Episode 127 — LIVE from Bridgetown 2013

[admin 330]

Britain invades Portland as award winning comedians Robert Popper & Peter Serafinowicz join Howard & Kulap to chart it up in today’s LIVE episode from the Bridgetown Comedy Festival! The gang covers Billboard’s Top New Age albums and the Top 2013 Domestic Grossing films. We also hear about Robert’s time-wasting antics under the pseudonym Robin Cooper & Peter’s incredible Darth Vader impression during a game of Chart Roulette. That’s not all, we’re also treated to a Dragon Boy Suede performance and an audience Q&A!

[ApathyMonger 309]

Serafinowicz!

 

Though that bio on his guest page seems out of date: http://www.earwolf.com/guest/peterserafinowicz/

 

Peter Serafinowicz is an English actor, comedian, writer, voice artist and director. He is best known for dubbing the voice of Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, and for appearing in a variety of British and American comedy shows.

 

Is he really still best known for a voice role he did 15 years ago?

 

Anyway, everyone should watch Look Around You, the TV series Serafinowicz and Popper did:

[pepperjack 303]

I wish this episode would invade iTunes...

[agentstinky 33]

Haven't listened to this one yet, a little nervous after the less-than-stellar review Ku and Wie gave it on a recent Two Charted. I'll give it a chance though...although even good live episodes of any podcast are a little hard for me to listen to. I tend to end up hating at least one person in the audience, either for yelling something out, doing something dumb that gets pointed out by the hosts, or just having an annoying laugh. It's not a positive trait. I'm working on it.

[seanotron 2307]

Haven't listened to this one yet, a little nervous after the less-than-stellar review Ku and Wie gave it on a recent Two Charted. I'll give it a chance though...although even good live episodes of any podcast are a little hard for me to listen to. I tend to end up hating at least one person in the audience, either for yelling something out, doing something dumb that gets pointed out by the hosts, or just having an annoying laugh. It's not a positive trait. I'm working on it.

 

And to be fair, Whooch does not have a stellar track record with live shows. The premise just seems to work best in the studio without an audience randomly interjecting.

[daveB from Oakland 364]

Oh well. Howard at half-capacity is still better than no Howard at all.

[Unportant 4]

And to be fair, Whooch does not have a stellar track record with live shows. The premise just seems to work best in the studio without an audience randomly interjecting.

 

The issue isn't the "audience randomly interjecting", I think that the unique chemistry of Who Charted is so damn fragile that even the presence of a bunch of people laughing just throws the whole thing off. A stage show just works differently than a studio show, and the things that make Whooch great (primarily the emulsions of Howard's subconscious) are just completely disrupted when it's done live.

 

I'd ask why they're still doing these things, but I think Kulap's already at the breaking point, and changes are probably already under way. Either they stop doing the live shows or just start doing a completely different type of show on the stage. What they've been doing so far is just unlistenable.

[admin 330]

Britain invades Portland as award winning comedians Robert Popper & Peter Serafinowicz join Howard & Kulap to chart it up on today’s LIVE episode from the Bridgetown Comedy Festival! The gang covers Billboard’s Top New Age albums and the Top 2013 Domestic Grossing films. We also hear about Robert’s time-wasting antics under the pseudonym Robin Cooper & Peter’s incredible Darth Vader impression during a game of Chart Roulette. That’s not all, we’re also treated to a Dragon Boy Suede performance and an audience Q&A!

[seanotron 2307]

 

The issue isn't the "audience randomly interjecting", I think that the unique chemistry of Who Charted is so damn fragile that even the presence of a bunch of people laughing just throws the whole thing off. A stage show just works differently than a studio show, and the things that make Whooch great (primarily the emulsions of Howard's subconscious) are just completely disrupted when it's done live.

 

I think we're saying the same thing using different words, but yeah.

[chmod 10]

I attended that show. There were some things going wrong that sapped the energy from that room well before anyone was on the stage.

 

First, the venue is a rock club, there's a bar along one wall, and some chairs and tables in a raised area way in the back. For comedy shows the main floor is usually filled with folding chairs. I say usually, because for some reason at this show there was only 2 rows of chairs, enough for about 10-15 people to sit at the front of the room. So there was a few people sitting at the front, and then some people sitting way in the back of the room, and then a few people standing around in the middle. I saw more than a few people come in, see that there was no seating and leave, not wanting to stand for the whole show. The combination of the audience being split up, and people standing, and a lot of distractions meant there was very limited energy from the audience.

