Latest Episodes

September 28, 2015

Paul F. Tompkins once again welcomes the wonderful people of Los Angeles AND the internet to a LIVE episode of Spontaneanation recorded at the world-famous Largo at The Coronet! This week, Paul’s special guest is Scott Aukerman of Comedy Bang! Bang! (Both versions). They chat about what living non-human thing he would make using his rib, growing up unattached to the family wiener dog, and how he fell in love with his Boston Terrier. Paul is then joined by Matt Gourley, Amanda Lund, and Chris Tallman to improvise a story set underneath the Eiffel Tower. And as always, Eban Schletter (only the best) scores it all on piano!

Don’t forget! The next LIVE SPONTANEANATION is happening Saturday, October 3rd with Paul’s pals Drew Massey, Colleen Smith, and Victor Yerrid from No, You Shut Up! and very special guest Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles. There will be special moments that you can only experience LIVE so get your tickets now over at www.paulftompkins.com/live!

Photos by Liezl Estipona

September 28, 2015

Jason Heynong-Mantzoukas and Comedy’s own Nick Kroll arrive in studio to help Scott get to the bottom of the origin of Mailer-Daemon on this week’s Comedy Bing Bing! However, through their online research they have summoned the Mailer Daemon himself, a demon who has possessed the Ask Jeeves butler. Now the demon is here to serve but also change the CBB universe forever! Can anything be done to stop him? Tune in to find out!

September 28, 2015

Would you like a side of ‘printable meat’ to accompany your ‘cricket-flour bialy’? James and Stephen discuss potential evolutions to social norms, and take an introspective look at the most troublesome of roommates: children.

September 28, 2015

Newsflash: You only have 407 days until the 2016 presidential election. Do you think you’ll have enough time to make an informed decision? We think so. In fact, you could bury your head in the sand on Mars for another full year and still have enough time to suss out which candidate you think should be the leader of the free world.

But why, over 13 months out, is every news outlet leading with an election story like it’s coming up tomorrow and we still have approximately 45,000 candidates? Why are no serious Republican candidates calling out Trump for being a rodeo clown in a fancy suit? And why do people think Donald Trump can win when — spoiler alert — he’s not going to become President?

Dan O’Brien is joined this week by Cracked editors Kristi Harrison and Alex Schmidt to answer these burning questions and remind you that what’s going on with the presidential election right now is a total farce; you can go back to your normal business until February 2016 at the earliest.

September 28, 2015

Comedian Nore Davis joins Andrew all this week to answer some racism questions. Today they discuss the Race Card. Be sure to call us at (323) 389-RACE to ask if anything is racist.

September 26, 2015

This week we have another star studded Reading Aloud! We open with friend-of-the-show Steven Weber reading “The Birthday Clown Consortium Price Guide”, by Luke Burns. Then we have Timothy Simons reading “Paloma” by Chad Simpson. Then Nate closes out the show reading a piece by Jay Caspian Kang entitled “What the World Got Wrong About Kareem Abdul Jabbar” Be sure to pick up “Purity”, by Jonathan Franzen, so you’re ready for next month’s book club!

September 26, 2015

Our series on accidental pregnancy continues with audience favorite Ellen Kecskemethy. Who’s got brand new news.

September 25, 2015

On the next episode, we will be looking at a film that tells a story about a man who has a deep hatred against a skeleton. This week Paul goes through Corrections and Omissions for Maximum Overdrive, answers the eternal Nic Cage question, and answers your Qs about dream location shoot visits to previous HDTGM movies.

People of the internet: The League is back on FXX 10pm on Wednesdays! A while ago, Paul and Rob Huebel did a comedy special on a 60 foot glass bus that traveled around LA and now you’ll be able to see it. Go to https://itun.es/us/3M4J9 now to buy it! You can also see Jason in Sleeping With Other People in a theater near you!

The Hotwives (Casey Wilson, Danielle Schneider, Andrea Savage, Dannah Phirman, Tymberlee Hill, Angela Kinsey, Erinn Hayes) are back and this time they are in Vegas baby! Watch The Hotwives of Las Vegas on Hulu today!

Also, check out June in Grace and Frankie available on Netflix, Paul in Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp on Netflix, all the episodes of NTSF:SD:SUV:: on HULU for free, ScheeRL on YouTube here:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbNGyZuMGBm0cq73JN-QhcpQNc-Shtlb7, and Jason in The Dictator (he’s still in it!).

September 25, 2015

Randy and Jason talk about how the unofficial mascot for the Vikings negotiated his way out of a job and why AC/DC is to blame for the Cubs’ field conditions. Then, the Sklars welcome Jon Hamm, who discusses his recent Emmy win, as well as the art of executing the final episode of a TV series. Later, in quick hits, the gang talks about a very ambitious ball boy, why German sports fans are anything but loosey-goosey, and a very reasonable blackmailer. Lastly, Bob Durst calls in to discuss the jokes that were made at his expense by Emmy’s host Andy Sandberg.

September 25, 2015

Ronna & Beverly return to the UCB theater in Los Angeles with their special guests Danny Pudi of Community and Paul F. Tompkins of Spontaneanation! Tune in to hear about the Polish plays Danny starred in as a child, Paul’s thoughts on Donald Trump, and what the ladies did for Yom Kippur this year.

September 25, 2015

Welcome back to The Pickup The Podcast with your hosts Blake Sugar (Chris Alvarado) and Dominic DuBois (Dustin Sterling)! Learn tips on how to carry yourself, get what you want, and get the ladies. This week is very special as Blake & Dominic finally welcome Dominic’s mystery woman Roxie and get to know the real her as they get intimate with a True or False segment called The Three Way. Later, Traci Reardon stops by to offer advice on dating to her Twitter in another edition of “Help Me, Rhonda.”

