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T.G.I.F. - Ten Premium Podcasts

drbristol — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:00:20 +0000

iLaugh

Hard to believe that in my short lifetime I’ve experienced the glory of classic AM pop radio, the summit of FM rock radio, the death of terrestrial radio (thanks, right-wing nutjobs and lip-synching pop artists) and the launch of Satellite radio. Somehow, after all that, radio still sucks.

Thank goodness for podcasts.

Of course, the downside to radio at your own terms is that you are able to listen at your own terms. No longer are you tethered to a live broadcast or a physical medium, so you can stack these puppies up like 45s on a spindle and fire one off after another. Productivity? Kiss it goodbye. Family obligations? Whoops!

Hey, in modern society people don’t communicate directly, anyway. This is just another excuse to isolate your sorry ass. So as long as you are going to walk around like a zombie with earbuds, at least let me point you towards some great podcasts so you can laugh out loud while you do so and keep the curious people even further away from you so you can wallow in your self-centered haze…

Alone again, unnaturally

Bill Burr: Monday Morning Podcast. It’s one thing to think quick on your feet, but what do you call it when you’re sitting in a chair? Burr just gets better and better.

Will Durst: A Burst of Durst. Vastly underrated comedian with razor sharp political savvy, a less angry Lewis Black. Grab his CDs – they’re excellent.

Marc Maron: WTF. For my money, one of the three greatest standups working today, along with Doug Stanhope and Louis CK. Twice a week I get to eavesdrop on a conversation I’d kill to be part of.

Jimmy Pardo: Never Not Funny. Three way fun with co-host Matt Balknap and a comedian guest, seemingly plotless but that’s the fun.

Comedy Nerd: The Stand Up Chronicles. Comedians fascinate me, so if I like their routines, I like interviews and features about them as well. Adam has a great ecletic list of comics here.

Ricky Gervais: The Ricky Gervais Podcasts. Don’t let the bland name fool you – he’s never done anything unfunny in his life. Might be on hiatus for now but enough of a backlog to savor.

Doug Benson: I Love Movies. Filmed live in front of an audience at the UCB Theatre and featuring great guests, it’s movie chat and buzzed comedy.

Dylan Gadino: A Tight 5ive. Five minute conversations between the Editor of Punchline Magazine and comics playing at Comix in NYC.

Jon Fisch: In The Tank. A comic who should be better known and a host of visitors chew the fat. Informal and relaxed to the point that they might forget they’re taping.

John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman: The Bugle. I see your RomComs and raise you two BritTwits.

Not secret or hidden Bonus Track: Comedy Death Ray

theyPod

There are tons more, of course. Some of my favorite comedians do them very well. Some others who I think would absolutely kill at it (I’m talking to you, Norm MacDonald) just aren’t interested or don’t have the time (or they’re Luddites). Many routines and programs are available for audio and/or video download, of course, but that’s just a convenient way to access already established content. I’m more interested in ones like the above; original material created just for the podcast.

Not saying these are the best shows or even The Best Show; your mileage may vary. Hell, I hope it does! Enjoy…

Did somebody say Firesign Theatre?

Walter Koenig Birthday September 14

goremasterfx — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:47:06 +0000

Walter Koenig

Walter Marvin Koenig (IPA: [ˈkeɪnɪg]; born September 14, 1936) is an American actor, writer, teacher and director, known for his roles as Pavel Chekov in Star Trek and Alfred Bester in Babylon 5.

Mr. Chekov on Star Trek

Star Trek

Koenig played the navigator Pavel Chekov on the USS Enterprise in the original Star Trek (TOS) television series and in the several movies that featured the original cast. He was cast as Chekov because of his resemblance to British actor/musician Davy Jones of the Monkees, in a bid to attract a younger audience, especially girls. (The studio’s publicity department, however, ascribed the inclusion of Chekov to an article in Pravda complaining about the lack of Russians in Star Trek.) Koenig wore a hair piece while playing the character of Chekov in his first few episodes of the original Star Trek series until his own hair grew out to a suitable length. Gene Roddenberry asked him to “ham up” his Russian accent to add a note of comedy relief to the series. He is also credited for writing the Star Trek: The Animated Series installment “The Infinite Vulcan,” making him the first “original cast” member to write a Star Trek story for television. Interestingly, the character of Pavel Andreievich Chekov never appeared in the animated version of Star Trek, where Koenig never got to reprise his character on the animated series as the rest of his fellow Star Trek castmates did. Though Chekov’s accent has been criticized as inauthentic, in particular his substitution of the ‘v’ sound with a ‘w’ sound, Koenig has said the accent was inspired by his father who had the same difficulty with the ‘v’ sound.

