FOT Forum
The Best Show on WFMU => Show Discussion => Topic started by: christine on August 16, 2007, 11:08:11 AM
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Hi!
So I'm making a mix for a friend and I want to tack an S&W track on the end, but I can't decide which to go with. The friend in question knows nothing of the Best Show so I'd like to pick out something that doesn't need a lot of context or explanation to be funny. He's a big music fan with classic rock leanings, so something along the lines of RR&R or the Music Scholar might go over well. He's also a huge Mets fan, but I'm afraid Yankees v. Mets might be a great way to scare him away (also, you know, it's 2hrs long). I was thinking about Conventions, Inc, mostly because it's my favorite call ever, but I feel like it might be too long and overwhelming for a first-timer. So what, then? Kid eBay? The first Mother 13? Something else?
Ideas appreciated!
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I think beginning at the beginning with "Rot, Rock & Rule," then moving on to the one-two punch of "Gas Station Dogs"/"Mother 13" is always a great introduction.
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I always start people off with Bruce Willis. It never fails to cause pants-wetting and it spreads like a virus from that person to many other people.
Besides being hilarious, the Bruce Willis call doesn't necessitate as much patience as most calls do. It's not quite so "slow burn". And I think it helps to ease people into those waters.
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Zachary Brimstead, Esq.
Extreme Dad
The Depressed Office Worker series (you could scatter these through the mix)
Kid eBay
Shout! Network
Trent L. Strauss
Tony Torgvort, author of "The System" (or anything with a Geocities address -- never fails to kill me)
Gene Simmons Talks "Family Jewels"
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Darren From Work from Hippy Justice -- to me, this is the ultimate example of the slow-burn/twist technique. The first time I heard it, I had to pull off the road because I was so blown away. Tip: never listen to an S&W call for the first time while driving. Dangerous.
Music Scholar, TLS, Kid eBay, ZB (6/20/06) are all good choices, too. Other possibilities: Andy from Lake Newbridge or the Keith Kincaid Newbridge CoS call. Is Timmy von Trimble too much for the unitiated? (It was my initiation.)
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Also, if you want to include more than one track, the fairly short Montgomery Davies call would be nice. Hidden bonus track!
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Tip: never listen to an S&W call for the first time while driving. Dangerous.
I would add eating and drinking to that list. I think Golf Nuts was the first call I ever heard. While funny, it wasn't necessarily hilarious. So, having been initiated and thinking I knew what The Best Show was all about, I thought it was safe to eat while I listened to Bruce Willis for the first time. But, no. I was in the midst of swallowing when he started screaming like an animal, and I almost died.
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I always thought Music Scholar was the way to introduce someone to the show- just love that call every time I listen to it.
The two Audio Guru calls are great as well.
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The problem with calls like the Music Scholar is that I think a lot of the humor is lost if you aren't kind of a big music fan/snob yourself. Like, f'rinstance, 90% of the humor in the Giles Palermo bit is recognizing the fact that he's totally not playing what he says he's playing. If you aren't at least semi-familiar with Captain Beefheart, you're probably not going to laugh nearly as much when "You Can Leave Your Hat On" kicks in.
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I think the Gorch is a good start. The Gorch humor is pretty broad, and it's almost believable for the first few minutes.
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I have tried to initiate several friends into the world of Newbridge and it usually goes:
RR&R
The Music Scholar
The Gorch
Gas Station Dogs
and then either Gene Simmons or Marky Ramone or both.
If after that barrage of funny you aren't sold, then I don't know why we were ever friends in the first place.
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If after that barrage of funny you aren't sold, then I don't know why we were ever friends in the first place.
Oh, my god, seriously.
I've only been able to drag one friend down with me thus far. I attempted to rope another recently, a huge music nerd who couldn't give an eff about comedy. I guess an old boyfriend of hers once put RR&R on a mix but she never listened to it, so I sent her the first Mother 13 and baited her with lines like "Dude, it's Jon from Superchunk and the Mountain Goats!" and "You know that thing on the Hold Steady's passes (http://farm1.static.flickr.com/189/503790549_feb41ce223.jpg?v=0)? That's from this show!" But alas, no dice; I don't think she ever listened to the track. I tried to lure another girlfriend in by pointing her to Ben Gibbard's call to PBR and the TL / Steinberg rap battle, but I don't think she ever listened, either. What the hell is up with my friends??
I kinda like the idea of using Darren from Work on this mix! It's got a really pointed joke and doesn't meander so much. Might be easy to digest. Hmm...
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OR WHAT IF I scattered the Bruce Willis calls throughout the disc? Would that be awesome?
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If after that barrage of funny you aren't sold, then I don't know why we were ever friends in the first place.
Oh, my god, seriously.
