Live podcast tapings are becoming a comedy festival staple, and this year's
SF Sketchfest proved that the audience is there and growing. How did the podcasts translate to live performance? Here’s how
WTF,
Pop My Culture,
The Nerdist,
Never Not Funny and
Sklarbro Country presented their podcasts to a live audience.
WTF live is a completely different show from the podcast.
Marc Maron conducts a fantastic interview at the Cat Ranch, and
WTF is a source for some of the most insightful, intimate and compelling stories from the entertainment world. In front of an audience (especially one as Maron-crazy as the one at
Cobb's), it's difficult for Maron to cede the spotlight.
There were 6 guests (
Will Franken,
Baron Vaughn,
Nato Green,
Maria Bamford,
W. Kamau Bell and
Bobcat Goldthwait) in a show that had to wrap in about 90 minutes. After Maron’s opening, the remaining show time was too short to cram in all of his guests with any pretense of not being rushed. Maron also chose that show to make amends with Bell (
read more about this on Kamau’s blog), who wound up having to sit on the floor for lack of chair space. There was enough time for Goldthwait to get into what a complete asshole Jay Mohr is, and his segment was the most relaxed and open of the 6.
WTF live was entertaining, frenetic and sometimes awkward, but it bore little resemblance to the podcast.
LISTEN TO WTF LIVE FROM SKETCHFEST
Other podcasts chose to present the show as-is in front of the Sketchfest audience. Prominently,
Pop My Culture (hosted by
Vanessa Ragland and SF Sketchfest co-founder
Cole Stratton) hosted a subdued
Bob Odenkirk for a Sunday afternoon taping at the Eureka. Although Stratton and Ragland tried to keep the podcast moving forward, the overall energy of the show was uneven. Odenkirk only became comfortable with the audience toward the end, but the questions and games that Stratton and Ragland planned helped buoy the conversation. Also, fans of
Breaking Bad (on which Odenkirk plays apparently non-Jewish lawyer Saul Goodman) enjoyed some quality moments of behind-the-scenery talk. This was their first live podcast taping of
Pop My Culture, and two hosts as smart as Ragland and Stratton will undoubtedly learn from the freshman show.
LISTEN TO PMC LIVE FROM SKETCHFEST.
The Nerdist chose high-profile guest
Zach Galifianakis, and judging from the quantity of tribute facial hair in the audience, much of the crowd packed Cobb’s to catch Galifianakis in person. The podcast itself had a significant number of enthusiastic fans in attendance;
Chris Hardwick,
Matt Mira and
Jonah Ray were easygoing hosts who kept the crowd entertained before Galifianakis came out. When he did, he proved to be a little restrained (but good-natured). It seemed difficult to get any real conversation going with him, although the audience was thrilled to watch him in any capacity.
LISTEN TO THE NERDIST LIVE FROM SKETCHFEST
Never Not Funny live is pilgrimage-worthy for its fans, with several people coming in from other cities specifically to watch
Jimmy Pardo,
Matt Belknap and
Pat Francis on stage. Pardo, of course, excels in front of an audience, and the easy rapport between the 3 men is a pleasure to watch in person. Francis read one of his infamous eBay letters (which are reserved for live performances). This one was … well, it made some people uncomfortable. But, in addition to getting big laughs, that was probably the point.
Guest
David Koechner (
Anchorman,
SNL) brought a slightly incongruous energy to the show, as his conversation focused mainly on surrogacy and his family. While most
NNF listeners seem to appreciate it when guests delve into the personal and take a break from non-stop banter, it was a bit awkward for the live show. At the end, Belknap pulled out a phenomenal save, and the audience response was cathartically uproarious.
(Unprofessional Interjection: It's worth the cost of a Primo subscription just to hear the save.) LIVE SHOWS ARE AVAILABLE TO NNF'S PRIMO SUBSCRIBERS
Sklarbro Country did it right, keeping mostly to their familiar podcast format but bringing the show to life with smart music breaks and audience interaction. The
Sklar Brothers ran an extremely professional show that still felt spontaneous, and Cobb's was packed with podcast fans; nearly the entire crowd responded to “Henderson!” as one voice. Guests
Michael Ian Black (who knows little to nothing about sports) and
Bill Romanowski (who lives little to nothing but sports) both fit into the live format effortlessly.
Voice actor and frequent
Sklarbro Country guest
Chris Cox did spot-on impressions of Racist Vin Scully, Tiger Woods, Jerry Jones, Snoop Dogg, and Owen Wilson, partially through a live audience Q&A. It was extremely impressive. Performances by
Har Mar Superstar between segments and a 100% bad-ass rap by
Engineer Doug to close kept the show crackling with energy.
AUDIO AND VIDEO EPISODE AVAILABLE THROUGH THE EARWOLF STORE
As podcasts are evolving, so are their live performances. Is the motivation primarily to entertain the live audience, or simply to give fans a behind-the-curtain taping? Both are valid reasons, but guest selection (comics who will connect to the live audience and fit in with the format) and bringing something extra to the table (like the live music and character Q&A at
Sklarbro Country) seem to be key factors in a presenting a taping that both succeeds as a live show and as a subsequent podcast episode.
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© 2011 CHRISTINE E. TAYLOR
For more interviews with podcasting comedians and reviews of their live performances,
