In which the host cannot pronounce his own name or the name of the show
October 16, 2014 1:52 PM   Subscribe

It’s been a while, but tomorrow night, Scott Aukerman and Reggie Watts (previously) return to finish the third season of the Comedy Bang Bang TV show (previously). You could watch a new episode streaming right now or check out CBB podcast classics (previously) after the jump (most links NSFW, some in poor taste).

The Comedy Bang Bang podcast has a little something for everyone: wacky characters, games, music, poetry, improvisational acting, celebrity interviews and, of course, jokes. Why not check out some highlights from the last five and a half years?

Wacky Characters

-The little orphan Fourvel (plus a b-b-b-bonus TV appearance).

-Elderly theatrical director Don Dimelo. His credits include The Radio City Christmas Spectacular and Disney's Beauty and the Beast, an unauthorized after hours production with a little "something for daddy."

-Buddy Valastro, a.k.a. TLC’s The Cake Boss. (previously)

-Misogynist "shock jock" (i.e. a shocking disk jockey) Tom Leykis.

Games

-The most popular game, Would You Rather, features an arbitrary and draconian system of rules and points: Would you rather be addicted to heroin and love country music or always say racist things on accident and own no shoes? Would you rather go to a movie or just hang out and maybe order a pizza? Would you rather have an uncircumcised penis for a tongue or have your head fall off every time you try to put clothes on?

-Who Said It?, in which guests guess the source of famous quotations.

-Closing Sentiment-Off, featuring vigilante fan-boat captain J.W. Stillwater and teenager Traci Rearden.

Music

-G.O.A.T. Neil Campbell’s vacuum cleaner freestyle rap.

-Scott’s impromptu, a capella renditions of “Wipeout” and “Oh Na Na.”

-A Freestyle Rap Battle between Rappin' Scott, Alan Thicke, Amy Poeler and Neil Campbell.

-Bjork debuts a song she claims was plagiarized by Adele's "Rolling in the Deep."

Literature and Poetry

-Brett Gelman reads his speculative fiction/clown fetish erotica: “iBrain.”

-Irish storyteller Patrick McMahon is press-ganged into writing a limerick about Obamacare.

-Cowboy poet and self proclaimed Poet Laureate of the West Dalton Wilcox reads his poems “The Lonesome Cowboy,” “A Dangerous Life” and “Also Mummies.”

-Bill Cosby-Bukowski reads some of his “Jell-o-ems.”

Improvisational Acting

-Scott Aukerman and Ellie Kemper improvise a scene from Ellie’s upcoming futuristic prison-break film.

-Harris Wittels and Adam Scott tread the boards, as it were, as Jack S’junior and Brian Pieces, brothers-in-law and coworkers at a lumber yard. Parts 1, 2, and 3.

-Matt Walsh workshops some characters for two upcoming projects. Parts 1 and 2.

1. A courtroom drama featuring:
Matt Walsh as Greg Lincaster, a hard of hearing defense attorney
Nick Swardson as Borat, a rapist and alleged murderer
James Adomian as Judge Greg Lincaster
Scott Aukerman as Greg Lincaster, another attorney

2. "Dudio City," a movie about how Hollywood is run by men, featuring:
Matt Walsh as Greg Linstrom, Hollywood bigshot
Scott Aukerman as Borat, another Hollywood bigshot
Nick Swardson as Brandon Tartikoff, Hollywood bigshot and rapist
James Adomian as Les Moonves/Phillip Seymour Hoffman

Celebrity Interviews

-Ben Schwartz tries to plug his new HBO show “House of Pies.”

-Michael Jackson, temporarily let out of hell for good behavior, takes over the body of a pasty, white, overweight man and makes an appearance on CBB.

-Bob Odenkirk spoils the ending of Breaking Bad.

Jokes

-Harris’s Phone Corner/ Harris’s Foam Corner/Harris’s Twitter Drafts, featuring content that may or may not rise to the level of actual jokes:

“I wanna open a Jamaican/Irish/Spanish small plate breakfast restaurant…and call it Tapas the Mornin’ to Ja.” “I don’t trust the whole crepe craze...First of all, there's a crepe craze. Second of all, I don't trust it...I don’t trust anything you can put ham or chocolate on…[silence]…that was a joke about dangling prepositions.” “Did you know I graduated college early? It was like 7 AM.”

