EPISODE 352 — Scrunchy Face

[Brian_Eno 119]

 

 

lol okay

 

 

I just said that I love James' other characters but I just found this one a little rough. Don't be pretentious. Not liking it =/= not getting it.

 

I think at this point it's no longer about you, it's about people professing their love of James Adomian.

[ChrisEllis 25]

yeah i wasn't addressing you directly dude. i don't get all of his references, not by a long shot.

[Shannon 2953]

This felt like a throwback episode! Loved it!

 

I completely agree with this sentiment

[teeth 44]

Bernie Sanders is merril schindler + garry marshall + wally wackiman × oliver reed

[justinmh05 1968]

Bernie Sanders is merril schindler + garry marshall + wally wackiman × oliver reed

 

Speaking of Wally, when we will he finally appear on CBB?

[Pretty salad 28]

its not that i dont love the way james does sanders.

it just bugs me how fast people with good ideas get turned into cartoons in this country.

guess i brought my own baggage to this ep.

[souprman 10477]

I'm just looking for some clarification on one issue; is veganlobster half lobster half vegan, or a lobster who abstains from animal based foods?

[ChrisEllis 25]

its not that i dont love the way james does sanders.

it just bugs me how fast people with good ideas get turned into cartoons in this country.

guess i brought my own baggage to this ep.

 

i honestly don't think adomian was making fun of bernie's real positions on anything.

 

 

I'm just looking for some clarification on one issue; is veganlobster half lobster half vegan, or a lobster who abstains from animal based foods?

 

i like to think of it as the literal interpretation of my avatar, which i guess would be a faux-lobster meat food substance, similar to something you'd get in a vegan restaurant. but the idea of a lobster that doesn't eat any animal products is also kind of amusing.

[souprman 10477]

 

i honestly don't think adomian was making fun of bernie's real positions on anything.

 

 

 

 

i like to think of it as the literal interpretation of my avatar, which i guess would be a faux-lobster meat food substance, similar to something you'd get in a vegan restaurant. but the idea of a lobster that doesn't eat any animal products is also kind of amusing.

I was hoping it's a half & half (side x side) situation and the vegan and lobster personas are at odds. I will respect your premise however and from now on think of you as fake meat formed into the animal it's meant to replace.

[saddlebags 581]

 

i honestly don't think adomian was making fun of bernie's real positions on anything.

 

 

 

 

i like to think of it as the literal interpretation of my avatar, which i guess would be a faux-lobster meat food substance, similar to something you'd get in a vegan restaurant. but the idea of a lobster that doesn't eat any animal products is also kind of amusing.

 

Turning a person into a cartoonish impression (and comedic impressions are cartoonish by definition) only serves to diminish them and, by extension, their ideas.

 

James doesn't have to explicitly ridicule his ideas, his caricaturish brand of comedy does it for him.

 

Al Gore as a politician was completely invalidated not by ridiculing his policy or campaign but simply by people like James making "I invented the internet" type impersonations.

[souprman 10477]

 

Turning a person into a cartoonish impression (and comedic impressions are cartoonish by definition) only serves to diminish them and, by extension, their ideas.

 

James doesn't have to explicitly ridicule his ideas, his caricaturish brand of comedy does it for him.

 

Al Gore as a politician was completely invalidated not by ridiculing his policy or campaign but simply by people like James making "I invented the internet" type impersonations.

Totally! That's why Stephen Colbert was so unsuccessful. It's like, get a point of view satire. Don't just be a cartoon!

 

PS, I totally get what you mean by people like James.

[Just Add Pepper 2026]

A-and, George W. Bush, well, we got so fooled into thinking he was a lovable buffoon, by googly impressions of him on SNL and the like, that we totally didn't even think of him as the guy who did 9/11, which in hindsight, he clearly did.

[RachelElle 217]

Scott is at the point in his podcasting career where he talks entirely in old bits, callbacks, abbreviations, and "over-the-top podcast host" gags. There is nothing more delightful.

 

Yeah going back to the reaaally early episodes always throws me off because it's a different Scott

[StanSitwell 811]

 

 

lol okay

 

 

I just said that I love James' other characters but I just found this one a little rough. Don't be pretentious. Not liking it =/= not getting it.

 

 

HAHAHA special little snowflake much? That person didn't quote you, they didn't say 'you', they merely shared their views on James' characters and the smart details he finds ways to sneak in, and you think "awww this jerk is saying I don't get his references!!", other than the fact that it came right after your post, theres no reason to assume its about you or only about you.

 

everything isn't about you...

[justinmh05 1968]

 

Turning a person into a cartoonish impression (and comedic impressions are cartoonish by definition) only serves to diminish them and, by extension, their ideas.

 

James doesn't have to explicitly ridicule his ideas, his caricaturish brand of comedy does it for him.

 

Al Gore as a politician was completely invalidated not by ridiculing his policy or campaign but simply by people like James making "I invented the internet" type impersonations.

 

Sorry, but this is silly. No politician is above being the subject of satire.

 

Bernie Sanders isn't some paragon of virtue - no politician is. At the end of the day, Bernie Sanders is seeking to become the most powerful person on earth. He should be able handle some jokes at his expense - and so should his supporters.

