Succotash Epi51.5: I-5 Bonus Edition #1

WARNING: This is NOT a "regular" episode of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. No clips. No interviews. No TweetSack.

Call it an experiment. I was driving back to San Francisco after a weekend in Los Angeles. While in the southland I visited with a number of podcasters, comedians and past guests of Succotash: Rick Overton, Matt Weinhold, Ethan Dettenmaier, Shawn Marek, Travis Clark, Brandi Clark, Jon Manfrellotti, and Chris Gore.

My conversations with all those folks invariably came around to podcasting. Why do we do it? Where is it going? And what does it all mean? Collectively, we batted those concepts and more around in our little discussion groups but - once I was alone, trapped in my car (Studio F) for the six hour Kessel Run back to The City By The Bay, the questions continued to bounce around in my head.

So I fished out my trusty iPhone 5, my iRig Cast mic, and rambled into it for about 26 minutes. I ruminated on my show, other shows, and the podcasting industry as a whole. I wondered aloud about our listenship, the respect that podcasters may or may not be due, and all of the entertainment that's regularly provided for free by an ever-widening pool of podcasters around the world.

Don't worry — it's not a signal that we're changing direction at Succotash. We've got another clip-filled extravaganza coming right around the corner with Episode 52. But one beautiful thing about this artform (if I may be afforded the chance to refer to it as such), is that a person can do anything they want from this side of the microphone. On the flip side, listeners don't have to listen to it.

So this is, as I said in the beginning, an experiment.

If you like it, let me know. If you hate it, let me know. Email, Facebook, Twitter, the Succotash Hotline (818.921.7212) — there's plenty of ways for you to get your thoughts and feedback to me.

And I'll be back with our usual bag o' podcast clips in our very next episode! So don't be afraid to pass the Succotash.

— Marc Hershon

Succotash Epi51: Clippin' N' Sippin' With Bill Haywatt

This episode we return to our roots. Clips, clips and more clips. Also, a return to Studio P ("The Home of The Hit!"), engineer-producer Joe Paulino, and another long-awaited installment of Boozin' With Bill featuring our booth announcer Bill Haywatt.

Bill's concoctions are usually something he picked up during one of the many radio gigs he's had over the past 70 years. Often scrounged from either a hard-drinking co-worker or from one of the numerous dive bars that could be found in the neighborhoods that usually spring up around radio stations and recording studios.

This time around he presents us with the very first alcoholic mixture he can first remember making while still a lad at the tender age of 14. During the show he dubbed it "The Beer Float" but given the beer required for this one, I call it "The Floating Heinie". Either way it's a twist on that soda fountain favorite, the root beer float.

THE COUNTDOWN

Once again, very little movement in the Top 10 of Stitcher's Comedy Podcast chart this last week. In fact, this week, other than the fact two shows switched places in the Top 10, nothing’s gone on.

10. Doug Loves Movies
9. DeathSquad
8. Real Time with Bill Maher
7. Mohr Stories
6. SModcast
5. The Nerdist
4. NPR: Car Talk Podcast
3. WTF with Marc Maron
2. The Adam Carolla Show
1. The Joe Rogan Experience

I think for the next episode, I may add the bottom 10 (from #90-100) just to have some new show names in the mix.

REVIEW

In "This Week In Comedy Podcasts" on Splitsider.com I reviewed Penn's Sunday School with Penn Jillette and guest Peter "Herman's Hermits" Noone! It went a little something - no, exactly - like this:

Ah, Penn Jillette. Magician, conman, truth-sayer, provocateur and atheist. It’s the last of those that drives many of the discussions around Penn’s Sunday School, although in the latest installment, none of that comes around until after the first hour, during which time Peter Noone (of Herman’s Hermits fame) is Jillette’s guest. And Noone turns out to be a treasure trove of fantastic stories from the early days of the British Invasion and beyond. The child TV star (from BBC’s Coronation) had turned to music and was playing at the age of 16 while hanging around the Beatles before they took off. He tells of John Lennon knocking out five blokes in a working man’s bar and of meeting and hanging out with Elvis in Hawaii a few years later. Jillette punctuates Noone’s tales with his trademark hoarse guffaw. Later in the show, after Noone has left, the host shares how his own atheist beliefs have been picked up by his young daughter and how that causes a bit of a problem with a god-fearing boy in her school, about which Jillette is a little leery about dealing with. Jillette’s shows tend to run over an hour, and each extra minute is well worth the listen.

So you can get the complete flavor of it, I clip that show in this very episode.

DURST

This week our on-call Raging Moderate Will Durst turns his acerbic funny beam on the Civil Ware brewing in the Republican't party for our Burst O' Durst.

