how many converts can you claim?/onion article

[Viceroy Slim]

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.

[Itslikeimsayin]

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.)

[erika]

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.

[Jouster]

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.

[emma]

3) A young man who has recently been cleared of rabies.

Converting yourself doesn't count!

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.

[masterofsparks]

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.

[perry]

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.

[Spoony]

Weekly listening parties? Wow. That more of a "Cell" then a "Party."

[Chris in Somerville, Mass.]

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!  

[Shaggy 2 Grote]

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.

[Gibby]

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.

[Steve in North Hollywood]

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.

[Jixby Phillips]

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!

[senorcorazon]

"Scharpling Widow"

Nice. I smell a new t-shirt for the ladies.

[Julie]

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.