Bucho

It's much better to have them mixed loud. Podcasts are listened to in cars, in trains, while mowing the lawn or vacuuming, while operating power tools and while riding loud animals such as oxen and walruses. It's zero trouble to turn the volume down compared with trying to push the volume past 100% if it's mixed too quiet. I think the Earwolf engineers do a great job.

Nothing humble about that buddy. I don't do humble brag or passive aggressive or any of that half-assed horseshit. I go whole-hog every time. In fact, being a New Zealander, I have such a limited understanding of etiquette and social niceties I'll often go hog-and-a-half without realising it.

Nothing humble about that buddy. I don't do humble brag or passive aggressive or any of that half-assed horseshit. I go whole-hog every time. In fact, being a New Zealander, I have such a limited understanding of etiquette and social niceties I'll often go hog-and-a-half without realising it.

@Mark: Yeah, I'm sure approval from the boss or the coach or the king or the sensei might be nice. But, again, the dynamic is that the brown-nosing is done by a subordinate. WIth performance the dynamic is opposite. The performer isn't the boss. The crowd is paying the wages. If you've spent any time around artists at all you soon realise that if anyone is after approval in that situation it's the performer. The approval is given by the audience.

Getting to know Frank more was good stuff, keep doing that. . TOTALLY LAIME - Nice clip. Good flow, some fun little stories and props to Elizabeth for admitting to the tramp stamp. That's the kind of honesty and vulnerability that gabfest connoisseurs such as myself and Matt Besser are drawn to like suave and intelligent moths to a flame. It wasn't funny per se, but it was fun. I adore me some Doug Benson but his negative notes were nonsense. . LEFT HANDED RADIO - These guys and gals speak my language even when they're barely speaking because Nick Thune is hogging the limelight. This time it was Harris, of whom I'm also significantly enamoured, who gave the nonsense notes. Bonus points to LHR for using "sensei" comedically mere hours after I masterfully did the same in the thread for 8.1. That's a braggy brag. Also, "Hungry Hippo Eyes"!!! A smooth, funny, joke-heavy sketch with A-grade hogging from Nick. . THE LITTLE DUM DUM CLUB - Props for the three-way international flavour. Straight into the commercial radio vibes with the listeners engaging in promotional Wiki vandalism. The Bobby Slayton 20 Pizzas story was funny and compelling and the lads riffed well off it. This time Doug's notes were right on the money, refering to how they dumped a couple of lead questions in Nick's lap - the very thing Besser has been saying he doesn't like - but Lady Luck smiled on the Aussies this round with Nick being just that good that he was able to launch anyway. . BOB & DAN CAST - The judges notes were dead on. Nick seemed more engaged than he did with Totally Laime and overall it was a more interesting bunch of information that came out of him, but Totally Laime's fluffier chat was more fun. And if this thing's a comedy podcast Challenge I have to give Totally Laime the edge over them. Disappointing, because having listened to several full shows of each of the remaining four contestants Bob & Dan's clip this round this was the least indicative of what they really do. It really didn't sound much like them at all. . It's a toss-up for me whether the judges will deliver Totally Laime or Bob & Dan their marching orders but for me it was the gents from Chicago who landed at the bottom this week.

No worries AC, it's all part of the fun. Sometimes message board shenanigans are even better when there's a few misunderstandings here and there.

I don't know what to tell you AC, I already responded to this in my post to Zach. I do post responses in which I detail things that haven't worked for me. I also post responses in which I let performers know they've busted my guts. (Which, by the way is not "mindless" cheering for effort. It's thoughtful cheering for a mission accomplished.) . And what's with this weird attitude some peeps seem to labour under that posting that you loved some host or guest or joke is somehow "brown-nosing" or "dick-sucking". It's an attitude that (a) fails to understand that, like Besser said, this is the primary way a podcaster or writer knows they're doing something worth their time and energy, and ( fails to grasp the entire concept of what "brown-nosing" or "sucking up" actually is. . Brown-nosing is when you fawn over someone you're subordinate to or who has the power to give you something to advance your cause. It's done to bosses mostly, but also to sports team selectors, voters, kings and senseis. It's done because the brown-noser wants some kind of favour. But an audience member isn't subordinate to a performer. In fact, if anything, that dynamic is the opposite. The idea that it's an act of brown-nosing to let a performer know you enjoy their work is dopier than twenty-five dopes on dope. . What favour is someone like a Besser or an Aukerman or a Notaro going to do for people who spend a minute or two to write in that they like their style(s)? Promote them to junior assistant manager? Select them for the first team in the big game? Award them their brown belt when they're an uncoordinated buffoon who can't even complete kata for shit!?!? IS THAT WHAT BESSER IS GOING TO DO FOR ME?!?!?!?! . Nope. All that happens is that these artists can realise it's worth their time to carry on doing their thing and making their stuff and making our lives a better place. Just like they already do.

