Succotash Epi87.5: Roadtrippin' on the Kessel Run

Here's "Halfisode" 87.5 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. I occasionally crank one of these mini-episodes out when I'm roadtripping between San Francisco and Los Angeles — or, as in this case, making the return trip.

Grover, spotted being Muppetnapped on I-5

If you're going to miss an episode of Succotash, this would be one to take a pass on. There are no clips, no interviews, no Henderson's Pants ads, no TweetSack, no Top 10 Most Active Show in Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast List…in short, none of the usual features that you most likely know the show from. Well, that's not exactly true. I do finish off this halfisode with an extra Burst O' Durst with comedian Will Durst that I had hanging around.

If this is your first taste of Succotash, God help you. This is NOT representative of what we normally do. But it IS representative of what I do when I'm driving long distances and that is: Talk to myself. Or, as you have here, talk to you, the listener.

In this halfisode I ramble on about a number of topis, most of which are about podcasting although the longest stretch is all about what I did and who I saw while I was in Los Angeles for the better part of a week. Some of the folks I saw are podcasters – Rick Overton, Matt Weinhold, Phil Leirness, Dean Haglund. While some of the others (including the previously named) have been guests on past episodes of Succotash – Dana Carvey, Tom Carvey, Frank Cronin, Jon Manfrellotti.

I'm also introducing a new offering with this show: The chance to get your helping of Succotash before anyone else!

That's right. I'm experimenting with a new site and service called ConnectPal that allows you to create a subscription model for just about anything you can distribute on the web. So, for just TWO BUCKS a months (plus a 76¢ service charge), you'll be able to stream or download each epi of Succotash two days before I put it up on Libsyn, iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and anywhere else on the internet. So just click on the ConnectPal link in this paragraph and toss us a couple of bucks to get us first!

So that's about it for the rundown on Halfisode 87.5. This is just a little (40 minute) ramble to tide you over until fullsize Epi88, which will be up within the week!

Until next time, please remember to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon
 

Succotash Epi87: Deconstructin' with Geoffrey Welchman

Howdy hey there, friends and neighbors! You're reading the companion blog entry for Epi87 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. (Just 12 episodes left until we hit 100, which will mark the end of Season 1. What can I say? Long seasons. Kind of like the winters in Game of Thrones…)

In addition to a barrelful of podcast clips this episode, I had a fascinating chat with Geoffrey Welchman. I announced last week that GW was folding up the tent on Inverse Delirium, his 4-year-old podcast, which he has done. So then I thought it might be insightful to find out what led him to that decision and it is – so we’ll hear that in a little bit in addition to the final message to his listeners that he posted this past week.

We also have our Burst O’ Durst segment with comedian Will Durst, a classic Henderson’s Pants spot, the Tweetsack segment, the 10 Most Active Shows In The Stitcher Top 100 Comedy Podcast List and, of course, our obligatory nod, salute, or genuflect to the boys (Dean Haglund & Phil Leirness) over at the Chillpak Hollywood Hour podcast, who just said goodbye to their 7th year in podcasting and mentioned us along the way. I also contrast and compare the old and the new theme songs for the Hob The Troll podcast.

The 10 Most Active Shows in Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcasts List

Here's where we look at the ten podcasts that have moved up or down the Stitcher Top 100 Comedy Podcast chart in the past week.

AT                                                                                MOVED
37 SModcast >> Jay & Silent Bob Get Old                          -11
54 Jordan Jesse Go                                                         +12
56 This Week In Blackness Radio                                      +8
62 The Artie Lange Show                                                 -10
69 Harmontown                                                              +11
70 Thrilling Adventure Hour                                            +11
80 The Dana Gould Hour                                                 +23
85 The Beige Phillips Show                                               +8 
86 Straight Outta Lo Cash                                                 +6
97 Nick DiPaolo                                                                -7

The Clips

Chillpak Hollywood Hour
To mark their anniversary, Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness have just moved their operation over to Blogtalk Radio, which doesn’t change things for the listener but gives them a nice solid production base.