CLIPS

OVERVIEW

Our first clip is from new podcast, Overview, by a friend of Succotash and a good buddy of mine: Rick Overton! (He was one of our earliest guests – you can find my interview with him in Epi 6 AND I also released a bonus Epi 6.5, which was my interview with Rick in its entirety.) Now he’s got his own show going. And he’s already had some great guests from the world of comedy. Recently he spoke with comedy legend Jonathan Winters – what a score! It struck me that some of what Jonathan is talking about in our clip, where he’s talking about starting out as a comic, relates directly across to podcasting in many ways.

MAN SCHOOL
Although this IS a new podcast, the host will be familiar to some of you Succotashians. It’s Caleb Bacon who, until a couple of months ago, was the host of The Gentlemen’s Club podcast. With this new show, Bacon gets pretty heavy in the first show, as his guest is “Bald Bryan” Bishop, who is a producer and sidekick on the Adam Carolla Show as well as the co-host of his own podcast called The Film Vault. Four years ago, at the age of 30, Bryan was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer. He’s still around, so not only has he survived it, but it’s given him some perspectives on life a 30 year old doesn’t often have.

PENN'S SUNDAY SCHOOL
Penn Jillette, best know for being one-half of Penn & Teller, does a number of things as well, including this podcast. Jillette has become somewhat well know for being an atheist – he doesn’t believe in god – and he often goes into the topic on his podcast. But he also has guests come through and the subject of religion never comes up. Recently he had Peter Noone on the show, the founding member of Herman’s Hermits.

NOBODIES PODCAST

From the show’s intro I know that host Nick Dressel is a student at MSU in East Lansing, Michigan, and the premise for Nobodies is that he and all of his guest are “nobodies” – they are actors and comedians and other flavors of performance who have not “arrived” yet but hope to someday, so Nick sees his show as being the first place you will have heard his guests, but not the last. In Epi35 of Nobodies, his guests Spencer Perrenoud and Jason Carlen gather ‘round a rendering of “McConaughey”.

SNITCH & LINS
Here’s one of the only clips from a show we’ve heard from before – it’s Snitch & Lins from Australia! I like the fact that this is a sketch more than anything. I think if I have to hear more people going off on a pop culture riff on their podcasts, I’ll throw up. So thanks, Stitch & Lins!

3 PLEASANT GENTLEMEN
When I heard from Cam of the 3 Pleasant Gentlemen podcast, I was informed that there  are only TWO Gentlemen in the cast - Cam and Remo. The third Gentleman is a woman, who goes by the name Savy. I also discovered that I’m not alone in finding out that a car makes for a suitable substitute podcasting facility. (While we often have luxurious Studio P, The Home of The Hit!, at our disposal, some episodes of Succotash come to you via Studio F, my Fiat.) 3 Pleasant Gentlemen orginates from the roomy interior of a Chevy Tahoe.

DRUNKEN TAOIST

I think I’m going to be enjoying the Drunken Taoist, a bi-monthly podcast hosted by Daniele Bolelli. He’s got quite a colorful collection of stuff next to his name. He’s a writer, a martial artist, and a college professor. His teaching style’s described as “half standup comedian and half Zen master.” Bolelli’s guest from the episode we clipped is New York Times Best Selling author Christopher Ryan, who co-wrote Sex At Dawn and has his own podcast called Tangentially Speaking.

DIRTY KONG PODCAST
Unlike The Drunken Taoist, our next podcast has precious little on about the podcast or the people on it, even though they have a half dozen places on the web where you grab their episodes. I can’t even find names for the voices you’re hearing in this clip from the Dirty Kong Podcast.

OK HYPOTHETICAL
We have a clip from another new podcast – only 6 epis in – called OK Hypothetical and it was submitted by Garin, one of the two hosts. The other fellow is Connor. I like these guys. Here’s the text from their email: “Good morning, The attached clip is actually the full first episode of our show. Run time is 4 minutes 33. Thank you for your consideration. Garin and Connor”. Straight to the point. No nonsense. Get in, get out, no one gets hurt. I love that their show’s title is most of what you need to know about how the show goes.

So there you go - back to a clips royale with this episode! If you're a comedy podcaster, remember that you are welcome to submit a 3-5 minute MP3 clip from your show, via email, to clips@SuccotashShow.com. (While we may well get around to your podcast, there are THOUSANDS of shows out there on the comedy side of podcasting, so you stand a better chance of having us feature you if you are proactive and shoot us a clip yourself!

Until next time, won't you please pass the Succotash?

