Episode 005 — Eye On Theatre with Don DiMello

[KajusX 1807]

Gourley has an amazing way with words. Shakespearean. I had to transcribe this bit for posterity:

 

"He brought out a lenticular photo of a French prostitute-- turn of the century, full bulrush delta on display-- and we had to do it at intermission because the entire thing was packed with big ol' swangers up there."

 

Glorious.

 

Also, this:

 

"Now listen—Chekhov says if you bring out a gun, you have to use it. There’s a certain anticipatory catharsis in audience member needs. So if you’re going to not have any females in a show, but then mention one, you’ve at least gotta see one in some sort of sequined, spangled, chamois-leathered chap-harness."

[robinsbruce 4985]

Superego is the truth you guys. If you have liked what you heard from these podcasts go check out their stuff. Those seasons are lousy with PFT and Andy Daly moments of genius. Also tons of of other funny people.

 

P.S. Danny Zuko-San

[KajusX 1807]

Superego is the truth you guys. If you have liked what you heard from these podcasts go check out their stuff. Those seasons are lousy with PFT and Andy Daly moments of genius. Also tons of of other funny people.

 

P.S. Danny Zuko-San

AGREED and SECONDED. Superego is SO much fun. There's this one Superego bit where it's a listening test, with sounds in the left ear then the right ear. Then it gets weird in the best, most-nightmarish way. That sketch will be with me for years to come. It really struck a chord in the irrational fear centers of my brain.

[robinsbruce 4985]

AGREED and SECONDED. Superego is SO much fun. There's this one Superego bit where it's a listening test, with sounds in the left ear then the right ear. Then it gets weird in the best, most-nightmarish way. That sketch will be with me for years to come. It really struck a chord in the irrational fear centers of my brain.

 

I know exactly the bit you are talking about. Some of the superego stuff is high concept like Gelmania and then some of it is just irrationally silly and I love both extremes. Gourly does all the editing for those if I'm not mistaken and I really like the way they are produced. I've heard PFT say that they basically just improv for hours and hours and then Matt cuts the sessions down into "sketches." I'm just happy to see the superego guys doing stuff with Earwolf because I feel like they work really well together. Getting to hear PFT, Besser, Daly, and Gourly all giggling at each other's terrible german accents was a real treat for me.

[icewater 5]

"I got a guy..."

[AaronSinger_29251 578]

So who's left, besides Patrick McMahon? Hot Dog, the nurse dude, the Life of the Party guy, Cactus Tony, the middle eight guy, anyone else? Who will get the remaining two episodes (again not counting the Patrick McMahon live show)?

 

OH! There was also the guy who watches/stalks the royal family! And his complicated system of turning on his lamp... Scott did say on an online Q and A session that not completely figuring out how his lamp system worked was one of his greatest regrets of his life.

[klobbermang 532]

I was feeling a little bit of George St. Geegland in Gourleys character, which is not to say that's a bad thing. Was hoping he'd try to get everyone up for a bit of c'caine

[IanHeydon 106]

As much as I was looking forward to Don Demillo, this was the weakest so far. I adored the first segment and it had me looking forward to the rest. But I thought Zoukes unfortunately kind of misjudged the tone, and it brought down the rest of the episode for me. Demillo and Mall brought hilarious creepiness full of heavy breathing, but Falcon was brash, which meant he kept stepping on their bits. While the other two were playing the slow game, Falcon kept adding zaniness that detracted from the creepiness of Don Demillo. He kept saying, "Don, didn't you....", which forced Don to keep Yes Anding his suggestions, and they were were more zany than creepy and didn't have the right feel for the character. Marissa did this a bit too. I'm not sure Don should be paired with other people playing big personalities.

Sadly, I agree wholeheartedly. And I have loved every single other ep of ADPPP, and Don is easily Daly's best character.

 

I think this series has really shown Daly, Gourley, Besser and PFT's character depth and improv skills to the max, I'm really holding out for Lauren Lapkus to make an appearance befoe the series is out

[Lukas Holmes 2287]

 

I know exactly the bit you are talking about. Some of the superego stuff is high concept like Gelmania and then some of it is just irrationally silly and I love both extremes. Gourly does all the editing for those if I'm not mistaken and I really like the way they are produced. I've heard PFT say that they basically just improv for hours and hours and then Matt cuts the sessions down into "sketches." I'm just happy to see the superego guys doing stuff with Earwolf because I feel like they work really well together. Getting to hear PFT, Besser, Daly, and Gourly all giggling at each other's terrible german accents was a real treat for me.

 

I love the both of you. Your talking made me run back and hear the hearing test again.

[matte 588]

[Joe Lerini 7329]

If I knew how to photoshop a Ziploc bag full of eyeballs, that would be my "Eye on Theatre" poster.

