Episode 006 — Shut Up and Have Fun with Danny Mahoney

[rod aug 5637]

jon daly was so good, i loved this one. he reminded me of the pittsburgh guy from pawnsylvania.

[mattman92ish 823]

"i put him in a van loaded with asbestos" haha such a frantic fantastic episode as expected thank you!!

 

"if insulation is good for your house why is it bad for the heart??" im asking every female i intend to date that question and the one that answers correctly will hopefully be MY WIFE for all all eternity

[Kickpuncher 5012]

I WAS WORKING IN THE LAB LATE ONE NIGHT

 

It was weird how he identified that song as "Monster Mash" instead of the correct "Monster Fuck".

[Hugg Niceman 107]

This one might have been the best episode. It was just non-stop insane from the second Danny first spoke.

 

Eh... This was a good episode (and as a stand-alone episode, it's better than most other podcasts) but of all the ADPPP

episodes so far, this was definitely the weakest. I laughed a lot, sure, but almost all the other episodes had me in tears. I was literally crying during Dalton's poetry workshop and during HR Giger's bits.

 

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to work on my wife's cabinets.

[JackMurray 11]

I'm going to say this, and I hope you understand that what I mean by the worst so far, is that I laughed the least. IDK maybe the 2nd & 6th were tied, I laughed really hard at the "Can you do it while you're on fire" game(Chip was a great name), and really all the games, and I laughed each time he asked someone to take Satan as their savior. This one was hillarious too. But I think you're at a disadvantage being the episode after Don Dimello, which was one of the funniest.

So far I would have to rank them like this:

 

1. Eye on theatre (outrageous)

2. Get fit Now (funniest total ensemble)

3. Travel Bug (IDK maybe this one was better, the pope and Herzog really nailed it)

4. The Wit and Wisdom of Dalton Wilcox (Fuck you vampires)

5. Hail Satan & Shut up and have fun

 

Anyone else agree?

 

BTW if you listened to Andy on Greg Fitzimmons podcast last night, he said that due to popular demand each pilot may have to have a 2nd episode.

 

Really I listen to hours of shit every day at this desk, and nothing has made me laugh more consistently than this show. Maybe its just me and my twisted mind and my UCB theatrephile nature.

[Bernard_Shakey 3484]

"Oops! Google Chrome could not find www.niggertoes.com"

[ICMexican 151]

At least groundhogs have a job, ya screw!

[KajusX 1807]

While I appreciate your initiative, JackMurray66, my knee-jerk reaction to anyone's attempts to rank these episodes from 'best' to 'almost the best' is one of rejection. We lack two crucial parts: 1) All eight episodes, so it's a BIT premature to start publishing our Top 8 lists, and 2) perspective. Shut Up and Have Fun has barely even had two days to breathe and sink in.

 

Additionally, I am curious as to how many times you've listened to each episode. I ask not out of a place of 'comedy podcast fan credentials,' but out of wondering how well someone who has made a ranked list has absorbed the content of each episode. For me personally, Get Fit Now did not grab me on the first listen. I felt it was a step back from episodes 1 & 2, I found Adomian's Jesse Ventura an odd fit, and as much as I enjoy Billy Merritt and Miriam Tolan, it felt like they were doing the same things other guests had done on the first two episodes. It was only upon re-listening did it all click for me, and I caught the subtleties of Merritt's and Tolan's characters, and Jesse immediately fit in to the proceedings. I laughed my ass off. And then again. And then again.

 

I'm not saying a re-listen is required for people to make a ranked list (because it's ALL opinion), but if one wants to get really analytical of the quality of entertainment contained in these episodes, it would only help their case, because the jokes come fast, and a lot get missed. Everything these people say is funny.

 

I've listened to every episode four times (so far). More re-listens might happen in the next two weeks, because apparently I cannot get enough of Andy Daly. But four seems to be the number of listens I need before I feel I have caught and devoured every comedy morsel. After that, I then can listen to it like one would re-listen to a comedy album. I started out casually getting around to the re-listens (like after Ep 2 came out it made me want to re-listen to Ep 1, then when Ep 3 came out it made me want to go back and re-listen to Eps 1 & 2, etc), but regarding Shut Up and Have Some Fun, I've ALREADY listened to it four times. Not because I think it's "the best," but because I had the time and wanted to keep hearing these insane, ignorant maniacs scream at each other while I went about my day(s).

