Considering the medium has been around now for more than ten years, it baffles me that podcasting isn’t more popular. It’s basically a much more convenient alternative to radio, without all the mass media agendas and rubbish pop music. Not forgetting that it is all uncensored, free and for the most part a world that has yet to be corrupted by advertising. Anyone can start a podcast and anyone can listen.
So why, with all these benefits is it still a seemingly niche market? The theories would be endless but essentially what it all comes down to is money. Not many people are making money from podcasting and without money you don’t get much exposure. Thanks a lot Rupert Murdoch.
Alright after that long rambling introduction we can finally get to point of this article, exposure. As an avid podcast listener (seriously I would listen to at least three a day), I find it very frustrating that there are not many people reporting on, reviewing or even recommending new and noteworthy podcasts. Consequently, I have decided to combine all three and attempt it myself for other podcast fans. Each week, I plan on reporting on, reviewing and recommending some of the more unknown, yet still entertaining podcasts in the worlds of comedy, edu-tainment and drama.
Wil Anderson And Charlie Clausen
It seems only right to start with a group of entertainers that you may already be aware. Wil Anderson has been known in the Australian media for over fifteen years, as a popular stand-up, radio and television host and fully fledged member of the Twitterati. As for Charlie Clausen(it’s Clausen like “aweson”, not Clowsen like “owsen”), it may only be recently that his name has become more recognised as he plays the regular role of Zac MacGuire on Home And Away. Unless you follow either of them on Twitter, you may be surprised that they are responsible for not one, but four separate podcasts.
The pod that started them all back in 2010, two men who enjoyed talking about Batman, time travel and prison rape decided that their conversations were too good not to shoddily record and began to release their efforts to the world.
They named themselves in homage/spoofing the still baffling Russell Crowe fronted band, TOFOG(Thirty Odd Foot Of Grunt). The show gained quite a following as the two would usually begin talking about Batman and then go on an hour long tangent covering forgotten anecdotes and on-the-spot puns. Reaching eighty-three episodes, in 2012 the podcast had to come to an abrupt hiatus as Charlie got a large role in an undisclosed TV show(Home And Away, if you missed that earlier).
It took Wil a whole year to learn how to turn on the mics and he decided to carry on the show, with a rotating guest(Charlie) cast. Now in 2015, FOFOP(Fifteen Odd Foot Of Pod) has doubled the episode count of the original show and lives on in the same feed as it’s mother show.
The show has seen the likes of Dave Anthony(guest Charlie number one), Daniel Sloss, Felicity Ward, Ronny Chieng, Jen Kirkman, Matt Kirshen, Gary Renolds, Shane Mauss, Andy Peters, Celia Paquola, Rove McManus, Justin Hamilton, Sam Simmons, Wendy Wason (I think that’s beefed up my word count enough) and many more.
Started by Wil in a vane attempt to get Charlie back on the mic, Wilosophy has grown into it’s own podcast now. Wilosophy could very much be described as the audio version of Enough Rope, as Wil interviews his guests one their life philosophy which gives the show a much more mature air than it’s predecessors. While there are still laughs alone the way, the show is a lot more about the guest than it is about comedic conversation. The listener will learn a lot about Wil’s guest over the hour and a half and sometimes the guest will reveal some quite interesting or shocking aspects of their life.
That’s Aweson With Charlie Clausen
If Wilosophy is like an Andrew Denton interview, That’s Aweson is much more like a Rove review. Sure the conversation starts off serious, yet Charlie interviews his guest with a more relaxed manner that one would have when talking to a long term friend. Unlike Wilosophy, guests are set to return and the feed seems to be updating on a regularly basis(Sundays) which is unheard of in the world of TOFOP. At only twenty-one episodes, That’s Aweson is the baby of the group but is by no means the weak link in the ever-growing chain of the TOFOP family.
Article by Daniel Priman.