-Paul Rust’s New No-Nos (not to be confused with Bill Maher’s New Rules):

“New No-No! Have you ever seen a movie and you go ‘Yeah, I think I’ve seen this one before’? … I liked “The Lincoln Lawyer” the first time I saw it when it was called “The Lincoln Lawyer.” New No No: I saw “The Lincoln Lawyer” twice and thought they were separate viewing experiences.”
posted by Hume (35 comments total) 34 users marked this as a favorite
 
Amy Poehler's guest appearances on the show are some of the best showcases of her abilities I've experienced, the rap that's linked above is really good, I'm also a big fan of the episode with her and Tom Leykis.

Also, any episode with Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, particularly the first one (Episode 150: Time Bobby) His narration of the plot of Jesus Christ Superstar is a treat.
posted by JauntyFedora at 2:00 PM on October 16, 2014 [1 favorite]


What's Up, Hotdog?
posted by robocop is bleeding at 2:08 PM on October 16, 2014 [2 favorites]


Who's up for a rendition of the Hollywood Facts theme?
posted by Think_Long at 2:23 PM on October 16, 2014 [8 favorites]


I don't remember what his name is, but the guy who does the Huell Howser impersonation (not a clip from CBB, but the same guy) is spot-fucking-on. I don't think I've seen my SoCal-native partner laugh that hard at anything before.
posted by hwyengr at 2:25 PM on October 16, 2014 [1 favorite]


Huell's played by James Adomian. And, yeah, the whole developing narrative of Huell Howser and Jesse the Mind, Body, and Soul Ventura teaming up as Enigma Force Five to fight the power, the system, the grid, etc. was one of my favorite wandering recurring bits on the show.
posted by cortex at 2:30 PM on October 16, 2014 [1 favorite]


No spotlight on the Marissa Wompler arc, for shame!
posted by anazgnos at 2:30 PM on October 16, 2014 [3 favorites]


I was recently searching for 'iBrain' and the comments that mention iBrain make for a sort of funny list.

And these...

-----
I've posted this in Apple threads before, but this is a ten-minute satiric story called iBrain. It is one of the single best stories I have ever heard in my life. Heads up: It has a couple of mildly NSFW parts.
posted by Greg Nog at 12:26 PM on May 30, 2012 [14 favorites −] [!]

Greg Nog, that actually is a really important story about what's going on in our world right now.
posted by sleevener at 12:29 PM on May 30, 2012 [6 favorites +] [!]

Greg Nog's account has been banned. He won't be allowed back into this thread, ever.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 12:30 PM on May 30, 2012 [7 favorites +] [!]
------

...are probably the funniest consecutive three comments in metafilter history.
posted by Kwine at 2:51 PM on October 16, 2014 [5 favorites]


Oh no, I mentioned the word that should not be mentioned and made the list worse!
posted by Kwine at 2:52 PM on October 16, 2014 [1 favorite]


This is a fantastic post! Scott Aukerman amazes me. He is so utterly fearless about following a path (often one that doesn't seem promising at all) and then assisting his brilliant guests in mining the humor out of it. I've never heard anything like it and it often leaves me in tears.
posted by glhaynes at 3:17 PM on October 16, 2014 [1 favorite]


What? No Victor and Tiny?
"this is a good post!"
posted by DoctorFedora at 3:18 PM on October 16, 2014


In case anyone missed it, Bob Ducca is back.

Oh my God I love Amy Poehler's non-wig and Jon Hamm (Juan Jamon) with El Chupacabra. Thanks for this post/excuse to go down the CBB rabbit hole.

-Misogynist "shock jock" (i.e. a shocking disk jockey) Tom Leykis .

Lest anyone think this is just a character Adomian thought up, Tom Leykis is an actual radio talk show host in L.A. and his impression is spot on.
posted by Room 641-A at 4:05 PM on October 16, 2014 [3 favorites]


Bob Ducca is a hilarious character. I have to be careful listening to CBB while on the train or the bus; I'll break out laughing and get looks like I'm a crazy person.
posted by zardoz at 4:11 PM on October 16, 2014 [1 favorite]


I feel so uncool for not finding funny or interesting 90% of the content comedians produce when they're only trying to amuse themselves.
posted by bleep at 4:21 PM on October 16, 2014 [2 favorites]


Every Amy Poehler episode of CBB is a must-listen. I'm a fan of her part of the "Back to School" freestyle rap battle from 2011.
posted by Strange Interlude at 5:05 PM on October 16, 2014


Amy Poehler excluded, everything she does is a joy.
posted by bleep at 5:09 PM on October 16, 2014


iBrain just blew my mind. So prescient. So perceptive. So detailed.
posted by flippant at 6:39 PM on October 16, 2014


Everyone is banned.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:15 PM on October 16, 2014


I told you there would be no warning.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:16 PM on October 16, 2014 [1 favorite]


I can't get into the Auckerman thing on the TV show. It's too … arch? wry? Reserved or removed. What am I missing?
posted by wemayfreeze at 7:53 PM on October 16, 2014 [2 favorites]


It's been a while.













