Feedback for Brett Hammell

[yomaceo 0]

Mark suggested we offer feedback to Brett on whether an explicit set-up would violate his aesthetic so here goes: I say stick with what you are doing. I really appreciate the slightly confusing / jolting / meta nature of your comedy. I thought your crazily inverted "content" submission was hilarious, my favorite of the episode actually, and disagreed with the judges assessment. I guess it's just a taste thing. Anyway, maybe it's not in your best interest in terms of winning the challenge but I think you should stick to what you think is funny, and wanted to tell you that at least one other guy agrees.

[Jago 0]

I haven't actually listened to a episode of Ham Radio yet, so I don't really have any preference to Brett's style of recording other than the clips I've heard on the Challenge. However, if you've got a particular esthetic, go for it. If the joke works on the basic level, go for it. If it would work by adding on the complex layers that Brett likes, do that.

I really wanted to post just to offer a suggestion on how to try a recurring segment on a sketch podcast. I think Matt's idea of the Kids in the Hall style recurring segment, such as "Thirty Helens agree," or "It's a fact," is definitely approachable. The two thing those have in common, other than the visual aspect of looking the same (Helens in a field, girl running through a forest), is that they have a strong opening line that's repeated every time.

If you have some sketch you do that's say, a call-in-show, or a news segment, or some commentary or whatever, if you give it a strong opening line or music cue (or both) that can be repeated and gives the listener instant recognition, that might help you in this challenge.

[brett1326657711 0]

thanks guys. the challenge has definitely gotten me thinking alot more about these sort of things, especially what jesse thorn was saying about how you have to lay out information in the most easily digestible, linear way when you're working in an audio medium, and also what matt said about the importance of having some sort of recognizable signature stingers/theme songs etc. (as @kyle mentioned)

but i do plan on continuing the jolting/meta/herky-jerky style of Ham Radio, cuz that's just that's what I do. although newer episodes of my show have begun to have longer sketches (none of which i can use in the challenge due to time constraints) which are interspersed with the more disorienting meta stuff...

and thanks for the words of encouragement, @mike

[Mr.Pete 79]

Hey Brett,

Sounds like you're already wrapping your head around how to deal with structural problems. Your show is already pretty polished, so getting those finishing touches will probably make for something very professional.

As for the other critique of your comedic topics/content, I do agree with the judges too though. But since they are all in the Comedy biz professionally, I think they pay much more attention to comedic decisions and end up with a lot of comedy-based pet peeves. I don't think it's as big a problem for most listeners, but it's still a valid critique.

For example, when you introduce "hack comedy" ironically or as a joke, unless that's obvious up front, by the time the listener realizes that you're not serious, they already have a bad taste in their mouth that's not 100% removed just by pulling back the curtain. Emotions tend to stick around for a while, so when someone is irritated, even when they understand "Oh, that wasn't supposed to irritate me," they've already entered an irritated state, and their psyche finds something else to focus the irritation on. So the listener might think, "Oh, I get it now, he's making fun of hack comedy.... But the punchline wasn't worth those 40 seconds of being annoyed." Whereas if it was framed or set up differently, they might not have been annoyed from the beginning. Or make Matt Besser happy and don't make fun of other comedy period

I think the best way to combat those comedic/topical problems is to either collaborate with another smart friend, or at least find someone to run your ideas by (after writing, before recording). When I work creatively, I always try to do this because I'll inevitably get sucked into one aspect of my work, and when I show it to a friend, they'll make good points about other aspects that I had completely overlooked. Different points resonate with different people so it always helps to have more minds to tap.

Anyways, I say all of this because I think you have a great program, and something worth perfecting! I hope you find this all constructive. Good luck!

[showandprove 1]

Hey Brett - sad to see you're out of the show - I was most impressed by your submission on Episode One of the EC as I produce some sketches for my podcast, love writing and know exactly how long editing/production takes. I aslo appreciate that's it's just you - pretty much any show can be funny if they just sit around chatting/have PFT on as a guest as PFT is amazing. However, in terms of feedback ... I've not laughed much at your submissions since the intro, which is a shame as I've really been routing for Hamm radio more than most other shows (it's pretty unique). Your intro submission was way too long and over-egged the pudding in my mind (as Jason (?) Sklar said you could just have done What, Who, When and stopped there... and then it would have been fantastic).

As for the hack comedy sketch ... I loved writing and listening to layered complicated meta-comedy (I'd seriously recommend you take a look at some of the work of Stewart Lee) but there wasn't a punch to it - even when the reveal came I wasn't blow away with your premise (and I understood it totally). That's the good thing about say ... Stewart Lee, is that he will maybe lose you deliberately for a long time, leaving you confused and a little alienated and when his point "hits" it's an incredible feeling (most times).

So I'd echo some of the comments above about structure ... and maybe about "pushing the envelope" a little more with your points that you are making - and I don't mean that in a "jokes about dead babies" way. More in a challenging the audiences conceptions way - if you boil your premise down and strip away the layers does it still have any impact? "Making fun of hack comedians is hack" doesn't really engage me as a statement.

In terms of the loose drifiting in and out format have you heard BlueJam by Chris Morris? Really worth a listen.

I didn't think the film trailer was all that bad but I also didn't laugh - whilst I did at some of the others - so it could have been a punchier script maybe with a few more clear jokes that didn't rely so much on the simple fact that it was a movie parody (this may sound a little vague ... I think a lot of the comic value I took away from that sketch was routed in it being a trailer about a silly movie and beyond that quite good joke there wasn't much more there for me to engage in).

Anyway just throwing some thoughts around - I'll add your podcast to my download queue as I'm impressed (jealous!) with what you've done so far.

[Irish Ham 1]

Hard luck to Brett. Like Scott a Bot and many others, I was rooting for him from the start.
On the inroduction, his segment was the one that immediately caught me and maybe just the choice of segements for the challenge were not quite as strong as this.
Have started listening to the podcast thanks to hearing about it from Earwolf, and what many judges main critique is actually one of the reasons I like it. The multiple layers, while judges may say listeners find it confusing, for me make it much better for repeat listenings so less likely to skip when on shuffle mode.
Also, from listening to your show I like the rhythym, how the sketches link into each other and the journey you take us on. I think that the overall show is effectively greater than the sum of its parts and so may have been relatively weaker when having to put up two minute segments out of context.
By the way, Stewart Lee and Chris Morris are certainly two great comedians that I would recommend anyone to find out.
Keep up the good work Mr Hammil (and to all the other nine challengers many of whom I will be seeking out as well. )

[brett1326657711 0]

Hey, thanks for all the feedback, folks. Much appreciated, both the criticism and the kind words. I've been getting some nice messages from people who found Ham Radio through the EC. Naturally, my favorites are the ones that say "Don't change anything about your show! you gots ROBBED!!!1"

I just uploaded a new episode in which I talk (briefly, at the very end) about the EC. The are no major format changes, although you might notice some of the judges' feedback seeping in, especially in the way I set up the sketches. I've only been doing the podcast for a year, so there's still lots of room for evolution.

if you wanna hear a good example of what I'm trying to do in something more than tiny 2 minute nibbles, go check out episode 10:

http://hamradiopodcast.podbean.com/

[truthskull 109]

brett, the itt tech turn on ep 9 may be the funniest bit of comedy i have ever experienced. kudos

[brett1326657711 0]

Ha! Thanks, Brian