‘Casting Call.14
Podcast recommendations from October 23 - October 27, 2023
I work a regular job in a warehouse where I rarely need to use my critical thinking skills (I do get to drive a forklift, though). So, I listen to around 40 hours worth of podcasts a week, and here’s what I recommend from this past week...
Comedy Bang! Bang! - #853 Oh, Hell Maybe! w/ Sam Jay, Gil Ozeri, Greg Hess
It’s déjà vu all over again!
Last time I did my podcast recs, I extolled the comedic virtues of Lisa Gilroy. This time, the other low-key CBB heavy hitter, Gil Ozeri, comes up to bat...
Sam Jay is promoting her (HBO)Max standup special, Salute Me, Or Shoot Me, and it seems like it takes a little bit for her to warm up to the silliness of everything. But once she’s in the groove, she fits right in and riffs with the best of them.
Then Ozeri returns as another character that has something going on with his voice (his standard bit), Bane. Yes — masked ten year old reference that everyone that had a standard drinking cup within arm’s reach was impersonating — that Bane. Ozeri hasn’t been Bane since 2018, and continues with the premise he began then: What if Bane was a standup comedian?
The rest of the episode is just an absurd laugh-fest.
Doughboys- (LIVE) Boo’s Philly Cheesesteaks w/ Don’t Stop Or We’ll Die (Paul Rust, Michael Cassady)
It’s déjà vu all over again, again!
They finish up Shockdoughbooerdeath 2023 with a live show recorded at the beginning of the month. And of course, when Paul Rust is part of the equation, they get a little silly...
Which, scrolling through Reddit, there are quite a bit of people that aren’t fans of this type of episode. Because, I mean, who wouldn’t want to sit in the audience for a podcast where they review food earnestly, and take everything seriously when it comes to rating the restaurant in question? Sounds like a rip-roarin good time to me!
Live comedy — even when you’re in front of supposed fans — has got to be the most nerve wracking performing one can do, besides stunt person/daredevil stuff. There’s the immediate response of laughter, that if you’re not getting it, you know you’re in trouble. So, you gotta stack the deck the best you can.
Asking people to pay to watch a live podcast recording is surreal. I’m sure there are still people around who aren’t really sure what a podcast is. But everyone has their own sense of humor, so...
However, something that everyone can agree on, is (what has become) their signature Live Bit that I won’t spoil here, but you might have been wondering if they did it or not, but c’mon, you knew they were gonna do it.
High And Mighty - #439 Children’s Sports w/ Matt Besser
Out of the four original Upright Citizens Brigade founders, Besser has been the hardest one for me to pin down. I just can’t quite figure out if he’s a jerk and people hate him, or if he’s not afraid to take huge fucking swings that more often than not, just fail and make him appear to be an asshole.
This episode does a lot of work in humanizing him to me, though. He’s got a lot of cogent thoughts about having your children in sports programs, and letting them have fun and develop their own love of sports, or just discovering for themselves what they’re passionate about.
I don’t know if he was making this particular point, but coed sports might lead to more girls not wanting to participate, because of the insular social nature of boys and competition — not wanting to play with girls since they’re inferior, and if they end up being better than a boy, then that’s a huge hit to the boy’s status. Then there is the point of Separate Is Not Equal, and gendered professional sports, and trans athlete bullshit, so there’s a lot more nuance then that.
But maybe if we focus on establishing nurturing environments for kids while they’re young and listen to them as they get older, we can figure out what is best for them — right along side them — and then the issues as they get older will probably fix themselves.