total podcastrophe
Posted by podcastfanatic on December 30, 2006
The Statistics
What’s it Called? Total Podcastrophe
What is the show’s website? http://www.totalpodcastrophe.com/
When was the first episode produced? January 2006
How long is the average episode? Around 30 minutes
How often is an episode released? Not often enough
The Review
Total Podcastrophe is hosted by husband and wife team Paul (an Englishman) and Judy (an American) and is a collection of comedic sketches and general silliness. Each fast-paced episode contains a series of segments such as 10 second suck-fest (Paul attempts and, for the most part, fails a variety of computer games), Hobson’s Choice Awards (a choice must be made between half a dozen equally odd or awful options), What’s in my pocket (Paul identifies the mystery object in Judy’s pocket by asking a series of questions about the object’s similarity to a pangolin) and, my personal favourite, Intensive Care Bears (the toys your kids should really have if they are to grow up with any grip on reality at all).
Paul and Judy are both intelligent and genuinely funny which results in this show being a treasure-trove of amusement. The humour is equal parts self deprecation and Monty Python-style absurdity. Without resorting to crude language or the humiliation of unsuspecting third parties as so much entertainment these days seems to do, Total Podcastrophe provides half an hour of fun and laughter in every episode. The show has achieved a goldilocks-like ‘just right’ balance between predictability (there are regular segments to look forward to) and keeping the listeners guessing (new segments are added often and there are wonderful oddities like random word haphazardly inserted into each episode).
Total Podcastrophe is a professional quality creation. The use of music beds, voice overs and other production techniques is first rate and, even more importantly, it’s slickly edited. Many podcasters seem to believe listeners will be enthralled by their every mistake and rambling, uummmm-filled utterance but this podcast pays its audience the honour of tight editing. When podcasting does hit the mainstream it will be shows like this one which combine quality content and production that will make the grade.
Listeners interact with this show via the Fill in the Blank segment or by submitting a list for the Hobson’s Choice Awards. There’s also a fairly healthy amount of user interaction at the comments section on the show’s blog.
My sole criticism of this podcast is that there aren’t nearly enough episodes. I realise Paul and Judy have busy lives to lead and I also acknowledge that it must take a good deal of time to put together a single episode but, frankly, this is all about me and I want more. Although even the infrequency and unpredictability of episode release has an upside in that it results in moments of pure happiness when a new episode arrives in my podcatcher at the exact moment I’d begun to despair that there would never be another one.
Rather like discovering a great restaurant or holiday destination that the masses haven’t stumbled upon part of me yearns to keep this show a secret. However, a little surprisingly, it turns out I’m not that selfish. Anyone interested in smart, witty, slightly absurd humour should listen to this podcast.
The Rating
Will download every episode, listen to it immediately and, in all likelihood, become a stalker of the show’s hosts
Reviewer: Bernadette
Date review first published: 3 October 2006