He received Saturn Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor in a Film for both Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Walter reprised his role of Pavel Chekov for the fan webseries Star Trek: New Voyages, To Serve All My Days and the independent Sky Conway/Tim Russ film Star Trek: Of Gods and Men, both in 2006.

Walter Koenig ("Checkov" from Star Trek) Captures a Stormtrooper! at a recent Steele City Con in Pittsburgh, PA

Other work

After Chekov, Koenig had a starring role in a Sci-Fi thriller Moontrap opposite Bruce Campbell and Psi Cop Alfred Bester on the television series Babylon 5. Koenig was the “Special Guest Star” in twelve episodes and, at the end of the third season, the production company applied for an Emmy nomination on his behalf. He was slated to play Bester on the spin-off series Crusade, but the series was cancelled before his episode was filmed. He also played “Oro” in two episodes of the Canadian science fiction television series The Starlost, which aired in 1973 on Canada’s CTV television network.

Koenig’s film, stage and TV roles span fifty years. He has played everything from a teenage gang leader (Alfred Hitchcock Presents) to a middle-aged Tom Sawyer (The Boys In Autumn) to a Las Vegas entertainer (I Spy). He returned to space with a starring role in Moontrap and played a computer hard drive in Maximum Surge. In addition to acting, he has written several films (Actor, I Wish I May, You’re Never Alone When You’re a Schizophrenic), one-act plays, and a handful of episodes for TV shows: Star Trek: The Animated Series, Land of the Lost, Family and The Powers of Matthew Star. Walter has also written several books, including Warped Factors: A Neurotic’s Guide to the Universe (autobiography), Chekov’s Enterprise (a journal kept during the filming of Star Trek: The Motion Picture) and Buck Alice and the Actor-Robot (a science fiction novel), which was rereleased in 2006. He also created his own comic book series called Raver, which was published by Malibu Comics in the early 1990s.

Koenig has taught classes in acting and directing at UCLA, the Sherwood Oaks Experiment Film College, the Actor’s Alley Repertory Company in Los Angeles, and the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University. In 2002, Koenig directed stage versions of two of the original Twilight Zone episodes for Letter Entertainment.

In 2004, Koenig co-starred in Mad Cowgirl, an independent movie about a meat-packing health inspector dying from a brain disorder, Walter plays televangelist ‘Pastor Dylan’: a character described as “a sleazy, slimy, sex-addict.” The movie played the SF Indiefest and the Silverlake Film Festival, followed by a limited release in major cities such as New York and Seattle. Mad Cowgirl” was released on DVD on December 5, 2006.

Trivia:

Father of Andrew Koenig and Danielle Koenig.

Had bypass surgery in 1993.

Walter Koenig and his wife Judy Levitt appear together in the “Babylon 5″ (1994) episode “A Race Through Dark Places” which aired in 1995.

Has written episodes for “The Class of ‘65″, “Family” (1976), “Land of the Lost” (1974), “The Powers of Matthew Star” (1982), and “Star Trek” (1973) (Animated).

Walter Koenig is of Russian and Jewish descent, which made him a perfect candidate for Chekov on “Star Trek” (1966). His family had emigrated from Lithuania, USSR and changed their original surname (Koenigsberg).

Attended Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa, with a major in pre-med. Transferred to UCLA where he received a BA in psychology.

Last name is pronounced “Kaynig”

Only original generation “Star Trek” (1966) actor not to provide voices for the animated version of the series, although he did write an episode for it.

