First published in The Tribune weekend section of October 9:
I AM attempting the impossible this
week. This week's podcasts are all comedy ones... and it's up to me
to explain why they're funny. Sip a drink, keep the children's ears
away from these slightly sweary recordings and enjoy...
Dolph Lungdren, star of the improbable Masters Of The Universe movie
How Did This Get Made?
Sharknado. If you've seen it, you've
probably said aloud the same words that make up the title of this
podcast - “How did this get made?”. Of course, Sharknado 3 was
out earlier this year, and this podcast has previously asked the
question “How did this get made THREE TIMES?”.
This podcast looks at some of the
all-time... well, you couldn't really call them classics. This looks
at the movies that stink, the movies that are so bad that they become
good.
The most recent show, featuring Orphan
Black star Tatiana Maslany as a guest star, alongside regulars Paul
Scheer, June Diane Raphael and Jason Mantzoukas, rips apart the 1987
muscle-rippler Masters of the Universe. From the plot, which cannot
be explained by even the smartest people on the planet, through the
fact that lead actor Dolph Lungdren couldn't speak English at the
time of filming and was supposed to be dubbed over later but the
money ran out... the podcast team cheerily tear shreds off every
awful part of the movie. The final fight is filmed in almost pitch
darkness (the producers had so little money they were literally
unplugging equipment during filming), and speculate on how the plot
should have gone. As awful as it was, and as little money as it made,
there were still plans to make a sequel – which also ran out of
money and lost the rights, so producers used the sets and costumes
already made to make early Jean-Claude Van Damme action flick Cyborg,
which despite being incredibly low budget was ten times the movie
that Masters of the Universe was.
Other movies butchered by the podcast
team include the likes of Furious 7, Zardoz, Jupiter Ascending, Con
Air, Daredevil, Deep Blue Sea and many more. I draw the line at their
mocking of Hallowe'en 3: Season of the Witch, though. That's a
genuine classic.
Wikishuffle
The Wikishuffle team shamelessly
tweeted me urging me to take a listen – prompting the theme of this
week's column. Shamelessly. And I'm awfully glad they did. Their
schtick is to take a look at the weirder things to be found on
online encyclopaedia wikipedia, and to roundly mock them. The team
won the best comedy podcast award in the UK Podcast awards this year
and it's easy to see why. They have the relaxed, mellow air of good
friends in a bar, mercilessly taking aim at one another as much as
the topics they discuss.
Lin Wang, hero of the Chinese Expeditionary Force... the one on the left
And those topics – you don't always
think there's humour to be found in them, but these guys do so. The
most recent episode opens with the story of an elephant called Lin
Wang that served with the Chinese Expeditionary Force from 1937-1945
and became the most famous animal in Taiwan. Now, I'm no expert, but
I don't look at that initial story and think comedy gold – but the
Wikishuffle team clearly think differently, plundering the story for
all it is worth. From there, they briskly move on to an analysis of
44 shades of pink, their names from champagne to tickle me – yes,
tickle me is the name of a colour of pink – and, latterly what
those shades have been used to signify. That includes how different
shades have been used to signify sexual interests. Keep easily
offended ears away from this section.
The episode rounds off with an
examination of American actions in the Korean War which even this
talented team can't fire up the mirth for – but if you have two
parts comedy, one part education, that's not a bad cocktail.
Website: http://www.wikishuffle.co.uk/
Greg Proops is the Smartest Man in the
World
Lastly, comedy favourite Greg Proops
from Whose Line Is It Anyway? has a regular podcast. Part
trivia, part memoir, part channel for his stand-up routines, the
unflappable and unstoppable Proops blasts through his look at the
ridiculousness of life – from newspaper headlines to TV adverts for
children's toys such as Operation. More scattergun in its aim than
the podcasts above, but why limit a genius like Proops?
No comments:
Post a Comment