Monster Party
Back in Succotash Epi53 I interviewed my friend and comedian Matt Weinhold who had, at the time, been experimenting with a new podcast idea that he and buddies James Gonis, Shawn Sheridan, and Larry Strohe – all Hollywood writers – had done on video where they drank adult beverages and talked about one main subject: Monster movies. Well, now Monster Party is an ongoing thing and in the most recent episode, the boys and guest Dana Gould sunk their teeth into vampire movies. In this clip they ponder the origins of Blackula.

Nerdist
Last week I reviewed the Nerdist with Chris Hardwick and Jonah Ray – Matt Myra wasn’t on this particular episode, where they interviewed director/actor/writer Jon Favreau, who has a new movie out that he both directed AND starred in called Chef. In this clip, they talk about spoilers and puzzle over the etiquette of how long you should wait before talking about a show.

Illusionoid
One of my favorite podcasts continues to be Illusionoid, which is an improvised science fiction comedy podcast out of Toronto. I’ve interviewed the three guys – Paul Bates, Lee Smart, and Nug Nahrgang (the best name is podcasting) – before and met them when they were in San Francisco for the SF Improv Festival last year. Haven’t played ‘em for a while though, so here’s a clip from their recent LIVE episode from Comedy Bar in Toronto, along with their special guests Craig Anderson, Ashley Comeau, and Kyle Dooley of Bad Dog Theatre.

Hob The Troll
Some TV shows used to have very specific theme songs – think about things like the Addams Family – or an even better example in this case is Gilligan’s Island, where the theme song changed after the first season to include mentioned The Professor and MaryAnne instead of referencing them simply as “all the rest”. Hob The Troll is a show that is hosted by a character that pops up at Renaissance Faires around the country. He sings and does comedy and is easily the happiest, non-goat-eating troll around. In podcast form, Hob The Troll features guest characters, often played by actors and comedians, such as Mark Gagliarti’s King John. He recently upgraded his show’s opening theme song, both versions of which are so specific that I thought it would be fun to contrast and compare.  And then I play a short clip with Hob and Corey Eno Ruffin, the guy who did the new theme song for the show.

Crunch Time Show
I got a note and a request from Wayne “Crunchie” Baglin, co-host of the Crunch Time Show (along with his wife The Scully), a podcast that looks at a myriad of geekiness, from games and movies to anything else that geeky nerdlings enjoy. They have a feature on the show called the "Random 5" where their showboard computer asks 5 random questions which you answer, then you get to ask one of your own. So Wayne asked if I’d play the Random 5 and here’s what happened…

The Bonn & Obo Show 
It’s been a long time coming but Epi9 – NINE! – of the Bonn & Obo Show has finally dropped. It’s a pretty inventive show BUT, since Bonn and Obo seem to rarely – if ever – get along, it take awhile to get those shows out. This last one took a solid YEAR. Which is why Bonn moonlights on The Strange Times Show as well. In this clip, Obo has had enough disrespect from his mic mate, Bonn, and decides to file a complaint.

Cashing In With TJ Miller
Have you had a chance to catch Silicon Valley, the new Mike Judge comedy on HBO yet? Really funny, at least for those of us that live within spitting distance of the real Silicon Valley. And TJ Miller is one of the best parts of the show. He also can’t seem to showing up as a guest on the Cashing In podcast, which is probably why they’ve subtitled it With TJ Miller. Comedian Cash Levy hosts and TJ does what he does best, which is to wreak havoc.

The Dork Forest
Jackie Kashian and her show The Dork Forest continues to root out the well-known and semi-well-known who are into sometime some obscure or even archaic stuff. This snippet comes from her Epi227 with guest Emily Gordon – co-host of the Indoor Kids with husband Kumail Nanjiani. Jackie and Emily chat about comedy and mental health.

Center City Comedy
A quintet of Philadelphia’s comedians - H. Foley, Kevin Ryan, Tom Cassidy, Reggie Conquest, and Andrew Schiavone – belly up to the mic and deliver up jokes, insults, and opinion about a variety of topics for Center City Comedy. The clip they sent in starts off about playing school basketball then sidetracks into a discussion about one of the guy’s long-lost classmates, a discussion which then disintegrates into unstoppable, contagious giggling.