Was scheduled to reprise his role as the villainous Bester in an episode of the “Babylon 5″ (1994) spin-off series “Crusade” (1999) entitled “Value Judgements”. Unfortunately the series was canceled weeks before the episode was to be filmed. Walter Koenig was terribly disappointed by this, as he has stated publicly that he considers it his favorite “Bester” script.

Because his hair was too short, had to wear a wig in his first appearance on “Star Trek” (1966).

Was cast as Chekov on “Star Trek” (1966) due to his resemblance to Davy Jones. The producers were hoping to attract a younger audience, including girls.

As of 31 August 2006, he is the only original “Star Trek” (1966) cast member who has not received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Has appeared in episodes of three different series with George Takei: “Star Trek” (1966), “Diagnosis Murder” (1993) and “Futurama” (1999).

Often complained about the character, Pavel Andrievich Chekov, he portrayed over the years as having no levity on Star Trek. As well as getting hurt through the motion pictures and series.

Author of “Raver” comics in 1994.

Father-in-law of stand-up comedian Jimmy Pardo.

Is an avid collector: His collections include Star trek Memorabilia(with a shelf completely devoted to the character Chekov) Buttons, Comic Cards, Pins, and “Little Big Books”. He gives us a brief tour of his collections in the segment “Life Beyond Star Trek” in the Season Two release of “Star Trek: The Original Series”.

TIL: Never Not Funny

BlaXilver — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 21:58:28 +0000

Never Not Funny is a podcast. I hope you know what a podcast is. If not, it is like prerecorded radio that anyone can make and distribute. I will in fact do a TIL on just podcasting at some point. Anyway, this particular one is one of my favorites.

Now in it’s fifth season, Never Not Funny is recorded with comedian Jimmy Pardo and his Producer Matt Belknap, and is filmed by brother in law Andrew Koenig for the optional video podcast. The concept is that Jimmy has on guests that he knows from the world of entertainment. Of course these seem to be close friends, other comedians and so on. His most common guest being Pat Francis, as he is on every fourth episode. In the setup of the show Jimmy starts things off talking Matt and then brings in the guest to get it all off to a good start. It is not so much an interview of the guest as it is a rotating “third chair” on the show. The conversation can go anywhere and is not limited by much of anything. All that really matters is that it is funny, never not funny.

I have listened to this one from the start of their second season and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good comedy show to listen to. Now they do charge for it these days, and that is really the only flaw with this show. I don’t know that it is really a flaw. They wanted to make something off the show to continue doing it and decided that they would rather charge and keep doing it, or not do it at all. I rather like that choice, seeing that I get a high quality program with no advertisements. Although it does cost, they do have a free version. Well it is more of a preview. They put out the first twenty minutes of the sixty to ninety minute show out for free with some small ads. If you like it after that, they only charge $20 for each season, which runs roughly twenty-six episodes.

Well that is it for my first TIL.

Links:

Homepage

Wiki

I Wish I Were Matt Belknap

squareseed — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 01:40:26 +0000

President Obama, Brad Pitt, Tiger Woods, Bono, The Octo Mom, Jon and Kate, Susan Boyle. All world-famous people, no question about it. Each one has millions of admirers in every corner of the globe and many of those admirers would give anything to be that person, just for a day. Not me. I don’t envy these people. Sure, I respect all of them, but I really have no interest in being Bono for a day. I mean, who would want to be a bazillionaire singer in the world’s biggest band and have every whim and desire catered to. Or who would want to be Susan Boyle, also a world famous singer, yet really more famous for being a homely looking English woman doing godawful show tunes and someone no man who want to fuck, even with a stolen dick. Not me, I tell you. I set my sights a little more realistic and down-to-earth. I think the coolest gig around is the one Matt Belknap has. I’d be him for a day in a heartbeat.

Who is Matt Belknap, you ask? Matt Belknap is the founder of A Special Thing Records, which specializes in comedy albums. I think he also helps put on comedy shows in Los Angeles, reads scripts, and probably other stuff as well. I really don’t have much of a clue about him personally, but I’ll go out on a limb and say he’s generally a swell guy. Google him, if you want to know more. I’m sure I’m missing something. Most importantly for me, Matt produces my favorite podcast, Never Not Funny, starring comedian Jimmy Pardo.