[elizamuffins 4228]

You guys saying Jason's tone ruined the podcast are BANANAS! Don and Mal are from the world of Theatre and Jason's charac was from a farm where he disassembles/reassembles girls and has interest in eyeball collecting! HE WAS DOING IT!

[Shannon 2953]

Seriously though you guys, where is the picture of Marissa?

 

I, like Falcon, NEED to understand what an upside down muffin shaped girl with weak ankles and extremely long fingers and bald patches looks like...

 

COME ON ARTISTS. I KNOW YOU'RE EVERYWHERE IN THIS PLACE.

[earpanther 451]

You guys saying Jason's tone ruined the podcast are BANANAS! Don and Mal are from the world of Theatre and Jason's charac was from a farm where he disassembles/reassembles girls and has interest in eyeball collecting! HE WAS DOING IT!

 

I'm pretty sure that was one person. One very, very wrong person. I was smiling from ear to ear when I heard the familiar, husky tones of JM's voice, and was not disappointed in the least.

[denimgremlin 1179]

Seriously though you guys, where is the picture of Marissa?

 

I, like Falcon, NEED to understand what an upside down muffin shaped girl with weak ankles and extremely long fingers and bald patches looks like...

 

COME ON ARTISTS. I KNOW YOU'RE EVERYWHERE IN THIS PLACE.

 

i was gonna post the same thing! there's incredible artwork over at the nerd poker forums, theres got to be some cross over right?

[slowmo 2]

Seriously though you guys, where is the picture of Marissa?

 

I, like Falcon, NEED to understand what an upside down muffin shaped girl with weak ankles and extremely long fingers and bald patches looks like...

 

COME ON ARTISTS. I KNOW YOU'RE EVERYWHERE IN THIS PLACE.

 

I loved Jason's "I know I'm looking at you but I would love to see a drawing of you". I can't quite imagine it myself.

[Ike Willis 7]

Oh my fucking god!!! This was hands down one of the funniest things I have ever experienced in any media from any artist. I seriously think I could listen to Don's voice forever. Even before Jason came on this had me floored and it kept getting better. Amazing shit!!!!! This character needs to have a regular podcast , even if it is only monthly , or bi -monthly, or even quarterly. @Mr. Daly and crew, pure fucking genius. My only complaint, do not be afraid to go darker. Thank you so much for this.

[Xiao-boYuan 6]

As much as I was looking forward to Don Demillo, this was the weakest so far. I adored the first segment and it had me looking forward to the rest. But I thought Zoukes unfortunately kind of misjudged the tone, and it brought down the rest of the episode for me. Demillo and Mall brought hilarious creepiness full of heavy breathing, but Falcon was brash, which meant he kept stepping on their bits. While the other two were playing the slow game, Falcon kept adding zaniness that detracted from the creepiness of Don Demillo. He kept saying, "Don, didn't you....", which forced Don to keep Yes Anding his suggestions, and they were were more zany than creepy and didn't have the right feel for the character. Marissa did this a bit too. I'm not sure Don should be paired with other people playing big personalities.

 

I definitely agree with this as well. From a comedy standpoint, there were all these tonal shifts that were kind of jarring. My disturbance goes a level further though.

 

I wasn't stifling my laughter so much as feeling depressed throughout the episode. It's not like crazed brutality against women hasn't been played effectively for laughs. But in the past, because it's been in DiMello's totally bizarre voice alone, it's really been a joke about Andy Daly's hilarious delivery of these twisted fucked-up tales, and his warped personality. Plus, we had a perfect balance with the likes of Scott and Patton as his grossed-out, shocked and dismayed audience, being forced to listen to this depraved shit. Part of the enjoyment was just hearing Scott like really not want to know any more about what goes on in international waters but unable to resist asking.

 

I feel like this dynamic didn't work during this episode. Since Jason played it rather straight and didn't bring anything in the way of a weird performance, the hilarity was supposed to ride on the simple twisted of, like, oh dismembering tons of girls! keeping them in pens! HAHA! ISN'T THAT FUCKED? It's a subtle shift, but for me, it was an important one. Absurdity becomes shock jock stuff. And misogynistic at that. Maybe it was the sheer repetition -- joke after joke about girls losing their limbs, getting shot, etc. The joke is on the level of brutality, not the level of the performance of brutality.

 

I will probably get accusations of humorlessness tossed my way. Oh well. This episode made me feel humorless and bummed ... bummed, too, to read that everyone else seemed to have to stifle their laughter. Yikes.

[hugLife 492]

I feel like this dynamic didn't work during this episode. Since Jason played it rather straight and didn't bring anything in the way of a weird performance, the hilarity was supposed to ride on the simple twisted of, like, oh dismembering tons of girls! keeping them in pens! HAHA! ISN'T THAT FUCKED? It's a subtle shift, but for me, it was an important one. Absurdity becomes shock jock stuff. And misogynistic at that. Maybe it was the sheer repetition -- joke after joke about girls losing their limbs, getting shot, etc. The joke is on the level of brutality, not the level of the performance of brutality.