— Marc Hershon

Succotash Epi50: Roadtrippin' With Superego

Here at Succotash I'm celebrating the FIFTIETH episode! In some ways it’s hard to believe we actually have gotten to 50 shows. (On the other hand, given that we started 22 months ago, this SHOULD be episode 96.)  But it’s been tough to get consistent. Between my day job, time at Studio P ("The Home Of The Hit!") and other elements, it’s been hard to crank out a show a week.

BUT we’re finally there, more or less!

If you’re new to Succotash, the reason it’s called “The Comedy Podcast Podcast” is that we usually feature between 10 and 12 comedy podcast clips from around the world. We also have interviews with podcasters, comedians and other sundry show biz folks. This week being our special Epi50, I’m  featuring the interview I had last week with the cast of Superego, who were up from Los Angeles to be part of the 12th Annual San Francisco Sketchfest.

Sketch courtesy of @JoelCarroll

It was part lucky happenstance and part perfect storm, my getting the opportunity to sit down with the guys from Superego: Matt Gourley, Jeremy Carter, and Mark McConville. I've been trying to coordinate a sit-down with them for over a year. So when they were booked to return to Sketchfest this year in San Francisco, we saw our opportunity to pull it together.
 
The great thing about having these guys as the focus for our 50th episode is that Succotash is not just a showcase for comedy podcasts but it also a celebration of the medium. And Superego really represents a certain measure of podcast success. These guys aren’t getting rich off of their show – not yet – but it’s a show that didn’t exist WITHOUT podcasting. Superego – as they talk about in our interview – starts as improv but comes together through careful editing and post-production. So, although they’ve learned how to re-create what they do in a live setting, the show is, first and foremost, a podcast.

Now in their third season, they're gaining in popularity and opportunity and I beg your indulgence, as listeners, in having our format step away from playing a bunch of clips this episode in order to enjoy this interview with Superego.

THE COUNTDOWN
 
The shows in Stitcher's Top Ten Comedy Podcasts this week have either got a lot of loyal listeners or else there are a lot of new people just checking out these particular shows. Only ONE out of the Top 10 were not up there last week.

10. Doug Loves Movies
9. DeathSquad
8. Real Time with Bill Maher
7. SModcast
6. Mohr Stories
5. The Nerdist
4. NPR: Car Talk Podcast
3. WTF with Marc Maron
2. The Adam Carolla Show
1. The Joe Rogan Experience

TWEETSACK

Got a letter from a friend, James Mogavero, who sent a link to me, Eddie Pepitone, Rick Overton, Jimmy Dore, Lee Camp, David Feldman, and Carlos Alazraqui. It’s to Podcasting Community Faces Patent Troll Threat; EFF Wants to Help,a story about podcasters getting threatening letters from attorneys representing a company called Personal Audio that claims to hold the patent on "apparatus for disseminating a series of episodes represented by media files via the Internet as said episodes become available". Patent trolling is a despicable, money-grubbing practice and now it's bein gused to try to grub money from a "business' where most of us can barely afford the microphones into which we talk.

REVIEW

On Splitsider.com, for This Week In Comedy Podcasts, I review Caleb Bacon's new show Man School. Caleb ran 154 episodes of The Gentlemen's Club podcast but shut it down at the end of last year and decided to shift gears. The premiere episode features his chat with "Bald Bryan" Bishop, a producer and sidekick on Adam Carolla's show as well as the co-host of The Film Vault podcast. And they focus on Bryan's facing brain cancer at the age of 30. Now, four years after the diagnosis, he talks about how his life is different.

CLIPS

The only clips featured on this week show are a couple from the most recent Superego episode to highlight the group's sound and rhythms. You can find all three seasons of the show by Gourley, Carter, and McConville (as well as their amazing slate of guest performers) at http://GoSuperego.com.

DURST

We DO have our usual segment, our Burst O' Durst with raging moderate and political comedian Will Durst. So be sure to listen all the way to the end to your dessert.

As part of my observance of our 50th episode of Succotash, I want to thank all of the podcasters who generously allow us to use their clips each week. (Sure, it’s free plugs for them, but they’re also putting their trust in us that we’re going to do right by ‘em.) I also want to thank all of the folks who have given of their time and let me interview them for the show. But most importantly, I want to thank you guys, our listeners, for passing the Succotash. Whether you’re a first time Succotashian or have been with us for all 50 episodes since we started almost 2 years ago, it means a lot to me that you’re out there.

Which reminds me: if there’s a favorite comedy podcast YOU listen to but haven’t heard us feature on the show, drop me a line to marc@SuccotashShow.com. You can also call into our Succotash Hotline and leave us a message – that number is (818) 921-7212. And if you ARE a comedy podcaster and would like us to feature a clip from your show, you can send us a 3-5 minute MP3 clip to clips@SuccotashShow.com.

