Tuesday, August 07, 2012

The calming shores of Sklarbro Country

The special focus of the Sklarbro Country podcast is on sports with occasional "pull-backs" to cover the larger pop culture.  That this focus doesn't bother me--not known for my "sportiness"--ought to be enough for you to give them at least one listen right there.

One of the slogans of the show is "The calming shores of Sklarbro Country," and that's apt.  There are some podcasts which I very much enjoy but which I don't necessarily find calming (Pop My Culture, for instance)..

The show is hosted by identical twins Jason and Randy Sklar, who are also a comedy team.  Of the handfuls of comedy podcasts to which I listen, one of the two acts who probably make me laugh the most with their stand-up is the Sklar Brothers.

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The Sklar Brothers - Fascinating Twins in the News
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Their relationship makes for what appears to be an unpracticed rhythm between the two of them, which is great fun to watch and to listen to.  (Especially with their voices so alike--close your eyes and it could almost be two sides of the same brain).

This ease also translates when listening to their podcast (which of course, is basically the same as closing your eyes).  More of the show is written than it sounds; one of the reasons I know that is because about two and a half months ago they started putting out a smaller-sized "bonus" episode each week, to tide fans over between full-fledged installments.

Called Sklarbro County to differentiate from the "brother" show (tee-hee), this usually takes the stripped-down form of the Sklars and their writing collaborator Dan Van Kirk going over recent incidents from the news and seeing what they can make of them.

(Sometimes there are guests on this version of the podcast too--I think it has to do with which of their funny friends happen to be around.)

This necessarily leads to more improvised riffs, but the "deeper cut," longer-playing episodes sound almost as if they too are invented from whole cloth, which is indeed a compliment.

Recommended episodes: Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett, Jason Mantzoukas, Marc Maron

PS:  No, I don't know what the "Henderson" thing means either.

PPS:  The other comedian whose stand-up act I've been enjoying as much as his podcast is Pete Holmes, whose You Made It Weird I wrote about in the last one of these.

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Pete Holmes - Privacy Is Uncool
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