Since I’m a well-rounded nerd, you can bet your bum I listen to podcasts. Talking is overrated so I spend my entire work day with my headphones plugged in – only one ear though, so it looks like I’m listening when people don’t take the headphone hint. Due to this, I’ve had to expand my podcast circle greatly over the years – 40 hours is a lot of time to fill. My favorite podcasts are comedy based because I love to laugh and I also love to make people think I’m crazy by trying to suppress my laughter in the office and failing. I recently stumbled upon a new podcast that I want to share with the world because I think it deserves all the love. This podcast is Off Book: The Improvised Musical.
The stars of our show, doing their thang
The concept is simple, but also so, so complicated. The hosts, Jessica McKenna and Zach Reino, both UCB regulars, along with a live pianist, (shout out to Scott Passarella for tickling those ivories) and a guest come up with musical theater performances on the spot. The guest provides an anecdote in the beginning of the episode and from there, a musical emerges. Not just a song, but a full-fledged, hour long musical with scene breaks and multiple characters – even the ads are turned into songs! I don’t have to skip them anymore!
Consider this rap from @OffBookPod an invitation to be pod pals @ThisAmerLife @iraglass @dadwroteaporno @replyall @PodSaveAmerica @serial pic.twitter.com/1H0tGXisvW
— Earwolf (@earwolf) July 26, 2017
The musicals they’ve created so far are Shrugging Destiny, Sham Wowowow, and Pillaging For Your Dreams. If those don’t sound like Tony prospects then I don’t know what does. The songs and plotlines are silly and somewhat nonsensical, but that’s the fun of it. Coming up with a song on the spot and following through with lyrics is nothing to scoff at – I’d like to see you come up with a song about Chili’s margaritas in 10 seconds or less (no seriously, send me videos of that).
You’ll find yourself humming hits like “You Don’t Have What it Got/Takes,” “We Forgot We Were Bears,” “Make Your Heart Like a ShamWow,” or “Dang Dang Dang Dang Dang Dang” hours later. I may be improvising some of those titles since there’s no song list, but you’ll know them when you hear them. And the first episode just came out recently! So you can get in on the ground floor and be the one to recommend it to all your friends and be ~the cool one~. Feel free to take credit for that even though I’m the one telling you about it now. And get ready to try to suppress your laughter at your desk, or for a little more freedom, listen in private so you can laugh/cry without abandon. Try to avoid swerving off the road or tripping over stationary objects if you’re listening whilst moving.
And when you inevitably can’t get enough of Jessica McKenna and Zach Reino, check out their appearance on With Special Guest, another great improv show where the host is the guest and they come up with a new podcast show on the spot. Their show is called Hey Misters DJ and also focuses on coming up with songs on the fly. Also check out Jessica’s many appearances on Comedy Bang Bang where she is also, of course, amazing.
