That didn't take as long as I thought.

After finally posting last week's Succotash debut and getting it linked up with iTunes, I wasn't sure how long it would take to get the next episode together. Happily, through the magnificent efforts of show engineer/producer Joe Paulino, it really only took me getting the next round of comedy podcast clips together and we were ready to go.

After last week's premiere of Succotash, we got some nice mentions and with those, messages from some farflung podcasters who I hadn't heard of before. Now, there are a pile of established comedy p'casts out there and I'm anxious to showcase some of them. But these podcasters had the moxie to step up to the plate and ask if I'd consider featuring them on the show. AND two of them provided me with 3-5 minute clips of what they considered to be representative of their show. That saves me, booth engineer Kenny, and segment producer Stevie endless time so in they went to this week's show.

Without further ado, here's what is on tap in Episode 2:

• This Week with Larry Miller

• The David Feldman Comedy Podcast

• The Mustache Rangers

• FitzDog Radio

• Read It And Weep

• Comedy A-Go-Go

• The Jimmy Dore Show

• Uhh Yeah Dude

• Kevin Pollak Chat Show

You can click on any of the above show names to go directly to the websites dedicated to those shows. I'm still getting used to remembering about leaving show information, where to find the websites, etc., so I'll ask any comedy podcasters featured on Succotash to please bear with my learning curve.

If you're interested in having a particular podcast featured (yours or just one you enjoy), please contact me at marc@SuccotashShow.com. (Better yet, if you're want to send me a chunk of the show, around 3-5 minutes long, that will help my decision-making process immensely!)

Thanks again to engineer/producer Joe Paulino and musical director Scott Carvey.

Until next time, pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

LAST WORD: I was hoping to have a Special Guest with me to co-host this episode — we were all ready to go with that plan — but then we decided to streamline our workflow in assembling the show this week and it felt it would be easier to work the bugs out of the system without having to infringe on our guest's time. I don't want to over-promise, as schedules change without warning, but will nevertheless tease that we will LIKELY have an SNL graduate on-hand in Studio P (The Home of The Hit!) with our next edition.

I want to thank the early listeners to our Succotash premiere episode for their kind words on Facebook, Twitter and the like. And I also feel the need to give a humble bow to a couple of great comedy resources who have their fingers on the pulse of the podcast side of things.

First, PlopList rolled out a gracious welcome yesterday:

Succotash Serves Up Comedy Podcast Highlights

Yesterday saw the launch of Succotash - The Comedy Podcast Podcast. Writer, cartoonist, reformed comedian performer and friend to comedy, Marc Hershon started the new show to highlight the best of comedy podcasts in an audio format. Succotash strings together short audio highlights from a variety of shows (no longer than 5 minutes each) interspersed with Hershon's plugs for the shows and some brief editorial commentary.

The first episode plays likes a public radio style recap show. Highlights include WTF With Marc Maron, Pop My Culture, Comedy Death-Ray Radio, The Adam Carolla Show, The Smartest Man In The World, Mike & Tom Eat Snacks and a few others.

Succotash is conceived as a primer for the potential uninitiated comedy podcast listeners out there. It's a simple concept, perhaps born out of the growing interest in the medium, especially when it comes to the comedy format. Another sign of comedy podcasts building on their garage band empire?

No word yet on the interval or whether or not the various shows receiving the highlight treatment will become willing partners of the show. Hershon hints at the heavy workload of putting the show together. This could prohibit a regular release. It's not on iTunes yet but you can still listen to the inaugral episode and keep track through the Succotash blog. Looking forward to see how the show develops.

Then, earlier today, we got a nice welcome from Punchline Magazine:

Punchline Magazine analysis: the comedy podcast goes postmodern
 
Due to the recent surge in popularity, It was only a matter of time, but now it’s official: the comedy podcast has gone postmodern.

Yesterday, via the Plop List, a wonderful hub of everything related to comedy podcasts, the arrival of Succotash - The Comedy Podcast Podcast was announced. As you might figure with the label “comedy podcast podcast”, host/producer Marc Hershon plays several clips from popular podcasts including WTF with Marc Maron and Comedy Death Ray Radio with interstitial commentary on the clips. Basically, it’s a highlight reel of the best of the best in the comedy podcast world.

As evidenced by Rolling Stone’s recent Top Ten Comedy Podcasts of the Moment list and the ease of producing and uploading, proliferation in the medium has developed with the biggest names in comedy all the way down to open mic comedians having their own podcasts. The Soup with Joel McHale came about as there was too much wildly popular bad TV that begged to be parodied on American television; the Soup filled a demand for all of it to be sorted out. On a more “positive tip” Succotash may have come about because comedy podcasts have reached/are very close to reaching a fever pitch that requires the same sort of wrangling, though in admiration rather than in satire.

Whether this development will change the way in which comedians broadcast their thoughts and opinions — like paintings and movies did when their respective art forms moved into their postmodern periods — has yet to be seen. But, at the very least, the medium of the comedy podcast is moving forward, and more importantly, getting way funnier.


Thanks to the folks at both of those comedy resource points. Now that we now we've been noticed, we'll be on our best behavior!

After teasing you for weeks and posting a couple of test shows to get an idea what Succotash might sound like, the premiere of the Comedy Podcast Podcast is here!

