Episode 164 — Clifton Was Here

[Episode 164 — Clifton Was Here]

Why would newcomers from the TV show not get that there's characters on the podcast? There's characters on the TV version.

 

It's been a bit of an odd run of episodes lately, Bob Zmuda not really being Tony Clifton, Adam Pally not really committing to being bro a few weeks ago. Before that, Tim Heidecker as himself but as a character version of himself, and last week the Burning Love episode was a bit different because it's characters from a pre-existing show. This isn't a criticism of those episodes at all, it's just that they're all slightly atypical first episodes for someone to listen to.

[Episode 164 — Clifton Was Here]

I complained about that last week, but come on, Tony Clifton can do what he likes.

[Episode 33 — June Gloom]

Well I liked the episode and so did my horse. She loves to eat apples with her malt.

[Episode 163 — Burning Love]

Once again Scott takes a very lenient approach to guests talking during the Would you Rather theme. I don't know how much more of this I can take.

[Episode 31 — Cyborgs]

See but I'd always thought there was supposed to be a logical explanation to all of God's laws, it might not necessarily be to do with hygiene, but usually the reason for the laws was that it was that it would be the best way to live your life and you'd be happier if you did.

 

At least that's what my christian upbringing taught.

[Episode 80 - Proop Doggy Dog]

Thanks. Please do keep us informed of all the podcasts you've not listened to.

[Episode 30 — Toast Points]

Atheism and Catchments. The two most controversial, hot-button topics in the world today.

[As easy as one, two, nose!]

Shouldn't that be one, nose, three?

[Episode 30 — Toast Points]

I love Aukerman's awkward improvisations, like questioning Danielle on the fact that wearing a Nazi uniform contradicts the fact that she was the one telling them the nazi's were coming. Most improvisers probably wouldn't bother to question that and would just ignore it, but Scott makes them explain in ultra-specific detail.

[Episode 161 — Highly Illogical]

You know how often I wish Scott would do these cut-up interviews? "EVERYDAY"

[Episode 78 — G the D a C]

 

Yes, there's always plenty of energy with Paul, but it rarely seems genuine. It feels more like refocused contempt for the audience. I'm not a hater, and I don't think I'm projecting here, I just get a vibe from him like he doesn't really enjoy what he's doing.

 

What the fuck are you talking about?

[Episode 78 — G the D a C]

I completely related to PFT's confusion over Game of Thrones.

[Episode 8 — Gelmania VIII: LIVE!]

I've found it's much better to listen to this show very late at night, in the dark. You really want to block out any external distractions. Although it didn't matter so much for this one since it doesn't quite have the same atmosphere live. Is there going to be a film version released as well? I'd be happy to pay for it.

 

 

I often find several elements of Gelmania to be inspired, but the thing that I can never really figure out is how much of the "Brett Gelman persona" is genuine. I mean, here's a guy who comes across as a somewhat deranged borderline personality who is self-aware enough to be able to mine his derangement for a fearless type of comedy, but seems generally unable to rein it in enough to join the ranks of the "normos." This self-presentation is fairly consistent across time and space. Is this a fabricated "character?" A heightened version of reality? A genuine reflection of his true personality? I don't know.

 

Oh well, I guess I'll just have to wait for the WTF one-on-one interview to find out.

 

Well his appearances outside of this show and Comedy Bang Bang suggest to me he's perfectly amiable guy. Seems to have quite a self-deprecating sense of humor, unlike the podcast character who has huge delusions of grandeur, pretty much to the point of having a messiah complex. So I wouldn't say that part is anything like his true personality.

 

Cyrus deserves more credit than he gets for this show, always really like the production and music, so it was extra impressive hearing that stuff performed live.

[Episode 159 — Apicklelypse]

It'd probably help if you could pinpoint when the change was.

[Episode 159 — Apicklelypse]

Haven't noticed that at all, the bit rate has been 48 kbps for a while. It used to be higher sometimes when the show was on Indie 103.1. But that was a long time ago. It might be an issue on your end.

[Episode 159 — Apicklelypse]

 

Not good enough. Do the whole catchphrase.

[Episode 159 — Apicklelypse]

So is Saul Goodman's appearance part of the Breaking Bad canon?

 

I expect to see this referred to in the new season.

[Episode 7 — Gelmania VII]

This can't be the end. Your Gelmaniacs need you Brett. We need you to lead us into revolution.

 

Also fantastic production work and music in this episode, even by the high standards set already.

[Episode 27 — Mustard Girl]

Well I'll never be able to look at 20's Chicago Gangsters the same again.

[Episode 157 — God Bless America]

Really enjoyed the interview with Bobcat, sometimes when there's a high profile guest the tone of the show gets a bit different, but he made for a really fun and interesting interview and he really got the character part of the show.

[Episode 24.5 — Bonus Cut: God Bless You]

Very enjoyable scene and I'd like to see distraction babies available from the store.

[Episode 156 — Anniversary Party!]

I was delighted that Adomian brought back his Hitchens impression at the end, always thought that was one of his most underrated characters.

 

Sidebar - I don't know if Earwolf staff are aware the mp3's in itunes haven't been tagged properly for a couple of weeks now. The artist used to be tagged as Earwolf, now they've been coming up under unknown artist.

 

Happy Anniversary!

 

P.S. Click "like" if you guys listened all the way through the end of the episode! (That's right, there's more after "the wolf dead!")

 

Like this post if you did listen to the end, but don't want to indulge this cynical attempt to get lots of liked post ratings

[Episode 21.5 — Bonus Cut: Letters from Camp]

I thought this segment was still worthy of being aired, but I kind of like the idea of releasing some edited pieces as bonus content, because then I have a little extra improv4humans to last me until the next regular episode.

 

 

Yeah, I was going to say pretty much the same thing. I like the idea of occasional bonus content.

[Episode 31 — April Fools!]

So Dustin exists both in the future and in 1943? Is Dustin some kind of time traveler?

 

Anyway, it's great to have you ladies back. Seeing that this show has returned has made my day.

[Episode 152 — Behind the Irony Curtain]

 

Part of me wonders, though, why it was even necessary for him to do a character in the first place. I know that the real person/weirdo dynamic is this show's primary format (especially since becoming CBB), but considering Seth and Ed's work history together I think it could have still been a great episode just to hear Scott interacting with both of these guys as real people. Even if it was just a "Broin' Out" style chat, I'm sure everyone involved here could deliver the funny. There are some episodes from the CDR era that did this really well, like the one with Chris Hardwick and Matthew Braunger or the one with Chelsea Peretti and Nick Thune; I would love to see that kind of thing pop up occasionally at some point in the future.

 

 

Yeah I thought it would have been fine if they'd just had a non-character episode. It worked out great as it was, but there's other ways they could have gone with it and it probably also would have been good.

 

Basically I just hope Scott doesn't feel obligated to always have the show stick to a certain format. Some of my favorite episodes are where things don't follow the usual format, and end up being a bit unpredictable and random.