All right, it’s time to saw goodbye to Epi87. Until next time, don’t be afraid to shop at Amazon by using the oh-so-handy banner at the top of our SuccotashShow.com page. Or click the Donate button you’ll see there and we’ll give you a hearty shout out during the next episode. Or click on the link to our Succotashery and purch some murch there – we’ll be eternally grateful and, again, will shout your name to the heavens.

I’m off to LA for a week. I may do a little Epi87.5 from the road if I’m in a mood for rambling. Otherwise it will be Epi88 when next we meet. Either way, please remember to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

Succotash Epi86: Playin' With Myself

Hello, everyone! I'm your host and sommelier of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast, and this is the official blog post accompaniment to Epi86. Before i get into the bulk of what this latest show is about, let's just take a moment out to consider that, in the midst of scraping this episode together, I found out that I have just won the first place award for an editorial cartoon I did this past year for the Half Moon Bay Review, the 100+ year old newspaper serving the Coastside community about 30 miles south of San Francisco.

Yay to me.

I've been doing the editorial cartoon - which I call a "phodoodle" because of the technique I use in putting it together with bits and pieces of various photos, then creating a more hand-drawn look to the results - week in and week out, for over a decade for the Review and this is the first year that the California Newspaper Publishers Association has so honored me, so I'm pretty jazzed!

I'm republishing the award-winning 'toon here. Why? And what does that have to do with this podcast? Nothing, really. But who else am I going to share that kind of news with, right?

3 Still Standing

Another thing that has little to do with this podcast in particular happens THIS Friday, May 9th, when yours truly will be hosting a Comedy Event. If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area , you're in range to hit the 142 Throckmorton Theater in Mill Valley, a stone's throw from San Francisco. That's where we're doing a benefit for a new documentary, 3 Still Standing - which I've mentioned on the show before - to help the filmmakers finish production on the movie. It looks at the San Francisco comedy boom of the 1980's by following the careers of three local comedians: Larry "Bubbles" Brown (a former Succotash guest), Johnny Steele, and our own Will Durst. The three guys will be performing during the show and the filmmakers, Robert Campos and Donna LoCicero, will be answering questions from the audience. You can get more info, including showtime and ticket links, at https://www.facebook.com/3StillStanding.

Empty Coffers

We just got our monthly statement as an Amazon Associate and it seems we made ZERO money from our Amazon portal at the top of our homepage this past month. Which means I need to start mentioning it more until you guys remember to click on the banner at the top of the page that takes you directly to Amazon, where you can do your shopping as usual. With no skin off your nose, Amazon then tosses us back a few quatloos which we use for equipment, monthly fees to Libsyn, our delightful web hosting service, and gin. In brief, that’s http://SuccotashShow.com to Amazon -> buy your stuff -> money back to us for new mics, web rent, and gin. Got it? Good!

Bursts O' Durst

Again this show I feature a Double Dose of Durst, since we missed a week somewhere between the last episode and now. So listen for Will Durst early in the show and then toward the end.

Ahoy, Mateys!

We'll be serving a dessert course this episode! Just stay tuned after Bill Heywatt's closing credits to hear my narration for part of Epi10 of HMS Codcast, written and produced by Nigel Boydell. It was a blast to do, especially because I do several different voices, and whole rollicking seagoing chapter awaits at the very end of the show. (You can also click this link to be whisked to Nigel's Uncle Arthur's Collection of shows.)

The 10 Most Active Shows in Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcasts List

In case you’ve forgotten, or if you’ve never heard this feature before, we look at the ten podcasts that have moved up or down the Stitcher Top 100 Comedy Podcast chart in the past week.

