Podlaffs: Spontaneanation With Paul F. Tompkins

ear_spontaneanation_cover_1600x1600_final_1024-1Welcome to Podlaffs, a periodic sample of the best comedy podcasts (and perhaps other online audio). This feature is to help new listeners find quality episodes in a dauntingly rich comedy landscape. Did you hear something particularly funny this week? Hit me up on Twitter @michaeleoneil with a link!

Podcast: Spontaneanation With Paul F. Tompkins

Episode: A Top Chef Finale Afterparty

If you can manage to pronounce “Spontaneanation” (spawn-tain-ee-oh-nay-shun) then it’s a good clue as to what you’re in for: a distilled celebration of improvisational comedy. Only on it’s 21st episode, Spontaneanation is the product of podcast mastermind (and Mister Congeniality of the Post-Millennial Comedy Boom) Paul F. Tompkins. Since Tompkins is such a veteran of the form, at this point, his latest endeavor found its stride immediately.

The show is far warmer and more accessible than Matt Bessar’s Improv4Humans, and both the format and rotating cast of ensemble players keeps episodes fresh. The silly and jovial Tompkins kicks off each episode with a short, loopy monologue that gives the listener a sense that Tompkins is walking a tightrope blind, and without a net. Half of the fun is listening to the as-yet-unintroduced guests break into laughter across the room as he absurdly stumbles through topics like mental illness and Aaron Sorkin’s penchant for re-using episode titles.

(Tompkins’ performance–and the entire show–are elevated by the remarkable Eban Schletter’s off-the-cuff keyboard accompaniment, ranging from vaudevillian organ to maudlin piano. It’s playfully nostalgic and witty without lapsing into irony.)

We then transition to the guest interview of the week, who is asked a question supplied blindly from the week’s previous guest. Since the guest who supplied the question has no idea of who will have to answer it, it can provoke anything from near-hysterical embarrassment to indifference. But Tompkins knows his guests well and is able to lock onto or discover fruitful ground with his effusive rapport and natural curiosity.

Guests can range from legitimate TV and movie stars (e.g. Michael Sheen, Paget Brewster) to more niche denizens of pop culture and comedy like Jonathan Coulton, Jen Kirkman. After about 30 minutes spent on the guest interview (minus ads for website hosting, mail-order shaving razors and postage stamps), the show transitions to a 45 minute or so long-form improvisation set in a location supplied by that week’s guest.

And it’s the improvised story that comedy geeks will find something to sink their teeth into. The ensemble tends to play out like an all-star team of character actors and improv scene aces, working their storytelling chops and voice character skills. One standout is the sublime Janet Varney who, in addition to being a comedy and podcast mainstay, starred in the animated hit The Legend of Korra. Comedy nerds will also recognize the likes of Craig Cackowski and Marc Evan Jackson.

Tompkins’ bullpen seems to draw primarily from his Thrilling Adventure Hour comrades, his supporting cast on Fusion’s No, You Shut Up!, and the general UCB/Earwolf comedy complex. They know each other well, and are just as funny when things break down as when firing on all cylinders. It’s especially funny when they play the improv version of “screw your neighbor” (“Father, would you please sing us all your song about the rules of chess?”).

“A Top Chef Finale Afterparty” moves through the interview at a nice clip, as guest Jonathan Coulton is charming and game to swerve into offbeat childhood memories on a dime. His titular location for the episode’s story is funny and specific, and guest improvisers Varney, Annie Savage and Hal Lublin are all fantastic. The story also makes fun use of the show’s recurring device of using audio cues to signal flash-backs and flash-forwards within the story, which any of the improvisors can trigger at any time.

Another highlight in Spontaneanation’s run is Savannah, Georgia, of particular delight if you’ve ever wanted to hear a trio of Foghorn Leghorn-sound-a-likes square off against an artificial intelligence with daddy issues. Spontaneanation is a sparkling way to start your week, promising many laughs, a fair amount of weirdness and a little love!

Author: Michael O'Neil