FOT Forum
The Best Show on WFMU => Show Discussion => Topic started by: ben on August 28, 2008, 03:31:08 AM
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Over the past 12 months as an fot and the past 19 or so months months as a fan, i can officially claim that i have converted no one fully to the show. I also am a loner, but that's aside the point.
Curious what other peoples head counts are.
The onion article did charge this thought.
Can you beat my count of like half a fan?
your friend,
b
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I can claim at least a half a fan.
??? :( ??? :( ;)
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One and a half.
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zero. but i'm hopeful that my new place of employment will be a fertile field for the show.
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I may have gotten a Ted Leo fan into it through "The World Is In The Turlet," but I don't know if he's moved on to the whole show.
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I got Greg from Baltimore to listen and become an FOT. If we're together on Tuesday nights he will listen with me, but since he doesn't listen each week (even to the archives -- says they distract him at work) I've threatened to revoke his membership card.
I also got all my office mates into Philly Boy Roy. They love it.
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My work room is two other people and me. One is a total convert and fan for life, the other just turns her music up loud when I play The Best Show. I'm going to try to get her fired.
What's the Onion article?
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It's tough. After almost 2 years of trying to get my lady friend converted, last week she finally showed the first hint of interest in the show when she said the 'Return of Angry Mr. Bungle Fan' bit was funny. It was a proud moment, but I do realize I've got a long way to go.
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I've finally fully converted my girlfriend. For the longest time she just thought the show was too long and boring. After a few more months she warmed a touch, admitting the show was "well written", but she thought Tom was too mean to callers. I tried hard to convince her Tom was the great equalizer, and was only mean to the mutants who had it coming, but she wasn't having it. But slowly it went from something I would listen to in my office or only on the podcast, to then being something we streamed into the living room every Tuesday night.
Then 2 weeks ago, she finally caved and said I was right about Tom and his meanness, and she did in fact like him now too. HA!
I'm working on a couple other people now, I am sure I can snag at least one more convert by the end of the year.
...
We really are a cult, aren't we?
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We're not a cult until we get some custom Reeboks and Best Show jogging suits.
That, or robes. Dark robes for when we perform our induction "ceremonies".
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This should really be in Show Discussion (and now it is!). And five, I'm very proud to say.
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In the last six months I've managed to convert
1) A girlfriend,
2) A bandmate who started listening soley to hear me get GOMP'd and wound up sticking around in spite of himself.
3) A young man who has recently been cleared of rabies.
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At least a handful!
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I got my bandmates into the show during a drive from Cocaine Heights, Brooklyn to DC. They all liked it, but one in particular is now hooked. He even pledged for the fun pack during the marathon. One paying convert ain't too bad.
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I got one friend into it because I bought him "Rock Rot and Rule." He's also a cartoonist. Which brings the cartoonist/FOT ratio up around 64.23%.
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I've got a few people to the 'hay could you burn that funny-radio-thing-you-played-for-me for me?' stage, but nobody to the 'appointment radio' stage.
The mike healy calls seem to be the most accessible to my ape-eared friends.
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I'm taking credit for anyone who discovered the show through the Comedy Zone message board. I started a thread about them after the 2004 AV Club Q&A. Then Jason W.'s endorsement made me a believer. Then I bought the three CDs available at the time and agreed they were great. Then I turned Tom onto Jason W. (Which, apparently, will eventually lead to the show's demise. So it's all my fault.)
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NUH UHHHHHHH....
Sparkiepop gets credit for my conversion. Because I believe she encouraged Zatch Galifianasky to be a guest on the show. And that's what got me into it.
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I'm taking credit for anyone who discovered the show through the Comedy Zone message board. I started a thread about them after the 2004 AV Club Q&A. Then Jason W.'s endorsement made me a believer. Then I bought the three CDs available at the time and agreed they were great. Then I turned Tom onto Jason W. (Which, apparently, will eventually lead to the show's demise. So it's all my fault.)
I remember that thread. I remember Patton saying he listened to Mother 13 in the CoC tour van and described it as "mind-blowing" or something along those lines.
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3) A young man who has recently been cleared of rabies.
Converting yourself doesn't count! (http://www.instantrimshot.com)
I've only ever been able to get one person hooked on the show; a guy I was dating right around the time I became a card-carrying FOT. I think he started listening because he got sick of not understanding half the references I made in casual conversation.
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My wife's about halfway converted. She loves the JW calls and we often play them on long car trips, but she hasn't graduated to the full show. Recently I played her some of the better topics (Worst Song Ever and Ugliest Band Ever) and she liked those, but she's still referring to herself as a "Scharpling Widow" when Tuesday nights roll around.
