Listened to that this morning on my commute and almost crashed my bike.
Question from Idiot: So…are The Nerdist podcasts supposed to be funny? I mean, I’m finding them fascinating, but every single one of them seems to be, to one degree or another, about making it in Hollywood, which doesn’t seem like a particularly nerdish thing to talk about. I haven’t processed Sex Nerd Sandra (I listen at work, so I try to avoid this for the same reason why I eventually dropped Blow Hard) or Todd Glass (there was a break when I picked up and I haven’t chewed through to new episodes) yet, so maybe those are different. I guess the one with the Pakistani guy from Franklin & Bash isn’t so much about how to get people to buy your script or what the implications are for taking your tits out on film - it’s just got a hell of a lot of crosstalk.
Nerdist can be funny when they have a funny guest. I thought Aisha Tyler’s recent appearance was good, but that’s because she’s so damned quick and played off the regulars really well (and because my crush on her makes me biased). But it’s not a “comedy podcast” the way CBB is; it’s a podcast about comedy, showbiz, pop culture, nerdy stuff.
That makes sense. I also have Tyler’s podcast added to the queue for processing, in part because I kind of want to hear her bust Jon’s balls about his eighteen different shows.
I should also add that I’m not down on the Nerdist shows. They’re absolutely enthralling for a guy who lives in Houston and has no intention of ever doing anything even remotely adjacent to show business. I guess I just assumed that they’d be funny on purpose on account of Chris Hardwick being a comedian and whatnot. The Aisha Tyler episode of the flagship show WAS good, though - I’ll give them that. I assume that the Bryan Cranston one I have on the list for today will be equally delightful, since I know for a fact that the man doesn’t always act like Walter White.
I wish someone would take the hit on this one and let us know!
$10 is pretty steep since Doug would usually only charge $1.99.
PFT’s on the latest CBB and listening to that will just make me want to hear more.
(While we’re talking CBB, can someone more in the know explain Chupacabra to me? Is he a luchadore called Chupacabra, or is he an actual legendary Mexican goat sucker?)
Wait…THE chupacabra or El Chupacabra? THE chupacabra is an entirely fictional cryptid meant to explain mangy coyotes and livestock deaths due to predation, and originated in Puerto Rico. Now there’s actually two of them - ones that are just mangy canids (look like funny shaped bald dogs with dumb teeth) and little bipedal lizard monsters that there aren’t any pictures of because they don’t actually exist.
According to Google Image Search, El Chupacabra is a chupacabra-themed luchador, but I could only find a couple of pictures of him and know nothing about the entertainment style that I didn’t learn from The Guy That Was Obviously Danny Trejo on Franklin & Bash.
I know what a chupacabra is, Brian. Thus the part where I wrote ‘actual legendary Mexican goat sucker’. The Chupacabra to whom I am referring is the James Adomian character on Comedy Death Ray/Comedy Bang Bang.
Edit: To give this post more purpose, the absolute best part of DLM’s Bumbershoot shows had to be Eugene Mirman. I’d never actually heard of him before Bob’s Burgers and never actually saught him out aftter Bob’s Burgers, but the guy was a goddam comedy revelation on DLM. I’d like to hear him and Dave Cross do an episode of CBB with Marissa Wompler.
I’ll do it. I can’t pass up three hours of Andy Daly and PFT.
Nick Kroll does El Chupacabra, not Adomian. QUE PASA, BABY?!?!?!?!???
I’m about halfway through this ep, so I won’t spoil it other than to say PFT’s latest character might be his best. Holy crap.
Speaking of which, Aisha Tyler has an interview podcast of her own now which is pretty great when she has a good guest. Easily better than Nerdist, I’d say.
I’ll give it another chance. The Jon Benjamin bored me to tears, and I haven’t listened since.
OK, I’m halfway through the second hour of the paid CBBs, and I think I can safely say these are totally worth the $10. It’s really fun to hear classic Daly and PFT characters in front of a live audience, and the bits are really strong all the way through.
As madkevin pointed out, it’s Nick Kroll, not James Adomian. To answer the question, though, he started out as a DJ on the mexican radio station that took over Indie 103.1. Now he appears to sometimes be the actual Chupacabra, though I don’t know that it matters much.
You can listen to the origin here.
OK, I’ve always liked Paul F. Tompkins, but having just been shined on to Comedy Bang Bang, I hadn’t realized he was just about my favorite comedian. Watch out Louis CK. The Cakeboss, and Andrew Lloyd Weber characters are freaking sublime.
PFT is SO freakin’ quick. His improv skills are amazing. He’s a highlight of the Superego podcasts as well.
My understanding is that he’s taping a special for Comedy Central pretty soon. I look forward to seeing that.
I loved Mr. Show. I loved his first stand-up album, Impersonal. I love him on Comedy Death Bang Ray Bang. But what made me a Paul F. Tompkins fan for life is his 2009 appearance on The Best Show, making fun of juggalos. Starts at about 1:27.
Okay, madkevin, thank you for recommending the purchase of the CBBs from Bumbershoot. Don Dimello’s description of the “Youngershoot” production of The Little Mermaid is worth the price alone. I was laughing so hard I almost ran off the road.
Heads up for every Torontonian on Qt3: The most recent eppy of DLM was taped at the Toronto International Film Festival. Not a super-great episode, but the end has easily the best shithead call-out ever.
While looking for older episodes of CDR featuring Paul F Tompkins I came across an episode he guest hosted where his guests were two guys from Superego playing his grandmothers and Kaitlin Olsen. Holy crap is it funny. PFT is funny himself, but him and the two Superego guys playing off of one another is just a goddam riot.
Also, Eugene Mirman should get himself a podcast.