Blog entries tagged with "comedy"

Yesterday was the final day of the 2025 Melbourne International Comedy Festival and it is also ten years since I jumped in to going to live comedy.

In early 2015 I was six months in to working in the city and having to commute on the train. I was looking for things to listen to and I was put onto two Melbourne based comedy podcasts. Things escalated quickly as the host of one of those podcasts ran a Saturday afternoon comedy room, and then both of them had live podcast recordings on the Saturday and Sunday afternoon during the comedy festival. As I was now working in the city, it became easy to stay in and go to comedy shows.

Looking back at my calendar for 2015 I see that I went to 10 podcast recordings, 15 solo shows and 3 showcase shows.

Those weekend afternoon podcasts (more than the original two) became the foundation of my festival, also becoming a place to catch up with friends I had made because they also listened to the podcasts and you need something to do while waiting in line…

I won’t go through every year, but in 2019 that had grown to 19 podcasts and 45 solo shows.

A big difference for this year was that due to some podcasts ending and others not being available to do live shows I no longer had that foundation for my weekends. There was a single live podcast, but I made up for it with 52 solo shows. If I didn’t have to still go to work there were a number of late night shows that could have pushed that up above 60.

And now some miscellaneous observations:

• The weather was hot or warm, not the typical cold and rainy April in Melbourne
• I caught the train from my regular station 12 times and due to works I drove to a station on a different line 7 times.
• I drove in once because a late weeknight show finished after the last train.
• Last night was the only time I drove in because all the nearby train lines had works.

A while back I listed the podcasts I was listening to, given that it is almost the end of the year I thought it would be good to provide an updated list and note the changes.

Continue:

• The Little Dum Dum Club
• The Skeptics Guide to the Universe
• Geologic Podcast
• The Dollop
• Probably Science
• Don’t You Know Who I Am?
• Oh No Ross and Carrie
• The Infinite Monkey Cage
• Penn’s Sunday School
• TOFOP/FOFOP/Wilosphy
• Still Untitled: The Adam Savage Project
• Steele Wars

Unsubscribed:

• I Love Green Guide Letters
  Technically I’m still subscribed in my podcast app, but it has been a long time since Steele has put out an episode, moving to LA and Star Wars took over…
• Comedy Film Nerds
  Wrapped up at the end of 2019, still looking for a replacement.
• Filthy Casuals
  Unsubscribed when I was
• Can you take this photo, please?
  Shifted to an irregular schedule, then offically ended.
• Stuff You Should Know
  Unsubscribed when I realised that I wasn’t listening to any episodes.

New subscriptions:

• The Weekly Planet
  I was aware of this prior to the launch of Planet Broadcasting, but that was when I started listening regularly. With the ending of Comedy Film Nerds this is my only movie podcast, and not all movies…
• Do Go On
  Similar to The Weekly Planet I was aware of this podcast by three Melbourne comedians about various topics, but it was the Planet Broadcasting launch that made me a regular listener
• Book Cheat
  A spin-off from Do Go On: “The book club podcast where Dave Warneke has read the book so you don’t have to.”
• Prime Mates
  Another spin-off from Do Go On: Matt, second banana Evan, and rotating guests explore primates in popular culture from Chimpan-A to Chimpan-Z!
• Vic & Em’s Comedy Gems
  “Vicky Hanlon and Emily Tresidder are very different people, and both are great at talking. Join them and guests each week as they create comedy gems.”
• Well, Actually
  “… a podcast about defending the things you love the most. Each week Melbourne comedy sweethearts Katherine Allan, Donna Collins, and Vicky Hanlon invite a different guest to talk about their deepest passions, unexpected hobbies and secret shames.”
• Fitbet
  What happens when two comedians make a weight loss bet for $1000? The bet is over a lot quicker than they thought, but continue talking with guests about fitness.
• Kentucky Fried Chattin’
  A snack-sized podcast where three people (Bec Petraitis, Peter Jones and Xavier Michelides) chat about Kentucky Fried Chicken (not affiliated with Kentucky Fried Chicken). Currently waiting for them to start the next feast with a new menu.
• Oooh, Spooky
  “Each week @adamgknox, @lukacmuller and @peterthejones read five unexplained mysteries from a big book of Mysteries of the Unexplained.”>
• The Debrief
  Dave O’Neil talks with another comedian after they have done a gig together.
• Art of the Score
  “… an in-depth podcast series discussing the world of film scores. Hosted by Andrew Pogson, Dan Golding and Nicholas Buc.”
• Go Fact Yourself
  “A show that makes smart people feel dumb… and then smart again.”
• Jason Scott Talks His Way Out of It
  “Historian and loudmouth Jason Scott shares stories of technology, retrocomputing, documentary filmmaking, and general schennanigans from his decades of travels and research.”
• No Such Thing as a Fish
  “A weekly podcast from the makers of QI”
• Star Wars Spelt Out
  “Josh Chapman wants to get better at Star Wars, so he is getting people he knows on the mic to podcast and their ideas and stories.”
• That Geek Pod
  “Catherine has a fun chat about anything and everything geeky! From Star Wars, Survivor to Game Of Thrones and much more!”
• Twinsies
  Andy Wood from Probably Science and TJ Chambers discuss pairs of similar movies that are released at the same time. Originally every two weeks, but no new episode for a while now…

