Bonjour, mes Sneakairs! It’s a long show this week, but that’s okay – we’ve been joined by Ben Mills so you know it’s going to go by fast and easy. This week on the show Ian, David and Ben discuss Ben’s theory of comedy as something locked in its own time (is comedy better now than in the past?); Ben maintains that people are getting smarter over time – the so called Flynn Effect; Ian wants to talk about joke theft – something we’ve never had to worry about (people stealing our “jokes”, that is); the hilarity of Jonestown; doing stand up; the problem with internet shaming; the fall out of the Jian Gomeshi trial; the problem with Dave shaming; Ben says don’t be afraid to put yourself out there; Dave asks Ben about his best ever concert experience and Ben has a doozy; and let’s end the show with A Dollop of Trollope.
Thanks for listening.
Ian brought it up so you’re probably wondering what it is. This is Fudge Cops:
Here is Ben’s most recent stand up appearance:
So suave, Ben!
Here is a TED talk about public shaming by the author of So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, Jon Ronson
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Here’s a couple of ad for Funny Face drinks. Yep, times have changed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ujip5DxwGQw
Hi Ian and Dave,
I’m wondering if you guys know yet if there will be a live Sneaky Dragon podcast at Vancaf this year? I sure hope so, I really missed it last year. Do I need to send them a stern email?
Thanks
Ken
Do it! I have a table and Dave should be sitting at it. But we haven’t confirmed a podcast yet.
It certainly wouldn’t hurt to ask VanCAF if we are doing the podcast this year. Without any feedback, they don’t know what people think of the show.
I really enjoyed this week’s episode, you guys are all fantastic. I really appreciate everything you had to say about internet shaming, Ghomeshi, everything, so thank you!
I don’t really have more to add to this, just feeling a lot of warmth in my heart right now. 🙂
Your warm heart warms our hearts.
A Sneaky Dragon podcast is always the richer for a Dollop of Trollope! I owe Dave a big thank you for promoting the author. I’m enjoying slowly making my way through his novels. He has a clever narrative style that is, oddly enough, similar to this year’s Deadpool movie. He often “steps out” to comment on the novel-writing conventions he is following or perhaps breaking, or he may tell you not to worry…things are going to turn out all right for a character. But despite the deconstruction, all the characters still feel true-to-life with believable motivations and emotions.
Saw, after I read Barchester Towers (#2 in the series) last month, I discovered the BBC made a 7-part mini-series in 1982 based on it and The Warden (#1) called The Barchester Chronicles. The entire series is posted on YouTube. It stars the great Donald Pleasence as the humble cello-playing clergyman Mr. Harding and Nigel Hawthorne as his imperious son-in-law, Archdeacon Grantly. But the best reason to watch the mini-series would be to see Alan Rickman in the role of the comically odious Obadiah Slope. He enters the series in Episode 3.
Donald Pleasence’s performance was nicely understated, but I kept waiting for a masked Michael Myers to step out from behind a door at any minute!
Thanks, Louise. I’m glad you’re continuing your own Trollope-a-thon! Nice observation about his habit of commenting on the action of the story as well as giving away plot points. He didn’t believe that the author should hide information from the readers – to the point of giving away key plot points that most authors would reveal as a surprise. He would have made a terrible mystery author!
I watched the Barchester Chronicles on Masterpiece Theatre before I’d actually read any Trollope, but it was the main reason I read Barchester Towers. There probably weren’t many people who saw Die Hard in the theatre who said, “Hey! That’s Obadiah Slope!” like I did when Hans Gruber first appeared.