Matt Belknap
| Hosted by |
Jimmy Pardo Matt Belknap |
|---|---|
| Genre | Comedy |
| Language | English |
| Updates | Wednesdays (free episode) and Sundays (Primo episodes) |
| Length | Approx. 2 Hours |
| Camera | Eliot Hochberg |
| Production | Matt Belknap |
| Video format | MP4 |
| Audio format | MP3 |
| Debut | April 4, 2006 |
| Website | http://www.pardcast.com |
Never Not Funny is a weekly podcast hosted by comedian Jimmy Pardo since spring 2006. He and producer/co-host Matt Belknap have appeared in every episode. Former co-host Mike Schmidt appeared for all of season one, except for episode 60 when his departure was announced.
The show moved to a pay format in March 2008, with the first twenty minutes of each show remaining available to non-paying subscribers. It subsequently returned to free distribution when it joined the Earwolf network in January 2014, with a premium subscription available for access to video and weekly bonus episodes. Episodes from past seasons are also commercially available.
The show is of the comedy talk variety, consisting of free-form conversation between Jimmy Pardo, Matt Belknap and a third, weekly-changing guest. The top of the show consists of just the regular hosts and then bringing the guest into the mix in the second half. Jimmy often becomes infuriated with guests if they arrive too early, interrupting the pre break part of the show. Topics discussed range from music and popular culture to personal lives and amusing or interesting anecdotes. Starting with season three, the last 5–20 minutes were dedicated to a listener-submitted "Stupid Question Of The Week." The segment has since been retired. At the beginning of season five, a new segment called "Judge Jimmy" was introduced, in which the cast settled a listener-submitted dispute with Pardo as judge and Belknap and the guest as the attorneys.
Until the end of the third season, the show was recorded in a single take without any editing. After the 2008 Chino Hills earthquake forced the show to stop briefly (originally so Jimmy, Matt and guest Patton Oswalt could check on family members) the podcast has had one small break per episode.
Never Not Funny began when Matt Belknap interviewed Pardo on the podcast for his popular alternative comedy forum A Special Thing. The two had previously discussed producing a podcast version of Jimmy's Los Angeles show "Running Your Trap," which he hosted at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, but they hit it off so well on AST Radio that Pardo said "This is the show."
The first episode featured Pardo, Belknap, and guest Mike Schmidt. Pat Francis was scheduled for episode 2, but when he was unavailable, Schmidt (usually referred to by Pardo as "The Former Third Baseman" after the similarly named baseball player) became the permanent co-host. This arrangement continued for the first season. Every fourth episode would feature a guest such as Pat Francis, Scott Aukerman or Graham Elwood. Midway through the first season, the theme song was changed from a brief portion of an unnamed instrumental song by Jimmy's close friend Daver to "Mad At The World" by Daver, with sound bites from previous episodes mixed into the song. This three-man setup lasted for sixty episodes, including a clip show and two live shows recorded at the UCB Theatre. The show went through little change throughout the first season until episode sixty, when Jimmy announced that his relationship with Mike Schmidt had become strained through the years and that they had decided to go their separate ways; Schmidt left the show in an attempt to reconcile their friendship. (Show notes for episode 60.) Mike explained the situation on May 25, 2007, on his website. In March 2008, Mike started his own solo podcast named The 40 Year Old Boy. At the end of season six, Schmidt made his first return to the podcast, this time as a guest, when Pardo decided, "Life's too short." (Show notes for Episode 623 with Mike Schmidt.)
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