Take a Tour of Audible’s Big New Comedy Channel
Some of the shows available through Audible’s Comedy Channel
Audiobook and spoken-word juggernaut Audible has announced that it is adding a slew of original comedy shows to its new platform, Audible Channels. Just launched in September, Channels allows users access to a catalog of carefully curated lectures, programs, and orated articles, and it’s constantly being updated. One of the most exciting channels on the entire platform is Comedy, and we’ve partnered up with Audible to give our readers an in-depth look at all the series and specials being offered. All week long we’ll be releasing articles about the new platform, giving you a unique opportunity to get to know everything Audible has to offer.
Take a tour of Audible’s new channel with us. Go ahead, get out your phone or mobile device, download the Audible app if you don’t already have it. Sign in with your Amazon Prime account, or Audible Membership or go ahead and grab a free trial Audible Membership for 30 days. Once you’re ready, look down to the bottom and click on channels. Now you can go to “Browse All Channels” and select comedy, but for now you won’t even have to do that because Audible has the comedy spotlight right on the front page.
Audible’s robust slate of comedy programming showcases the talents of some of our favorite voices, shows, and comedy clubs in the business. Three of the key series being offered are hosted by people we love: Nick Offerman, Eugene Mirman, and Will Arnett are some of the funniest people on the planet. Some of the other voices you can hear throughout the channel include T.J. Miller, Jackie Kashian, Roy Wood Jr., Reggie Watts, John Mulaney, Sean Patton, Maria Bamford, Tommy Chong, Lewis Black, Todd Barry, Aparna Nancherla, Rory Scovel, Gilbert Gottfried and the Sklar Brothers and that’s just a small sample.
The anchor show for the new launch, The Comedy Show Show, is hosted by one of the funniest people on television- five time Emmy nominated Will Arnett. Tune in for Arnett– he’s brilliant– but stick around for the chance to hear something you can’t hear anywhere else: local comedy concept shows given a chance to shine on a national platform.With a few small exceptions, if you want to hear recorded comedy, you are limited to hearing stand up. Pure stand up is the pinnacle of comedy listening, but today’s comedy fan doesn’t live on headliners and showcases alone. If you go out to see live comedy in your city, you are as likely to be checking out theme shows (roast shows, crowd work, improvised sets, talk shows, shows with specific topics) and those shows are a blast, and a chance to see your favorite artists step outside of their comfort zone. But there aren’t a lot of opportunities to see concept shows that are happening in other cities. The Comedy Show Show gives you the chance to explore shows happening in other cities as well as your own. Every week, a new theme show will be in the spotlight. Right now there’s only one episode so you haven’t fallen behind yet.
This week it’s Mark Normand and Matt Ruby’s annual Halloween hit show, Schtick or Treat, recorded live at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn. Hear NYC’s hottest young comics “dress up” as iconic comedians by doing their best impressions. Click on the three dots next to the episode title to get more details on the episode, download it to your phone, or share it on social media. Or just click on the title to start streaming. Future episodes of The Comedy Show Show will include Bell Hop, a show we saw on the top floor of Chicago’s Virgin Hotel last summer’s A.V. Club Festival, Eliza Skinner’s comedy rap battle series, and Punderdome, a concept show that has been hailed by the New York Times as hilarious, with more to be announced. Follow The Comedy Show Show with Will Arnett, and you can become an expert on the hottest shows around the country without having to pony up for plane tickets. Love it? Click the plus sign in the title graphic on your phone and you’ll be following The Comedy Show Show and see all new episodes as soon as they’re available.
Speaking of concept shows, Hold On with Eugene Mirman is a brand new original series created exclusively for Audible that combines two different concepts happening in clubs around the country- storytelling and interrupting comedy. It brings a twist to the storytelling genre of comedy, breathing new life into classic great stories. Just back arrow back out to the featured page to find Hold On, and you’ll see there’s already 15 episodes to enjoy.
In each episode, host Eugene Mirman welcomes a new guest and selects a story they have told on stage. Mirman and his guest re-listen to the story together, but he’s always ready to stop the action and ask the storyteller questions, getting the comic to divulge new, never before shared details. In one episode, Mirman sits down with Reggie Watts and they listen to Watts tell his story about being on mushrooms with a free-spirited hippie girl, when suddenly, some unpleasant side effects of the mushrooms kick in. Mirman is not too shy to get all the details you want to know more about, but would never have the chance to ask. Other guests — Weird Al, Jim Gaffigan, Lisa Lampanelli, John Mulaney, Maria Bamford, John Fugelsang, Moshe Kasher, and many more — tell stories about taking drugs, being scared, dating, and bombing on stage. Not only is Eugene one of comedy’s most recognized voices (thanks to his role as Gene Belcher on Bob’s Burgers) but he’s also one of the most unique voices in comedy, so you know his questions are going to bring a whole new perspective to the stories in the series.
