2020 - you're having a laugh

September 25, 2020 2:56 PM

2020 has not been the best year in which to see live comedy. The anarchic atmosphere, audience feedback and off the cuff retorts are difficult to reproduce in an online stream. Some comedians have realised this and decided not to attempt it, instead working out new ways to create interactive comedy online. Sean Morley currently runs a crowd sourced 'Meme Machine' on Wednesdays and a fully democratised attempt to make the pope a bear in Crusader Kings II on Saturdays. Foxdog Studios have tried live interactive bolt sorting, and now perform live coding in 'Make a website in an hour' on Thursdays and tidying up a room in 'Sorting out the Banished Realm'. Jain Edwards is doing computer puzzles while drinking tombola wine.

There is also a supergroup including all of the above and Jack Evans which came together to deliver a new interactive platform for comedy which puts three random audience members into a kind of choose your own adventure situation within a virtual comedy arena. It is hard to explain.

You can watch all of King Morl (make the pope a bear) on Youtube. Apparently some people have actually done that, currently over 30 hours. To be fair, I am one of them, but I watched it on Twitch.

This is all pretty mellow/slow comedy, a bit like having friends around for a chilled out chat and a board game, or something. It has certainly been a very welcome escape from the global pandemic for me.

If you have any positive new comedy that you can share, that would be lovely!

posted by asok (7 comments total)

Foil, Arms, and Hog are an Irish comedy trio who were in the habit of making YT videos as advertisments for their live shows . They have continued making them during gestures broadly at everything.
Stuff like:

- The Brexit Song (Hard To Break Free From a Union)
⁃ Team building in the age of COVID
⁃ Medicine throws a party
⁃ If not an Irish Bar... what kind?
⁃ Catholic confession on Zoom
⁃ The rooms of your house throw a party
⁃ The parts of your body have a meeting
⁃ Quarantine Maths Class Disaster
⁃ Party with the Months of the Year
⁃ WTF is Brexit?
⁃ When Irish people can’t speak Irish
DUUM- DAH!
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 4:06 PM on September 25, 2020 [4 favorites]

"2020 has not been the best year..."
posted by noinstruments at 4:24 PM on September 25, 2020

2020 definitely has been an anus horribilis.
posted by darkstar at 10:03 PM on September 25, 2020

Jain's Chillstream with puzzles is the most relaxing and lovely chat. So exciting to see it mentioned, it feels like a lovely secret that I kind of don't want people to find out about and ruin.
posted by tinwhiskers at 2:16 AM on September 26, 2020

Mike Birbiglia has a podcast where he invites a fellow comic to work out new material. It's a fascinating look at the way folks like John Mulaney, Tig Notaro, Ronny Chien and others approach their work.

I also like the Hey, Riddle, Riddle podcast which is 3 improv comics trying to solve riddles and puzzles with improv scenes thrown in.

The best part of the week is Wednesdays when Meddling Adults comes out. This is a podcast where the host presents mysteries from Scooby Doo, Cam Jansen, Encyclopedia Brown and other children's mysteries and the guests try to solve them. Very mellow humor.
posted by Biblio at 12:44 PM on September 26, 2020

In the past few months I have discovered Crackermilk and of course Nat's What I Reckon, both very ocker and fun.

Just Puddings is another favourite.
posted by turbid dahlia at 5:33 PM on September 27, 2020

Thanks, everyone!

Escape the North, the 'interactive platform for comedy which puts three random audience members into a kind of choose your own adventure situation within a virtual comedy arena' is on at 8pm tonight.
posted by asok at 6:11 AM on October 23, 2020