I first downloaded NNF, as it’s affectionately called, in October 2006 right before a work-related trip to France. I listened to my first episode the day before I left, thought it sounded entertaining enough, and downloaded about 10 more episodes in anticipation of having a lot of time to kill, which I did. I don’t really remember the details of those first few episodes, but I remember having about 4 hours one afternoon with nothing to do before a flight to Paris. I sat in the courtyard of a hotel in Aix-en-Provence and listened to 4 straight episodes before leaving for the airport. And I laughed my fucking ass off the whole time. I must have looked like an absolute jerkoff to the other people there. Picture your typical American male, sitting in a beautiful French hotel courtyard, surrounded by beautiful architecture and bountiful gardens. Yet there I am, oblivious to all of this, sitting on a bench with my suitcase and backpack, listening to my iPod, and laughing so hard that snot is coming out of my nose. That was the beginning of my relationship with the show. It has continued to this day and I haven’t skipped one episode.

So then, what’s the deal with Matt Belknap, you ask again? Matt is not only the producer of NNF, but he’s also the co-host. He sits in with Jimmy every week as they bring in a comedian or an actor for a 90-minute bullshit session on virtually anything and everything. There is no set agenda, no editing. It’s as Matt says in the intro, “Live, on tape…” Yet, Matt is not a professional comedian, nor is he is a professional actor. He’s not a performer, period. And, because of this, Matt’s contribution to the show every week lends a certain balance that would be missing if he weren’t there. Yes, sometimes his comments and attempts at humor are uncomfortable and can bring the show to a screeching halt. This, of course, is then fodder for Jimmy to point out as only he can.

Over the course of the past couple years, Matt has embarrassingly admitted to his grave fear of coyotes, his inexplicable love for Paula Abdul, and that crazy cave in his parent’s property. Sometimes I listen to the stuff he says and cringe. Sometimes when Matt attempts to contribute something witty, it’s almost as though Jimmy, the guest, Andrew Koenig (who works the video for the podcast, is Jimmy’s brother-in-law, and was “Boner” on Growing Pains), and the listener all know it’s gonna be a complete dud before it even happens. You know he’s trying hard and you feel for him a bit, but it does make for great entertainment. Yet, what Matt is doing each and every week by putting himself on mic with Jimmy and his guests, is the equivalent of a 6th man on an average high school basketball team playing with NBA All-Stars in a summer pickup league. These guys are way out of his league, comedically, and yet, from time to time, he’s able to run with the big boys. When he does nail a good joke or comeback, it’s almost funnier because it came from him. Without Matt, the show would still be good, but it’d be a bunch of comedians just trying to outfunny one another. Even that would get old after awhile.

So why would I be Matt Belknap for a day? He gets to hang out and shoot the shit with some of smartest, funniest people in show business every week. And he makes a living doing it, the lucky bastard. I get geeked for each week’s episode, I really do. Of course, I look forward to Jimmy’s world-class comedic skills. He is a fucking hysterical host. And I look forward to the show’s guest. But I also look forward to Matt’s contribution each week. He is the unsung hero. He and the rest of the NNF crew help me maintain my sanity for an hour and a half every week. Admittedly, I’m a bit jealous of Matt. I have a bit of radio experience behind a microphone, but, like Matt, I’m not a professional comedian or actor. Yet, it must be a fucking thrill to sit and joke with the funniest people on earth each and every week. Lucky bastard, indeed, but it’s cool that he gets to do something a lot of us would love to do.

Podcast Zeitgeist, Nov. 20

Patrick LaForge — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:45:46 +0000

In a continuation of my peculiar hobby, here they are, in the order I listened this week, reports on a few of the podcasts of the geeks, nerds, freaks and boy-men of the Interweb:

Never Not Funny: The Jimmy Pardo Podcast, Episode 407 The name is a misnomer. This podcast is often not funny. The comedian Jimmy Pardo (who?) and a group of friends manage to make the lives of Los Angeles comedians sound boring. Jokes about Woodstock and the Who (“You saw who?” Nyuk nyuk). Airport humor. Industry chatter. L.A. freeway jokes. They’re having fun, though, and obviously enjoy each others’ company. The free 30-minute show is available on iTunes; maybe the other 30 minutes in the $ premium podcast are the funny bits. I listened to a couple of episodes, and this was the funniest of the three. By which I mean, not very. Update: I may give it another chance; Episode 409 features the actually funny comic Jen Kirkman. Length: 30 minutes. Release date: Nov. 12.

