Walking the Room

Walking the Room is a comedy podcast hosted by American comedians Greg Behrendt and Dave Anthony. The free, hour-long weekly show debuted via web and iTunes on May 24, 2010, and is recorded in Behrendt’s closet in Los Angeles, California.^[1] Each episode is broken into three segments that typically involve rants and banter between the hosts,^[2] but occasional guests have included Patton Oswalt, Karen Kilgariff, Brian Posehn, Jimmy Pardo, Jonah Ray, Brendon Walsh, Jen Kirkman and TOFOP hosts Wil Anderson and Charlie Clausen. Anthony produces and edits the show. Behrendt originally created the opening theme, “Estoy Podcuddle,” under the name HoboTang,^[3] and most of the music played on the show is performed by his band, The Reigning Monarchs.^[4]

History

Dave Anthony, a stand-up comedian, writer and actor,^[5] wanted to start a comedy podcast that did not revolve around interviewing guests. He recorded two episodes based on his blog, Stop All Monsters, which he hosted solo, but felt it needed something more.^[6] He pitched the idea of co-hosting to his long-time friend, Greg Behrendt.^[7] The two had met during their early stand-up days in San Francisco, and had previously worked together in radio^[8] as well as on The Greg Behrendt Show.

Behrendt had gained success when his consultant position on Sex and the City led to his co-authoring the book He's Just Not That Into You. The book became a New York Times Best-Seller, landed Behrendt an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and was later turned into a feature film.^[9] Behrendt always considered himself a stand-up comedian first and foremost,^[10] and agreed to co-host with Anthony. They began recording Walking the Room in Behrendt’s bedroom for the first 10 episodes, then relocated to the now-trademark closet to improve the show’s sound quality.^[11]

Premise, Fans and Terminology

The show not only revolves around the actual lives of hosts Anthony and Behrendt, but the universe they’ve created through expanding that reality into absurdity, often through the use of nicknames and catchphrases.^[12] The most notable recurring storylines involve the chronicles of Anthony’s neighborhood, but topics range from comedy and show business (like a story about Dane Cook casually trying to steal one of Behrendt’s classic bits),^[13] to family life, prison and candy (particularly Australian biscuits, Tim Tams).

Walking the Room labels itself a "podcuddle," and its hardcore fans, known as “Cuddlahs” (or “Customers”), are described as “Clown from the Neck Down.” The show builds upon itself more than most podcasts, which can be attributed to their ever-evolving real-life Cliffhangers, as well as the podcuddle-specific language they continually generate.^[14] The show’s official website, designed by Damien Schaefer and launched on April 17, 2011, provides a glossary, written by Vicky Pezza, to help new listeners navigate the dialogue.^[15]

From the beginning, the show was heavily promoted and endorsed by comedian Patton Oswalt,^[16] and on May 8, 2011, artist Keegan Wenkman released four commemorative posters depicting some of the show's most iconic images^[17] in honor of Oswalt’s long-anticipated guest appearance on their 50th episode.^[18]

Additionally, crossover with Walking the Room’s sister podcast, TOFOP (formerly Thirty Odd Foot of Pod), hosted by comedian Wil Anderson and actor Charlie Clausen, helped the show gain a following in their native country of Australia.^[19]

In response to the amount of candy the hosts began to receive from fans, they created minute-long video shorts entitled That Candy Thing with Greg and Dave where they reviewed the treats on-camera. A video was released each week.^[20]

The Starfish Circus

A “Starfish Circus” is a live Walking the Room event hosted by Anthony and Behrendt. The shows feature their stand-up as well as other comedian guests and a musical performance by The Reigning Monarchs.

The first show debuted on June 27, 2011, at Largo at the Coronet in Los Angeles and included Wil Anderson, Patton Oswalt and Brian Posehn. The Starfish Circus 2 (aka El Circo de la Estrella del Mar), scheduled for September 26, 2011, features guests Jimmy Pardo, Karen Kilgariff and Kyle Kinane.^[21]

Event artwork is created by Paul “Wiseacre” Armstrong and merchandise is designed by Joseph Angelo Warner.^[22] The title “Starfish Circus” references a more literal event as imagined by the hosts in episode #6 of the podcast (“Not Knowing Hetfield & Pre-School Graduation").^[23]

A third show, titled Starfish Brooklyn was held in Brooklyn, NY at The Bell House theater on March 10, 2012.

On the 121st episode of the show it was announced that a 4th event would be held again in NY at The Bell House on February 2, 2013 and is tentatively titled Starfish Brooklyn 2.^[24]

References

External links

• Official website
• Walking the Room on Liberated Syndication