Haha, I hear you Zach, I'm just messing. I've given plenty of feedback about stuff that I thought didn't work as much as I have about stuff that made me laugh my balls off. I was just calling back to what Matt said on the show equating positive message board comments to laughter/applause. It wasn't my analogy, it was his. And it's actually not as dumb as how you've somewhat awkwardly interpreted it. . Stage work is a performance. Podcasting is a performance. . Laughter and applause is the positive feedback for stage work. Forum/twitter/email compliments are the positive feedback for podcasts. . Capiche?

Wait ... why a contest? Can't it just be an old fashioned orgy?

Are you sucking dick when you laugh in a comedy club? Or cheer at your favourite band? . How odd. And erotic.

It feels kind of odd to give any kind of production note to a podcast which is already one of my favourite things since the invention of the trebuchet, but I really feel like the show would be even stronger if the stupendous intro rolled straight into bringing in the splendid guest. . It's not that Chart Chatter isn't a good section, it's just a bit of a momentum killer right up front and feels like the magical hype built up by the magnificent intro goes to waste somewhat because all I want at that point is for all that adrenaline and momentum to roll like an unstoppable force into Howard and Kulap bantering up a storm with a guest who's swept along by their wave of hype-joy. I'd prefer to hear Chart Chatter between the second chart and the roulette/duck/goose game or at the end of the show. . Am I right? Yes. But do the other Wolfganstas and Chart Luvvahs recognise my correctness?

Because if you're the performer you want cheers and applause not boos and empty beer bottles. Did you even pay attention to anything Matt said Anonymous Coward?

Thing about trolls is you get to choose whether they have the power to affect you. As much as posting negative nonsense on the internet is as easy as breathing, it's just as easy to dismiss those types of posters as labouring beneath your regard. Generally snark is a sign of self-loathing anyway, so instead of feeling attacked by it the correct emotional response is pity toward the snarkist. They're as feeble and impotent as you wish to render them. . Besides, this forum is Earwolf's living room. You guys get to decide the quality of the decorum. Fire the Warningtorpedoes, wield the Deletesword and swing the Banhammer as you wish. The vibe is in your hands.

Some really good ideas there KC. I think the sound quality challenge is a little dry (in fact good sound should probably be a pre-req for selection rather than an in-show thing) but the others are interesting.

Also, the first half hour of this episode is further proof that I was right on the money a while ago when I said Earwolf should sign Matt up for his own gabfest for when The Challenge is wrapped up. Forcing me to endure this crazy world with no Besserfest each week would be an act of wanton cruelty unparalleled outside of Ghadaffi's compound. . Also also, the lack of famous New York based podcasts was mentioned while talking to Left Handed Radio - give "Keith and The Girl" a whirl Matt. They are of that WTF/WTR/Carolla mould of the fearless, honest, probing kind of funny and they're successful enough to be full-time podcast hosts. They've also been doing it since early 2005, which makes them seasoned as heck. In fact the magnificent Tig Notaro herself was on with them a couple of weeks ago so look up her ep for a whole bunch of wild NYC hilariousness mixed with the always delightful Tig.

Yeah, I think you're right that it shouldn't go in the middle of the show Kajus, it would risk messing that momentum up too much. It would feel like an interuption. And I don't think it should be removed because it's important to some listeners to have that connection. . The thing about Chart Chatter not being relevant to the current guest was my guess for the main reason for placing it at the start, but my thinking countering that was that Who Charted always gets sweet guests who can riff on anything - especially since Howard is a ninja at taking anything and making a beautiful non-sequitirous question out of it. . So I agree with BenV agreeing that it would be really good at the tail end of the show, both for the very salient point he makes about memory and response and for the devilishly perceptive point I made earlier about the guest being right in the Who Charted groove by that stage. . I think there's something in what Brendan said too though. The main thing is I feel like the show would kick off stronger if the guest wasn't left on the sidelines while a whole segment goes by. And as we Earwolf Challenge listeners are familiar with by now, you need to grab the potentially new listener early.