My wife.
posted by Midnight Rambler at 8:07 PM on October 16, 2014 [1 favorite]


I can't get into the Auckerman thing on the TV show. It's too … arch? wry? Reserved or removed. What am I missing?

CBB the TV show is a different, but related beast to the podcast. The TV show is more in the Tim and Eric vein, and has mixed results in my opinion. The podcast is much more freeform and a lot of fun to get into, but this post may be a bit offputting because it makes it seem like there's a lot more backstory to get into the world than you actually need because none of the overarching character arcs matter in the slightest.

To get a handle on Aukerman's sense of humor and the direction he likes to take things, I recommend checking out U talking U2 to Me, which is just a hangout podcast between him and Adam Scott, two friends with similar senses of digressive humor. If you like the non-direction of those podcasts, then maybe some of the character-based stuff on the CBB podcast may appeal.

I think some of the Adam Pally and Andy Samberg podcasts from a few years ago are pretty good intro CBBs - they don't have the legendary status of the more famous ones, pretty light on the character stuff, but still a ton of fun.
posted by Think_Long at 8:16 PM on October 16, 2014


I was just listening to CBB's b-b-b-bonus podcast when I saw this, and it (an interview with Dane Cook, followed by an interruption by troubled teen Rick Faber) was pretty solid, if not amazing, but it reminded me of how much Auckerman has grown.

When I started listening, he would frequently interrupt guests, play games that didn't work, and was often derailing the flow of the comedy. In the most recent episode, he not only conducted an insightful (!) interview with Dane Cook(!!) but also guided the improvisation expertly. Also, interestingly enough, the improvisational bits of the show are, for all their wackiness, surprisingly conventional comedy - there is relatively little meta-commentary or breaking character, and there are often pretty funny story arcs.

Also, I cannot recommend strongly enough the 8 episodes of the CBB-spin off the Andy Daly Podcast Project, which takes one CBBs best character actors (incidentally, a good list of best characters), and gives him his own show along with many CBB regulars.

The Travel Bug with Augustus Lindt is the funniest thing I have heard in years of comedy podcasts. Seriously.
posted by blahblahblah at 8:17 PM on October 16, 2014 [6 favorites]


I can't get into the Auckerman thing on the TV show. It's too … arch? wry? Reserved or removed. What am I missing?

It's just, as Think_long says, a different thing. I really like the TV show but had to sort of adjust over the first few episodes to really lock into the different approach because I had listened to so much Comedy Bang! Bang! nee Death Ray in the last couple years that I was expecting that same sort of feel.

So the show: it's Scott Aukerman going back to writing Mr. Show, sort of. It's constructed sketch; it's a scripted-down-to-the-minute set piece every episode, and at its best he really makes that work. Give up on waiting for the improvisational bullshitting of the podcast (which is why I love the podcast) and invest in the idea of this as less spontaneous, more meticulous long-form comedy writing and it gels much better.

Really, I think the weakest bits on the show are when he brings on some of the characters established on the podcast, because (a) it emphasizes the connection to the podcast instead of letting the show be its own separate thing, and (b) a lot of the great podcast characters work best when they can really stretch out and mess with a bit.

Like, Bob Ducca, mentioned above? I love Bob Ducca. I lose my shit at Bob Ducca on the podcast. But that bit on the show, it's funny but it doesn't work the same for me. For one thing, it's rushed: Bob Ducca on the podcast is all about inappropriately stretching his absurd lists out, about overstaying his welcome, about being a sad-sack imposition on Scott; so having that character operate under the much tighter time constraints of the show reduces some of the essential impact. For another (and this is really only an issue for regular CBB listeners, I suppose), it's mostly a re-run, a little greatest-hits medley. I love Bob's bullshit illnesses, "puffknuckle" deadpanned always makes me giggle, but it's not really the same seeing it rehashed in a different format.

Which is complaining a lot about a show I quite like, because I think it can be really, really strong when it's more about new things to try out. But it's also not surprising that Scott would want to have folks who've been fan favorites and big contributors to the podcast involved in the show, so I can understand it.