 

I kind of agree that this episode had a lot of jokes that just had brutality towards women as the punchline, but I understood it as an ironic take on real misogyny to portray a world where people could dehumanize women so much that they are shipped off to camps where they are left to die. This is hard to pull off in comedy anyway, but I feel like they did it by never ever breaking from that line.

I think that it is unfair to pin Jason on it because he wasn't as creepy as everyone else. The wolf joke was legitimately funny. Furthermore, think about how a person can even keep a straight face with a character like Dom talking about the horrific things that were mentioned. Was Jason supposed to copy that character? I think he did his best to keep up, but what was seen was the mismatch between a developed character to an undeveloped one.

 

...this episode creeped me out to the max, but that is why it was genius. I would have been furious if I ever heard anything even vaguely similar anywhere else, and....it's Andy Daly....he has one of the most lovable personalities in the country.

[notcory 9]

 

I love that it was so frequent that he needed to come up with an in-character explanation for it. And most of the time, it wasn't even at 'jokes' so much as Don's voice and general creepiness, which is off the charts.

 

Favorite improvised change of direction - "No, the healthy girls go out and fight the wolves."

 

I enjoyed this episode greatly but those choking back laughter sounds were incredibly annoying. By contrast, PFTs laughter outbursts were always pleasant to hear, just let it out man!

[Xiao-boYuan 6]

...this episode creeped me out to the max, but that is why it was genius. I would have been furious if I ever heard anything even vaguely similar anywhere else, and....it's Andy Daly....he has one of the most lovable personalities in the country.

Yeah - I love everyone on this podcast, so much. I just wonder how much already-established good faith it takes to make this material palatable, and not just a devolution into one-upsmanship about how much hi-la-rious cruelty they can come up with to inflict on imaginary girls. You're totally right that ironic commentary on real misogyny is hard to pull off in comedy without reproducing the actual misogyny, and to attempt it in improv? Man, that's a highwire act. I guess I felt that they fell off the wire on this one, not that the attempt itself is anything to be scorned.

 

Anyway, this podcast has really, really heightened my appreciation of Matt Gourley. He's the softest touch but insanely funny. Between his presence on this show and appearances on Dead Authors, I think I'm in love.

[KajusX 1807]

Regarding the current conversation thread about this episode being an unrelenting discussion about brutalizing and torturing women that may or may not have walked that fine line of irony with a healthy dose of good faith from its audience, no one has yet mentioned that Marissa did not like anything she was hearing when it came to that said brutality. She jumped out a window to escape these lunatics.

 

Let's also take into account that at the top and bottom of the show, Andy and Matt straight up talk about how these are deplorable, horrible people and no one should be like them.

 

Regarding whether or not the dynamic worked comedically is entirely subjective. I will say it was definitely a gear change from Don being a guest on CBB with conscientious objectors present in the form of Scott and his non-character guests. But this was Don's show, and Don is a fucking monster.

[JackMurray 11]

I gotta a guy that can get you a horse, and you can do whateeeever you want to them, They're dead behind the eyes.

[JackMurray 11]

My only complaint, do not be afraid to go darker. Thank you so much for this.

 

Ever heard of the HItler Youth?

 

I'm sorry my favorite part, my wife and I have been repeating it to eachother for 3 days now is his review of the play "Equus," now you got horses and you got naked, OK Fine... I gotta guy that will give you all the horse you fuckin' want.... And you can do whatever you want... They're dead behind the eyes.

[CrustyDustReceptacle 154]

Regarding the current conversation thread about this episode being an unrelenting discussion about brutalizing and torturing women that may or may not have walked that fine line of irony with a healthy dose of good faith from its audience, no one has yet mentioned that Marissa did not like anything she was hearing when it came to that said brutality. She jumped out a window to escape these lunatics.

 

Let's also take into account that at the top and bottom of the show, Andy and Matt straight up talk about how these are deplorable, horrible people and no one should be like them.

 

Regarding whether or not the dynamic worked comedically is entirely subjective. I will say it was definitely a gear change from Don being a guest on CBB with conscientious objectors present in the form of Scott and his non-character guests. But this was Don's show, and Don is a fucking monster.

 

Perfectly put. I think it's important to realize that the joke is never ON the "girls" or anyone else treated horribly by Don and Co. No one is actually laughing at the thought of a woman being killed by a wolf (hopefully not, anyway); the joke is how horribly evil these guys are and how casually they discuss the horrible things that they do.

 

That's actually kind of the brilliance of Andy Daly, I think. From this tact, the more horrible or gruesome the things his characters do/say, the funnier it is for the character to be sharing them with the world. Maybe that's why this episode was so, so good; unless Hot Dog has some serious surprises in store for us, I don't think the ADPPP will ever go darker than this, because it will never again center on a group of people this outright nefarious.