Epi25: A Visit With Rich Pinder, Anti-Semantic

I always miss our engineer/producer Joe Paulino and the comfort of the awesome Studio P, but a little less so this show because Succotash Epi25 comes directly from the Four Seasons Resort on the island of Maui, Hawaii! No special reason, other than the fact I got a chance to hop over to the islands with friend-of-Succotash Dana Carvey as part of my celebrity ride-along program. It won't sound any different, unfortunately, but you might be able to hear the exotic birds squawking in the courtyard out the window.

Actually it DOES sound a little different in one regard: I recorded my tracks with the snappy new iRigMic Cast from 1K Multimedia - a tiny little microphone that plugs directly into the input jack on an iPhone, iPad or Android. GREAT for poddin' on the road!

We start off with a Kickstarter update from the X-Files Dean Haglund, who is THIS close to reaching his $7000 goal in order to get his Shock N' Awesome graphic novel off the ground. Just a few days left and, if he DOESN'T get the 7G's, he gets nothing. So start clickin' and kickin' right now - hit the link over in the right hand column of the blog or just click right here.

Our special guest this epi is Rich Pinder, one-quarter of the podcast team known as The Anti-Semantic Show. I had a nice chat with him via Skype this past week and we hit on podcasting in general, the equipment his guys use, the prep they do (and DON'T do for the show), and just how this ragtag team of web squawkers got together.

We have a new comedy ditty this epi, Let Your Geek Flag Fly, from John Anealio and his album Geek Dad. Thanks to editing, you'd never I had a hell of a time with the pronunciation of John's last name every time I had to say it...so I left one of the stumbling runs at it in the show. You can find more funny tunage from him at JohnAnealio.com.

As usual, we close out the show with Will Durst who, as the Presidential election looms ever closer, hones his political barbs sharper and sharper. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter @WillDurst.

There are not as many clips as we normally carry this week, because of the interview, but we still have a goodly amount of mostly new (and some old) podcast friends. Who, you're wondering? Take a looksee...

Truth Or Truth
Another podcast with semi-anonymous hosts, Truth Or Truth has John and Brandon at the helm. They're been doing their thing - bantering about news stories, movies, TV, entertainment...in short whatever's going on. Check ‘em out at http://truthortruth.com or on iTunes.

Oddcast Podcast
From over in the UK, Essex to be more precise, comes the Oddcast podcast with Adam Barker, Will and Ash. These guys do a lot on movies, looking not just at new releases but older films as well, and the actors who star or starred in them, too! They've hitched their wagon to the Pod Gods Network and have over a year under their podcasting belts. Homesite is http://oddpoduk.wordpress.com or iTunes.

Monday Morning Podcast
I have to apologize to comedian Bill Burr. I’ve been meaning to play something from his show, the Monday Morning Podcast, for a while but something screwy had happened with my iTunes subscription to it and I wasn’t picking it up every week. (Come on, I have a LOT of podcasts streaming into Succotash Sentral every week!) Funny guy. Funny podcast. Bill Burr. Find him at http://BillBurr.com, iTunes and look for his stuff on YouTube, too!

Mental Overload Show
We play a promo from Jay, Figz and Ace from the Mental Overload show. They sound funny, so check out the show at http://www.mentaloverloadshow.com or on iTunes.

Cinematic Method
We've featured these guys before but Gerry, Chris and Kyle are back. Playing movie clips, reviewing the clips and then predicting where the actual films are going to net out on the Rotten Tomatoes website. Fun premise for a site and guys that really have some nice banter going on. Catch up with them at http://cinematicmethod.com and iTunes.

As some of you know, I'm a regular contributor to Jesse David Fox's This Week In Comedy Podcasts up on Splitsider.com. Or maybe I should start saying irregular — I missed the deadline this week due to my Hawaii trip and by the time I got my review for the Laughspin Podcast #4 submitted, it was too late. Rather than have all that hard work disappear into the ether, I figured I'd drop it in here:

Comedy for comedy's sake has long been the mainstay of the comedy podcast. Interviews with comedians, audio sketchcasts and even improvisation with suggestions furnished via Twitter have all been part of the comedy podcast engine. Now the news of comedy has reached the download stage with the introduction of the Laughspin Podcast. Originating from Laughspin.com (known as PunchlineMagazine.com up until a year ago) and aims to bring its listeners all the news that's fit to chat about in the world of comedy. Hosted by Mike Gogel, with Laughspin's editor-in-chief Dylan Gadino Skyping in to help, it remains to be seen if there's enough of an audience to sustain what's basically an unfunny take on comedy news. The two guys are pretty engaging but it's not their place to bring the funny. This show's also not going to be evergreen - when news becomes old news, it no longer makes for compelling listening. So its audience is going to catch it fresh each week and the guys are going to have to keep it fresh just as often. In this episode they talk about NBC's comedy-laden upfronts (the annual trotting out of upcoming new shows for the media), as well as talking about the recent passing of East Coast stalwart Rich Ramirez. There is some comedy to be had in that they play a couple of clips each week related to stories. In their fourth episode, Gogen and Gadino mentioned Comedy Central's new show, The Half Hour, which gave them the excuse to play something from Rory Scovel, who will appear in the premiere episode. Can a podcast about the business of comedy sustain itself? Stay tuned.