September 25, 2015

Howard does his best 007 impression and stakes out the LA Podfest and a Walmart in the midwest. Will he find rogue Chartists? Will he prove more intimidating than a man a hog? Will he find a summer cereal? Answers to these questions and more on this week’s Two Charted.

September 25, 2015

Americans go absolutely nuts for their coffee. But why so much fuss over the pit of a cherry that nobody eats?

September 25, 2015

Andrew Ti and special guest Lauren Cook finish the week off by discussing a theater selling 40s of Old English as a promotion for the Straight Outta Compton movie. As always, leave us a message about anything you think is racist at (323) 389-RACE.

September 24, 2015

Ethan Hawke is an exceptional actor as well as talker as he joins Josh this week to chat about working on Boyhood, exploring the life and lessons of piano teacher Seymour Bernstein in his documentary Seymour, how movies are about a collective imagination, his name being thrown into the mix for Doctor Strange thanks to Josh, and much more.

September 24, 2015

The supremely talented Kevin Bacon joins Josh to talk about his memories of working at the All State Cafe in New York, his new thriller Cop Car, early on being in a play called Slab Boys with Sean Penn & Val Kilmer, JFK, X-Men, and much more.

September 24, 2015

It finally happened. Kevin along with fellow Denzealot J. August Richards attended An Evening with Denzel Washington at the Wallis Annenberg Center for he Performing Arts in Hollywood, CA and witnessed a night that would surely make any Denzealot shed a glory tear. Kevin and Kamau recap the night as well as discuss Kevin’s special and unexpected chat with the greatest actor of all time himself including the special message Denzel had for Kamau.

September 24, 2015

Recorded from the 2015 Los Angeles Podfest, Leonard and Baron discuss LA Movies: the 2006 true-crime period film Hollywoodland, a true-crime turkey also released that very same year, and a brilliant sleeper by the name of King of California. Plus, they take questions from the live audience!

September 24, 2015

The extraordinary talented screenwriter/director/actor Lorene Scafaria (Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World) joins Franklin Leonard for an in depth conversation on this week’s Black List Table Reads. They’ll talk about how she would write action screenplays in 3rd grade growing up in New Jersey, being the real life Lisa Simpson in college, becoming writing partners with her old roommate Bryan Sipeto, what lead to Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, and her latest film The Meddler.

September 24, 2015

Trumpeting success with Pat Francis. (Recorded live at the Los Angeles Podcast Festival on September 20, 2015.)

September 24, 2015

Singer-songwriter Jake Smith of The White Buffalo joins Eugene Cordero, Stephanie Allynne, and Seth Morris on another musical edition of improv4humans with Matt Besser! The White Buffalo will perform songs live in-studio from his new album “Love & The Death of Damnation” that will inspire scenes about entitled millennials taking positions in the Supreme Court, wanting more production value for the Birds and the Bees talk, and a popular duo of singers who are famous for bickering in their songs. Make sure to get the Upright Citizens Brigade television show season 3 now available on DVD, the UCB Comedy Improv Manual, and pick up The White Buffalo’s music over at www.thewhitebuffalo.com!

September 24, 2015

Lauren Cook and Andrew talk about the term Reverse Racism. Don’t forget to keep leaving us messages by calling (323) 389-RACE.

September 23, 2015

Last time our adventurers were trying to escape flying eagle people, got into some woods, and saw some blue eagles. Now they are in the woods and things aren’t looking too good.

September 23, 2015

Our two self-described introverts find out if you can train yourself to enjoy talking to strangers. Plus, Stephen records part of this podcast upside-down.

September 23, 2015

Lauren Cook and Andrew talk all about using the phrase the “n-word” as a cop out. Be sure to keep leaving us messages at (323) 389-RACE.

September 23, 2015

In a Who charted exclusive, Howard admits to abandoning his fictional friend. Then, comedian Beth Stelling joins the show to explain why there should be a quota on how many movies of the same genre can be made each year, as well as why hover boards are just a little too showy. Additionally, the gang discusses why Olivia Newton-John is timeless. Lastly, Beth talks about the comedian that most influenced her comedy.

September 23, 2015

I’m starting to get the sense that Chunt might not actually like me at all. Maybe we’ll patch things up this week while we interview a magical midwife. I have so many questions about midwifery on Foon.

Credits

Arnie: Arnie Niekamp
Chunt: Adal Rifai
Usidore: Matt Young
Uteriah: Nicky Margolis
Bungaree Chubbins: Tom Gottlieb
Mysterious Man: Tim Sniffen

Producers: Arnie Niekamp, Evan Jacover, Ryan DiGiorgi
Editor: Ryan DiGiorgi
Theme Music: Andy Poland
Magic Tavern Logo: Allard Laban

Sponsored By: Know Your Company via The Chicago Podcast Cooperative

September 22, 2015

Writer and Comedian Josh Gondelman joins Jensen and Matty to talk about writing on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Max Wonders, Worriers, Cop Car, The Sellout: A Novel, Purity: A Novel, how we’re late on Rocket League, The Americans, Rick and Morty, and many other things you should know about.

September 22, 2015

Lizzie Velasquez is an amazing motivational speaker and author. Being bullied growing up for her rare condition that makes it unable for her to gain weight inspired her to make her voice heard. Lizzie joins Deanna and Emily in studio to discuss how her TED talk on “How Do You Define Yourself” lead to the creation of the documentary “A Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velasquez Story,” the Safe Schools Improvement Act, and how using social media can be a supportive way to help the issue of bullying in schools.

September 22, 2015

Join Kevin as he sits down with actress Brittany Snow (Pitch Perfect, Hairspray) as she discusses her lifetime career. Brittany chats about acting, singing, and her knack for turning movie titles into food puns.