More Dom

I'll say again, I strongly encourage you to check out comedian Dom Irrera's podcasts. There's a lot that reflects musicians' world— what these guys are, musicians used to be. They are very intimate with what's happening in their scene, and with the work of their contemporaries, and with their immediate influences, but are not necessarily all-encompassing scholars of the history of comedy. That's actually the way it's supposed to be, in an active, living scene— it seems that musicians have gotten more serious about history and scholarship as the scene has fallen apart.

Critical opinions are oriented around funny/not funny, and original vs. “stolen” material, rather than the type of judgments fans make, about who's currently hot and who “sucks.” For example, you'll hear neutral, non-snide references to Carrot Top and Larry The Cable Guy, each perennial figures of loathing among comedy fans. The interview with Rob Schneider, who is also the subject of a lot of antipathy, is really good:





Much of the conversation is NSFW in a big way, so best not to play these in front of your grandmother— these guys are pretty “low chakra” types, as Bob Moses said of most musicians in a recent clinic. There's also some racial stuff that's pretty marginal in my book. The comedians have a lot of verbal intelligence, but not necessarily a lot of education, and are generally not real sophisticated politically.

But these things are a great working class entertainment business hang, and very worth the time.