brett1326657711

Ha! Thanks, Brian

Brief writeup about the EC in AV Club: http://www.avclub.com/articles/week-of-july-28aug-3,60001/

Hey, thanks for all the feedback, folks. Much appreciated, both the criticism and the kind words. I've been getting some nice messages from people who found Ham Radio through the EC. Naturally, my favorites are the ones that say "Don't change anything about your show! you gots ROBBED!!!1" I just uploaded a new episode in which I talk (briefly, at the very end) about the EC. The are no major format changes, although you might notice some of the judges' feedback seeping in, especially in the way I set up the sketches. I've only been doing the podcast for a year, so there's still lots of room for evolution. if you wanna hear a good example of what I'm trying to do in something more than tiny 2 minute nibbles, go check out episode 10: http://hamradiopodcast.podbean.com/

thanks guys. the challenge has definitely gotten me thinking alot more about these sort of things, especially what jesse thorn was saying about how you have to lay out information in the most easily digestible, linear way when you're working in an audio medium, and also what matt said about the importance of having some sort of recognizable signature stingers/theme songs etc. (as @kyle mentioned) but i do plan on continuing the jolting/meta/herky-jerky style of Ham Radio, cuz that's just that's what I do. although newer episodes of my show have begun to have longer sketches (none of which i can use in the challenge due to time constraints) which are interspersed with the more disorienting meta stuff... and thanks for the words of encouragement, @mike

I totally get it (in hindsight). The fact that I'm not immersed in the UCB/alt/LA improv culture that Matt is means that this line of criticism was totally in my blind spot (as I said in the show). Matt was probably so freakin irritated that he had to sit through another "hack comedy parody" that he might've come off a little testy. And hey, I somehow managed to not get eliminated. I'm just hoping my "Barry the Plumbing Guy" sketch KILLS next week!

@Chris-I don't believe there was anything edited out. Your description is pretty close to my perception of the exchange, too

I was hesitant to wade in here but I've been lurking on this great discussion, and since I got a coveted Aukerman endorsement I'll go ahead and chime in. For starters, I'm a working comic who middles in a lot of shitty Indian casinos, Tribble runs, etc. and I can't count the number of times I've had to follow some hack who just got done killing with his 10 minute Schwarzenegger closer that he's been carting around for the last 20 years. Then I gotta go onstage and try to squeeze laughs from my urbane, original (hopefully) observations to a bunch of drunk folk who just got done baying for Arnold. Not complaining, just describing. It's not a unique situation, but it is one I personally experience often enough for it to be a thing, so to say I don't have enough "merit badges" really doesn't register for me. I often use my podcast to grapple with situations that occupy my daily thoughts, this was just one of them. I wrote this after I did a show in a shitty Indian casino with a host who had 5 minutes on Chinese shopkeepers and a big Schwarzeneggar closer. The idea for the sketch was to flip the script and come up with a scenario in which the "hack" was the one most deserving of compassion, and the "bitter standup" (stand-in for me) was the asshole. If you ask me, it was an exercise in compassion, not hater-hood. I thought that starting the clip with such a long stretch of "hack" material would make the audience hate the "hack," thus making the revelation that he was a dying man more poignant. I didn't realize that would make the intended audience hate me instead. Big miscalculation, obvs. That being said, it really was a "bad song choice" as Matt said. It was partly chosen based on the time limit, and yes, partly because I thought a comedy-centric crowd would get it/enjoy it. I'm sure plenty did. And I don't think the guys were being too rough, although I could see how people would think that. These guys are total pros and just getting to hear them talk about the medium in such detail and proximity is a master class in podcasting, for me.