Vomitus Prime 82: Vombodies This effort at first reminded me of Five Tacos and a Taco, the podcast I had to obliterate from all devices last week. The first five minutes include explicit discussions of stomach flu symptoms. Not to everyone’s taste. I would say not to anyone’s taste, but they seem to have a following for their shockpod routine, a more explicit and meanspirited version of “Uhh, Yeah Dude” (below), only from the Midwest. The high point are the calls from apparently drunk listeners for what seem to be regular segments. There’s a good riff on The Yellow Pages — a humongous waste of paper that no one uses. This riffing is, unfortunately, marred by misogyny and explicit profanity deployed for the shock value. It’s not just edgy; it falls off the edge. Just because you’re not on terrestrial radio and can say whatever you want, doesn’t mean you should. Length: 1 hour, 22 minutes. Released: Nov. 16.
“Uhh, Yeah Dude, Episode 141.” One thing I like about this podcast, which is still my reigning favorite, is that each episode features a fresh song at the start and the end, often a cut I would like to own. And while they do get scatological, famous son Jonathan Laroquette and bit-actor Seth Romatelli are not misognyist or angry. They seem like Oxford scholars compared to some of the other nitwits recording podcasts these days. This week, they are back on their game. They mock “Brocabulary: The Man-ifesto book on Dude-talk.” Examples: Wintercourse, Testoster-zones, fellobrating, brocrastination, prebauchery, guybernate, broverdose etc. Ugh. Then they move on to the 10 most irritating expressions in the English language. At this moment in time. Another traffic altercation from Jonathan. Hating on racists. Secret Service code names for the Obama family. The “Quantam of Solace” catch-phrase: Fuggehdaboudit. Nebraska feral child total reaches 30. Police traffic stop of 55-year-old man in a 1994 Thunderbird yields 250,000 hits of Ecstasy. Same-sex Koala bear orgies in captivity upset Australia. Man sues classmates.com for false claim old friends were looking for him. Jonathan’s crazy gun dude story: Live round in the chamber. Released: Nov. 14. Length: 1 hour, 4 minutes, with 10-minute supplement..
“TWIT 169: The Donkey of the Week” After those three, it was refreshing to listen to some clean and useful from Leo Laporte’s crew. This podcast is back on track after some meandering. After a two-year wait, Jason Calacanis finally gets his Tesla electric car and justifies its exorbitant cost because its a good example of green consumption. He also hints that he’s working on a “big deal.” Disclosure form will discourage tech-savvy applicants to Obama’s White House. The president-elect’s blackberry and email problems. What about Twitter? “Going into a meeting with Putin.” Patrick Norton is back doesn’t think Twitter is presidential. Calacanis says Obama should have a Facebook presence but not use the zombie app. He needs a social media secretary. The fellow endorse the idea of a massive Depression-style government project, a la rural electrification, to wire the country for broadband Internet with data speeds comparable to the rest of the world. A six-minute Audible ad; Calacanis picks a “Star Wars” novelization. Some extended chatter about weird stuff in Japan. An Argentine soccer star (Diego Maradona) sues to block Google searches on his name. The Classmates.com lawsuit again, more favorably received: They think the guy has a point about false advertising. Your old classmates are not looking for you. Layoff news from tech companies; an office killing spree. Will tech industry be spared? Consensus: No. Patrick Norton bails out without discussing his take on “Anathem,” as promised (I’m in the 200s, and it’s getting better). More from Calacanis about how the Tesla works. Lengthy economic discussion. No pity for bankers. An obsession with growth. Innovation is the cure. Productivity lost to video games. “Ender’s Game” spoiler at the end; turn off the podcast if you haven’t read the book. Length: 1 hour, 46 minutes. Released: Nov. 16.
“MacBreak Weekly 115: MacBroke Apparently, not much Mac news this week. “This is our license to do a shorter show.” “No, we’ll just talk longer about less.” Playing around with the voice function on Google Mobile App for iPhone. Force an update through iTunes if you already have the app. Jerry Yang steps down @Yahoo. “This is not really a Mac story, but we use Yahoo.” “Do you?” “No.” MacBook Air updated. Rare negative notes: Why doesn’t Mac ship all the cables you need? Why are their products so expensive? A lost Beatles track. Whatever happened to getting the Beatles on iTunes? Personally, I no longer care. Various software updates discussed. Audible ad, just over 4 minutes: “Team of Rivals” is book pick. MacBook Pro battery bloat. “Copy protection’s a bag of hurt.” The picks: new iPhone games (Touch Physics, JellyCar), Adobe Photoshop CS4. Scott Bourne’s new blog: consumervideotips.com. Length: A delightfully short 57:06 minutes. Released: Nov. 18.

