EPISODE 183 — Tatertown

[JulyDiaz 2797]

Drew DiFonzo Marks, Dave Theune, Ryan Meharry, and James Mastraieni regularly perform together as Tatertown and this week they join Matt Besser for a special improv5humans! We’ll hear what it’s like on a deserted island with a bunch of know-it-alls, when The Eagles perform for a bunch of tweens, and when a prank goes too far. Plus, Matt goes through some letters to figure out whether they are true fans or not. Make sure to get the Upright Citizens Brigade television show season 3 now available on DVD, the UCB Comedy Improv Manual, and Dragoon’s new album at dragoongalaxy.bandcamp.com! LA: Get tickets for Matt’s 4/20 Shows at UCB Sunset now at www.mattbesser.com!

[Kevin Bartelt 87]

Besser is right. The Assscat show had a very weird vibe (audience-wise). Too bad he didn't see the crowd of 100 15-year-old girls taking pictures with the monologist after the show. It looked like a scene from High School Musical 2. I think most of the audience had nothing to say about Hillary because they weren't alive when Bill was president.

 

Also, if it's possible, I'd love to talk to Matt about what happened after the show. There was a lot of hilarious/dramatic shit that went on that he unfortunately doesn't know about.

[clever username 35]

I don't know a ton about Whitewater specifically, but Hillary had huge conflicts of interest while she was Secretary of State. In 2011, there was an oil strike in Columbia that the government put down with the military:

 

Yet as union leaders and human rights activists conveyed these harrowing reports of violence to then-Secretary of State Clinton in late 2011, urging her to pressure the Colombian government to protect labor organizers, she responded first with silence, these organizers say. The State Department publicly praised Colombia’s progress on human rights, thereby permitting hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. aid to flow to the same Colombian military that labor activists say helped intimidate workers.

 

At the same time that Clinton's State Department was lauding Colombia’s human rights record, her family was forging a financial relationship with Pacific Rubiales, the sprawling Canadian petroleum company at the center of Colombia’s labor strife. The Clintons were also developing commercial ties with the oil giant’s founder, Canadian financier Frank Giustra, who now occupies a seat on the board of the Clinton Foundation, the family’s global philanthropic empire.

 

It'd be really nice if we could see her State Department e-mails from the period, wouldn't it?

 

I think your admiration of Clinton is misplaced, Matt. She's a Reaganite through and through. Sadly, I think her victory is nearly inevitable at this point. The only Republican I think might be able to beat her is Scott Walker, which just scares me more.

[KajusX 1807]

Besser is right. The Assscat show had a very weird vibe (audience-wise). Too bad he didn't see the crowd of 100 15-year-old girls taking pictures with the monologist after the show. It looked like a scene from High School Musical 2. I think most of the audience had nothing to say about Hillary because they weren't alive when Bill was president.

 

Also, if it's possible, I'd love to talk to Matt about what happened after the show. There was a lot of hilarious/dramatic shit that went on that he unfortunately doesn't know about.

Hrrrrrnnnnh, I really want to hear all of the grizzly details.

[Shampoodler 1489]

This forum is going to get downright ugly when Hillary stops by the studio with her guitar.

[maaarshall 4]

one extra person and it's another dude.

c'mon, guys, promote female comedians & end the "women aren't funny" stigma - win-win!

 

love angry matt tho.

[Shampoodler 1489]

I4H has only featured female guests in 128 out of 183 episodes. Someone should notify Jezebel.

[FUCK! 189]

So. Who was the monologist?

 

 

Edit: Matthew Gray Gubler? This is from Lauren Lapkus on Never Not Funny http://www.earwolf.com/episode/lauren-lapkus/ around 1 hour

[JacobCrites 4977]

MATT. BESSER. You can't just leave us hanging on that Hilary Clinton story! The whole conversation initiated by the word "whitewater" setting you off, and need to know why!

[RachelElle 217]

Havent finished listening to the episode yet, but I was following Besser's Twitter when he was undergoing the whole Hillary thing in real-time... I noticed all these accounts with iterations of the word "Gubler" in their usernames tweeting nonsense at Matt @replying at his initial angry tweet and I was like... what the fuck is a Gubler? And then I found out that Gubler is like the name of the monologist that evening for ASSSSCAT.

 

And all these Twitter accounts were like, 14 year old superfans of his... the timelines were disturbing and reminded me of my own 14 year old self when I was obsessed with various celebrities. Like every tweet involved some strong emotion and this Gubler guy. And there was so much unbridled rage at Besser for like, interrupting this beautiful moment with Gubler or something.

 

Whatever part of the brain drives that fixation on a person during adolescence, it's... I... I do not miss that time of my life.

[clever username 35]

Hours after I made that post, a new poll came out that puts Walker way behind Clinton, so my worse case scenario probably isn't going to come to be, thank God.

 

https://law.marquette.edu/poll/2015/04/16/marquette-law-school-poll-finds-walker-job-approval-down/

 

 

[Kickpuncher 5012]

Havent finished listening to the episode yet, but I was following Besser's Twitter when he was undergoing the whole Hillary thing in real-time... I noticed all these accounts with iterations of the word "Gubler" in their usernames tweeting nonsense at Matt @replying at his initial angry tweet and I was like... what the fuck is a Gubler? And then I found out that Gubler is like the name of the monologist that evening for ASSSSCAT.

