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Scott Aukerman’s Earwolf podcast “Comedy Bang! Bang!” often reminds me of the old-time radio shows, in particular, Jack Benny’s, in which a bunch of weird and wonderful characters surrounded the host, who, although a fine comic in his own right, pretty much played the straight man. Like Scott, Jack was happy to let others supply the laughs, not only because he was a generous performer, but because he realised it didn’t matter who had the jokes, as long as there were plenty of them.
Those radio shows are often referred to as “theatre of the mind” (an expression Scott sometimes jokes about, such as in SXSW 2017 pt 1), because imagination supplied the pictures. The audience could “see” a shitload of stuff falling out of Fibber McGee’s overstuffed closet, just as anyone listening to a “Time Bobby” episode of “Comedy Bang! Bang!” will picture a stabby little orphan boy knifing a podcast host and legendary theatrical composer.
Like old time radio’s most-popular shows, “Comedy Bang! Bang!” boasts hugely-talented performers bringing characters to life in the imagination, except Scott and his guests do it without a script, utilising instead brilliant improvisational skills and a warped stream-of-consciousness to create outrageous situations and uproarious comedy.
My favourite “Comedy Bang! Bang!” episode is no. 289. I have heard it many times and I always find it hilarious. It not only has three excellent characters by Paul F. Tompkins and Matt Gourley (two making their first appearances) supplying an abundance of surreal humour, but also plenty of pop culture references, callbacks (many of which are holdbacks) and crazy “images”.
Being the classic it is, it’s not surprising there are several edits of CBB 289 online, but “The Exorcism of Cake Boss” really is a three-act play for the theatre of the mind, so I thought it was a shame no one had uploaded the very funny first-third and decided to remedy the situation and while at it, show (as best-possible, considering my rudimentary editing skills and poor quality of some images) some of what pops into my mind when I listen.