The Gong Show Is Coming To Comedy Central

dieactordie — Fri, 09 May 2008 15:19:17 +0000

And Dave Attell is the host. Aw man, this is a great time to bring this show back. The internet has

Who wants to be a hundredaire?

jdm — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 23:00:58 +0000

- – - - Los Angeles’ UCB Theatre will be hosting its monthly go-round of Match Game, an

This Week in Jimmy Pardo: Jimmycast!

unfunproductions — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 06:46:00 +0000

Now that Jimmy Pardo has taken over the audio podcast world, he’s on to the next battle: video. As alluded to in a recent episode of Never Not Funny with “friend of the show” Pat Francis, Jimmy was filmed as they did the audio podcast.

There’s something about watching someone talk on the radio that I love. You are the audience and they are talkin to you, but they aren’t acknowledging that you exist. Radio on TV is great for the most part; I love Mike & Mike in the Morning on ESPN Radio and even local public station WHYY has Radio Times with Mary Moss-Coane on TV.

Hopefully there will more of this in the future for the Pardcast. During the Chris Hardwick episode a few weeks ago, the guys talked about how there were three cameras in the studio filming.

This Week in Jimmy Pardo: John Heffron and Last Comic Standing

unfunproductions — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 06:46:00 +0000

This week’s guest on Never Not Funny was the comedian John Heffron, winner of “Last Comic Standing 2″. While we don’t watch the show- there’s just so much time in the day we can devote to all of this – we acknowledge that there are some real comedians on there. And we can’t knock anyone for trying it, exposure is exposure (and look at me, I’m just a blogger). But from what John says, it seems pretty brutal:

John Heffron: We had to perform every show that somebody got kicked off of so you’d have to perform twice. You’d perform once to see if people voted for you and then you’d perform another time that didn’t count for anything. So by the end of the show, I’d performed fifteen times. I did 15 television sets, all around four to five minutes.

Pat Francis: So let’s do the math here. Five times fifteen: 75 minutes.

JH: I got hosed because they started Season 3 two weeks after Season 2 was over, so I did a total of 22 sets and never repeated a joke.

Jimmy Pardo: Ok, again we’ll give you a patch…

JH: The bad thing about it was so now the show kind of got you that everyone kind of knew who you were and the second you went to tour you were screwed because they didn’t want to see anything you did prior to the show so when you did it you’d hear people go “he did the same material that he did…” So people think as comics you do a joke once and it goes off into the air and then aliens hear it.

JP: I’m doing a Clarence Thomas piece that proves that’s not the case. Although he’s back in the news, he’s back in the fucking news, Clarence Thomas! I’m bringing my piece back.

Matt Belknap: You want to dust it off right now?

JP: I might start wearing a piece.

It all seems futile sometimes, doesn’t it? Finally, FINALLY, you think you’ve made it and people are coming to your shows. The money is good and all of the shit gigs and long car rides seem to be paying off. And still it just doesn’t get easier like it would for a band that can ride their singles for years and years, then break up and come back 20 years later and make even more money.

