Comedy Death-Ray Radio
This was the first comedy podcast that I started listening to. Hosted each week by comedian Scott Aukerman, CDR Radio hosts a wide variety of guests, ranging from big name actors like Zach Galifianakis, Jon Hamm, and Ben Stiller to comedians like Paul F. Tompkins, Nick Kroll, Doug Benson, and Seth Morris. A lot of the guests routinely play characters instead of appearing as themselves; some highlights include:
- Paul F. Tompkins as Ice-T, Cake Boss, and John C. Reilly
- Nick Kroll as El Chupacabra
- Seth Morris as Bob Ducca
- James Adomian as Jesse "The Body" Ventura and Huell Howser
Weekly features include rounds of "Would You Rather", and occasional games of "What Am I Thinking" and "Who Said It?"
If I had to say there was a downside to this podcast, it's that Aukerman is not always the most entertaining host; however the incredible quality of the guests more than makes up for it, and Aukerman has actually been getting funnier in the last few months.
New episodes are between 1 and 1.5 hours, and are available on iTunes on Monday or Tuesday each week.
Rating: 9/10 Buzzes
Doug Loves Movies
Hosted by comedian Doug Benson, this is a weekly live podcast recorded before Comedy Death Ray (the comedy show in LA, not the Podcast). Like CDR Radio, Benson routinely gets really good guests (he recently had almost the entire cast of Parks and Recreation, and he's had people like Edgar Wright, Michael Cera, and Sarah Silverman). The episodes are usually about an hour long, with the first half hour comprised of discussions about recent movies, and the last half taken up by the Leonard Maltin Game, in which guests have to guess a movie title based on quotes from Leonard Maltin's review of the film and a number of names from the cast list.
Occasionally the podcast can be a bit dull, but it's usually pretty entertaining, and the variety in the guests keeps things interesting.
New episodes are available on iTunes usually around Friday each week.
Rating: 7/10 Buzzes
FilmDrunk Frotcast
I've been reading the FilmDrunk blog for a few years now, and it's one of my favourite websites. Written by Columbia MFA grad Vince Mancini, it covers movie news in a comedic manner, and it's almost always hilarious. The Frotcast, despite having one of the grosser names in podcasting (DO NOT look it up if you're at work), is always entertaining, with Vince and three of his friends discussing recent movies, as well as other current entertainment news. This podcast doesn't have the big-name guests of some of the others that I listen to (although Vince did get an interview with Rob Huebel in one episode), but it's consistently hilarious. Fair warning, however, the humour in this podcast is often a little juvenile, and every now and then they get a little "Fratty" with their comedy, but if you're anything like me, you probably like fart and wiener jokes, so you'll probably enjoy this.
New episodes are between 1 and 1.5 hours long, and are usually available on iTunes on Thursday or Friday each week.
Rating: 8/10 Buzzes
How Did This Get Made?
This is part of the Earwolf network of podcasts. Initially started by Scott Aukerman, Earwolf has expanded to a network of something like 6 different podcasts (a couple more will be mentioned in this post). How Did This Get Made? is hosted by Paul Scheer (Human Giant, The League), June Diane Raphael, Jason Mantzoukas, and a different guest each week, and consists of an hour-long discussion of a different terrible movie every week (so far they've covered Burlesque, Season of the Witch, Old Dogs, The Last Airbender, Drive Angry 3D, and Battlefield Earth). It's usually pretty entertaining, because let's face it, who doesn't love bitching about terrible movies?
New episodes are available each week, but they only cover one movie every two weeks. The first episode is just a 5-minute explanation of which movie will be discussed, and the next week's episode will be 45 minutes to 1 hour long, and will contain the full discussion. The episodes are available on iTunes.
Rating: 8/10 Buzzes
Never Not Funny
This one's a bit tricky, because it's a little harder to find. NNF is offered in a paid format, so if you want to listen to it, you'll either have to download it illegally or buy the episodes. The first 20 minutes of each episode are available for free, but the full episodes are around 1.5-2 hours long, so it's kind of worth it to pay. It's hosted by Jimmy Pardo and Matt Belknap, and has a different guest each week. The guests are pretty good; it's usually a comedian, but every now and then they get really strong guests like Conan O'Brien (that episode was offered for free, and was fantastic).
I'm not sure how frequently the episodes are released, but I think it's every week, and they're available on www.pardcast.com.
Rating: 8/10 Buzzes
The Pod F. Tompkast
This is probably my favourite podcast, which is a shame because it's only released once a month (with the odd 10-minute "extrasode" thrown in). It's hosted by Paul F. Tompkins, who (in my opinion) is probably the funniest comedian working today. Each episode consists of about 10-20 minutes of Paul's random musings (which are some of the funniest parts of the show), a 10-20 minute phone conversation with comedian Jen Kirkman (also hilarious), a phone sketch in which Paul plays several different characters (like Ice-T, the Cake Boss, John C. Reilly, and John Lithgow), and an excerpt from his monthly comedy show in LA (the Paul F. Tompkins Show). It's consistently great, although I'm admittedly biased because I love Tompkins' comedy so much.
New episodes are (usually) available on iTunes around the first of each month.
Rating: 10/10 Buzzes
Sklarbro Country
This is another one that I'm on the fence about. On the one hand, I love the hosts, the Sklar Brothers (Randy and Jason Sklar). They're really funny comedians, and their "takes" (riffs on random subjects in which they constantly finish each others' sentences--it's pretty amazing to watch/listen to) are awesome. On the other hand, it's primarily a sports podcast, and sports is one thing that I really don't care too much about. They have a different guest each week, and despite my disinterest in sports, it's still pretty entertaining stuff. It's also part of the Earwolf Network.
New episodes are about an hour or so long, and are available on iTunes each week (I'm not sure when; they just kind of show up among my podcasts)
Rating: 6/10 Buzzes (although the lower rating is only due to the focus on sports)
Who Charted?
Who Charted is hosted each week by comedian/rapper Howard Kremer (aka Dragon Boy Suede) and Kulap Vilaysack (Scott Aukerman's wife), along with a random guest. They discuss three different charts each week: a Movie Chart, a Music Chart, and a random chart related to the guest's life. It's pretty consistently funny, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone with any interest in music, movies, or comedy in general. This is another one that's part of the Earwolf network.
New episodes are available weekly on iTunes, and are about an hour long.
Rating: 9/10 Buzzes
The Nerdist Podcast
To be honest, I only recently got into this one, so I've only heard 5 or 6 episodes of it. That said, this seems to be another really solid podcast. Hosted by comedians Chris Hardwick, Jonah Ray, and Matt Mira, this podcast is really funny and usually manages to get a great guest each week (the first 5 episodes had Thomas Lennon, Drew Carey, Adam Carolla, Rob Huebel, and Jon Hamm, along with a brief performance by Motion City Soundtrack). The discussions generally focus on the guest's career, but have a tendency to stray wildly into completely random topics. Definitely one to check out.
New episodes are available on iTunes each week, and are usually around an hour long.
Rating: 9/10 Buzzes
That's it for now; if I find anything else, I'll let you know. There are a couple of other podcasts that I've listened to a few episodes of, but that I'm not completely sold on.
Stay tuned.
I just wanted to say that my life, personally, is a nonstop roller coaster of excitement, a constant calliope of dizzying highs and terrifying lows.
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