As I say on the show, you can Like us on Facebook, rate and review us on iTunes, thumbs up us on Stitcher and retweet us @SuccotashShow!

Here's to passing the Succotash for another 50 episodes!

— Marc Hershon

Succotash Epi49: Vocalizin' With Hal Lublin

Here we are, smack in the middle of Epi49, just one 'sode away from our 50th show! Exciting! And we have a wonderful Special Guest this show — Hal Lublin! If you're a fan of The Thrilling Adventure Hour, then you've heard LOTS of Hal because he's all over that show as both the announcer and filling out a number of roles in the various sketches. 

When I interviewed TAH's co-creator Ben Blacker back in Epi37, he told me that I really should try to catch the show live. And I finally got the opportunity this past weekend when the entire cast and orchestra traveled north from Hollywood, California, America to appear at the 12th Annual San Francisco Sketchfest. I got to see Hal and the rest of the gang put on a very funny show (they performed twice, actually, back to back) and Mr. Lublin was kind enough to sit with me before making the trek back down south.

Our podcaster friends can relate when I say that Hal, while he exercises his voice on behalf of TAH as well as cartoons and other voiceover work, still holds down a fulltime day job. AND is perfectly happy to continue doing so. He tells us why during the interview, as well as some "tricks of the trade" when it comes to taking care of those precious pipes.

COUNTDOWN

Two new entries into the Top 10 Comedy Podcasts as reported by Stitcher Smart Radio this week. (STILL no movement in the upper six spots, though - those podcasts are wedged in tighter than a sumo wrestler's mawashi.) And we clip the two newcomers this week so you can taste a sample.

10. The Church Of What’s Happening Now - Joey Diaz
9. Doug Loves Movies - Doug Benson
8. Real Time with Bill Maher
7. SModcast - Kevin Smith & Scott Mosier
6. Mohr Stories with Jay Mohr
5. The Nerdist w/Chris Hardwick
4. NPR: Car Talk Podcast
3. WTF with Marc Maron
2. The Adam Carolla Show
1. The Joe Rogan Experience

TWEETSACK

In the TweetSack this week is an email with an attachment from Davian Dent, the host of The Bitter Sound Podcast. He's recorded a song - a parody of the Sid Vicious take of Sinatra's My Way, which is dedicated to the podcasters that have supported his run of six shows he's done so far. And he mentions those podcasts by name (including Succotash...at the very end.) So I've put the song at the very end of the show in kind - hope you enjoy it!

INTERVIEWS

It seems I'm enjoying a tiny surge of demand the last week or so, as I have been interviewed by Jason Parsons at the Seven Days A Geek podcast as well as by Adam Harris from The Standup Chronicles show. Those drop soon so click on the links above and check 'em out when they do. The end of next week I'm off to LA for a few days, where I'm scheduled to appear on Combat Radio, live on Friday morning, February 22nd, with host Ethan Dettenmaier. Should be fun!

REVIEW

This week I'm reviewing a pretty funny show that's been flying under my radar every though they've now got 99 shows under their belt: The Ardent Atheist with Emery Emery and Heather Henderson. as my portion of This Week In Comedy Podcasts over on Splitsider.

CLIPS

REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER
Take a hit HBO show and dump it into iPod’s podcast directory – BAM, instant hit video podcast. That’s Real Time with Bill Maher. No fuss, no muss. If you saw it last week on TV, then you probably WON’T download it this week. But if you MISSED it…now it’s free.

SMODCAST
The original SModcast that started Kevin Smith’s SMOdcast network. (A network that's now celebrating its sixth year anniversary.) They haven’t been around THAT long – this clip is from Kvein Smith and Scott Moser’s latest edition, #238.

SEVEN DAYS A GEEK
As mentioned above, I was recently interviewed by Jason Parsons over at Seven Days A Geek – the show we did was kind of a nuts n’ bolts about podcasting – and the least I could do was ask him to send along a clip from his regular show for us to feature. In the clip we have, Jason is getting the lowdown from his pal TK1 on how his buddy managed to break his toe.

THE BRAWDCAST
The three women behind the Brawdcast take webstealth to a whole new level  — on their homesite they’re only known by their Twitter handles: @ButtRockBetty, @JennieK97 and @HollzInSeattle.  The first two are the talent, the third is their producer. And in this clip we’re hearing about the art of spanking. In public, no less.

