Never News: joke's on you
[An inhuman screeching echoes through the wood. No matter how hard you whip the reigns, it doesn't feel like you can get the horses to gallop any faster. Your carriage careens through the night, swirling the evening fog up into furious eddies. Still, the sound is as close as ever – a keening shriek that reminds you that the beast knows your here, and it's hungry.
But glancing into the thick crop of trees on either side of you, it's impossible to know for sure where this creature is. For a second, you think you see it – a shadow clinging to the trunk of a maple tree, the ghostly reflection of two, catlike eyes searing into you. But just as soon as you spot it, the creature leaps from the tree and into the dark.
And then...silence. The cries stop so suddenly, so completely that for a blessed second you wonder if it's grown tired of you. Now, all you hear is the labored huffing of your two carriage horses, and the thudding sound of their hooves against the dirt road.
You glance around you again, and see nothing.
But then...a new sensation from behind you. Not a sound, not a vision. You feel, directly behind you, the carriage buckle under the weight of something landing on top of it. Then, that horrible shriek, so close you can feel the heat of the creature's breath on your neck as you slowly turn to face your fate...]
Hello my little ghoulies! It's me, the ghostest with the mostest, your beloved Producer Georgia, here with the last October installment of Never News for you to gobble up and enjoy.
And speaking of the season, I've got a treat for you: on Monday, October 26th, I will be streaming beloved spooky game The 7th Guest at 8:00 PM EST on our Twitch channel!!
And SPEAKING OF VIDEO, we just made our first-ever video WIGOH for Never Post members. Want to check it out? Head on over to neverpo.st and click "become a member" at once!
Now, onto the news that's caught my eye in the past fortnight:
THE NEW YORKER: chat shows bring a new era of "funny"
I've been thinking a lot about this piece and the conversations around it in regards to humor, yes, but also the way that people are using podcasts to perform personality. This piece is partly a history of comedy (largely in the United States) and a taxonomy of its main qualities. And that alone offers a very interesting, succinct journey through what people thought was funny across last 30-ish years; sketch comedy moved to improve, which moved to catch phrases, which moved to satire, which moved to the cringe comedy of your I Think You Should Leave's of the industry. But now, more than anything, podcasts are the arena in which comedians are trying to be funniest.
As this article writes, it's far more likely now to see comedians riffing and joking on a podcast than it is to see them doing an hour-long set. "See" of course being the million dollar word here - none of these comedy podcasts are audio-only. And...not everyone can hack it. Here, Dan Brooks writes, "as anyone who has ever tried standup comedy will tell you, being funny in conversation and being funny when you are the only person talking are two different skills." Comedians who cut their teeth online are far more capable of the kind of affable, quick-witted charm needed for the podcast market than, say, Jerry Seinfeld. And as this piece argues, it's especially lucrative right now to be able to have a fun, entertaining conversation. Maybe even moreso than delivering a solid HBO special.
And I think what's especially interesting here beyond the text of this article is the way that many of these comedians are implicitly asked to be funny on these podcasts. Sure, there are shows in this space that offer interesting stuff – unexpected takes, thoughtful insights, what have you. But this charm-first style of humor also lends itself to a kind of blandness that you see in, for example, that abysmal Kelly Clarkson episode of Las Culturistas, or some of the more nostalgia-reliant episodes of Amy Poehler's Good Hang. "Charm" can easily dilute itself into "agreeable," and I think that's also affecting the state of Being Funny right now, too.
COME WATCH ME PLAY SCARY GAMES ON OCTOBER 26TH
I will be playing The 7th Guest, a game in which I will "explore a foreboding mansion, solve mind-bending puzzles, and uncover its dark secrets." Like, come ON. I've never played this game before, but it sounds and looks amazing, a very Nancy Drew point-and-click kind of game. So join me, won't you, at 8 PM EST?? You know where to find me!!!!
THE HANDBASKET: on Tommy, the Republican operative hired to heckle Abdul El-Sayed
If you somehow missed what happened, here's the skinny: during one of Abdul El-Sayed's Michigan Senate campaign rallies, a heckler named Tommy fell into an extremely satisfying trap. He pointedly asked El-Sayed whether he would denounce the Muslim Brotherhood, an undeniably racist question that was instantly met with derison from the crowd. El-Sayed quickly said sure, yes, he denounced that group, and then expertly turned the question around to question why someone like Tommy would ask that in the first place. Here's the video if you want to see it. This moment alone is pretty noteworthy as another example of younger Democratic pundits who, pardon my French, say that shit with their chest. But in the aftermath of this video's virality, another detail came to light: Tommy the heckler turns out to be Thomas Teepell, son of Timmy Teepell, a Republican strategist with ties to multiple Republican campaigns across the country. Even more interesting, The Michigan Daily reported that there's been a financial push by a conservative PAC called America Next, which offers $200 to college-age Republicans to go to Democratic rallies and heckle or generally cause a ruckus. I should say, there's been no confirmation as of me writing this that Tommy was paid by America Next.
The Handbasket was the first to report on Tommy's identity, but it's since been picked up by other outlets such as The Guardian, if you'd like to read more about it. But I chose this piece largely because it points to this specific element of modern elections, and I find that interesting. I would be truly shocked if paid hecklers were a new thing, but it's especially enjoyable to see them get absolutely dog-walked like this. Makes me think about those awful videos about "owning" (or should I say "pwning") feminists or liberals or whatever. Hopefully this marks a sea change.
And that's all from me. Halloween is swiftly approaching, and with it the end of the busiest month on my calendar every year. If you need me for anything on November 1st....no you don't. Smoochies!
Dead Man's Bones is, undeniably, the best modern Halloween music ever made - made up of a duo of guys (one of whom happens to be Ryan Gosling) obsessed with Halloween and autumn and scary movies. Here is one of my favorite songs from their one and only album from 2009. And I include it because they just announced that they will be releasing new music on October 27th! This is a huge deal for me, and maybe you? I hope so.