You know, there's something... special about having an un-proof-read, first-draft blog post read aloud (to an ACTUAL audience, as opposed to my usual, somewhat more imaginary one) by the people the review is about.
Joy. Bliss. Immediate regret I didn't do a second draft.
So, the partytruckers liked my review. Which is awesome. And Brian Lynch (known forever to me as "the unchanging core") re-tweeted it to his 10k+ followers. Double awesome. Then, they (the partytruckers, not the 10k+ followers) read the damn thing on the cast!
...that last bit kinda blew the top off the awesome-o-meter.
And what a cool-assed way to discover it.
I waited almost a week to listen to the cast then, walking home from work one evening, hear my name pass in one ear hole and out the other via my headphones. Fall down. Get back up. Look at your man. Now back at me. Keep walking long enough to get home. Call wife-like girlfriend at work, and do happy dance at her over the phone (less effective than one might hope).
The partytruckers are pretty awesome guys, and they treated my review just as it deserved (actually, far better).
Good god, is my wife-like girlfriend listening to Level 42? She is.
It was written as I was finding my way through their entire catalogue, and as such, showed its ignorance.
This review, however shall work under no such burden. After having finished my semi-marathon of Party Truck episodes, I now feel qualified to point out exactly why PTUSA works, is awesome, and has become my new favorite podcast: Party Truck USA exists as a world of "yes".
...It also exists as a world of "mercilessly-mock-your-friends-if-they've- got-it-coming,-but-do-it-to-Rich-all-the-time-anyway,-'cause-that's-how-we-roll", but mostly it's the "world of yes" thing.
On Party Truck, no comedic thread - however weak and hopeless - is ever left un-picked-up. If one of the cast puts something out there, the rest will scramble like madmen to pick it up and run as far as they can with it. After all, this is the auditory equivalent of an artist doing doodles, sketching out an idea in the rough.
As I'd mentioned previously, the core group of Partytruckers, are writers, film- makers, (ex?) improv performers, and actors. When the time comes for the geek fists of fury, these are the guys you want throwing the punches.
Party Truck is what happens when the kinds of mind more concerned with the fallout from "Secret Invasion" than the invasion of Iraq, grow into adult-aged geeks that are wicked clever. And quick.
An exchange in an older episode regarding the making of a fictional Kevin Costner vehicle "Landworld" featured a request for a prequel featuring a world NOT blighted by the problems of a waterless world. The answer from Jordy Boggis (film-maker, and not from Jersey) - "A Perfect World" - was waiting before the echo of the question had faded from my headphones. The boy is quick. They all are. Though, it may be possible that Boggis has a far greater tolerance for mediocre Hollywood fare than anyone else in the world. The films that man has seen - and enjoyed - would make the crassest Hollywood mediocrity merchant giggle with glee.
There is, of course, a punching bag of sorts in the form of Rich Monahan - one of the lads from Jersey. Rich is the unrestrained id of the group, and one of the strongest parts of the podcast because of it. He is the one who will say what daren't be said, who will give the answer the next punchline requires, regardless of risk to himself. He'll even sing if required (just so long as it's to the tune of Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start The Fire"). It's clear that he's a skilled performer with a mind to match, he just keeps it to one side so it doesn't get in the way of the funny. He is the most unprepossessing member of the group, and often the funniest because of it.
Plus, at least HE still sings the segment jingles. There's another guy who used to sing with him, as well as add some valuable comedy to the jingles, but has of late decided it wasn't worth his time. Let's not talk about him.
If we WERE to talk about him, then we'd probably be talk about one of the funniest recurring character bits. "It's me, Brian Sadecki" will make me laugh no matter what. You have to hear it in context. Trust me. Sadecki is, not unlike Jodry Boggis as well, a bit of a comedy ninja in this show. While Rich will happily toss his hat into any conversational ring (regardless of whether or not he knows or cares about the subject at hand), Sadecki will wait for his moment to strike. Like a sniper on a sunny day, the lens cap on the scope isn't flicked open until JUST he right time. Then... BAM! Comedy gold.
Then we come to Brian Lynch - the afore-mentioned "unchanging core". Did I mention that he's unchanging? Good, 'cause he is. Unchanging. You got that, right? Okay, cool.
Lynch is the reason I listen to Party Truck. A one time collaborator of Kevin Smith's, I once heard him on an LA radio station doing his level best (and it was awesome - "Fun City", anyone?) to help get Smith's radio show off the ground by playing sidekick to the "Jay and Silent Bob" pairing of Smith and Jason Mewes. That bit didn't work out. There was no second episode. Pity. lynch was hilarious. And, I hate to say it (because I think he has people that will beat me bloody) so much funnier than Smith himself, that I was immediately hooked. And surprised. Why hadn't Smith had this clever fellow put to death? Lynch on that program was everything I believe comedy should be - quick, relevant, nimble, and just surreal ENOUGH to inform his comedy with a life beyond his utterance of it. All while sounding like an intellectually-elevated "David Spade's Hollywood Minute". Dude was funny. And he writes comics. And screenplays, so yeah - I was (am) a fan.
All I can do at this point is recommend the podcast to you and yours. That is, assuming that you and/or yours enjoy the ephemera of comics and movies, pop culture, and the comedy that is day-to-day life.
Go listen to Party Truck USA. They're your ears' new best friend. And tell your ears to tell Rich I said "Keep on singin' - you rock!"
-g-