THE HALF SCOOP
I’ve heard form the boys over at The Half Scoop podcast - that’d be Stephen, Corben, and Bryce – that they’ve been tweaking their format. They just rounded the 25-show mark so we give a listen to the newish-sounding Half Scoop!

TALES FROM THE ATTIC 
So little information on their website, but here’s a line from Seth Wright & Zack Bennett's listing on iTunes: “Underwhelming, crude episodes filled with ramblings and random banter from Seth and Zack.” In this clip, war stories on performing on the road are re-hashed guest Angelo Warner.

BURST O' DURST
Not really a clip but a self-contained feature from the brain and attendant mouth of our Ambassador to the Middle, political comedian Will Durst. In this installment, Will gives out his own brand of mythical statuettes to some political worthies in this award season we're entering.

There's what's in store for you this epi. Keep in mind the next show is our FIFTIETH episode (!) and we're going to celebrate with a show-long interview by the three-man cast of Superego, one of the hottest podcasts around. Until next time, please remember to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon
 

Succotash Epi48: Illusionoidin'

I’m very excited about today’s show. I’m usually excited about every epi, but sometimes I’m more excited than other times and this is one of those more excited times. Our special guests are Paul Bates, Lee Smart, and Nug Nahrgang – the cast of Illusionoid, one of my favorite podcasts.

One of the most interesting things about Illusionoid is that it is a highly improvised show, built within a framework that makes it seem like each episode is an integral story within a structured whole. Maybe that's where the "illusion" part of the name comes from - I didn't think to ask. We DO get into the nuts and bolts of how the show gets put together - performance, music, sound effects - as well as how the three guys met up and how the show got started.

I play a snippet of a recent Illusionoid episode after the interview, one that was inspired by part of our conversation just before the guys were going into the studio to record the show. You really should hear more and you can do it at http://Illusionoid.com, as well as on iTunes and Stitcher Smart Radio.

COUNTDOWN

Here's the latest Top 10 Comedy Podcast countdown from Stitcher Smart Radio. There are a couple of new entries this week but not a whole lot of action - no movement at all amongst the top eight shows from last week's numbers.

10. SModcast > Tell ‘Em Steve-Dave!
9. The Church of What’s Happening Now
8. Doug Loves Movies
7. Death Squad
6. Mohr Stories
5. The Nerdist
4. NPR: Car Talk Podcast
3. WTF with Mark Maron
2. The Adam Carolla Show
1. The Joe Rogan Experience

WHAT ELSE YOU GOT?

There's our Burst O' Durst, with comedian Will Durst talking about Girls (HBO) creator Lena Dunham and her amazing display of tattoos that joined her at the recent Golden Globes awards. I read a letter from Louis CK. And we have a song from Bonn and Obo.

CLIPS

SModcast: Tell ‘Em, Steve-Dave
Featuring Brian Quinn, Bryan Johnson & Walt Flanagan, Tell 'Em, Steve-Dave is billed as “Two Comic Book Men and An Impractical Joker. Uncensored.” The origin of the title is from a comic store that Kevin Smith and Walt Flanagan used to go to, run by a guy who they could never remember if his name was Steve or Dave. So he became Steve-Dave. Our clip has part of their regular segments called "Fat News".

The Church Of What's Happening NowSome people may be old enough to remember that the title of Joey Diaz’ podcast came from a character that late comedian Flip Wilson did, the Reverend Leroy, and it was the name of his church. Joey’s a truth-to-power kind of guy who also seems heavily fueled by edible forms of marijuana. But he used to be into heavier stuff, as evidenced by the story he tells in our sample of the show.

NPR: Car Talk PodcastDid you know that NPR's Car Talk radio show, featuring the beloved Click and Clack (AKA Tom and Ray Magliozzi) is also Top 10 podcast? You can tell it's new to podcasting and a to a whole new audience because otherwise listeners would know that Car Talk - around for 35 years - stopped producing new shows last October! What you’re hearing are old reruns of people calling in to ask Click and Clack about their old broken down cars.

Sloppy Seconds 
The official blurb for Sloppy Seconds reads: “San Francisco comedian Howard Stone and co-host Tom Sawyer discuss current events in this fast paced comedy talk show with music.” What it neglects to say is that Tom Sawyer has been a fixture in the San Francisco comedy scene for 30 years as the owner of Cobb’s Comedy Club. And he’s got as many opinions as he had comedians cross the Cobb’s stage. Their guest this episode is Bay Area comedian Johnny Steele, who has an opinion or two himself.

