Succotash Epi94: Rememberin' Robin
Sep 15, 2014
Welcome to Epi94 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. This is the podcast where we feature clips of other comedy podcasts to help you to try and sort through the, literally, thousands of comedy podcasts you could be listening to when you fancy a comedy podcast or two.
Since
I’m always skimming the podwaves, listening to what’s out there (I
also review podcasts as part of This Week in Comedy
Podcasts for Splitsider.com and on the Huffington Post as well
– I know a number of podcasts have taken time out to mention the
tragic death of Robin Williams in the past month.
Joan Rivers, too. But Robin in particular seemed
to touch a nerve across the board with his passing. I spoke
about it a bit last episode.
I knew Robin some, having
grown up in the same area – Marin County – as well as going to the
same high school and junior college just a few years behind him.
And I had the opportunity to do improv with him on stage a number
of times as well as just hangout with him from time to time. So
I’ve had my say, really. (Although, if you’d like to see something
I’ve written on it, I have a remembrance of Robin and his
connection to Marin County that's up on the blog for Marin
Magazine here.)
Our associate producer Tyson Saner came up with a great idea and that is to give you a smattering of what some of the other podcasters have been saying about Robin. I said, “Go for it!” and he went out into Podcastland and clipped an even dozen different shows and that’s what our show this episode is going to be about. Tyson asked if I would relax our usual policy of playing only three to five minute long clips. I thought that was an appropriate request, given the nature of what we’re doing here. So some of these are pretty long. Hope you don’t mind (and I hope the hosts of the shows we’re playing these from don’t mind us taking a bit more of a liberty that usual…)
I know theres been a lot
of about Robin's life – and his death – since his tragic suicide a
month or so ago on August 11th. Maybe you’re tired of hearing about
it. I can understand that, but he was a personal acquaintance of
mine and a great friend to San Francisco comedy, not to mention a
global icon. But if this sort of tribute is too heavy or not you
cup of tea, I get it. Feel free to give this episode a pass if you
want, but you’re going to miss some great words spoken about a
comedian, actor, father, husband and friend who was truly
beloved.
Also In This
Episode
We still have our usual roundup of the stuff we like doing, like our Burst O’ Durst segment with comedian & social lampooner Will Durst (It's actually a double dose o' Durst this episode!), a classic Henderson’s Pants commercial, our Tweetsack segment, and an extra big clip mention/clip/message from the Chillpak Hollywood Hour with Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness. Plus our exclusive feature that we like to call…
The 10 Most
Active Shows In Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast
List
We're not satisfied just
to look at the top 10 shows on the list of Top 100 comedy podcasts
over at Stitcher - mostly because those rarely change. Instead, we
like checking out the shows that are moving the most up OR down the
charts. Here's how they looked this past
week…
AT
MOVED
39
The Cracked
Podcast
+11
42 Bertcast’s
Podcast
-10
47 SModcast >>
Edumacation
+18
60 The Brian & Jill
Show
- 7
69 The Champs with Neal Brennan & Moshe
Kasher
- 7
79 WMMR’s Preston & Steve
Podcast
- 7
83 Fernando & Greg’s Daily
Podcast
+38
91 Straight Outta Lo
Cash
+ 7
96 The Mick Bettencourt
Show
- 8
98 NYC Crime Report w/Pat
Dixon
+12
Latest Podcast Reviews
This past week on
Splitsider.com, as part of This Week In Comedy Podcasts, I
reviewed The Louie Anderson Podcast Epi5, "Robin Williams:
A Friend and Legend Remembered", which was chock full of comedians'
remembrances of Robin. That same review appears on the Huffington Post.
World Premiere of 3 Still Standing
The
documentary film that I've been mentioning on Succotash,
entitled 3 Still Standing, is about to make its debut in
the fairly prestigious Mill Valley Film Festival! I did a
bit of bheind the scenes work, some consulting and even some on
camera stuff for this movie, which take a look at the San Francisco
comedy scene, from the early 1980s through present day. It does by
examining the lives and careers of a trio of working comedians: Our
own Will Durst, past guest Larry
"Bubbles" Brown, and Johnny
Steele.
