Episode 193 — What Else? What Else?

[Scott Aukerman 381]

Do we, as Earwolf listeners, really come off as sexist to the point where it's been bothering you for a while? Most of us on the forums seem like good ladies and gentlemen. I think most of us think Julia, Caroline, Shannon, Kulap, among others, hung the moon. Do you have specifics about what is bothering you?

Don't get me wrong -everyone's cool here. I feel like I can only bring it up here because everyone's nice.

 

I get messages from a variety of sources - mostly twitter or facebook - and I've noticed it for about a year. I'll have a woman on doing a voice that is a little more crazy & out there than a Listler or Wompler, and I get a ton of messages saying how "brutal" it was, and requesting I never have them back. Meanwhile, Andy Daly can do the cowboy voice, or Horatio can do his voice this week, and everyone loves it. It made me think that there's something behind it, like a "hey, don't try so hard, little lady," kind of thing going on.

 

But maybe it is the high pitches? I don't know. An interesting debate, though.

[Cabbagehead 61]

Great b-b-b-bonus-s-s-s ep guys, see ya next time.

[Scott Aukerman 381]

It reminds me of the story Tina Fey tells about Amy Poehler in her book. When Jimmy Fallon told her not to do a crazy character she was doing, by saying it wasn't "cute." Like that's all we want our female comedians to do. I don't know...

[justinmh05 1968]

It reminds me of the story Tina Fey tells about Amy Poehler in her book. When Jimmy Fallon told her not to do a crazy character she was doing, by saying it wasn't "cute." Like that's all we want our female comedians to do. I don't know...

 

I really enjoy that CBB allows some of these great female improvisers (Amy Phillips, Lauren Lapkus, Jackie Clarke and now Pam Murphy come to mind) to do such bizarre characters.

 

Now, Chocktaw, when are Queefy and Sphincter Bicell coming back?

[JacobCrites 4977]

 

Don't get me wrong -everyone's cool here. I feel like I can only bring it up here because everyone's nice.

 

I get messages from a variety of sources - mostly twitter or facebook - and I've noticed it for about a year. I'll have a woman on doing a voice that is a little more crazy & out there than a Listler or Wompler, and I get a ton of messages saying how "brutal" it was, and requesting I never have them back. Meanwhile, Andy Daly can do the cowboy voice, or Horatio can do his voice this week, and everyone loves it. It made me think that there's something behind it, like a "hey, don't try so hard, little lady," kind of thing going on.

 

But maybe it is the high pitches? I don't know. An interesting debate, though.

I know what you mean; there's a lot of comments on iTunes for HDTGM? saying that all the female guests are annoying...which is a bizarre thing to say considering Zouks has one of the most abrasive voices around. And, of course, because it just isn't true.

 

I wish you had more female character guests on the show, honestly; I feel like there hasn't been a bad one yet.

[wiscomedy 212]

I don't mean it as a lecture - it's just a nagging thing that's been bugging me lately and I wanted to have a discussion about it.

 

Before this discussion goes any further: is this a safe space?

[US out of VT 2]

I really enjoyed all the characters even though I wasn't laughing the whole time.

One of the major reasons I love CBB is listening to people do what they know and love. Of course it helps when I fall to the floor laughing, but even when I don't it's still a pleasing experience.

That being said, I love the character in question, it could use a little fine tuning though.

 

As for the topic of women having a hard time of it. It sucks but it seems to be true, but I don't think it's a voice thing. I feel it is tied to an old idea of comedy (non-sexual entertainment?) being a man's job. While those on the front lines of comedy already know the hilarity of women, It takes time for this rational thinking to trickle down to those whose involvement with comedy is nothing more than a handful of characters derived from a limited appreciation for variety in comedy.

[VampiresVampiresVampires 303]

You realize you registered just to be an asshole.

This made me laugh like a jerk in the middle of a library.

 

I suppose I cannot add much to the reasoning, though. Lauren Lapkus trying to get out the words "Scholarship" and "Sneak-hers" were two of my favorite lines last year. Maybe you're right Scott: it's not the voice, it's blatant sexism. I hope to goodness there is a third, more benign option.

[Avocado_Dog 1]

I loved Lauren Lapkus's appearance (although I may have assumed she was Nasim Pedrad the whole time until I checked the show description).

[JacobCrites 4977]

 

 

Before this discussion goes any further: is this a safe space?

Hey I know this is a safe zone, but it's not okay to call the safe zone a "safe space."

[@pickabcdate 4]

I signed up just be an asshole - am I not in the right place? ::leaves quietly (for an asshole)::

[@pickabcdate 4]

This made me laugh like a jerk in the middle of a library.

