One Word Go Show

This show will stick in my mind for a long time. It took a LOT of effort to get through this. I am not a prude. I laugh at comedians like Louie CK, Chris Rock, and Eddie Murphy (back in the day). I loved Sam Kinison. I laugh at South Park and the Family Guy. I love to laugh. This show is billed as a comedy. I didn’t hear any sarcasm. I didn’t hear an commentary on life that pointed out ironic behavior. There is (under neath it all) formulas that work in comedy and in opinion (and that’s all this is) this show doesn’t follow any of them. If you think the phrase “Who doesn’t masterbate at funerals” is funny then this show is for you. For me, it’s stupid.

I watched Saturday night Fever. I watched the Wold of Wall Street (which set a record for the number of times “The F Word” was used in a movie). There was a story. There was CONTENT. This podcasts seems to swear because they want to be edgy. They have icing, but no cake.

The premise of the show is they take words that have been submitted by the audience and make a show out of that one word. This is something similar that improv groups do where they pull multiple words from a group and try to fit them all into a sketch. I’ve seen Second City in Chicago (a group that was supplied much of the cast for the first season of Saturday Night Live), and even that group had 30% of their content bomb. In general, good content does not happen by winging it.Â

In today’s show the highlights are:

A girl sings I’m a little teapot out the window
One of the hosts is leaving
They do a prank call
They talk about the co-hosts surfing for porn on his phone.

I typically say content should move your audience. It should inspire them. My question is, “What do the crew and One Word Go Show want us to do with this?” OK it’s a comedy show. They expect us to laugh. I get that. For me (being in my late 40′s) I didn’t find it funny. Maybe if you’re between the ages of 15-22, you will.

The Lightning Bolt That Is Breanne

If you are a offensive enough person on reality TV, you will get your own show (see Honey Boo Boo, see Ambrosia, etc). On their website she is described as “She’s very open about her life, and doesn’t give a crap what you think. ” She reminds me of Cartman’s “Whatever I do what I want, only Breana would say “I do whatever I F#*king want Bitch.”

For me, they lost me in the first 3 minutes with the endless unnecessary swearing. I do thank Mat for giving us a heads up that what was coming was immature, “dirty”, and at times violent.

How to Swear Properly

The F word is a word to accent a level of intensity. If you you broke up with me, I might say you broke my heart. If you broke up with me after I bought you a leather Jacket for Valentines day and you’re now dating my brother, I might say you F#*king broke my heart. If I use the word without respect for its power, you drain it of all it’s power. It loses it’s effect. Please respect the F word. It’s one of the best words we have.

You might look at a post that I did a while ago that talks about Howard Stern had more than just dirty word. When he was on regular radio that required him to be creative.

I have a sneaking suspicion that heavy drinking occurs before this show starts recording (as some of these topics are – in my opinion – are not as funny as the laugh they inspire).

What This Show Does Well

They provide a disclaimer at the beginning of the show

They have easy to find subscribe buttons

They made sure to have proper ID3 tags

They put together some production music to introduce segments etc.

Nice Mickey Mouse imitation

What This Show Could Do Better

Get to the word first. I didn’t know who Breanne is, so I didn’t care that she was leaving.

Start well and end well. Come up with something funny  at the beginning of the show (you may think your disclaimer is funny).

Add some treble to Dan’s voice, at times he spoke so low I couldn’t understand him. His voice is fine but the equalization needs tweaked.

Quit talking over each other.

Enough with the inside jokes.

As you know what words are in the hat that you are pulling out, plan ahead some material (maybe playing truth or dare was the plan, I’m not sure).

It took you five minutes to give out your contact information. People’s most valuable asset is their time.

Try editing. A comedian records a special (often multiple times) and then takes the best of those recordings. Put the show down for a few days after the recording, and go back and edit with new ears and ask, “is this funny?”.

I believe I am not your target audience. Figure out who they are, and listen through their ears. If you don’t have 60 minutes of material ,do “fill it” with “stuff.” There is no tool long when it comes to podcasting, only too boring.

Change your description on your site. I don’t care how you met, or how long you and your friends have known each other. What is your podcast about? What can I expect? How will I benefit?

Look for crutch words. Breanne’s word is “Like,” and it becomes very annoying by the end of the show.

How to Grow Your Audience

Your audience is (I’m guessing) people who like Maury Povich, Jerry Springer, etc. I would look for forums where people talk about these shows and participate in the community.

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More From Dave and Erik

Find Dave at schoolofpodcasting.com

Find Erik at podcasttalentcoach.com