The movie's premiere is set for Saturday, October 4th, 5 PM, at the Sequoia Theater in downtown Mill Valley, California. Then, at 8 PM, just down the street at the 142 Throckmorton Theatre, I will be hosting the 3 Still Standing Live On Stage comedy show with the three comics, the film's directors and producers, and more. If you're interested in tickets, hop on over to the film festival's online box office at http://MVFF.com
The Clips
The Christopher
Titus Podcast
We start the clips off
with a slice from the top of The Christopher Titus
Podcast, the section Chris Titus calls “The
Armageddon Update”. This was cut just two days after Robin moved
along, and you can hear the emotion in Chris’ voice as he talks
about his personal hero.
The Evil Teddy
Bear Podcast
In the clips we have for
this episode about Robin, there's only this one in which we hear
from a woman. The host of The Evil Teddy Bear Podcast,
Korey Epps, did his own Robin tribute and one of
the people who spoke was actress Stephanie Erb.
(We get a lot of Twitter love and support for our show from Korey,
so thanks as always for passing the
Succotash!)
The Nick Di Paolo
Podcast
I like that we’re getting
a chance to hear from some podcasts we’ve not had a chance to clip
so far in the two and a half years that Succotash has been
plying the podwaves. The Nick Di Paolo Podcast is one of
those. Nick Di Paolo a great comic, a very real
guy, and his Epi42 was entitled R.I.P. Robin
Williams.
About Last
Night
Nick Di Paolo’s not much
of a Mrs. Doubtfire fan but someone who is? Adam
Ray, co-host of the About Last Night podcast with
Brad Williams. (BTW, I just met Brad for the first
time a couple of weeks ago, at the first comedy show that was done
after Robin’s death at the 142 Throckmorton Theatre in Mill Valley.
He's San Francisco-bound to take over morning drive duties on KITS
105.5 FM. Good luck, Brad!)
The Smartest Man
In The World
Here are some wonderful remembrances from Greg
Proops, host of The Smartest Man In The World
podcast. I know Greg very well from being in an improv group with
him in San Francisco before he got onto Whose Line Is It
Anyway. And we’ve both done stage work with Robin, separately
and together. This was recorded while Greg was over at the
Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Nerd
Poker
We have another tribute
from some more of Robin's hometown boys. This was at the end of an
episode of Nerd Poker with Brian Posehn & Friends. In
this case, Brian Posehn, Blaine Capatch and
Ken Daly, along with guest Dave
Anthony, talk about their memories of Robin. Everyone
chatting here except Ken really got their comedy chops in San
Francisco and so crossed paths with Robin a number of
times.
The Chong &
Chong Show
One of the clips Tyson
grabbed is from a podcast by a comedian who’s been in the game
longer than Robin by more than half a decade. Tommy
Chong, along with his son Paris Chong,
hosts The Chong & Chong Show. And we have Tommy giving
his perspective on Robin.
This Week with
Larry Miller
Larry
Miller, host of This Week with Larry
Miller, prefaced his thoughts about Robin by
talking about Lauren Bacall. Larry has got to be
one of the classiest guys in comedy and he had a narrow brush with
death himself a couple of years ago when he took a fall and smacked
his head pretty badly. Here’s his take on Robin…
Stuck In The
80s
Here’s a clip from a show
we’ve never featured before – Stuck In the 80’s. It’s all
80‘s stuff all the time – movie, TV, music, pop culture – and host
Steve Spears and his rotating pool of co-hosts
dive into the “Reagan Era” with gusto. Robin Williams is a
personality who transcended 40 years of show business and our
culture and the 80’s was a big chunk in the middle of
that.
Harmontown
Dan
Harmon, the creator of TV’s Community as well as
Adult Swim’s Morty & Jack, is the mayor of Harmontown,
a live podcast, aided by his Comptroller Jeff
Davis. Harmon and Jeff had a few things to say about Robin
recently.
The Todd Glass
Show
Here’s some personal
memories of running into Robin by Todd Glass on
his The Todd Glass Show podcast, along with his guests
Ian Karmel and Rob
Gleeson.
Miller
Time
The last Robin clip we
have this episode is from Dennis Miller, who has
been doing Miller Time, a daily radio show/podcast, for
years now. As a major comedy fixture and trained observer of pop
culture and society at large, his is a particularly moving
reminiscence of Robin.
Thanks to all the hosts and guest of the podcasts we clipped this episode to make this special Rememberin' Robin episode happen. Our next episode we'll be back with an interview with The Amazing Johnathan, as well as clips from more comedy podcasts from around the internet!
Until, then, please remember to pass the Succotash!
— Marc
Hershon