Any way that you look at this list it is clear that I still tend towards podcasts made by comedians about trivia or other topics. There have been some other podcasts that I have started and stopped in the past four years, maybe I should have done this update earlier…

For the past year and a bit I have been listening to podcasts, either while commuting to and from work on the train, or while out for walks. I have known about podcasts for a long time, but it was the combination of having suitable idle time and the suggestion of two comedy podcasts that finally made me give them a go.

The list of podcasts I listen to has grown (and occasionally shrunk) over time, and there are some that I prioritise over others. Right now this is the list of podcasts in the app on my phone: (in roughly priority order)

• I Love Green Guide Letters
  One of the two comedy podcasts that were suggested to me, great to hear stories from comedians, and there is also commentary about the letters.
• The Little Dum Dum Club
  The other of the comedy podcasts that was suggested, some of the conversations can be quite serious and thought provoking, while others are hilarious.
• The Skeptics Guide to the Universe
  A very popular podcast that covers a wide range of science/skeptic topics, recent news through to historical events/figures.
• Geologic Podcast
  Usually a skeptical topic or two, but what I am really enjoying is the other topics such as music as that is something I wouldn’t normally be interested in
• The Dollop
  Despite this being two comedians (one telling the other about something from American history), I was surprised by how much I was liking the historical aspect of this. The live shows in Australia where they covered some Australian history stories really showed how you don’t learn the horrible details at school.
• Comedy Film Nerds
  This is now my preferred source of movie information, I find myself agreeing with their reviews. Plus the spoiler episodes either make a movie I have seen better or mean I don’t have to see it at all.
• Probably Science
  Interesting discussion between the hosts and the guest, but also coverage of recent science news that is weird or interesting.
• Don’t You Know Who I Am?
  This one is just fun, some unexepcted stories from the guest comedians.
• Filthy Casuals
  I haven’t played games for a long time and only started listening because of The Little Dum Dum Club, but it also can be interesting (as well as funny)
• Oh No Ross and Carrie
  Another skeptic podcast, Ross and Carrie go do the crazy woo things and report back on what they were like.
• The Infinite Monkey Cage
  Funny and informative at the same time about some quite serious scientific topics.
• Penn’s Sunday School
  Started listening because I am a fan of Penn and Teller, as well as Penn’s skeptical position. Interesting stories, sometimes science sometimes (US) politics.
• Can you take this photo, please?
  Open discussion between Justin Hamilton and (usually) a guest, interesting hearing the background and experiences of these comedians.
• TOFOP/FOFOP/Wilosphy
  I’m lumping together three Wil Anderson podcasts here, there are a lot I haven’t listened to, I pick out the ones that look interesting.
• Still Untitled: The Adam Savage Project
  I’ve been a fan of MythBusters for a long time, but it is only recently that a few of the topics caught my eye…
• Steele Wars
  Another one I am selective about, while I like Star Wars, I’m not obsessed, so will check the description before listening. But the live reaction podcast after the midnight screening of Force Awakens (with Comedy Film Nerds) was worth it.
• Stuff You Should Know
  I have a number of these in the backlog, for when I want to learn something but don’t need to be amused…