TalkS Hit with Eddie Ifft
Here’s a podcast that’s known by slightly different titles depending where you look for it. On its homesite, it’s Talking Shit with Jim Jefferies and Eddie Ifft. Or sometimes just Talking Shit with Eddie Ifft. Or Jim And Eddie Talk Shit. On iTunes, to get past the censorship on titles, it’s called TalkS Hit with Eddie Ifft. Whatever you call it, it has just passed 200 episodes, so something’s working. I will warn you that this show is NOT for the meek. This particular episode they have comedian Greg Wilson dropping by and the stories are, quite frankly, a little rough. Definitely NSFW. But there’s a crude hilarity and sense of fun…up until the moment Eddie shits his pants. Yes, that's right. Say no more.

The DC AM
AM is the host of The DC AM which is in Washington, DC. In a most recent epsiode, AM and a friend – the podcast homesite is very devoid of names – ventured to the Music And Gaming Festival (or MAGFest) in search of costumed weirdos running amok in our nation’s capitol. In the clip we have, they’ve cornered a dude dressed like Encio from the Assassion’s Creed video games.

YA YA
Brian Elles hosts a man-on-the-street type of show in Chicago called Ya Ya in conjunction with Peaches and Hot Sauce Productions. (I think I mispronounce the title of the show during the podcast - it's not "yah-yah" but more "yeh-yeh" - guest I'm not street enough to get those nuances…) In this clip that came right out of our TweetSack, Brian has Greg Gilenna (creator and writer of Meet The Parents) as his guest, who reveals the origins of the movie was a two-minute comedy sketch.

There aren't THAT many clips in today's show but, with the Illusionoid interview, this is one of the longer episodes of Succotash we've done. Even so, I still managed to tack on a bonus succotash recipe at the very end, after Bill Haywatt signs off.

Until next time, please remember to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

Succotash Epi47: Sketchfestin' With David Owen

I have declared myself to be a "counter Resolutionist" this year and, accordingly, 2013 is right on track since I have broken no resolutions. You can't break what you don't have.  Been suffering from some kind of viral crud (I'm not talking about an onslaught of cute kitty videos) that's going around the past few days but I don't think it's the flu. More like a cold. Whatever it is, it's taken up residence in my throat and sinuses, and will be making a guest appearance during this episode.

Our Special Guest is no virus although, with David Owen's tenaciousness at lining up comedy groups and venues for the San Francisco Sketchfest, he could be mistaken for something contagious. Last year about this time we had Cole Stratton, co-host of the Pop My Culture podcast, former member of my improv group The Riffingtons, and one of the three founder/producers of the  Sketchfest. For the 12th year of the 'fest, Mr. Owen joins me to talk about this year’s upcoming exciting show.

How exciting? Here's just a partial list of the performers scheduled to appear: Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein, Rob Corddry, Erinn Hayes, Rob Huebel, Ken Marino, Jonathan Stern, David Wain, Bruce Campbell, Patton Oswalt, Reggie Watts, Kevin McDonald, Adam Savage, Kristen Schaal, Paul F. Tompkins, Janet Varney, Eddie Pepitone, Michael Ian Black, Beth Dover, Carla Gallo, Ryan Hansen, Rob Huebel, Natasha Leggero, Joe Lo Truglio, Ken Marino, Erica Oyama, June Diane Raphael, Paul Scheer, Jonathan Stern, Maria Bamford, Roger Bart, Jennifer Coolidge, Rachel Dratch, Janeane Garofalo, Laraine Newman, Eugene Pack, Dayle Reyfel, Maya Rudolph, Fred Willard…the list goes on and one.

If you’re in or near San Francisco between January 24 and February 10, check out the amazing lineup and get ticket at http://SFSketchfest.com You can also follow info about the show on Twitter by following @SFSketchfest.

COUNTDOWN

As we started doing on the show (and in this blog) last week, here is the latest Top 10 Comedy Podcasts from Stitcher Smart Radio:

10. SModcast w/Kevin Smith
9. By The Way, In Conversation w/Jeff Garlin
8. Doug Loves Movies
7. Death Squad
6. Mohr Stories
5. The Nerdist
4. NPR: Car Talk Podcast
3. WTF with Mark Maron
2. The Adam Carolla Show
1. The Joe Rogan Experience

 WHAT'S THAT MUSIC?

This week we're featuring Jesus Walks by Karen Kilgariff from her album, Behind You. Find it and other goodies, such as Karen's tour schedule, at http://KarenKilgariff.com

DURST'S BACK

Although I don't have any resolutions for the New Year, our in-house political comedian and Raging Moderate Will Durst does. and he's not ashamed to share them in this epi's Burst O' Durst. Catch more of Will's musings at http://WillDurst.com

THE CLIPS

By The Way – In Conversation with Jeff Garlin 

This new show jumped into the charts at #9 for its very first week of life. It’s over on the Earwolf network and the show is recorded live in front of an audience at Largo in Los Angeles. For his first outing, host Jeff Garlin has tapped Larry David, the co-creator of Seinfeld and with whom he works on Curb Your Enthusiasm. It’s over an hour of rollicking conversation and the audience LOVES it, as you can hear in this clip.

