Hosting | Jimmy Pardo Matt Belknap |
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Language | English |
Updates | Mondays |
Length | Approx. 1½ Hours |
Camera | Eliot Hochberg |
Production | Matt Belknap |
Video format | MP4 |
Audio format | MP3 |
Debut | April 4, 2006 |
Genre | Comedy |
Website | http://www.pardcast.com |
Never Not Funny is a weekly podcast hosted by comedian Jimmy Pardo since Spring 2006. He and producer Matt Belknap have appeared in every episode. Former co-host Mike Schmidt appeared for all of season one, except for episode 60 when his departure was announced.
Since March 2008, the show moved to a pay format, with the first twenty minutes of each show remaining available to non-paying subscribers. Episodes from past seasons are also commercially available.[1]
Contents |
The show is of the comedy talk variety, consisting of free-form conversation between Jimmy Pardo, Matt Belknap and a third, weekly-changing guest. Topics discussed range from music and popular culture to personal life and amusing or interesting anecdotes. Starting with season three, the last 5–20 minutes are dedicated to a listener-submitted "Stupid Question Of The Week." At the beginning of season five, they introduced a new segment called "Judge Jimmy," where Pardo is a judge, Belknap and the guest are the attorneys and they settle a listener-submitted dispute.
Until the end of the third season, the show was recorded in a single take without any editing. After the Chino, CA earthquake in August 2008 forced the show to stop briefly (originally so Jimmy, Matt and guest Patton Oswalt could check on family members) the podcast has had one small break per episode.
The original idea was to do an audio podcast version of Jimmy's Los Angeles show "Running Your Trap." The first episode featured him and Matt Belknap and guest Mike Schmidt. Pat Francis was scheduled for episode 2, but when he was unavailable, Schmidt (usually referred to by Pardo as "The Former Third Baseman" after the similarly named baseball player) became the permanent co-host. This became the arrangement for the show for the first season.
Every fourth episode would have a guest such as Pat Francis, Scott Aukerman or Graham Elwood. Midway through the first season the theme song was changed from a small portion of an unnamed instrumental song by Jimmy's close friend Daver to "Mad At The World" by Daver, with sound bites from previous episodes mixed into the song. This three-man setup lasted sixty episodes, including a clip show and two live shows recorded at the UCB Theater in Los Angeles. The show went through little change throughout the first season until episode sixty, when Jimmy announced that his relationship with Mike Schmidt had become strained through the years and that they had decided to go their separate ways; Mike left the show in an attempt to reconcile their friendship. (Show notes for episode 60.)
Mike explained the situation on May 25, 2007, on his website.[2] In March 2008, Mike started his own solo podcast named The 40 Year Old Boy.
With Schmidt's departure, the show began its second season. Instead of a standard three-man lineup, now only Pardo and Belknap were regulars, with a rotating guest every episode. Pat Francis was the guest for the first episode, which began the new tradition of Francis being the "third chair" and appearing on every fourth episode. It was in the second season that the show received its first sponsorship, lasting only a few weeks. On episode 39 of the second season, it was announced that the show would be moving to a pay format, beginning with season three. Listeners would have to pay to continue receiving the complete podcast, although the first twenty minutes of each episode would still be available for free. The subscription price was set to $19.99 for 26 episodes. They also hired Pardo's brother-in-law Andrew Koenig to record video of the show. Only 5 minute clips of the show were available on video during season three and was hosted on Koenig's site Monkey Go Lucky, but at the beginning of season four full video of the show was available for $24.99. Midway through season six tragedy struck when Andrew Koenig died. Andrew's close friend Eliot Hochberg, who had been providing the video gear, took his role as videographer. They also hired an intern, Dan Katz, aka "Tabasco Ears", who is often heard on mic. Several years after his departure from the show, Mike Schmidt made his first return to the podcast, this time as a guest, at the end of season six after Jimmy decided, "Life's too short." (Show notes for Episode 623 with Mike Schmidt.)
The show just started its tenth season.