I've only been able to drag one friend down with me thus far. I attempted to rope another recently, a huge music nerd who couldn't give an eff about comedy. I guess an old boyfriend of hers once put RR&R on a mix but she never listened to it, so I sent her the first Mother 13 and baited her with lines like "Dude, it's Jon from Superchunk and the Mountain Goats!" and "You know that thing on the Hold Steady's passes (http://farm1.static.flickr.com/189/503790549_feb41ce223.jpg?v=0)? That's from this show!" But alas, no dice; I don't think she ever listened to the track. I tried to lure another girlfriend in by pointing her to Ben Gibbard's call to PBR and the TL / Steinberg rap battle, but I don't think she ever listened, either. What the hell is up with my friends??
Sounds like it might be a lost cause, but another great music-related choice would be the recent Power Pop Pop-Pop gem. Maybe your friends are big fans of Ted Jacobs and The Now, The Rubinoos, or The Resistance?
I kinda like the idea of using Darren from Work on this mix! It's got a really pointed joke and doesn't meander so much. Might be easy to digest. Hmm...
Go for it!
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The sad truth is that The Best Show isn't for everybody. Like I said before, it takes patience, and patience is not something that most people are willing to give when it comes to comedy.
And then there are also those people who are afraid of laughter.
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I would say the Craig Cooper hutPod call or the Zachary Brimstead call from last year.
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I am the biggest Bryce advocate in the world
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The sad truth is that The Best Show isn't for everybody.
That's the happy truth, sir.
My pick - January 31, 2006: 1:29:47 - "Marky Ramone Talks About His New Romance Novel And Reveals His Big Surprise!"
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My pick - January 31, 2006: 1:29:47 - "Marky Ramone Talks About His New Romance Novel And Reveals His Big Surprise!"
How much do I wish I could ever hear the name Marky Ramone again without dying of laughter?
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. The mix got a little out of hand and wound up being two discs, so I put a call on the end of each disc. Disc 1 got the first Mother 13 and disc 2 got Darren from Work. Relatively short calls that stand on their own beautifully, I think, and my friend swore he'd listen to them with an open heart after I drunkenly rambled on about the show being "my favorite thing about being alive." I'm so lucky anyone puts up with me anymore. Oy.
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I am the biggest Bryce advocate in the world
Seconded!
Especially the call when he talks about the Moon Landing. I was listening to that on my Ipod in the grocery store and I burst out laughing when he said that the astronaught that was orbiting the moon didn't come out because he was on shrooms.
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Disgruntled postal worker. Easily. Has many basic elements that is the Best Show: Art of the slap, President Baseball etc.
You don't like that, you don't like S&W.
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My two cents: I think the first "Timmy Von Tremble" call is the perfect introduction to the Best Show. S&W's usual slow burn might be a bit much for the uninitatied. They might get a little bored at the beginning and only be half paying attention when the set up pays off. I think "TVT," however, will grab their attention right from the beginning. How could you not take notice of the ridiculous set up of two inch tall man? Plus, the silly voice Wurster uses might have them laughing in and of itself. By the time they get to the twist they'll already be immersed in the bit and once Timmy is revealed as a racist the logic and flow of the Best Show will have been subconsciously been indoctrinated in the lister. Also, you don't have to know s-hit about music or whatever to find the concept of a two inch racist funny.
I've played "TVT" to some friends who are not familiar with TBSOWFMU and they pretty much took to it immediately in a way they did not for something like "Gas Station Dogs." Of course, you can make the case they if you don't find "Gas Station Dogs" funny, you're too lame to enjoy The Best Show anyway.
Side note: It's kind of funny how some of the folks I know always mention "This guy is the drummer from Superchunk" when introducing the The Best Show to others as if that's supposed make one pay attention.
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Side note: It's kind of funny how some of the folks I know always mention "This guy is the drummer from Superchunk" when introducing the The Best Show to others as if that's supposed make one pay attention.
Dude it made ME pay attention! Although I guess that's really only an angle that's going to work on someone who's already a) a huge Superchunk fan, and b) a comedy nerd.
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Side note: It's kind of funny how some of the folks I know always mention "This guy is the drummer from Superchunk" when introducing the The Best Show to others as if that's supposed make one pay attention.
Dude it made ME pay attention! Although I guess that's really only an angle that's going to work on someone who's already a) a huge Superchunk fan, and b) a comedy nerd.
I'm sorry. I didn't mean any offense. I just meant that the above statement wouldn't make me assume something was funny and I should check it out. Not like "This guy was a cast member of Mr. Show" or something like that.
However, I apologize to you. And to Mr. Wurster. And to all the other members of Superchunk. And to all Superchunk fans. And to Tom. And to all the Friends of Tom. And to the general public. And to whomever else might have been offended by my statement.
I'm sorry. I truly am.
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However, I apologize to you. And to Mr. Wurster. And to all the other members of Superchunk. And to all Superchunk fans. And to Tom. And to all the Friends of Tom. And to the general public. And to whomever else might have been offended by my statement.
I'm sorry. I truly am.
Oh, stop.
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Mike Sajak, what what (in the butt).
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However, I apologize to you. And to Mr. Wurster. And to all the other members of Superchunk. And to all Superchunk fans. And to Tom. And to all the Friends of Tom. And to the general public. And to whomever else might have been offended by my statement.
I'm sorry. I truly am.
Oh, stop.
Okay, I apologize for my excessive apology.