 

All this is to say that I don't have a favorite, nor could I even PICK one, and I haven't even considered ranking them. Re-re-re-relistening to them all, each one has been a great source of hilarity, and has made me laugh as equally as I can gauge from acknowledging how good a mood I am in while listening and afterward (and is anyone really keeping a tally of how many times they laughed at something in order to accurately rank a comedy podcast's episodes?).

 

So instead, in order to appease anyone who wants to read a list, I have a list of the ADPPP episodes in the chronological order that the hosts of each one appeared on Comedy Bang Bang, which is something we can ALL agree on:

 

1. Shut Up and Have Fun with Danny Mahoney

2. The Travel Bug with August Lindt

3. Get Fit Now with Bill Carter

4. Kiss Me, I'm Patrick McMahon

5. Eye On Theatre with Don DiMello

6. Rockin' & A'Rollin' with Wolfman Hotdog

7. Hail Satan with Chip Gardner

8. The Wit and Wisdom of the West with Dalton Wilcox

 

(and for the record, I am SO excited for Rockin' & A'Rollin' with Wolfman Hotdog, and I was at the recording of Kiss Me, I'm Patrick McMahon this past Tuesday-- it was a LOT of fun-- and I can't wait to experience it again via podcast!)

[saddlebags 581]

Jon Daly is a madman and killed it in this ep.

[KajusX 1807]

Jon Daly is a madman and killed it in this ep.

 

AGREED! lol

 

DONNIE: Why not just use relish?

DANNY: You're going to tell Rene Dupree how to cook?!

DONNIE: I don't have a tv show but I know what I like!

 

also,

 

DANNY: 'How many Russians does it take to run an ice cream sandwich?'

DONNIE: Aah! If it were up to Ivan Drago, uhh, I'd say 'if he runs, he runs,' from Rocky 4-- A movie I like-- is MY answer, I dunno!

DANNY: How 'bout duhhhhh uuhhh, how 'bout duuhhhh b'duuuh how 'bout duh--

DONNIE: Heh-HA! Do it, Danny!

[Crunchbird 6]

Solid episode, I'd put it somewhere in the middle of the pack of those we've heard so far. I could have used a little less ironic racism, and a little less self-conscious giggling at just how *outrageous* the ironic racism was, though.

[KajusX 1807]

I really enjoyed the race joke section because they intentionally wrote a selection of incompatible verbs and nouns on those slips of paper so that they'd be non-sensical. No nouns could actually be performed with the verbs they wrote down. The first verb was 'read,' but no noun that Danny nor any other player picked could actually be read. No noun could be 'jacked off.' No noun could be 'betrayed.' So while I understand that the race-based humor could be considered offensive due to the idiot participants trotting out the oldest, laziest stereotypes in the world (most of which involved the ethnicities being drunk all the time), the construction of the segment was ingenious, and comedically played right into the ignorance of this band of completely out-of-touch racists. Once again, just like on the DiMello episode, it's a case of depiction not constituting endorsement, and the opinions of whether it was successful or not will always be mixed.

[matte 588]

Full-res over here. And it's partner here.

[JackMurray 11]

While I appreciate your initiative, JackMurray66, my knee-jerk reaction to anyone's attempts to rank these episodes from 'best' to 'almost the best' is one of rejection. We lack two crucial parts: 1) All eight episodes, so it's a BIT premature to start publishing our Top 8 lists, and 2) perspective. Shut Up and Have Fun has barely even had two days to breathe and sink in.

 

Additionally, I am curious as to how many times you've listened to each episode. I ask not out of a place of 'comedy podcast fan credentials,' but out of wondering how well someone who has made a ranked list has absorbed the content of each episode. For me personally, Get Fit Now did not grab me on the first listen. I felt it was a step back from episodes 1 & 2, I found Adomian's Jesse Ventura an odd fit, and as much as I enjoy Billy Merritt and Miriam Tolan, it felt like they were doing the same things other guests had done on the first two episodes. It was only upon re-listening did it all click for me, and I caught the subtleties of Merritt's and Tolan's characters, and Jesse immediately fit in to the proceedings. I laughed my ass off. And then again. And then again.

Thanks KajusX I have been thinking about how this one hasn't sunk in yet as you say, that was for sure my gut reaction. And I have gone back and re-listened, certain parts multiple times, and I think I needed to take it in with a Skinny Mahrgh' because you pick so much more up after multiple listens.

But to put in perspective, I too am a giant Andy Daly fan. I am a firefighter/EMT and my second job is in a public accounting office, and what I usually will do is listen to something while I get ready in the morning, and on my walk to work, and if I'm in the office that day, I listen for a few hours each day. If a new ADPPP is out I will listen to it in its entirety immediately of course. That's the moment I made the earlier comment. I will check my stitcher playlist to see if anything new is out that I want to listen to, usually Improv for Humans, Freakanomics, TED radio hour, Rogan, Greg Fitz, I don't know maybe Ari Shaffir's or Duncan Trussels sometimes, I also like the Kill Tony podcast and of course Comedy Bang Bang sometimes too.

 

But if I look at the list and nothing intrigues me, I re-listen to the ADPPP.

There is no other podcast I re-listen to in that manner. Each time you pick something up that you missed. It's the best I've listened to, hands down. So at least now that gives you a little perspective as to where I'm coming from, which is kind of a stranger out of the box type opinion. My rankings were based solely on my opinion, and that's just it, I was reading these comments about how much everyone enjoyed this episode and I got jealous of them, like I was missing out on the fun.

So the second listen you get the gold "my withered arm, my mom said it looked like a little wisk broom." "I love a man that's so hairy you have to vaccuum the bed in the morning." "it sounds like an airplane, and then you trew your recyclables out."

And my favorite comment of the entire podcast "You guys, this is gettin' super dahrk, you wanna listen to some Bob Seeger?" or

"I taught this kid how to smoke cigarettes. I taught this fuckin' kid how to take a punch in the face."

But I think the reason for me is my location. I am right next to Atlantic City, and there are pockets of people around here that literally live like that, and they're not joking. There were a couple of comments that made me cringe and gave me my bias.

 

But really looking back on it how can I rank these? I mean Get Fit Now has the Elf, the Giant, and the Governor with Andy killing it. Plus you get the best workout song ever recorded. "The Look of the Lion."

Also the Travel Bug because I am a huge fan of Besser and I had just watched Happy People by Herzog, so his voice was fresh in my mind. I think I want to get a quilt made that says "He has a penis you can see!" just to make myself laugh. They fucking nailed that podcast. And in Hail Satan the Hollywood Mayoral debate between Chip Gardner & Carol (years ago I sat on a whoppie cushion) Channing where Chip felt it was not possible to not run a negative campaign, man that was classic. I truly cannot get enough of these shows, so I hope that gives credence to your opinion of my opinion.

Cheers. I can't wait to hear the rest of these.

[JackMurray 11]

Chip: Miss Channing smells like a hospital, and a pharmacy, and a liquor cabinet.

 

Tip: As a moderator I am forced to mention there is a question on the floor.

[KajusX 1807]

I get you, JackMurray. If I in any way put you on edge, I apologize. Thanks for sharing a bit about yourself. I too often listen to podcasts while doing other things, and miss stuff being said from time to time as well. The ADPPP is the only podcast I have re-listened to this much, and also just out of the sheer enjoyment it brings me to re-hear my favorite parts (Oh! The CBB 2013 LIVE Tour episodes are also really good and I have listened to them multiple times). The ADPPP is seriously like eight double-disc comedy albums. It's a tower of content. Each episode has high and low points, but they all are pretty much on the same level with each other. Andy does good work, and none of his characters are half-baked because none of his improv is.

[Ike Willis 7]

The beauty of podcasting for me is that anything goes. In mainstream entertainment artists are so limited by "the fear" of not being PC or of being offensive that the art suffers dramatically. Of course there are exceptions like Stanhope, and also clean can be very funny. But as adults we should be able to say anything and listen to anything. If it offends you or you do not like it, do not listen to it. But Please do not prevent others who do enjoy it from having access to it just because you do not like it. I know this is very generic and an age old problem for a "free" society. But it is getting so much worse in this post 9/11 world. Thank Jehovah that podcasting and folks like Andy Daly are out there fighting the good fight. It is only words after all and words can never really hurt you. They can offend, but never really hurt. But fuck man, they sure can make you laugh and bring you a bunch of giddy joy before the shame sets in.

That being said, if you had asked me a month ago, "which do you find funnier, jokes about misogyny and violence towards women or jokes with a viciously racist slant?" I would not have known how to answer. Now I know , thanks to Andy Daly, that for me it is the former, although it was close race. Growing up in the "racist" south, I am always amazed at how much more racist some people in the North East are than in any other part of the country. In the south we had the black / white thing, but jeeze the racists up there break people down into so many sub groups I haven't even heard of some of them. That kind of hate seems so exhausting. You have to do a DNA test to see if you hate someone or tolerate them.

[Hank Venture 0]

It was so great that the intro song was the same music Danny makes everyone dance to on Nine Sweaters, and the song is also a secret track at the end of disc 1. It's as hilariously grating and obnoxious as Danny, and the track itself is upwards of four+ minutes of "GET UP OUT YOUR SEAT AND DANCE!" over and over and over again (the length is probably because for the performance Andy would need that time to bully all the audience into forming a conga line).

 

What's the name of the song? Is it made specifically for the show? I liked it, but couldn't find it due to the generic lyrics and people talking on top of it.

[KajusX 1807]

 

What's the name of the song? Is it made specifically for the show? I liked it, but couldn't find it due to the generic lyrics and people talking on top of it.

 

The song was written by Mike Phirman for Andy's Danny Mahoney character. On Andy's stand-up album Nine Sweaters, which is a double-disc album in which Andy plays nine different characters recorded over nine separate Comedy Death Ray shows at UCBLA, Danny Mahoney plays the track while bullying the UCB audience into forming a very dispiriting conga line. The song is then played in full as a secret track at the end of disc 1.

 

I do not know if the song even has a title. I would assume that it's called 'Get Up Out Your Seat and Dance!' since those are the only lyrics (parodying 'Everybody Dance Now' by C+C Music Factory).

[belovedleader 9]

Anybody know which was which? I suspect that Erinn Hayes was Marianna and Sarah Thyre was Rene Dupree? I don't know either of their work, so I wasn't sure.

[justinmh05 1968]

Anybody know which was which? I suspect that Erinn Hayes was Marianna and Sarah Thyre was Rene Dupree? I don't know either of their work, so I wasn't sure.

 

Yes. You have those correct.

[robinsbruce 4985]

 

Yes. You have those correct.

 

Yep. Erinn is on a few of the superego episodes and im guessing they brought her in because shes good with that group (and just good in general). Im hoping that maybe we can get some I4H episodes in the future with Erinn or Matt Gourly because they are super funny and they both clearly enjoy fucking around with any premise.

[klemjohansen 748]

I dare anyone to write this next to your address on a job app or loan form: "I live here sometimes when the window is open."

[BrianBouton 32]

I'm going to say this, and I hope you understand that what I mean by the worst so far, is that I laughed the least. IDK maybe the 2nd & 6th were tied, I laughed really hard at the "Can you do it while you're on fire" game(Chip was a great name), and really all the games, and I laughed each time he asked someone to take Satan as their savior. This one was hillarious too. But I think you're at a disadvantage being the episode after Don Dimello, which was one of the funniest.

So far I would have to rank them like this:

 

1. Eye on theatre (outrageous)

2. Get fit Now (funniest total ensemble)

3. Travel Bug (IDK maybe this one was better, the pope and Herzog really nailed it)

4. The Wit and Wisdom of Dalton Wilcox (Fuck you vampires)

5. Hail Satan & Shut up and have fun

 

Anyone else agree?

 

BTW if you listened to Andy on Greg Fitzimmons podcast last night, he said that due to popular demand each pilot may have to have a 2nd episode.

 

Really I listen to hours of shit every day at this desk, and nothing has made me laugh more consistently than this show. Maybe its just me and my twisted mind and my UCB theatrephile nature.

 

 

Thanks for making this argument. I don't think Andy simply wants uncritical praise from the boards and our appreciation of the genius he's churning out on a weekly basis is meaningless if it isn't tempered with acknowledgement of some of the lowlights. This was definitely the weakest of the podcasts to the point I shut it off about 2/3 of the way through.

 

First, I think any character following Don DeMillo was going to suffer in comparison. On Theater is the only podcast I've ever kept on my phone after listening because I know I'll need to hear it about three of our more times to drain every bit of pleasure. Apart from maybe the first Ricky Gervais podcasts, I don't think I've ever kept a podcast or listened to one twice. I felt as if Andy gave me a free movie or cd that I can't simply discard.

 

Second, there was a failure to differentiate the characters in the first segment where I had trouble following who was speaking and when---not a problem in any of the other episodes due to Andy and his cohort's brilliance---but this was just a rowdy group of Italian stereotypes and the promise and premise of a "party" tape was never realized unlike the far superior exercise podcast.

 

Third, when the "celebrity" showed up, it was a Paula Deen parody that was about a year behind the actual events dulling any of the comic potential. We've already seen her put on public trial and banished, so the Southern stereotypes wore thin. I didn't find the "n- toes" bit offensive, just tired and there only for shock value and meant to hit a well-worn target.

 

Yes, yes, I know it's free and we should bow and scrape giving our thanks and undying gratitude...so on and so on... Still, I think it's fair to give some feedback on the episodes, and I do love and respect Andy so much for providing such an incredible "experiment" that I think is one of the greatest accomplishments of the format. Daly and Tompkins are the reigning comedy champions of the podcast universe.

[KajusX 1807]

Thanks for making this argument. I don't think Andy simply wants uncritical praise from the boards and our appreciation of the genius he's churning out on a weekly basis is meaningless if it isn't tempered with acknowledgement of some of the lowlights. This was definitely the weakest of the podcasts to the point I shut it off about 2/3 of the way through.

 

In addition to people weighing in on the entire Project before it's finished, now you are weighing in on episodes you admitted to not even finishing? To quote any number of Andy Daly characters: What's the matter with you?!

 

Second, there was a failure to differentiate the characters in the first segment where I had trouble following who was speaking and when---not a problem in any of the other episodes due to Andy and his cohort's brilliance---but this was just a rowdy group of Italian stereotypes and the promise and premise of a "party" tape was never realized unlike the far superior exercise podcast.

 

Mahoney is an Irish name. Andy & Co were playing Irish-American New Englanders, not Italian-American stereotypes (which I assume is what you meant, because Italian stereotypes would be them spaking in Italian accents and shouting "Mama Mia!").

 

The first segment was chaotic on purpose, and set everything up fine. We entered into chaos because that is Danny's life. There were four people to recognize. Andy is Danny. Gourley is his friend Fireplug. Fireplug has a wife played by Erinn Hayes; unmistakable, as she is the only woman in the first segment. One person left: Jon Daly. His character is another friend, DONNIE Mahoney (no relation to Danny). This naming was intentionally done to be confusing, just like Andy and Jon probably get their names confused all the time in real life by other people. The 'no relation' was also probably because they get that in real life. It was a little pinch of meta-comedy. So we had Andy and Matt, Erinn, and Jon Daly. They are all assholes gathered by Danny to show the listener how to have a party. That was the premise of the episode.

 

Get Fit Now with Bill Carter was funny because Bill had a work out plan for people, every step of it was insane, and he pulled off giving the instructions. Andy-as-Bill throws a bunch of balls in the air right at the start and juggles them throughout the podcast, touching upon each one and making them great callbacks and punchlines (HE HAD THE LISTENER DIG UP A KNIFE SO HE COULD SLAUGHTER THE WOLF PUPS?! OH MY GOD). Bill was not making his guests exercise, he was making the listener. Therefore Bill got no push back on the workout premise, because he just assumes it's happening, because he's doing the listener a service.

 

Shut Up and Have Fun with Danny Mahoney worked the opposite way. Danny also thinks he is doing the listener a service by providing instruction and making his guests party, with the assumption that the listener was participating too. But his attention to the listener is mostly swept aside due to hiom getting caught up in al of his own interpersonal drama. He gets nothing but push-back and grief from his friends who can barely tolerate him. His family hates him and reveals he's homeless and squatting. Danny Mahoney is a FAILURE. He can shout out every party tip he has, but his control group is in the room with him pushing back and revealing a group of disfunctional, stupid idiots.

 

But even though Danny has these hurdles, he did pull off his podcast's premise: he hosted a cocktail party with instructions for the listener. It included small talk, a couple party games, a cooking recipe, and there was even tips on how to deal with a party crasher.

 

I am 100% in full support of valid criticism of anything under the sun. If the dynamic on the podcast was not to your liking, and you did find yourself confused, I cannot argue that you experienced these things. But if you didn't finish listening to the episode, I have no idea how you can say that the podcast's premise was 'never realized.' How would you even know?