AT                                                                                MOVED
10 How Did This Get Made?                                             +12
47 The Artie Lange Show                                                 +10
53 Bertcast’s Podcast                                                      -14
61 The Cracked Podcast                                                   +9
62 What About Pod?                                                        -16
80 The New York City Crime Report w/Pat Dixon              +7 
 89 The Dead Authors Podcast                                          +23
90 How Was Your Week with Julie Klausner                     -10
92 Foreally Show w/ Rude Jude & Senim Silla                  +86
100 Beats & Eats                                                              +9

The Clips

Oh, My. God.  Do we have clips for you this episode. That's not a question, it's a statement. Thanks to the herculean efforts of our Associate Producer Tyson Saner, I have clips coming out of my ears this time around (very appropriate for an audio medium), which means you do, too. In fact, between the clips and the special HMS Codcast episode at the end, I believe this is the second longest Succotash episode in our 3 year history.

Chillpak Hollywood Hour
Congrats to Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness, the Ozzie & Harriet of Podcasting, as they observe their 7 years in the medium! The clip from this show is from the last of their Year 6 'sodes where they, as usual are mentioning Succotash mentioning them mentioning us and so on. As I mention in this episode, they've in the process of editing their newest feature film, a potboiler of a thriller with some comic overtones (undertones?), The Lady Killers! And here's their first trailer for the movie:

The Carson Podcast
I love the premise for this next and relatively new podcast. The Carson Show is an example of how podcast DOES have something for everyone. Host Mark Malkoff talks with guests about legendary talk show host Johnny Carson. That’s it. That’s the core premise of the show! Guests include stand-up comics who debuted on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, individuals that worked on the show, frequent guests, and top entertainers that were influenced by Carson. In the first dozen episodes, Malkoff has interviewed Carol Burnett, Byron Allen, Martin Mull, and Dick Cavett. Tyson clipped Epi3 which features one of of my absolute favorite and highly underappreciated actors: Charles Grodin.

The Bob Zany Show
I got a note this past week from Erin O’Connor, who started out as a standup in San Francisco and has been in LA for ever so long. She started co-hosting The Bob Zany Show a number of months back and she thought we’d enjoy the conversation that she and Bob Zany had with Ella James, a voiceover actress and comedy transplant from Australia.

The Church of What’s Happening Now
The clip of The Church of What’s Happening Now is from their Epi159. Comedian Rick Ramos (host of Watch This) joins Joey Diaz and Lee in studio. Although this show included comedy manager Barry Katz calling in for one of the best calls in the shows history, the clip that Tyson got caught the moment that the recent earthquake hit in LA as they were recording.

Small Town Bringdown
Branden Grieder and Elliot Drew have spent their entire lives podcasting. But up until, 2011, they had never actually recorded themselves talking to each other. That has all changed. Listen in as they talk shit about shit weekly and that includes the clip we got.

Positive Push with Brody Stevens
I think Brody Stevens is hilarious, personally. He’s got a podcast called The Steven Brody Stevens Festival of Friendship but he’s also got a videocast which is live on Tuesday at noon on VPN – the Video Podcast Network. He welcomes comedians, athletes, and friends to discuss positive energy, bike riding, supplements, and more! Our associate producer Tyson Saner grabbed some audio featuring Brody and guest Brian Redban.

Modern Day Philosophers with Danny Lobell
We clipped Modern Day Philosophers with Danny Lobell not too long ago – at least as far as our episodes go – but recently he had a friend-of-Succotash on: Rick Overton. Not only is Rick a guest on this episode but he also helped Danny move a couch before the show started. So they talk about that in addition to, I think, Plato.

Team Coco Podcast
Every week, according to the Team Coco podcast website, host Aaron Bleyaert hunts down and hog-ties a new celebrity or CONAN staffer to interrogate them about their jobs, what's in their pockets, and everything in between. It's the ultimate glimpse behind the scenes… except, you know, you take it with your ears. This clip he talks to Comedy Bang Bang's Scott Aukerman about what it was like shooting the Zach Galifianakis web series Between Two Ferns with guest and President Barack Obama.