 

And all these Twitter accounts were like, 14 year old superfans of his... the timelines were disturbing and reminded me of my own 14 year old self when I was obsessed with various celebrities. Like every tweet involved some strong emotion and this Gubler guy. And there was so much unbridled rage at Besser for like, interrupting this beautiful moment with Gubler or something.

 

Whatever part of the brain drives that fixation on a person during adolescence, it's... I... I do not miss that time of my life.

 

I'm vaguely aware of this guy as an actor, but I had no idea he had a large teenage girl fanbase, and don't see anything in his IMDB that would explain it.

 

Anyway, good episode, the prank e-mail story was really funny.

[KajusX 1807]

 

I'm vaguely aware of this guy as an actor, but I had no idea he had a large teenage girl fanbase, and don't see anything in his IMDB that would explain it.

 

Anyway, good episode, the prank e-mail story was really funny.

Ohhh, I thought it was Ed Droste from the Grizzly Bears (ASSSCAT from 4/5). He looks a little like Zack Braff, which is what I was going off of.

 

I was way off base. All of that twitter stuff is bonkers.

[Thedge 314]

MATT. BESSER. You can't just leave us hanging on that Hilary Clinton story! The whole conversation initiated by the word "whitewater" setting you off, and need to know why!

 

I think Besser was making fun of himself for going on a rant about Hillary Clinton with no provocation. The idea that the words white water would set him off when there is no connection was part of the joke. The sketch was meant to be about a guy who brings up politics in situations that have nothing to do with it and makes an ass out of himself.

[JacobCrites 4977]

I think Besser was making fun of himself for going on a rant about Hillary Clinton with no provocation. The idea that the words white water would set him off when there is no connection was part of the joke. The sketch was meant to be about a guy who brings up politics in situations that have nothing to do with it and makes an ass out of himself.

Yeah I definitely got the game of the sketch, but I didn't get him over-reacting to whitewater was a joke. Now I feel like a real dum dum.

[BrettMorris 1862]

 

 

I think Besser was making fun of himself for going on a rant about Hillary Clinton with no provocation. The idea that the words white water would set him off when there is no connection was part of the joke. The sketch was meant to be about a guy who brings up politics in situations that have nothing to do with it and makes an ass out of himself.

He had been dealing with social media bullshit re: Hillary right before the show

[alargebucket 1589]

I think Besser was making fun of himself for going on a rant about Hillary Clinton with no provocation. The idea that the words white water would set him off when there is no connection was part of the joke. The sketch was meant to be about a guy who brings up politics in situations that have nothing to do with it and makes an ass out of himself.

No.

 

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitewater_controversy

[Thedge 314]

No.

 

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitewater_controversy

 

Fair enough. I am not extremely familiar with American politics.

[clever username 35]

International Business Times just broke another story about Clinton's corruption while she was Secretary of State, this time involving Cisco Systems and China:

 

Cisco Systems had a public relations problem: Having invested $16 billion in the Chinese market, the technology giant was suddenly facing congressional scrutiny over its alleged complicity in building the so-called Great Firewall that helps China's authoritarian regime censor information and surveil its citizens.

 

The San Jose, California, company endured a high-profile Senate hearing about its Chinese operations in 2008 and reaffirmed its “continued commitment to China.” But the issue wouldn’t die. A group of investors stormed the company’s annual meeting in November 2009, pressing a shareholder resolution that would force the company to prevent the Chinese government from using Cisco technology to engage in what critics said was widespread human-rights abuse.

 

That’s when then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tossed the company a lifeline. Weeks after Cisco executives opposed the initiative and it was then voted down by shareholders, Cisco was honored as a finalist for the State Department’s award for “outstanding corporate citizenship, innovation and democratic principles.” The next year, the company

the award. While the honors were for the company’s work in the Middle East, they gave Cisco a well-timed opportunity to change the subject and present itself as a champion of human rights.

 

What Clinton did not say at the State Department award ceremonies was that Cisco had been pumping money into her family’s foundation. Though the foundation will not release an exact timeline of the contributions, records reviewed by International Business Times show that Cisco had by December 2008 donated from $500,000 to $1 million to the foundation. The company had hired lobbying firms run by former Clinton aides. After the money flowed into the foundation, Clinton’s State Department not only lauded Cisco’s human rights record, it also delivered millions of dollars worth of new government contracts to the company.

 

I think this final quote perfectly encapsulates everything that I think is wrong with the Clintons:

 

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton’s relationship with Cisco has continued. In August, she appeared at the company for a surprise visit. Chambers interviewed her onstage, telling employees: “I’m a strong Republican, but I think President Clinton got it right with business and knocked the ball out of the park."

[NortonCox 16]

We must know the teenbeat comic. You must tell us.

 

Also, vote Ron Paul 2016. Gold Standard makes sense. And a third crazy thing.

[Blink 1844]

It's difficult for me to trust Hillary when her husband was responsible for some of the most despicable "Tough on Crime" policies of the last few decades, among other fucked up shit. Maybe I'd end up voting for her if she makes it through the primary, but that would only be out of fear of the alternative.

 

Jill Stein 2016 brehs