That's what's the show this epi. We should be coming to you from Studio P next time, and I'm looking forward to a long overdue Boozin' With Bill. In the meantime, enjoy the hell out of this show and please remember to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

Epi24: Kickstartin' It With Dean Haglund

This is Episode 24 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast! We’ve got clips. We’ve got the Burst O’ Durst. We’ve got an interview with actor/comedian/artist and podcaster Dean Haglund to talk about his exciting new Kickstarter project. We’ve got a funny song by comedian/songstress/chanteuse Karen Kilgariff from her album “Behind You”. A classic Henderson’s Pants commercial perhaps. And that about it.

Dean Haglund

A little bit more about Mr. Haglund. Fans of the XFiles and The Lone Gunmen know him as Langley, the gangly long-haired conspiracy wonk. He's also renowned for his improv and standup comedy chops. And Succotashians have heard Dean and his partner-in-podcasting, Phil Leirness, declared by me to be "podcast royalty" (given the tenure of their show Chillpak Hollywood Hour) when I interviewed them back in Succotash Epi4. In addition to those performance nuggets, Dean is also a talented painter and using that skill to create Shock N' Awesome, a graphic novel tracing the adventures and travails of a trio of intrepid journalists that may (or may not) bear a resemblance to three conspiracy theorists you might recognize. This is your chance to jump in and be a part of something cool. Click on the Kickstarter link over there on the right-hand side or just click here.

Starting immediately, the Succotash podcasts are being re-broadcast along with a gaggle of other podcasts over Clutch & Wiggle Entertainment, the home of…Clutch & Wiggle. We delighted to be asked to be part of that crew! So now you can add that outlet as well as iTunes, Stitcher and our own homesite as a place to get the latest serving of Succotash! 

I've been making an effort to drop a bit more comedy-related music into the show. After listening to Karen Kilgariff sing as a guest on the recent 100^th episode of the Walking The Room podcast with Greg Behrendt and Dave Anthony, I bought her album, Behind You, from BandCamp.com. And loved it! So I contacted her via Twitter and asked if we could feature her music on Succotash. This epi we start in with her song, Look At Your Phone.

What podcast clips have we got on tap for you in Epi24? So glad you asked...

Dead Authors Podcast
A monthly podcast with Paul F. Tompkins as H.G. Wells, using his time travel technology to bring in deceased authors to mix it up, reveal something of themselves and reflect on our world from their unique perspective. His guests in this clip are Paul Adomian as Friedrich Nietzsche and Paul Scheer as H.P. Lovecraft.

Clutch & Wiggle
Rob and Craig (you can figure out which is Clutch and which is Wiggle) are likely the only guys doing their podcast from atop an air hockey table.  These guys are true podcast enthusiasts.

This Week with Larry Miller

Larry Miller is still recuperating from a nasty fall he took over a month ago. Our clip is show producer Jeff Fox filling the audience in on Larry's progress and health. Best wishes for a speedy recovery, Larry!

Laughspin Podcast
Editor-in-chief at Laughspin.com, Dylan Gadino, and his co-host Mike Gogen bring the latest in comedy news and the comedy business in general (including podcasts) every week. They're just getting started and this clip is from their Epi3. Give a listen!

Comedy A Go Go
Our friend Dave Nelson hosts this show which often brings us insightful interview with comedians who perform across the spectrum, from emcess to headliners. This clip is from a recent show featuring W. Kamau Bell, who is still touring with his Laughter Against The Machine show (co-starring Nato Green and Janine Brito. At the same time, he's hosting a new FX TV show porduced by Chris Rock.

Cocktails & Kimonos
Retep and Big D bring their booming announcer pipes to the podcast world. They're got a point of view on a variety of issues including the ones in this clip that begins with a story about a woman who overdosed on coke...Coca-Cola, that is.

The Man Cave Podcast
Our first clip this show was from a monthly podcast. Jeff Schaeffer and Bobby Shortle ambitiously host a daily show. It's pretty well put together, too: Regular features, chats about sports, movies and pop culture-y things. This clip is a couple of weeks oldb, but with the success of the Avengers movie, I thought their discussion of how Iron Man might be featured in the film was apropos.

Shotgun Storyworthy

The monthly gameshow spinoff of the Storyworthy podcast, both hosted by Christine Blackburn and Hannes Phinney, is a hoot and a half. A dozen contestants are given the subject for a story by spinning the show's "Wheel of Truth", and then without any prep time, have to tell their story in one minute. The winner gets a prize. You get a lot of laughs.

Burst O' Durst
This episode our intrepid pundit Will Durst dips his wit into the steaming pool of Republican vice-presidential considerations. Nasty business.

All right. That's it. It's even better than it reads so get listening!

As always, please remember to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon