Succotash Is Getting Noticed

I want to thank the early listeners to our Succotash premiere episode for their kind words on Facebook, Twitter and the like. And I also feel the need to give a humble bow to a couple of great comedy resources who have their fingers on the pulse of the podcast side of things.

First, PlopList rolled out a gracious welcome yesterday:

Succotash Serves Up Comedy Podcast Highlights

Yesterday saw the launch of Succotash - The Comedy Podcast Podcast. Writer, cartoonist, reformed comedian performer and friend to comedy, Marc Hershon started the new show to highlight the best of comedy podcasts in an audio format. Succotash strings together short audio highlights from a variety of shows (no longer than 5 minutes each) interspersed with Hershon's plugs for the shows and some brief editorial commentary.

The first episode plays likes a public radio style recap show. Highlights include WTF With Marc Maron, Pop My Culture, Comedy Death-Ray Radio, The Adam Carolla Show, The Smartest Man In The World, Mike & Tom Eat Snacks and a few others.

Succotash is conceived as a primer for the potential uninitiated comedy podcast listeners out there. It's a simple concept, perhaps born out of the growing interest in the medium, especially when it comes to the comedy format. Another sign of comedy podcasts building on their garage band empire?

No word yet on the interval or whether or not the various shows receiving the highlight treatment will become willing partners of the show. Hershon hints at the heavy workload of putting the show together. This could prohibit a regular release. It's not on iTunes yet but you can still listen to the inaugral episode and keep track through the Succotash blog. Looking forward to see how the show develops.

Then, earlier today, we got a nice welcome from Punchline Magazine:

Punchline Magazine analysis: the comedy podcast goes postmodern
 
Due to the recent surge in popularity, It was only a matter of time, but now it’s official: the comedy podcast has gone postmodern.

Yesterday, via the Plop List, a wonderful hub of everything related to comedy podcasts, the arrival of Succotash - The Comedy Podcast Podcast was announced. As you might figure with the label “comedy podcast podcast”, host/producer Marc Hershon plays several clips from popular podcasts including WTF with Marc Maron and Comedy Death Ray Radio with interstitial commentary on the clips. Basically, it’s a highlight reel of the best of the best in the comedy podcast world.

As evidenced by Rolling Stone’s recent Top Ten Comedy Podcasts of the Moment list and the ease of producing and uploading, proliferation in the medium has developed with the biggest names in comedy all the way down to open mic comedians having their own podcasts. The Soup with Joel McHale came about as there was too much wildly popular bad TV that begged to be parodied on American television; the Soup filled a demand for all of it to be sorted out. On a more “positive tip” Succotash may have come about because comedy podcasts have reached/are very close to reaching a fever pitch that requires the same sort of wrangling, though in admiration rather than in satire.

Whether this development will change the way in which comedians broadcast their thoughts and opinions — like paintings and movies did when their respective art forms moved into their postmodern periods — has yet to be seen. But, at the very least, the medium of the comedy podcast is moving forward, and more importantly, getting way funnier.


Thanks to the folks at both of those comedy resource points. Now that we now we've been noticed, we'll be on our best behavior!