This Week With Larry Miller 
He’s back! I mentioned last episode that comedian/actor Larry Miller was finally well enough to return to the podcast waves this past week. The first new episode of This Week With Larry Miller dropped last Thursday and most of the show Larry talks about the freak accident that landed him in the hospital, a medically-induced coma, and months of rehabilitation. And he does it in classic Larry Miller storytelling style. (Because that sort of thing is so hard to clip, I’ve opted to tease you with his Joke Of The Week, which is just Larry telling an old joke.)

Double Talk Radio
At Double Talk Radio, Double K and one of his guests from this episode, Matty, have a story to tell. And you’ll probably hear from DK’s co-host Cookie J and their other guest, The Hick. The audio quality of this cast is less than our usual standards, but they’re got something going on it seems – been on for awhile and have a lot of loyal listeners.

Duncan Trussell Family Hour 

With well over a hundred episodes of the Duncan Trussell Family Hour under his belt, comedian Duncan Trussell's guests include comedians, actors and people from all sorts of interesting directions. Most recently his focus in his pre-interview portion of the show has been focused on a probable diagnosis of testicular cancer. Our hearts go out to him and we wish him a safe recovery. And you have to admire he spirit with which he approaches such a heavy thing, as heard from the beginning of a recent episode…

The Geek Generation
The Geek Generation, with co-hosts Rob Logan, Mike Volpe, Anna Zifcak, Mikey Arsenault, is another podcast that’s passed the century-episode mark a while ago. They cover ANYTHING remotely geeky – video games, movies, TV, comic books, tech, animation – you name it, they’ll eventually get around to it. And even though co-host Anna Zifcak has grown up by buying a house and now she’s about to get married. But a geek can’t have an ordinary wedding now, can she?

Wheelbarrow Full of Dicks
That’s the name of a podcast featuring Mike, Drunk, Paul, and Nappier – four guys I know very little about because – as is often the case – 84% of podcasters have an aversion to revealing much information about themselves. (I got that stat the same place I found out that 72% of podcasters make up statistics.) Anyway, Wheelbarrow falls under my heading of being an STS show – Shooting The Shit – and these guys will go anywhere that there’s conversation to be had.

It’s Not Soccer Podcast 

What would you call a sports podcast that has precious little to do with sports? How about the It’s Not Soccer Podcast. That’s what Adam Barker who Succotashians know from the Oddcast Podcast and Billy Cutmore call their show. As THEY say, if you’re not into sports, listening to It’s Not Soccer will NOT make you feel left out.

That's about it for this episode. Appreciate you stopping by. Appreciate you even more if you wanted to hit the Donate button in the upper right hand corner of our homesite. Or do you Amazon online shopping by getting there through the carousel on the bottom right of our http://SuccotashShow.com site. You can even ignore the offers for the Hallmark Channel movie DVD's that I wrote or the I Hate People! business book I wrote if you want to - but for every product you buy when you go through our page's portal, we get a li'l kickback from the online store named after a big, dirty river.

Even if you can't or don't donate or buy anything, could you do me a favor and remember to pass the Succotash?

— Marc Hershon

Succotash Epi46: Pumpin' Out The P'casts

Welcome to our first full-fledged episode of the New Year. We've got nine podcast clips for you, plus a lovely novelty tune, Undead Love Song, by friend-of-Succotash John Anealio. (Off his album Laser Robot Zombie Love, available at http://JohnAnealio.com.) And yet the show comes up a little short, timewise, this week. Maybe it's because we're missing our usual Burst O' Durst with political punwit Will Durst. (Durst's on vacay but will be back next epi...)

Anyway, because the show runs a little shorter than usual, you might actually catch the little "extra" I began tagging onto the very end of the show starting with the previous episode. It's an idea I shamelessly stole from our friend Jabs of The DHead Factor — I started taking the audio track from videos on YouTube that feature recipes for succotash. This week's is a doozy: Daphne Oz and Tom Arnold make "Summerin' Succotash" on ABC's The Chew. Enjoy!