Bedtime Stories for Cynics might be our favorite series on the channel. These are bedtime stories that are inappropriate for kids. They are twists on your favorite childhood bedtime stories just for grown-ups. For each episode, host Nick Offerman teams up with a different comedian to bring these beautifully produced stories to life. Several of the stories were re-written by Dave Hill and that alone should be enough to interest you because Dave is kind of twisted and strange, and an amazing teller of fictional stories. But if you need more convincing, we promise you will want to hear Lewis Black telling the Dragon Slayer story (worth your time just to hear him say the dragon’s name Farvegnuggamemnon, over and over), Maria Bamford reading an all new twisted version of the story of Goldilocks, Tommy Chong reading the story of the Turtle and the Rabbit (yes, he’s doing character voices), and Brent Weinbach telling a modern-day version of Cinderella set in Los Angeles. These aren’t just comics telling old stories with a few fucks and shits thrown in. This is Audible theater, written by comedians and performed by comedians. There are four episodes available right now, with a new slate of four more coming in early December.
Two more series — Limelight and Sounds Like America –– both curate the voices of comics around the country. In Limelight, a great comic hosts each episode, covering a topic and sharing short clips from comics around the country talking about that topic. In one episode, T.J. Miller hosts and covers the topic of cluelessness, and he introduces pieces from Tommy Johnagin, Amy Anderson, Auggie Smith, and Andy Gold. In another episode, Rory Scovel covers comedy about school featuring Tom Segura, Chris Mata and Maronzio Vance, and Scovel hosts in character! What’s really interesting is how the shows are selected; Audible’s comedy team has gigantic databases of comedy material, and their experts choose a topic of interest, look at all the clips on topic, and then figure out which comics are not only funny, but have the most interesting take on that topic. So you’re just as likely to hear your favorite comic show up during an episode of Limelight as you are to hear a totally new voice, that you aren’t already familiar with. Each episode’s host becomes more of a guide to the topic than an emcee- not only introducing each of the comics and commenting on the material you’ll be hearing, but also adding their own take to the episode’s topic.
The best way to describe Sounds like America is to call it a comedy collage that delves into the American experience and what that means in different parts of the country. It’s a really unique series, drawing on the experience that road dogs have traveling from city to city. Nobody knows better than road comics about the similarities and differences between Americans living in different parts of the country. And in a post-election world, there’s no better time to take interest in what the hell is happening across the United States. This series brings all of those disparate viewpoints to life through hosts like Jackie Kashian, Rob Delaney, Roy Wood Jr., and Michelle Buteau. Each episode combines stand-up clips, music, thoughts and short interviews with other comedians, all covering a region or event. Some of the episodes include “The Midwest,” “New York City” and “Elections”. Doing stand-up in New York City is like doing an international lap dance, Michelle Buteau explains in her intro to covering New York City, and that’s the type of unique analysis you can look forward to as you get to know each region through the eyes of your favorite comedians.
And that’s only the beginning. There’s also Hot Mic with Dan Savage, collecting stories about lust, longing and lewd behavior with the infamous sex columnist, Timothy McSweeney’s Internet Tendency which brings literary humor to your mobile device, plus plenty of comedy specials and albums, the best of Risk! Live, the Onion Audio News, How to Be Amazing with Michael Ian Black plus new series to be announced.
All the shows are available on demand, meant to be enjoyed anytime and anywhere you have access to the internet — or, like a podcast, you can download episodes to listen to when you’re off the grid. Everything is accessible via the Audible app, and it’s free for Amazon Prime members or anyone who is already an Audible subscriber. If you aren’t already signed up for Amazon Prime or Audible Membership, a subscription to Channels is only $4.95 a month. Or you can try Audible Membership free for 30 days. Check out the trailers for several of the new series, and get more information, at Audible.com.
Audible is re-imagining what is possible, creatively, in the area of on-demand audio, and there’s lots more to come. There are great performances happening all over the country in clubs large and small. Audible’s comedy channel takes the gigantic comedy world and pulls it all in close allowing you to digitally travel the country and hear more great comedy than ever before.
Read more about our Featured Partner, Audible, and their new comedy channel all week, here.
