When I worked at my shitty desk, I listened to serious amounts of podcasts. I downloaded tons of NPR Shows, The Economist, a few musically-driven diatribes against autotuned-modernity central to Grateful Dead, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and The Allman Brothers amongst other folks, and of course some Onion stuff. Aside from Ira Glass (This American Life: Chicago Public Radio), however, I always really only had two dudes' voices streaming in my ears at all times as I analyzed data and felt like at any second I'd instinctively start picking out fleas from my coworkers' hair.
There's two bros out in California who are really funny. You might recognize one from his namesake, and the other from the teeny-bopper classic film, Crossroads, but you'll remember them best by their banter together if you give it a listen. Uhh Yeah Dude is comprised of Jonathan Larroquette and Seth Romatelli, respective to their earlier descriptions. Taglined, "America through the Eyes of Two American Americans," the Dudes mock their way through a weekly hour of jest-induced topical discussions including how fat America is, how ridiculous Craigslist is, and how horrible Florida is as a state. If you really love Florida, you might hate them. Sorry, Krise. They rip on Florida's citizens, lawmakers, laws, criminals, backwoods marshnecks, athletes, and just about everything dumb it does... and there is A TON OF DUMB SHIT that they do.
The other segment that really stiffens my puddy-bun is "Craig's House," where Seth reads actual Craigslist ads listed as "Men Seeking Women." Here's the secret: they always end up being married men seeking other men, denying their sexuality, and virtually looking for other dudes to come yank on their parts and blow huge pent-up-marriage loads on their faces. Actual example: "My wife is dumb. Who wants to drain two months worth of spunk-sauce out of this jackhammer? My wife doesn't. I'm so ready for some man-action; get at me." I mean that is hilarious. Normally those type of entries end with something like, "NO GAY SHIT." I mean... can you get any more gay? Truthsmack: If people could just own up to their sexualities, or not be ashamed of who they are, then this wouldn't be funny. If you were just reading these ads, it might come off more disturbing or less funny, just because you probably have a soul. It's not the ads, it's the neuroses behind them; it's the American way.
Having said that, I think I like these guys because they're never really making fun of something that...isn't funny. Normally they're more just calling people out for their bullshit; i.e. a married man seeking gay love and tagging on "no homo" or even making fun of Jonathan himself for being a "vegan" and always eating cheese. Laughing at our societal insecurities is 100 % beneficial and necessary. I mean we, as a country, are totally mental, and why shouldn't that be joyful? As some cool side-effects of tuning in, you'll probably pick up some current events to share when you awkwardly just don't know what else to say at a work function or family event, and you'll probably be introduced to some good music since Jonathan bookends each episode with a track of his choosing. Also a musician, Larroquette performs with friend Amir Yaghmai in electronic duo, Jogger. In fact, they opened up for friend and touted experimental electro-risktaker, Daedelus, at Kinetic Playground about a year ago, and it was lots of fun. (Duh I went, are you even reading this? J.L. was really chill and we laughed about rave kids for awhile before he got yanked to the bar to be showered w free booze from fellow UYD fans.)
As Seth's oft-caustic and very funny take on society harmonizes so naturally with Jonathan's freethinking positivity and hilarious personal allegories, the affable personality of UYD continues to spread laughter as it approaches its five-year anniversary on February 11, 2011. To you, UYD, I say thank you, for getting me through so many muted conference calls, squish-faced train-rides, boring webinars, and airport travels alike. It's not prude, kinda rude, and it's definitely great for both dames and dudes. Please, please keep it coming; I'll never dodge your load.
**Subscribe for free here. If you like funny stuff, you won't regret it. Shout out to Logan Wiles for introducing me some amount of years ago.**