 

I suppose I cannot add much to the reasoning, though. Lauren Lapkus trying to get out the words "Scholarship" and "Sneak-hers" were two of my favorite lines last year. Maybe you're right Scott: it's not the voice, it's blatant sexism. I hope to goodness there is a third, more benign option.

I signed up just be an asshole - am I not in the right place? ::leaves quietly (for an asshole)::

[2COOL4U69 59]

Sorry to level sexism at some of you, which I know is difficult to defend against, but this is definitely something I've noticed time after time, and I am deliberately having female guests on to combat this perception.

 

Good on ya Choctaw!

 

Another great podcast that consistently and deliberately has hilarious female guests is Stop Podcasting Yourself.

[sarel 45]

Wow I didn't realise people didn't like the Nancy character. I think it is hilarious. I also loved Lauren Lapkus characters as well. I'm pretty much game for any character and I like to see them become more fleshed out as the episode goes along, such as fleshing out Nancy a bit more because I think she didn't do well last month with Adomian's meh performance.

 

Please have on more female characters! My knowledge of female comedians is very small and I would love to learn about more great talent, such as Lauren Lapkus or Lennon Parham or Jessica St. Clair.

 

Speaking of characters, while it's great to have a Paul F Tompkins or a James Adomian, I am kind of done with them for a while. Actually this is more towards PFT, who is great and I love him, but I do find his characters have gotten a little boring after a while. I get the schtick of Andrew Lloyd Weber or Garry Marshall after the 10th appearance. It's nice to hear something new, say Mike the janitor. Save the well known impressions for big events or maybe bring them out once or twice a year.

[DanielSwinney 130]

I think a better question is, why, when male comics do a voice, do male listeners say "that's hilarious," and when female comics do a voice, they get called whiny and annoying?

 

Well, to be fair, Kristen Schaal has something of an unusual voice but I could listen to her for hours. I do think Pamela Murphy is funny but there were a couple of times where the vocal presence of the Nancy character got a bit overbearing to me (even though she was saying funny things). Of course, the aforementioned Little Gary fits this description sometimes and I *love* Tom Lennon.

 

Not to say there isn't something societal going against boisterously-voiced women comics/characters. Maria Bamford, who does the best voices in the whole word, had a pretty great observation on one of the Comedians of Comedy things when she said something to the effect of "I'm not sure it's that women aren't funny as much as it's that there are too many accountants with a bad Chris Rock impression and an irrational sense of confidence."

[TedWilson79 14]

Don't get me wrong -everyone's cool here. I feel like I can only bring it up here because everyone's nice.

 

I get messages from a variety of sources - mostly twitter or facebook - and I've noticed it for about a year. I'll have a woman on doing a voice that is a little more crazy & out there than a Listler or Wompler, and I get a ton of messages saying how "brutal" it was, and requesting I never have them back. Meanwhile, Andy Daly can do the cowboy voice, or Horatio can do his voice this week, and everyone loves it. It made me think that there's something behind it, like a "hey, don't try so hard, little lady," kind of thing going on.

 

But maybe it is the high pitches? I don't know. An interesting debate, though.

 

It's awesome that this can be discussed rationally, instead of people throwing bile on each other, as tends to happen on most other places online. Scott, thanks for creating a destination where people can dissect comedy and figure out why they like certain bits and characters more than others. EARWOLF 4 EVA! (short for "forever" FYI)

Personally I like most of the guests you have on the show, BECAUSE of their crazy voices. Half the fun of the show is seeing how the other guests deal with an oddball character thrown in there. But the crazier the voice is, it seems like the funnier the character's premise and jokes have to be, to balance it out. To use your example, Andy Daly is one of my favourite guests on your show, but I definitely have characters of his I prefer more than others.

Kudos to anyone who comes on your show and mixes it up, cause it's gotta be tough to swing in the ring with a bunch of comedy all-stars. Here's hoping we get more chances to hear Pamela Murphy strut her stuff.

[Foltaire 333]

Wow I didn't realise people didn't like the Nancy character. I think it is hilarious. I also loved Lauren Lapkus characters as well. I'm pretty much game for any character and I like to see them become more fleshed out as the episode goes along, such as fleshing out Nancy a bit more because I think she didn't do well last month with Adomian's meh performance.

 

Please have on more female characters! My knowledge of female comedians is very small and I would love to learn about more great talent, such as Lauren Lapkus or Lennon Parham or Jessica St. Clair.

 

Speaking of characters, while it's great to have a Paul F Tompkins or a James Adomian, I am kind of done with them for a while. Actually this is more towards PFT, who is great and I love him, but I do find his characters have gotten a little boring after a while. I get the schtick of Andrew Lloyd Weber or Garry Marshall after the 10th appearance. It's nice to hear something new, say Mike the janitor. Save the well known impressions for big events or maybe bring them out once or twice a year.

