This review previously featured in The Tribune Weekend section on December 11.
This week, the podcast review column
takes a look on the lighter side of things – with the emphasis on
comedy. One word of caution, all of the shows here feature strong
language.
Independence Day is your best movie, Will? Have a cigar.
Doug Loves Movies
It's surprising there aren't more
comedians doing this kind of thing. Unless they are and I'm just
really bad at finding them. But this show is purely and simply
comedian Doug Benson broadcasting his regular stand-up comedy routine
from a live venue – along with various guests – and chatting
about movies. That's a very loose chat about movies, as much as
anything a launch point for spinning off into all manner of
crazyness. The guests can be very well known figures – such as
Sarah Silverman or Patton Oswalt – and that's because it's a great
show. It includes a regular segment where he reads a review of a
movie and the guests have to guess the name of the movie in as few
named members of the cast as possible. They also tackle the weighty
issues of our age, too – such as what is the best Will Smith movie
ever made. Being recorded in front of an audience really adds to the
show, too, with plenty of banter between the cast and those around
them, including plenty of heckling of movies the crowd doesn't like.
Website: www.douglovesmovies.com
What kind of crazed madmen would watch Sex And The City 2 over... and over... and... oh, here's our next podcast, below
The Worst Idea Of All Time
The central hook of The Worst Idea Of
All Time is... well, isn't that self-explanatory? They like to come
up with awful ideas and go through with them. How awful? I'll confess
I couldn't bring myself to listen to the latest episode – because
they decided to make a five-hour long podcast. That's a pretty awful
idea, right there. I listened instead to one of the earlier ones, in
which surely they couldn't do anything crazy. I mean, surely they
wouldn't do something horrifying like watch the Sex And The City
movie and then talk about it? No, not at all. They talked about its
sequel instead. And they have talked about it over and over and over.
Each week, they watch it together, unearthing new ways to marvel at
the lack of acting ability from Sarah Jessica Parker. Each week. More
than that, the episode that I listened to featuring this discussion
during a podcast recorded while they went for a walk with the two
hosts, Guy Montgomery and Tim Batt, huddled over a microphone as they
made their way along New Zealand streets and while doing their
shopping in a local supermarket. The hosts share the audience's
general astonishment at the wisdom of the things they are doing, and
it makes for a splendid listen. I'm still not sure about that
five-hour show, though.
Website:
http://www.worstideaofalltime.com
Let's Chat
Living up to its name, this is the
post-show chillout podcast to listen to, where host Chris Revill
invites comedians onto the show to discuss comedy in general, the
shows they're working on, the people they admire and so on. This is
not presented as an out-and-out comedy show – though there's plenty
of wit zinging about between the host and his guests – but more as
a very amiable chat. It's the kind of show to put on, put your feet
up, and pop a beer to listen to, and gives a nice glimpse behind the
scenes of the comedy circuit. I listened to the recent show featuring
New York stand-up comedian Jimmy Le Chase, which touched on The
Simpsons, comedians who manage to turn a negative audience around,
and how the loss of his dog became something that Le Chase used in
his comedy – a segment that proves surprisingly touching as you
listen. When you're in search of a mellow listen with plenty of
smiles, this is the one to turn to.
Got a podcast you think should feature in our review column? Leave a note in the comments or drop me a line on Twitter.
No comments:
Post a Comment