Guest | Episode # |
---|---|
Adam Carolla | 507 |
Adam Scott | 808 |
Aisha Tyler | 919 |
Al Madrigal | 701, 902 |
Allan Havey | 806 |
Andrew Daly | 302, 421, 624, 805 |
Andy Kindler | 220, 703, 913 |
Andy Richter | 410, 622, 821 |
Bil Dwyer | 148, 317, 422, 601 |
Cathy Ladman | 236, 416 |
Chris Fairbanks | 228, 406, 510, 625 |
Chris Hardwick | 224, 310, 502 |
Conan O'Brien | 608, 811 |
Craig Bierko | 802 |
Damien Fahey | 910 |
Danielle Koenig | 132, 155, 205, 211, 226, 230, 239, 308, 412, 425, 522, 725, 912 |
Dave Anthony | 901 |
Dave Holmes | 222, 225, 233, 301, 314, 401, 414, 512, 617, 726, 1002 |
Doug Benson | 232, 305, 407, 516 |
Ed Crasnick | 917 |
Eddie Trunk | 816 |
Ellis Paul | 810 |
Gary Lucy | 923 |
Graham Elwood | 116, 203, 207, 237, 319, 418, 521, 616, 814 |
Greg Behrendt | 318, 603, 702, 825 |
Greg Fitzsimmons | 505 |
Greg Proops | 709 |
Harland Williams | 1001 |
Jackie Kashian | 718 |
Janet Varney | 419, 506, 708, 824 |
Jen Kirkman | 409, 515, 622, 807 |
Jesse Thorn | 503, 607, 707, 920 |
Jimmy Dore | 144, 220, 316, 423, 605, 711, 1003 |
Joe Lo Truglio | 618, 823 |
John Heffron | 221 |
John Ross Bowie | 916 |
Jon Hamm | 403, 721, 820 |
Jordan Morris | 613 |
Ken Marino | 909 |
Kevin Pollak | 716 |
Laurie Kilmartin | 621, 818 |
Marc Maron | 610 |
Maria Bamford | 208, 234, 401, 526, 907 |
Mark Volman | 517 |
Matt Besser | 622 |
Matt Braunger | 513, 719 |
Matt Walsh | 313, 415, 518 |
Mike Schmidt | 623, 722, 925 |
Mike Siegel | 124, 212, 235, 322, 420, 614 |
Mike Sweeney | 713 |
Moshe Kasher | 921 |
Myq Kaplan | 915 |
Pat Francis | 108, 140, 201, 205, 209, 213, 215, 217, 220, 221, 229, 230, 236, 240, 303, 307, 311, 315, 320, 325, 404, 408, 413, 416, 420, 425, 504, 508, 514, 519, 523, 604, 609, 619, 622, 704, 710, 714, 723, 804, 817, 906, 922 |
Patton Oswalt | 321, 812 |
Paul F. Tompkins | 128, 202, 214, 231, 309, 326, 426, 602, 715, 926 |
Paul Gilmartin | 104, 120, 204, 223, 239, 324, 424, 524, 822 |
Paul Goebel | 130 |
Paul Rust | 615 |
Pete Holmes | 803 |
Pete Schwaba | 152, 209, 216 |
Rachel Quaintance | 417, 525, 620, 801 |
Rebecca Corry | 905 |
Rich Sommer | 612, 815 |
Rob Corddry | 312, 402 |
Russ McGarry | 903 |
Samm Levine | 520 |
Sarah Silverman | 706 |
Scott Aukerman | 112, 130, 156, 206, 219, 227, 238, 304, 323, 411, 501, 626, 724, 826, 924 |
Scott Thompson | 720 |
Sean Cullen | 819 |
The Sklar Brothers | 210, 218, 509 |
Steve Almond | 705 |
Tig Notaro | 1004 |
Todd Glass | 136, 306, 405, 511, 611, 809, 908 |
Todd Levin | 606, 717 |
Tom Wilson | 911 |
Ty Burrell | 712, 914 |
Wayne Federman | 918 |
Wil Anderson | 904 |
Will Forte | 813 |
Season | Episodes | Bonus Episodes | Originally Broadcast | Co-host | Free Version | Primo Version(s) | Video | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season 1 | 60 | – | April 4, 2006–May 22, 2007 | Mike Schmidt Matt Belknap |
Full episode | – | – | – | |
Season 2 | 40 | – | June 1, 2007–March 7, 2008 | Matt Belknap | Full episode | – | "Jimmy Cam" YouTube clip | – | |
Season 3 | 26 | 3 | March 19, 2008–September 10, 2008 | Matt Belknap | First 20 minutes | Full audio | 5 short clips per episode After season 8, full episodes available for purchase |
– | |
Season 4 | 26 | 6 | September 24, 2008–April 1, 2009 | Matt Belknap | First 20 minutes | Full audio & video | Full episode | – | |
Season 5 | 26 | 7 | April 15, 2009–October 7, 2009 | Matt Belknap | First 20 minutes | Full audio & video | Full episode | – | |
Season 6 | 26 | 5 | October 21, 2009-May 5, 2010 | Matt Belknap | First 20 minutes | Full audio & video | Full episode | – | |
Season 7 | 26 | 5 | May 19, 2010-November 10, 2010 | Matt Belknap | First 20 minutes | Full audio & video | Full episode | – | |
Season 8 | 26 | 6 | November 24, 2010-May 25, 2011 | Matt Belknap | First 20 minutes | Full audio & video | Full episode | – | |
Season 9 | 26 | 4 | June 6,2011-November 28, 2011 | Matt Belknap | First 20 minutes | Full audio & video | Full episode | – | |
Season 10 | 26 | - | December 12, 2011- | Matt Belknap | First 20 minutes | Full audio & video | Full episode | – |
Every year since season six, on the day after Thanksgiving, Pardo, Belknap and "third chair" Pat Francis host a live, streaming marathon podcast on Ustream in front of a live audience to raise money for the Smile Train organization. The first year, they went for 9 hours and raised over $12,000. The second year was an even better success with them raising over $26,000 after 12 hours. For the third year, a goal of $27,000 was set to beat the previous year's total. After 12 hours, they raised over $34,000. Pardo said that it made sense to choose Smile Train as their official charity because both him and Pat Francis coincidentally suggested it, but also because "comedy and smiles go together."[6]
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