 

Second, the show was at the same time as a live Walk the Room. I'm sure there's a bit of cross over audience for that, and I think Whooch ended up drawing the short straw for audience size, they certainly got stuck with the lesser venue.

 

Both Howard and Peter Serafinowicz seemed pretty zoned out, but the actual content of the show is pretty solid with some very funny moments. It was just a weird, low energy experience.

[Kickpuncher 5012]

I wasn't expecting much after Kulap sort of threw Howard's contribution (or lack thereof) under the bus on Tooch. Honestly, I don't even think I would have noticed that aspect of it if she hadn't mentioned it there or here during the show. With two guests, I'd expect Howard to talk less than in a normal show anyway. That said, it still suffered from the same issues as the other live shows, most of which have been outlined above. Still, plenty of fun moments that make it well worth a listen.

[gaijintendo 0]

Thanks @chmod for the background. Peter if a fantastic talent, and hilarious on TV, his twitter account and his youtube videos. Inspired. Better interview here with Richard Herring.

 

First Comment and first Who Charted? for me. Based on these comments will assume the rest are a bit tighter.

[robinsbruce 4985]

Thanks @chmod for the background. Peter if a fantastic talent, and hilarious on TV, his twitter account and his youtube videos. Inspired. Better interview here with Richard Herring.

 

First Comment and first Who Charted? for me. Based on these comments will assume the rest are a bit tighter.

 

Highly recommend all whooch and most tooch episodes. If you dont want to listen to all of them at least go back to the beginning of last summer and jump in where they really start nailing it every week.

[Reuben_Lowe 13]

Yea, I think the live shows need some kind of tweak or a certain kind of guest. I think the Matt and Kim one worked well despite me not having a clue who Matt and Kim even were. Maybe the live shows need that extra energy to translate well as a podcast whereas the more downbeat guests can work in the studio fine. That being said, the Dalek Relaxation Tape that Serafinowicz played damn near killed me.

[SoundsLikeMLo 30]

Excellent post by chmod. I, too, was in attendance at this taping. I'll admit that it wasn't the best, but it was still entertaining to see Howard and Kulap. The only complaint I would have about this show is that it coast $20. The decision on that price was most likely not made by Howard and Kulap and was probably made by the festival planners - even so, it was a bit much for a venue that was decidedly subpar the entire span of the Bridgetown Comedy Festival. Barely any seating and a weirdly elevated/too-high stage made for a pretty odd show. That, and their attendance was down a whole hell of a lot from last year's Bridgetown taping with Bret Gelman. That one's on Portland and Bridgetown festival-goers, however.

 

I will say this about Howard - for however absent and silent he was during this taping, he still took the time to meet and chat with his fans before and after the show. I ran into Howard with a friend of mine before the taping as we were walking toward the venue and he took the time to talk with us and let us compliment him about the Bow Wow Wow songs he had been enlightening us with during previous episodes of Whooch. After the show, he said to us "We did the best with what we could" or something along those lines, acknowledging to us - his fans - that he knew he just didn't have it for that show. As Howard and Kulap discussed on the Twooch from 4/26, Howard had a long night the night before and had a pretty busy day leading up the Whooch taping. Sure, the night before was his decision and it ultimately lead to him barely speaking during this Whooch taping, but he has acknowledged that aspect and done his best to try to explain it to his fans and listeners.

 

I did see Howard perform a stand up set later that Saturday night, and he was back to his goofy, hilarious ways. I got to tell him that as I was standing next to April Richardson, hearing her laugh at some of the jokes from the night, I was losing my shit because that rough, overdrawn laugh that Howard so graciously bestows up April whenever he mentions her on the podcast is spot-on. A great instance of art imitating life, if you will.

[therealMATTLOXLEY 135]

i guess im one of the few people who fully enjoys the live episodes.. its different yes but i dont feel less energy.. have you heard the comedy bang bang ep when they were at i believe the vancouver comedy fest with tod barry and nick thune with PFT as Ice tea? there were like 7 people there and i loved that ep with all my heart haha idk i just dont see what other people are saying..great ep

[pulptom 1]

This show was doomed from the start. Howie was hung over.. KuKu decides to play "Chill" music on a live show??? Not a good idea.

I was at the SF sketchfest show and gotta admit it too seemed to lack enthusiasm. Howard seemed awkward in front of a live audience (which seems weird since he's a comic), Showalter acted like he didnt want to be there, KuKu did a chart on the top movie monkey's (huh??? what does that have to do with SF???)