[souprman 10477]

 

Sorry, but this is silly. No politician is above being the subject of satire.

 

Bernie Sanders isn't some paragon of virtue - no politician is. At the end of the day, Bernie Sanders is seeking to become the most powerful person on earth. He should be able handle some jokes at his expense - and so should his supporters.

Agreed.

 

I'd also like to point out there is a difference between an impression and a charac(ter).

 

This is a loving satire of Senator Sanders really, not the vicious tear down of JA's Leykis. Let's face it, Bernie is a pretty goofy dude.

[souprman 10477]

3 truths I have embraced.

 

1. the game is rigged.

2. life is an illusion.

3. we are all doomed.

 

accepting this has made me a much happier being.

[StanSitwell 811]

Agreed.

 

I'd also like to point out there is a difference between an impression and a charac(ter).

 

This is a loving satire of Senator Sanders really, not the vicious tear down of JA's Leykis. Let's face it, Bernie is a pretty goofy dude.

 

 

Agreed,

 

I'd liken James' Bernie to his Huell Howser or Jesse the body, but he has his sect of characters with the purpose of tearing down like Leykis or Dov Charney.

 

He can make absurd humans into even more absurd characters or just take people that give him hilarious voices and have fun with some make-em-up weirdness

[ChrisEllis 25]

"Anyone who wakes up in the morning with a burning desire to be the president of the United States is a little bit crazy."

 

-Bernie Sanders

 

I believe it's statements like this that separate him from the rest of the political pack. And I do believe James's portrayal is a loving one, not a takedown of his views or ideals. As someone already said, no politician, especially one running for president, should be absolved from satire or impressions. Bernie's accent, his somewhat disheveled appearance...these are ripe for comic mining. If people pay more attention to those things on a podcast than they do to the actual issues or his platform, well...we can blame James when this country goes further down the shitter.

[Brian_Eno 119]

I'd wager a lot of people who listened to this episode who didn't know who Bernie Sanders was did a Wikipedia search, so the parody of him got his political viewpoints to people who wouldn't otherwise be exposed to them. Also, it probably made some people laugh along the way. Job Accomplished!

[be easy on me 330]

My favorite thing about this board is how Stan shit on everyone for being fanboys last week and then goes total fanboy this week.

 

Also, I feel like with the exception of over the top character voices, every argument based on Adomian (intelligent, references, research, etc.) is like reading and hearing why people used to think Dennis Miller was funny.

[souprman 10477]

My favorite thing about this board is how Stan shit on everyone for being fanboys last week and then goes total fanboy this week.

 

Also, I feel like with the exception of over the top character voices, every argument based on Adomian (intelligent, references, research, etc.) is like reading and hearing why people used to think Dennis Miller was funny.

 

1. how dare he...?

2. bad analogy. try again.

[StanSitwell 811]

My favorite thing about this board is how Stan shit on everyone for being fanboys last week and then goes total fanboy this week.

 

Also, I feel like with the exception of over the top character voices, every argument based on Adomian (intelligent, references, research, etc.) is like reading and hearing why people used to think Dennis Miller was funny.

 

 

Don't think I did but you're free to your opinion. If this was 9 pages of people replying to normal forum posts with Adomian-as-Bernie-Sanders lines and YOUKNOWWHATIMTALKINGABLOUT!!!! maybe I would say fair point and I'm sure I'd be calling those people annoying like I did last week, but since that isn't the case, I'll just say I staunchly disagree with you

[justinmh05 1968]

 

 

Don't think I did but you're free to your opinion. If this was 9 pages of people replying to normal forum posts with Adomian-as-Bernie-Sanders lines and YOUKNOWWHATIMTALKINGABLOUT!!!! maybe I would say fair point and I'm sure I'd be calling those people annoying like I did last week, but since that isn't the case, I'll just say I staunchly disagree with you

 

I said it last week, I'll say it this week. I don't often agree with you, but I always appreciate your posts. You bring good discussion to the table!

[djsexyrandal 153]

Very few of Adomian's impressions are mean spirited. Perhaps the closest he comes to really being hateful is Tom Lyekis, but that dude is pretty hateful himself. He's said publicly that he really likes Jesse Ventura and Huell Howser, and from reading his twitter I'd say he probably aligns fairly closely politically with Sanders.

 

My takeaway from his Sanders impression was that he was challenging himself to do an impression of someone without an obvious hook. I mean, Adomian's impressions are all pretty fantastic, but there's a lot to work with when you're doing someone like Ventura, Howser, etc ... Sanders, not so much. And yet, he found some beats that I thought were very funny. I didn't have to pull my car over in a fit of laughter like I did when I first heard him do Huell Howser, but I still enjoyed it.

 

I also think Adomian is amazing in general. His standup is fantastic, he is an incredibly dynamic comedic performer, and i can't think of a better impressionist out there.

 

I also came here to post about Swardson's reaction to the native american joke. I think it absolutely had to do with the bad press surrounding his film. I kinda hoped that Scott was going to prod him a little more and wring some awkward comedy out of it, but maybe that would have been too mean spirited.