Basically I think it's a show that does best taken as far out of context from the actual podcast as possible. Some episodes are better at that than others. I liked season one a lot but I feel like in this respect they got their legs under them more in season two as the show itself gelled and some of the little format consistency decisions gave way to a somewhat more free-form approach to the show. Which nicely parallels blahblahblah's observation about Scott's growth as a host/director over the years on CDR/CBB.
posted by cortex at 9:15 PM on October 16, 2014 [4 favorites]


Like, Bob Ducca, mentioned above? I love Bob Ducca. I lose my shit at Bob Ducca on the podcast. But that bit on the show, it's funny but it doesn't work the same for me.

It's a little like the way "off the cuff" stories are set up on late-night talk shows: no matter how funny the story is it still feels forced and even though intellectually I know it's scripted I lump Bob Ducca in that group. As a scripted character I think it works much better on Kroll show.
posted by Room 641-A at 11:08 PM on October 16, 2014


AILMENTS
tarnished yam simplex
hypertolerance to lactose
dusty sperm
internal sneezing
scabies
rabies
Mickey Rooney's sugar babies
selective albinism
chronic shame disorder
parallel Parkinson's disease
valet Parkinson's disease
Parker Posey Pox
bone worm
dropsy
posted by forgetful snow at 3:04 AM on October 17, 2014 [3 favorites]


The TV show version sort of disappears up its own butt too often. Hot Saucerman really needs someone to play off, an equal party in creation who can redirect things when they go off the rails. As the Dude In Charge, he doesn't really get that on the show (the Birthday Boys are writers on CBB - I can't see them saying No to their gravy train) as much as he does when he's improving on the podcast. Many times, I get what he's doing and think it's funny on paper, but in execution it's waiting for Itchy and Scratchy to make it to the Fireworks Factory only to be waylaid by Poochy. ANDY DALY is RIGHT THERE stop the meta bit and BRING ON THE GOILS.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 4:55 AM on October 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


That's the problem! There's like, nothing for daddy on the tv show. Every show needs a little something for daddy, you know?
posted by Think_Long at 5:56 AM on October 17, 2014


When I started listening, he would frequently interrupt guests, play games that didn't work, and was often derailing the flow of the comedy. In the most recent episode, he not only conducted an insightful (!) interview with Dane Cook(!!) but also guided the improvisation expertly.

I agree with this, but I also miss Aukerman asking some rando comedian how much money he made last year, or leading him slowly but surely down the path to where said rando suddenly is unsure whether he's actually expected to reveal his home address on the program. And I miss the Entourage recaps that are almost totally theme song, and I miss proper respect to the would you rather theme every time. The parts of the podcast that barely worked could be the best.
posted by Kwine at 9:02 AM on October 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


The only thing that really really failed badly about the earlier shows was Scott yelling at Engineers for failing to catch his sudden sound cue demands.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:16 AM on October 17, 2014


By the way, please. PLEASE everyone check out Hollywood Handbook asap. Its the funniest show on Podcasting right now.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:16 AM on October 17, 2014


Hollywood Handbook is perplexing to me. I don't quite get the conceit yet, and the fans in the forum all seem to be playing off the same conceit? Any particular starting point?
posted by Think_Long at 9:44 AM on October 17, 2014


James Adomian's Sheriff of Nottingham may have eclipsed Paul F Tompkins' Garry Marshall as my favorite recurring guest.

The game "what are you thinking" was so frustrating for the guests and only "worked" on a weird level but it was my favorite thing, I wish it still happened on the show.
posted by elr at 10:27 AM on October 17, 2014


I miss proper respect to the would you rather theme

Amen.
posted by Room 641-A at 12:26 PM on October 17, 2014


There has been a TON of terrific improv and world-building on CBB this year (Andy Daly, jeez!). But hands-down my favorite moment was when Scott made a rare foray into character work as Dabney, the 97-year-old caricature artist at Marissa Wompler's birthday party, and Jason Mantzoukas kept subtly breaking character to make fun of him.

Come to think of it, Jason Mantzoukas was also a part of my second-favorite moment of the year, when he paused the giant metaphysical Battle Between Good and Evil right at its most climactic moment to let Don DiMello plug his sexy production of Disney's Frozen.
posted by brookedel at 5:22 PM on October 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


By the way, please. PLEASE everyone check out Hollywood Handbook asap. Its the funniest show on Podcasting right now.

I have to say that I started listening to Hollywood Handbook because of this comment and I have now listened to most of them and I would like to second the comment emphatically.
posted by Kwine at 11:30 PM on November 6, 2014


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