 

Let's not let this discussion get out of hand! I'd sooner see femininity subjected to centuries of subjugation than risk losing a CBB episode with Dame Sir Andrew or Mr. Marshall.

[sarel 45]

 

Let's not let this discussion get out of hand! I'd sooner see femininity subjected to centuries of subjugation than risk losing a CBB episode with Dame Sir Andrew or Mr. Marshall.

 

Personally I would like to see less of those characters because after a while it gets kind of tiring. I love PFT but I think that his near constant presence with many of the same characters loses it originality after a while. In fact, take James Adomian. He disappeared for a while and that was great because when he came back it felt fresh and new and tried new things. Not to criticise PFT but it would be nice to see him throw in a new character.

[Todd Mason 21]

I suspect some people simply do respond poorly (and perhaps purely physically, fingernails/blackboard-style) to whiny or screechy voice acting, even when it's clever and relatively low intensity as with Murphy's work here...but, yes, anyone who can handle Little Gary should not have much of a problem with any other Extreme Timbre on CBB. Those who can only chuckle along with bros can go find stag podcasts (rather easily). I like the Cooper character, and the nod to Wawa convenience stores would only draw appreciation from Todd Glass, who likes to note that the Pennsylvania-based chain is run as 7-11 might be if they gave a damn. (Yes, utterly seamless integration, and I'm not even pulling down that sweet podcast cash...but who can complain about podcast comment money? Not I.)

 

Yours for ever-greater gender parity in podcasting (buy your fresh pears for only twice the price of supermarkets or three times farmers' markets at Wawa...it's named for a town...in Pennsylvania!).

[Todd Mason 21]

It reminds me of the story Tina Fey tells about Amy Poehler in her book. When Jimmy Fallon told her not to do a crazy character she was doing, by saying it wasn't "cute." Like that's all we want our female comedians to do. I don't know...

 

Which helps to explain why Fallon comes off as affable (if not cute), and with good taste in music, and dull as dishwater on his show.

[Foltaire 333]

 

Personally I would like to see less of those characters because after a while it gets kind of tiring. I love PFT but I think that his near constant presence with many of the same characters loses it originality after a while. In fact, take James Adomian. He disappeared for a while and that was great because when he came back it felt fresh and new and tried new things. Not to criticise PFT but it would be nice to see him throw in a new character.

 

Well, there are certainly very few comedians who could continue to recycle characters at that rate and remain interesting. In my opinion, PFT - by means of linguistic mastery and interminable vivacity - is one such talent. There's a depth to his creations, a weird dimensionality, which allows them to long outlast their anticipated shelf-life. Having said that, I doubt whether even one of his classic characters could sustain an audience's attention twice in the space of a month (as Pamela Murphy's has had to do).

 

Anyway, if any character's getting a bit worn it's that 'Scott' guy Jeff Ulrich plays every week.

[winterteeth 1]

I think there are male and female voices that annoy the listener (Lapkus' Tracy and Kroll's Baby voices come to mind) but that doesn't mean they aren't saying hilarious things. I think there are probably scientific/psychological reasons why high-pitched voices sound "whiney" or unpleasant. Calls of alarm and distress are usually in the higher registers so that we can pick them out from normal speech so, people who are speaking in a constantly high register are kind of stabbing our brain balls with an ice pick of sound.

 

I think there is also a factor of "earning your stripes" when it comes to excusing harsh voices. Andy Daly and Nick Kroll kind of come in already proven and are given more leeway. The first time I heard Lapkus was the Tracy episode (and while I personally laughed, I warned friends who I played it for that they might have a hard time listening). When she came back and did the Diane character a few eps later, I was able to hear her range as a performer and immediately became a fan. Fairly or not, once a comedian has a "rep" I think they can more easily experiment with characters.

 

To also comment on the "overused" topic, I just started listening around the 140s. So, I am not tired of PFT by a long shot. I think having Murphy do Nancy Cooper so close to her last appearance might have been a mistake, though. There didn't seem to be any more to it than last time and I would have loved to have heard a different character from Murphy as she is obviously very funny. Not that twice is overused, per se, just...proximity can make a world of difference.

[Podus 108]

Hey Scott, Reggie and Harris. Thank you for everything that you do #teamstersunion

[benk 257]

Neil Campbell is fucking hilarious.

[kneisage 2108]

Let's get to the real question surrounding this episode: WHAT WAS THE MYSTERIOUS ADDITION TO THE PLUG BAG THEME?

 

Hahahah that was me! They played my plugs theme and I think they accidentally left my Soundcloud running, so that was my dumb voice muttering over the sounds of wind. So basically I'm double famous.