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Awesome! I win so far! Since last October I've gotten seven people here in Kansas City hooked on the show, and two of my friends like it but are just now sort of half-assed getting into it, and they don't attend our weekly listening parties.
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Weekly listening parties? Wow. That more of a "Cell" then a "Party."
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The frustrating thing is thinking you might have made a breakthrough with someone when you lay the CDs on them, but they never take it to the next level and seek out the show on their own. My girlfriend still puts up half a fight every time I pull up a show from the archives, but she actually enjoys Tom's rapport with the callers. However, the minute PBR calls in, she says, "Ahh, for Chrissakes!", and goes in the other room with her crossword. It's not easy getting over this hump!
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Yeah, my wife likes Tom with the callers better too, maybe because the Wurster calls require a closer, most solitary listen, perhaps on a HutPod or Zune. I've also converted someone with the S&W CDs, and he has listened to a few podcasts, but I don't know if he's stuck with the show. He's one of those guys with an irregular schedule anyway.
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Four. My ex, and three brothers. I played them all the 'Cowboy Star vs Porcupine Pie' episode, which has a killer rant about Jamie Lee Curtis. Instant converts.
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I've been allowing the kid from Drillbit Taylor to wade into Best Show waters. Today, I said "shut up and listen to ..." the Chocolageddon call on A New Hope for the Ape-eared.
He laughed quite a bit, and really cracked up on "Does it feel like worms? ... Those are worms."
It took me a while to get accustomed to the show, so I never expect anyone to just dive in head-first.
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My best bud and roommate Andrew took to the show pretty fast. I played him the then-brand-new "To Catch a Predator" call, simply setting it up as "wanna hear something funny?", and we wound up listening to the show from that point till the end. He requested we listen from the beginning and we wound up hearing the whole thing, relistening to the last part of it. He immediately loved and began referencing the Gorch when I played it for him. For a few months after that I would bring my laptop to his house and play stuff for him while I hung out at his house. It didn't take him long at all to start exploring the archives by himself. I made a DVD of Tom's Roadhouse and we've watched it a billion times.
We both had a hand in converting our friend Eli at our old bookstore job. I think we actually played Roadhouse for him, and then Andrew went on a roadtrip with him and borrowed my S&W CDs. then a few days later he out of the blue thanked me for introducing him to The Best Show and Seven Second Delay. It's so awesome when you know the show is just RIGHT for somebody else. I feel like a comedy matchmaker!
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"Scharpling Widow"
Nice. I smell a new t-shirt for the ladies.
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I'm not sure if the conversions I've made stuck. How would I know? What if my friends are liars? Because if they're not, I've converted at least 52 people and that total doesn't include Yetta or the two puppies that came calling on her this morning.
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At least a handful!
You must know some pretty small people
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At least a handful!
You must know some pretty small people
This made me snort-laugh.
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(http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/8193/gondryhandau9.jpg)
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I almost forgot, I can claim a full-on convert to the Best Show. My pal, Matt, who used to work at the hotel with me moved out of town before I got into the show. But he and I kept in touch because we share a sense of humor. When we worked together, he'd constantly come into my office saying "check The Onion/McSweeney's/Get Fuzzy today?" And we'd always make sure to pass along any comedic gems we happened upon while away from work.
When I got into the Best Show, and after he'd moved away, I sent him an email with links to the Best Show Vault suggesting that he start with The Gorch's appearance at WFMU studios, and a lengthy explanation of Wurster and his characters. It's to the point now where he texts me every Tuesday night with a reference from that night's show. 1 down, many to go!!!
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Four. My ex, and three brothers. I played them all the 'Cowboy Star vs Porcupine Pie' episode, which has a killer rant about Jamie Lee Curtis. Instant converts.
That skit blew my mind--I suggested it to a friend as a "primer" for the show. Tom's in his element.
Say, you're a Tom Stack fan? Or are you Tom Stack?
He's one of the great ones all the way around. Triple threat--good guy, good artist, good looker.
Ike
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That guy KickTheBobo has converted tons of people. My wife and I wouldn't be listening if it weren't for him. And I can think of almost a dozen people whose listening can be traced back in a direct line to KickTheBobo. And that's just Canadians. I have no idea how many American converts that guy has.
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Can someone link me to the Onion article? I'm looking though the AV Club archives and I can't find it.
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wait, I think I found it
http://www.avclub.com/content/blog/portraits_of_awesomeness_3