::A Geek in Korea::

I’ve got to give props to the Jordan Jesse Go! crew for recommending a series of podcasts. They had dropped a bunch of recommendations for shows that followed a similar format to their “talk about humorous stuff of no important consequence” style. This show is the first of this particular format I listened to, and it and The Bugle are two of my favorites.

The first thing Jordan Jesse Go! recommended was You Look Nice Today, which I like, but is a little too silly, and occasionally too racist for me to really enjoy. They have skits, they sort of stick to a topic and try to out-silly each other, but usually go off on tangents and sidetrack the conversations. Depending on the topic, this can be hysterical, or run even the best joke into the ground (usually, the later).

I think a lot of this podcast is trying to make declarative statements about things they do and don’t like, but I’m so foreign to their world that it’s different for me to even understand the distinctions they are trying to make. “Someone you consider a douchebag is different than a hipster in WHAT subtle way?” That’s either funny, or completely obtuse to someone that doesn’t know them. Even with their editing of things to make the show more coherent and focused, this still seems like they run out of something funny to say far before they actually stop talking. The show is usually 30 minutes long, and it comes out sporadically.

The thing I’ve just started listening to based on another JJGo! recommendation, and can’t stop listening to, is Stop Podcasting Yourself. This is a Vancouver based comedy podcast hosted by two comedians. They have set topics like, “Get to Know Us”, where they catch you up on their week, “Pop Rocks Minute” where they try to podcast with a mouth full of painful cracking candy, or funny competition sorts of skits like “Pullman or Paxton”, where you try to decide if something is relating to Bill Pullman, or Bill Paxton. (This is nearly impossible for me.) This is 45 minutes to an hour of comedy that has me laughing out loud on the street. They have other comedians on as guests too, and people use it as a way to plug local shows.

Stop Podcasting Yourself is silly. It’s funny. It’s more structured around skits than Jordan Jesse Go!, but it’s better edited, and thus more amusing than You Look Nice Today. The only problem with Stop Podcasting Yourself is that they namedrop people that might make Canadian comedy fans say, “Oh, I’ve heard of that guy,” but everyone else is left scratching their heads. Still, the heavy Canadian inside joke sort of references aren’t really that distracting, and they usually occur in places that have humorous city names.

I’ve listened to five Stop Podcasting Yourself episodes so far, and they have a steady quality. I’m probably going to catch up with the show by listening to all 25 of the back episodes, which will keep me busy for the next week or more. They tend to release stuff consistently, so it’ll be another one of my regular podcasts. Now that my intensive schedule is ending, and it’s not raining every day, I’ll be able to go out and walk the dog more frequently to eat through all my other feeds.