We're giving you a myriad of ways to listen: the title of this blog piece will take you to the Internet Archive site where the show is currently housed. At the bottom of this blog piece is an embedded player. AND we should be available for download from iTunes very soon! (We're trying to set that up AS this is being typed into the blog...watch this space for confirmation that iTunes has given us the thumbs up!)

As it turns out, screening a bunch of comedy podcasts every week to find 3 to 5 minutes of funny stuff from each one is pretty time-consuming. And then having to engineer the variety of sound qualities possessed by the lot of them takes even more time. So, although we were hoping to be able to bring Succotash to you once a week, at the beginning it may run a little bit slower than that — even as much as a month.

At least for the "Big Show", with 8 to 10 different show snippets. working more on the fly, with a laptop and a microphone, we may be able to bring you some shorter tastes. And maybe even some guest interviews! (We already have interest from friends like Rick Overton, Mark Pitta and Dana Carvey to jump in here and have some fun.)

On this show, the Succotash premiere, you'll be hearing from:

• The Adam Carolla Show with guest Greg Fitzsimmons

• Comedy Death Ray Radio with Scott Aukerman and guest Patton Oswalt

• After Hours with Mark Pitta and guest Carol Doda

• Mike And Tom Eat Snacks with Michael Ian Black and Tom Cavanagh

• Pop My Culture with Cole Stratton and Vanessa Ragland

• The Smartest Man in the World with Greg Proops

• Walking The Room with Greg Berendt and Dave Anthony

• WTF with Marc Maron

Hosted by Marc Hershon, Succotash is produced and engineered by Joe Paulino, with original Succotash theme by Scott Carvey.

If you want to contact us, you can email us at marc@SuccotashShow.com. Please "Like" us on our Succotash Show page on Facebook and follow our tweets @SuccotashShow. Feel free to leave comments in the area provided for it immediately following this blog post.

Pass the Succotash!

Marc Hershon

Ooops! Forgot to include one last mention - a snippet that went astray but is definitely in the show! Thanks to Secret Service Agent Hijaz for pointing out that I forgot to include in the above rundown...

• Never Not Funny with Jimmy Pard

Got into the studio today — "Studio P in Sausalito, Home of the Hit!" — with a double handful of snippets from recent comedy podcasts. On mic, with headphones on, and Executive Producer Joe Paulino running the show. Did our best to figure out just what the hell this show is going to be and sound like. It's clear that it will be an evolutionary process but it will sound slick, thanks both to Mr. Paulino on the board and the opening theme (and music bed) provided by Music Director Scott Carvey.

Speaking of which, I had breakfast with Scott's little brother a couple of hours before heading into the studio and he's definitely expressed an interest in being a part of things as the show moves forward. I'm not going to reveal more at the moment, as we're still figuring out what that involvement might mean, but trust me when I say it can only be good. Very very good.

I wanted to give an early shout out (early warning, perhaps) to the folks whose souls...er, podcasts...I'm going to be featuring on the Succotash premiere. You'll hear from Adam Carolla, Mark Pitta, Greg Fitzsimmons, Comedy Death Ray Radio, Greg Proops, Greg Berendt, Dave Anthony, Marc Maron, Ed Helms and the gang from Pop My Culture. No snippet runs more than 5 minutes long and there should be ample pluggage to let listeners know where to find the full-length versions.

That's about it for now. Just excited that it's actually about to happen, so I wanted to say something. More soon.

Cheers,
Marc

Took a little while longer than I thought to get Succotash Test Show #2 online. (UPDATE: This episode is now available for download via iTunes!) Mostly because I'm also trying to get my taxes done. I wanted to see if I could get my workflow down a little better with this second test — selecting the clips, recording my wraparounds and commercials, and mixing it together. Mission accomplished!

I came up short on time — this test only runs about 46 minutes — as I'll be shooting for an hour when Succotash goes live, but I had selected a couple of clips which then failed to play properly when I was assembling the show. Decided to go without this time, and you'll never know who got left out this time around.

Who IS on the show this time? Glad you asked. I repeated a couple of clips from the first test — they're funny and/or interesting and this is still just a test — so you can enjoy After Hours with Mark Pitta hosting guest Dana Carvey as well as Nerdist's Chris Hardwick with John Oliver again. In addition, this version of Succotash also has David Feldman's Comedy Podcast, the Kevin Pollak Chat Show with guest Fred Savage, Adam Carolla with Ilieana Douglas, The Jimmy Dore Show, and FitzDog Radio with Greg Fitzsimmons and guest Dave Koechner.

This edition of Succotash is sponsored by Sugarhill Foods, so there are a couple of phony boloney commercials. (Hey! Phony Boloney! That should be another fine product from Sugarhill Foods...)

On other fronts, I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of our new Succotash theme from Scott Carvey. And it looks like my friend Joe Paulino is interested in stepping up as the Executive Producer of this show. He's got a kickass studio here in town and has some great ideas how to tweak not just the sound of the show but also some of the features you'll be hearing once we go live.

That's about it. As before, love to hear YOUR comments and feedback on the test shows. The more I can course corect now, the less there will need to be later. Please email me at marc@SuccotashShow.com. You can also follow us on Twitter @SuccotashShow, plus please Like our page on Facebook!

Cheers,
Marc