THE COUNTDOWN

Epi46 also marks the start of our Top 10 Comedy Podcast countdown, as tabulated weekly by Stitcher Smart Radio. It turns out that comedy podcasts up there at the top of the heap don't move around a whole lot, so unless you guys want to basically have me read the following list every week, it will behoove us all to get over to Stitcher and start listening and rating our favorites. Here's how this week looks:

10. Ari Shaffir’s Shark Tank
9. Doug Loves Movies
8. DeathSquad
7. SModcast
6. Mohr Stories
5. The Nerdist
4. NPR: Car Talk Podcast
3. WTF with Mark Maron
2. The Adam Carolla Show
1. The Joe Rogan Experience

THE CLIPS

That's about all I have to share with you guys. Maybe if someone wrote in once in a while with questions or beefs or something, we'd get a little going here. Instead, here's who we have ready to serve up for your listening pleasure in this epi:

Dazed & Convicted 
As (belatedly) promised, our lead-off clippage this show is from Monica Hamburg's new Dazed & Convicted podcast, with her equally new co-host, Bill Allman. Longtime Succotashians know Monica from S & M Rants, but she's rebooted the concept and their new show focuses on stories from the news featuring what Monica refers to as “criminal fucktards”. Nice.
 

Ten Minute Podcast
Looking for a quick blast from Podcast Land? Listen no further than the Ten Minute Podcast. It’s three funny guys – Will Sasso, Bryan Callen (both from MAD TV) and Chris D’Elia (from Whitney), and they're happy just to be shootin’ the shit and being funny.

Mohr Stories 
Mohr Stories is the flagship podcast at Jay Mohr’s podcast network, FakeMustache.com. I’ve been wanting to clip his podcast for a while now and then, when I heard Bryan Callen in the Ten Minute Podcast we are also featuring this epi, I thought what a great segue!

Royal & Doodall 
They're back! You can’t escape the Pod Mafia — even though I recently played something from these two "made men" – Tommy Royal and Angus Doodall – I just HAD to play this next clip because it features…me. It’s from the R&D Christmas Panto show, where they had various members of the Pod Mafia from around the world record lines for this holiday audio play, then they stitched the whole thing together like a Christmas goose. I am truly humbled and honored that Royal and Doodall asked me to join in their reindeer games.

Nerd Poker 
Comedian Brian Posehn, who you may know from the Sarah Silverman Show, just started hosting a podcast over on the Earwolf network called Nerd Poker. Which is a euphemism for Dungeons & Dragons or D&D as it is often called. The show is Brian and a handful of funny friends, including Blaine Capatch, Ken Daly, Gerry Duggan, and Sarah Guzzardo, who have created strange and wonderful characters that go on adventures overlorded by their Dungeon Master Scott Robison. Because all these folks are comics and writers and actors, it’s all pretty funny and even if you haven’t been into D&D for over 30 years (oops, did I say that?) you’ll still probably enjoy it. (I recently reviewed Nerd Poker over on Splitsider.com - you can catch it at http://hersh.co/TWICP010313)

The Zane Lamprey Show 
Comedian, actor and International Drinking Ambassador Zane Lamprey hosts a show that used to be called Drinking Made Easy but now goes by the name The Zane Lamprey Show. Succotashians were turned onto Zane when we had THAT Chris Gore on as our co-host a month or so ago. Our featured clip is of Zane, his posse Steve McKenna, Fun Josh and Mel, along with guest, three-time Playboy Playmate Jessica Hall.

Allison Rosen Is Your New Best Friend
Although she’s pretty well-known as Adam Carolla’s newsy sidekick on his podcast, The Adam Carolla Show, Alison Rosen’s been hosting her own show since 2009. She’s very engaging, involves her listeners in the show with games and thanks largely to her clout from being part of Carolla Digital (formerly ACE Broadcasting), she gets some awesome guests. Here’s a clip from her recent two-part visit with Dave Atell.

Bertcast 
Bert Kreisher is a comedian with a podcast – imagine that! – and a forthcoming documentary that’s being done about him. We clip his Epi5 where he interviewed the two filmmakers who have been following him around, Jeff Johnson and Jeff Hinman. In the segment we have, they talk about what happened when they went out after hours with fellow comic Hannibal Buress.

Cox & Crendor Show 
The official blurb calls this show “The highest quality non-content 30-minute morning show on the internet in podcast form” and it seem to be holding that spot fairly well. These guys are out of Los Angeles and, if they don’t smoke pot, Jesse Cox and Eric “Crendor” Hraab really should have to explain why they laugh so much during their show.

There's our deal. Epi46 in one neat, tidy bundle. Next week we'll visit with David Owen, one of the founders of the renowned San Francisco Sketchfest, about to kick off it's 12th year. Until then, keep it real. And pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon