marc Maron #226 - Neil Hamburger, Molly Shannon, Harris Wittels, Jim Earl, Eddie Pepitone
WTF With Marc Maron #227 - Adam Scott

Check-out the complete Podmass recaps here.