I listen to 35-50 hours of podcasts a week but I'm not a comedian (or very smart) - I almost never know WHY I think things are funny. So one of the things I LOVE about The Challenge has been hearing super-sharp comedy minds like your Jesse Thorns and your Marc Marons talk about the whys. . So 8.1, with super-sharp comedy mind Matt gabbing up a storm, was one of the best things from The Challenge so far. Matt starts saying he likes that the Dum Dum Clubsters are seasoned comedians and compares them to fellow seasoned comedian podcast Walking The Room. I loved what he said about how WTR can be thrilling sometimes because they may say stuff that's "burning bridges" - they're not playing it safe, they're trying to play it honest and real and taking risks and it gives them that "edge". Maybe that's a big part of why Carolla and Maron are these runaway hits - they're hosts with very strong, fearless, honest points of view. They're not afraid to hurt feelings or step on toes. You don't have to agree with them to find it fascinating to hear them articulate things nobody else has the balls to articulate. Plus they're funny bastards. . Although, come to think of it, I actually don't think any of the remaining 3 gabfests are that type of show, they're more the flippant, goofy, Jordan Jesse Go types of dealios. Which is fine - Jordan Jesse Go might even be my favourite of all. Nothing wrong with just being sillygooses who're good at gabbing.

Just quit teasing and post the "optional photos" from the Barcelonian nude beach already Syn.

"Mic" makes much more sense to me too Chris. "Mike" feels like how people who confuse "your", "you're" and "yore" would write it. . And I thought the "defense" section with the F+ was interesting. It's always illuminating when someone explains what was behind an artistic decision which didn't work like they meant it to, especially when that failure has consequences like it does on The Challenge. It was fun when the F+ did it and it was fun when Brett Hammill did it. . I don't understand where the "prepping" would come into it or exactly what you mean by it or how it would make it more interesting than a natural conversation between entertainers though.

KAJUS: "I can definitely say that it does not belong anywhere but the start of the show, as it is comprised of tidbits of news and ideas (Chart Chatter is pretty much synonymous with Small Talk), and that stuff belongs at the top of any show." . Chart Chatter is less about news tidbits and ideas than it is about audience inclusion. Many shows do all that stuff - as well as the news, announcements, plugs etc - later in the show or at the end. An audience inclusive feature can be a successful feature, but for your lead feature you want to go with a strong one, and Chart Chatter, while it's often fun just because Howard and Kulap are always fun, is nevertheless the weakest feature on Who Charted. An example of a very successful show with an audience feature section is Jordan Jesse Go and their Momentous Occasions, which typically occurs about 3/4 to 4/5 of the way through the show. . When Who Charted or Jordan Jesse Go kicks off I'm amped to get to know the guest - to establish them as part of the episode and understand something of their point of view. At that point I'm much more interested in them than what's been written in the forum or through email because a) I've probably already read it myself, and the guest is 99% more likely to be entertaining than what one of us forum dopes has been yapping about anyway. . The other reason to move it later in the show is that even if the guest does come in to respond to Chart Chatter at the beginning, they probably don't know the show as well as they could yet. If they do it later in the show, once they've found the groove of the show and have a much greater understanding of what Who Charted is, their feedback on the audience feedback would come from a more meaningful and entertaining place.

MATT: "In regards to F+ getting conflicting notes...the fact is they confused/lost the judges doing it both ways. I think I addressed this on the show, and I admitted that their show is probably easier to understand if you listen to the whole show and get into its rhythm." . Yep, you definitely commentated on those points during the show, and I thought they were points well made. Sometimes it seems like some fans only listen to half of what is said and often mentally latch onto what they see as a "wrong" in a way which deafens them to clarifying commentations which follow. . When it comes to full episodes I've found the F Plus to be significantly funnier than some other shows which remain in the contest, but unfortunately their performance within the contest itself hasn't warranted their advancing to the next round.

I love you Frank.

@Greg: Day one is where you hear those producers pipe up now. Matt talks to Frank and Peter at the start and they discuss the parameters of the challenge - a new section which, contrary to what those sillygoose Who Charted gadabouts said this week, is a significant improvement on proceedings. . . @Chris: I pay attention when the producers talk because they clarify things for Matt and, therefore, for me. I do think they could do with some more introduction, just to familiarise the listener with their place in proceedings and I do agree that promoting one of them to be a steadying co-host/co-judge role could provide additional consistency, but I think the latest round ran really well. And in fact they did contribute on-mic to days 2 and 3 this round, as they have done in previous rounds, although the fact you didn't recognise that may point to the lack of clarity you're bringing up. . As for the relative merits of each day, I enjoy days two and three fairly equally and with the addition of the production meeting at the front of day one I think that part of the show has become much stronger.

I want to have this episode's babies.

Awesome post Rutabaga.