After this, they talk about where they all met years ago on a traveling college comedy tour called Crack Me Up. It was similar to the TV show Make Me Laugh in format as the comedians would bring members of the audience on stage and try to make them laugh. But, since most of the shows were during the day when students were studying, they didn’t always go quite that well. It’s an interesting story about young comedians cutting their teeth on the road.

This Week In Jimmy Pardo: Running Your Trap

unfunproductions — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 23:37:00 +0000

This week’s edition of the Never Not Funny podcast (Two Two Oh) wasn’t like most shows where Jimmy Pardo and guests talked for about an hour. No, it was a live recording of a recent performance of Pardo’s show Running Your Trap at the UCB Theatre in L.A. where Pardo and guests talked for about an hour!

For folks like me that don’t live and haven’t made it out to L.A. yet, this was a special treat. The format was similar to the podcast as it was improvised for the most part and made up of on-the-fly conversation. After banter with friend Pat Francis, Jimmy introduced the guests Andy Kindler (hilarious), Jimmy Dore and Andrew Koenig (sorta, not really). Pardo’s sensibility may not be perfectly suited for a TV show or film where you deliver a written line, but he would be perfect as a talk show host. Which makes me think, why doesn’t he have a talk show by now? Perfect guy to replace Conan in 2009, but it’s TV so they’ll screw it up and give it to someone like Jimmy Fallon.

BONUS: This video will help you make sense of the running gag of introducing Andrew Koenig in the show and read here about the no-pants addition of RYT from July.

This week: Jimmy Pardo live

unfunproductions — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 08:59:00 +0000

If you’re sick of comedians talking about relationships and porn, you really should check out Jimmy Pardo. Well, maybe he talks about that stuff, but chances are he’ll also spend time making fun of you too. His CD, Pompous Clown, released earlier this year on A Special Thing Records, consists almost entirely of him talking to the audience. Somewhere in between asking everyone’s name and hoping it’s Jerry, he said something about pot pies and…that’s all I can really remember of actual “material”. I know it doesn’t sound funny to have your act start with asking people how old they are, but trust me, it works.

The man is still something of a mystery to me, no matter how much I read about him on this here internet superhighway. Does he have actual material? How could he ever become a successful comedian if he didn’t? This performance on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson leads me to believe he does, as well as his half-hour special he had on Comedy Central. So why just the improv? How does he do it?

When he’s not on stage, he’s got a great podcast by the name of Never Not Funny, which is just that. Pardo seems like a guy that is just naturally hilarious, no matter what the situation. Sometimes those guys turn out to be comedians and sometimes they just make their friends crack up at the bar.

Anyhow, Jimmy is performing at the Helium Comedy Club through Saturday and you should go check him out. He’s definitely an unique talent and who knows when he’ll be around again. Hopefully he won’t come with a lot of written material.

[You can watch more Jimmy Pardo videos here]

an event uniquely Los Angeles...and maybe New York...

popculturebeast — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 18:49:00 +0000

Once a month at the UCB Theatre in Los Angeles is a modern day tribute to the television game show classic “Match Game”. you’d be hard pressed to find a better way to kill a couple hours.

Expertly and charmingly hosted by comedy icon Jimmy Pardo, the UCB Match Game successfully revives that old 70’s magic made famous by Gene Reyburn and the likes of Charles Nelson Riley (RIP). The heart is there but nowadays there’s a bit more bite to the comedy and its perfect. I have to ask why this isn’t on TV yet (again?).

It is a show featuring some of the greatest names in local (and national for that matter) comedy that is consistently beginning to end funny. Recently, they’ve even managed to get some original cast members to appear on the panel.

Some examples of panelists include, Paul F. Thompkins, Scott Thompson (Kids in the Hall), Danielle Koenig, Doug Benson, Scott Aukerman, Paul Gilmartin, and original cast members Edie Mclurg and this week Marcia Wallace.

The best part? The audience has a chance to win $100 by playing the game. One guy and one gal are chosen at random and play for a chance at the grand prize.

But don’t try to be funny. That’s the comedians job.

It’s 8 bucks cash entry and well worth it.

Get reservations at www.ucbtheatre.com and check out the other great shows they offer as well! Cheapest, funnest shows in LA.