The Inverse Delirium Podcast
It was with a heavy heart that I cued up this clip, an Exorcist spoof from The Inverse Delirium Podcast. I say that because host and creator of the Inverse Delirium, Geoffrey Welchman, sent me a direct message on Twitter a couple of days ago saying he was shutting the show down after 4 years. I asked why and he said between his day job and other demands eating into his time and the fact he has “lost the spark”, as he put it, to get behind the show, he thought it was time to sign off for the last time. I predict he’ll be back. Until then, here’s what may be the last clip we play on Succotash from our friend Geoffrey.  So long, Geoffrey! You’re a credit to the industry and your show will be missed.

The Champs
In a clip from a February episode of The Champs with Neal Brennan & Moshe Kasher – a couple of very funny comedians who somehow manage to find the time to record these podcasts together on a regular basis – they interviewed Arsenio Hall, whose new TV show was recently picked up for a second season. He talks about when it was that he first realized he wanted to entertain people.

The Doghouse Bastards or DHB Radio Show
I’ve had the Doghouse Bastards (or DHB Radio Show) talked up be a few folks, including last episode’s special guest host Davian Dent. The host, Scott Taylor Scott, is from Scotland. I’m not sure about the Lurch Monster and NDD. But in this clip from show #159 “She’s Trying To Kill Me”, they mourn the loss of the WWE’s “Ultimate Warrior.”

The Travisphere
According to the Podcast Summary as stated on the homesite of this next podcast: “The Travisphere is a glimpse into the world of Travis Knight, so give a listen for a few laughs, great stories, absurdity and whatever the hell else he wants to talk about.” His guest in this clip is none other than Twittizen Tom Jackson Jr., who is a retweeting mofo that has given Succotash a great deal of love. But we’re obvious not the only target of Tom’s affection, as Travis describes him as one of his “awesome followers.”

Get Up On This
From the bottomless SModcast network comes Get Up On This with Jensen Karp, once known as "Hot Karl" as a white rapper at the same time as Eminem's rise to fame, and Matt Robinson, best known for co-writing and co-directing The Invention of Lying movie with Ricky Gervais. They and their weekly guests tell you what you need to know about before whatever it is their talking about gets big. This clip features guest Beth Sterling.

Duncan Trussell Family Hour
The description for The Duncan Trussell Family Hour, which we’ve featured before, calls it “a weekly salon-style supershow, where comedian Duncan Trussell and guests explore the outer reaches of the multiverse.” Tyson grabbed us off a hunk of Duncan’s 100th episode, where he reunited with Natasha Leggero, his former co-host of a podcast called The Lavender Hour (of which there are 60 episodes on iTunes.)

Comical Podcast
Comical Podcast is a comedy show about comic books hosted by two moderately funny guys from Houston, Texas. Justin and Miguel take the lead with various guest stars including (most commonly) Justin’s wife, Heather. The guys have been fans of comic books most of their lives and have been listening to podcasts for the last few years. It took some time and some convincing, but they've finally started their own show and it's gone great so far. This clip is from Epi10 “You Drop Your Pants, I'll Rip Mine...”

Matt & Corey Talk Too Much
Matt and Corey, of Matt & Corey Talk Too Much, asked if we’d clip them on the show. So Tyson obliged them by grabbing a slice off of their bonus episode, Epi18 where they talk about some horrible hillbilly accident involving broken floorboards and a purple dildo. (Incidentally, Tyson informs me that this is the first show that he’s lifted from http://Spreaker.com - says it appears to be similar to Soundcloud.)

That’s it for Epi86. As I mentioned above, I believe this is a record for number of clips played on this show. Big thanks again to our associate producer Tyson Saner for collecting most of those. And a big thanks to YOU for downloading or streaming this podcast. If you liked any of what you heard in today’s clips, do yourself a favor and track down those shows and give them a full-on listen. Not only did I mention their homesites but their titles in this blog are clickable, plus you can find most of all of them on iTune, Stitcher, SoundCloud and wherever fine podcasts (and otherwise) are located.

If you get a chance to shop Amazon, please use the banner at the top of our homepage to do it. Or visit http://SuccotashShow.com and click on the Donate button to shovel us a buttload of cash that you're not using any more.

Please don't forget to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon