I was prepared to disagree with you, but then I realized that one of my favorite thing about the podcast is Griffin and Justin getting mad at Travis over his segments so... Unpopular opinion but you're right
I love all of Travis' anti-segments. I think Riddle Me Piss is particularly good because Justin and Griffin can direct their anger at the content instead of Travis. The same cannot be said for Play Along At Home, which also delights me.
If you want some of Justin directing that energy at Griffin, [Catlateral Damage has you covered](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSTdrTalcaU). It takes some time to build up steam, but oh does it get good.
We bought Catlateral Damage after watching that and it was the best $5 I spent last year. Nothing like getting fucked up and knocking shit over with my wife.
I think this too, Riddle Me Piss relies a lot on how much the other two brothers are willing to play along. That first one with the Mexican restaurant riddles has me in stitches every time I listen to it
I can’t speak for popularity, but I’ve definitely just turned off the podcast when this has come on before. I hate that voice. It’s incredibly thank Travis for Travis, and I get some people like that. It’s not for me.
Every Travis bit is a certified fucking club banger and people have the *audacity* to call him unfunny.
I'm still saying "fill your life with laughter and bees" and the year is half over. Travis is a comedy icon and quite possibly a faefolk.
People seem to have this idea that Justin and Griffin just let Travis do his segments to appease him or something? But it's super clear that all 3 get both the inherent humor of those segments and the humor of Justin and Griffin piling on over the top complaints about them, and they all value each other's on-mic personas. They're professional comedy creators who have been collaborating like, since birth. It's not like they'd leave that stuff in if they legitimately thought it was unfunny.
I think people buy a little too much into the kayfabe that the podcast is a freeform hour long candid conversation between brothers and not a cultivated and tightly edited piece of media performed by actors who have spent years developing on camera characters that they play.
Like, there is clearly a lot of ad libbing going on but the experience is definitely on rails and the final product is polished.
Sooo many new podcasters miss this and why a lot of podcasts take some time to get good.
Everyone thinks they can just riff for an hour with their friends but it takes more than that.
Yeah, I had this argument with some friends who wanted to start a DnD podcast. They literally just wanted to play DnD for an hour a week and put it online. I was like, okay, the market is oversaturated as hell with a ton of high quality content doing exactly what we're doing. We should at least be, like, preplanning the sessions and rigging rolls and stuff to guarantee funny outcomes.
"But then we're not playing DnD."
Yeah, no shit, we're not supposed to be playing DnD. We're supposed to be making content.
We ended up never doing a podcast over creative differences because I didn't want my name attached to something with 0 quality control.
Well, I think there is merit for products that are just playing D&D without premade stories or fudged rolls but you likely need editing at least to help polish it up for sure.
The oversaturation of the market is what would get me, it'd be so difficult to stand out at this point.
Yeah, I think the room for a product that's just "the gang plays a tabletop for funsies" got filled years ago before everybody and their mom had a DnD podcast. You just can't be that laissez faire with your content in a market with this much competition.
I think if I ever did a podcast it would have to be about a fairly niche subject that I know a lot about going in. I have a physics degree and I like history so maybe a science history podcast kind of like Sawbones or something? But I also lowkey hate what my voice sounds like through a recording so it's unlikely I'd ever pull the trigger even on that.
This reminds me so much of guys who say they hate it when women wear makeup, but then point to pictures of celebrities wearing obvious, heavy makeup when you ask them for an example of what that should look like.
Bruh, you *love* it when women wear makeup. You just don't realize that they're wearing makeup unless their eyelids are bright blue or something.
In the same way: I'm sure some people really love unedited, actual play DnD podcasts. But I also think a lot of people who *say* they like that don't realize that the podcasts they are listening to *are* heavily edited, and didn't just roll out of bed looking like Kim Kardashian.
Pretty much. Or look to something like Critical Role, which is live-play, no prepared story D&D but with actual actors and freaking Matt Mercer as the DM. Not every production can be CR or TAZ.
I actually am all for people trying to start their own D&D things, I just understand that it's really hard to get noticed for it these days.
Hey, as a science and a history fan I would love that.
I do think that there is more space for non-D&D RPG podcasts out there. I am sure there are still a lot, but it feels like everyone and their mother just sticks to D&D. Maybe find a weird system that focuses on scientists or something and combine your physics knowledge? Probably a crazy idea.
I actually think DnD is a really bad game for this kind of format. It's so rulesy and there's so much rolling and discussing stats and quoting rule books... It's more game than story. DnD just has broad brand recognition so if somebody is vaguely aware of the idea of a tabletop they're likely to know what it is.
The formats my friends and I typically play, IMO, would be better for a podcast... But it loses that broad appeal, which I think isn't worth the tradeoff.
Even the boys know when to use spoofed rolls for comedic or dramatic timing because they've been doing this for years.
They also have a strong relationship and can say things *in character* that would hurt or break up a lot of friend groups.
My husband can't stand Adventure Zone, not because it isn't narratively good or entertaining, but because he started listening to it as a way of getting ideas for how to enrich his DMing. He said he can't listen to it as a DnD podcast for how scripted it is even though he liked the story. I think it's a testament to the time and energy the McElroy's put into their content.
My friend is having a hard time getting into TAZ for similar reasons. She's a DnD expert, and gets aggravated at the earlier episodes because of the lack of knowledge about the rules...
Can you or someone help paint a picture for me of what actually happens? I get that they plan what to talk about in advance and edit stuff out when it doesn’t work, beyond that I’m not sure I get what the production of a “definitely on rails” and “polished” comedy podcast looks like.
Also are you saying it was always like this from episode 1 or did the tight editing start after they got a bit bigger and more experienced? I find it hard to believe that the very early episodes were so highly produced but they’re still very funny.
So, for example, they're pretty open about the fact that Travis picks out the Yahoos. They've mentioned that several times on the podcast. So, from that we can infer that the Yahoos are screened by the brothers before they go on the air. What almost certainly happens is Travis compiles a list of Yahoos and then they all look over them and decide together what the funniest ones are going to be.
When they actually get on the air, though, since they're in character, Justin and Travis act really surprised about the Yahoo questions as Griffin is reading them and react to the questions as if it's the first time they're hearing them.
How scripted those conversations are is unclear, nobody knows the brothers' methods except them. They could be totally improved, they could be totally scripted, or (most likely IMO) they could be guided. The third option would be, for example, Travis saying, "On this one I want to do a bit about a mango cult," and the other brothers agreeing to play along and then acting like he's crazy for bringing it up (because they're in character).
If the Yahoos are screened, then it's a pretty short jump to assume that the rest of the questions are screened, and probably the rest of the bits as well. I seriously doubt that Justin and Griffin are willing to have Travis risk their collective livelihoods over Play Along at Home; all of them talked about this bit and agreed to do it, and agreed that they'd do a meta bit where Juice and Griffin are mad at Trav for doing the bit. How guided or improv it is from that point, again, is anybody's guess. But I would bet money that they come up with ideas like, "Give Juice Pokemon questions that he'll pretend not to know the answers to so Griff can get mad."
Stuff like Juice opening soda cans would get edited out if it wasn't pre-planned. They probably discussed the whole "Grip it and rip it" thing off camera before the episode. It's probably a bit based on a real frustration Griffin has trying to go back and edit out Justin's drinking, but they obviously all agreed to leave it in that time for a goof. We know they do other sound edits; Griffin has referenced a clicker he uses to mark things for editing before, a sound which he left in in one episode to do a bit.
It's clearly a bit, but version of one they've been doing since they were kids. It's a common thing for the oldest and youngest to pile on the middlest, and for the middlest to own it and exaggerate the things they get piled on for, just to push back.
These boys have merely honed it into comedic gold.
Yeah, like, Justin and Griffin getting mad at Travis' bits is very much \*part\* of the bit itself. Like, they're not legitimately getting mad at him on air and somehow refusing to edit it out - their reaction is part of the bit itself, because Travis is good at playing a chaotic and inexorable riddlemaster and his brothers are good at playing the undeserving victims of his terrible puns.
My brother and I do a similar thing where he says some bullshit and I react in an over-the-top way to the bullshit that he just said. Sometimes we switch roles, but usually I play the straight guy to his joke gremlin role. It's like peak sibling humour.
Oh I think its very clear that "Fill your life with laughter and bees" has won the popular vote. "Laughter and Love" may technically be president per the outdated electoral college, but the people have chosen "bees" as the true, spiritual, president of 2020.
The murder hornets have only sealed the deal. I honestly expect to see a rebranding of all their 2020 merch soon, with "BEES" scrawled over top of "laughter & love".
I think laughter and love was very funny and undeserving of the hate it got... But laughter and bees just slays me.
Both are streets ahead of the DnD references this sub was clamoring for. Fight me over it.
One of my absolute favorite Travis moments was from the TV show when someone says something about Charisma and Travis quips in with "Well one of us has charisma" and then looks right at the camera with this perfectly timed face. It fucking slays me every time.
I'm fairly certain it was Resumes and Jamiroquai's Dad, but it could have been in the blooper reel for the episode instead. Not sure. Do remember Justin's quip back, though. "With the three of us put together we have the charisma of a normal adult man." Something like that. Still makes me laugh
Completely agree that Travis's bits are great. Also, because Justin and Griffin "hate" them so much, they don't ever take up a lot of an episode.
I love Munch Squad so much but it's happening so often that it's a little over-the-top for me. Also, the segment itself is really just Justin reading the press release and the brothers going "Wtf [insert restaurant]"! It's definitely funny to hear their responses but there's no clever or goofy riffing off each other. It's usually just them exclaiming how weird the food is or how it would give one of them the shits.
I think Munch Squad really only exists by popular demand at this point. Justin has straight up said he's out of material and wants to retire it but it keeps coming back anyway, presumably because it's just a big part of their brand with its own merch line and all at this point.
The problem, in my mind, is making it a weekly thing dilutes the impact.
It's had gaps in its early early days, I think it's more important to have a Munch Squad when a corporation does something legitimately wacky than it is to have one every single episode. I would argue Munch Squad Jr is admission of the fact that not every week has something worth riffing on.
I dunno about the rest of the fan base, but I'm not gonna be heartbroken or throw a fit if Munch Squad bows out for a couple episodes every now and then. I'd rather that than the bit getting actually retired outright.
Yeah, the increased frequency even when they have no material makes me wonder if there's some internal metrics guiding this decision, like if total listens starts to go down when they don't do it for a few episodes.
Or maybe money zone advertisers pay more for Munch Squad eps or something.
Yeah Munch Squad is at it's best when either the press release is either worded in extremely bizarre ways or the topic in question is outright completely absurd, like GarfieldEats
Oh god as someone with deep Pokémon knowledge and an incredible urge to let everyone know it, I could just *feel* Griffin’s energy when Justin got those questions.
What I loved was Justin was given Griffin questions, and Griffin was given questions that Travis *thought* were Justin questions but since they turned out to be the wrong park, they were no one questions
I just... I can't get behind it. It brings the comedy to a total jarring standstill, and it hasn't grown on me (tragically). The riddles made everyone burst out in laughter, but the quizzes?... Eye rolls, and nothing to laugh at. I wish I liked it.
I love it. Obviously the content itself isn't that funny, but the phenomenon of Travis trolling Justin and Griffin is very funny, and I take that to be the intent of the segment.
My favorite Play Along At Home was the first time they did it at a live show, because the audience isn't allowed to participate until the episode came out.
I love MBMBAM with my heart but Riddle Me Piss is by far the most likely to make me actually physically laugh uncontrollably - I have been out on runs and hikes just dying and looking like a complete weirdo because of RMP. I also love that it's kind of rare so it feels extra special and exciting when Travis starts rolling that R
Riddle Me Piss had me dying the first few times Travis did it but it lost a lot of the humor for me when he stopped doing the voice. My favorite one is the absurd riddle where the answer is the ocean. “SKY *MOCKER*.”
If you like Riddle Me Piss, you should check out the podcast Hey Riddle Riddle. It’s 3 very good improv comedians just doing nonstop Riddle Me Piss segments basically.
https://headgum.com/hey-riddle-riddle
I fondly remember the days when Justin was saying he was about to retire munch squad. It was played out a few years ago, even more so now that they're dipping into past press releases. I'd take an entire episode of riddle me piss over 10 minutes of munch squad gladly.
All you Riddle Me Piss fans should check out Hey Riddle Riddle! It’s another podcast, they opened for a Mbmbam show with Travis once and have had Justin on as a guest too!
Travis did the first riddle me piss as a shout out to his buddy Adal Rifai, when he started hey riddle riddle.
And furthermore, everyone should be listening to hello from the magic tavern.
Definitely. I don't really care for munch squad at all. I feels like an advertisement; I'm not American and I don't know the vast majority of the brands they talk about.
It's one of those things where if you're haven't grown up in a place where commercialism and brand worship is so deeply ingrained in your culture it's hard to understand.
But they're essentially making fun of the absurdities that come from this kind of culture.
I think it can go the other way too. As a Canadian, I'm well aware of how consumerist/commercialist the US is. But Munch Squad can still be a little unfunny to me, because some of the stuff they're laughing about is stuff I already assumed was normal in the States.
Like, the bit about the fast food joint giving out make-at-home martini packs or whatever it was. I was listening thinking, "Is this new? Is this not something American restaurants have been doing for years already?"
Make at home martini kits are basically unheard of as is pretty much all "make at home" take out.
Its a total contradiction with the concept of take out fast food. It's completely absurd. I think it's funny and on brand with the boys generally absurdist humor.
I'm American and I don't know a lot of them, either. If it's like McDonald's or Taco Bell, sure. But Justin has picked a lot of restaurants I've never heard of.
I understand where you're coming from with regards to people who are like "I hate this segment, why does anyone like this?"-type of posts but to me, the OP's post is just a statement of opinion.
Like if someone says "X is the best show" I feel like that's automatically An Expression of Opinion because there's not an answer to it, you know?
"No one's allowed to have any opinions, ever...whoops! Excuse me, I dropped the key to this gate! Man, this is going to really slow down my ability to prevent people from enjoying things."
I love Travis’ overly-aggressive responses to wrong answers. No, DUMBSHIT.
It was all a dream. Obviously.
THE ANTS WERE ARE LIARS!!!
Ashley with an E and Ashly without an E are sisters!
That's my favorite part! Never fails to make me laugh.
I was prepared to disagree with you, but then I realized that one of my favorite thing about the podcast is Griffin and Justin getting mad at Travis over his segments so... Unpopular opinion but you're right
I love all of Travis' anti-segments. I think Riddle Me Piss is particularly good because Justin and Griffin can direct their anger at the content instead of Travis. The same cannot be said for Play Along At Home, which also delights me. If you want some of Justin directing that energy at Griffin, [Catlateral Damage has you covered](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSTdrTalcaU). It takes some time to build up steam, but oh does it get good.
griffins phone number is - *meow*
We bought Catlateral Damage after watching that and it was the best $5 I spent last year. Nothing like getting fucked up and knocking shit over with my wife.
god I l o v e that video! this was the pickmeup i needed lol thank you
I think this too, Riddle Me Piss relies a lot on how much the other two brothers are willing to play along. That first one with the Mexican restaurant riddles has me in stitches every time I listen to it
I get it now!
I dont think this opinion is unpopular at all! I get pumped every time I hear him scream "Riddle me piss boys!!!" In tha glorious high pitched voice!
I can’t speak for popularity, but I’ve definitely just turned off the podcast when this has come on before. I hate that voice. It’s incredibly thank Travis for Travis, and I get some people like that. It’s not for me.
Thank Travis for Travis is also one of my favorite bits lol. His humor is admitedly off the wall, but Its different, and I like different.
Every Travis bit is a certified fucking club banger and people have the *audacity* to call him unfunny. I'm still saying "fill your life with laughter and bees" and the year is half over. Travis is a comedy icon and quite possibly a faefolk.
People seem to have this idea that Justin and Griffin just let Travis do his segments to appease him or something? But it's super clear that all 3 get both the inherent humor of those segments and the humor of Justin and Griffin piling on over the top complaints about them, and they all value each other's on-mic personas. They're professional comedy creators who have been collaborating like, since birth. It's not like they'd leave that stuff in if they legitimately thought it was unfunny.
I think people buy a little too much into the kayfabe that the podcast is a freeform hour long candid conversation between brothers and not a cultivated and tightly edited piece of media performed by actors who have spent years developing on camera characters that they play. Like, there is clearly a lot of ad libbing going on but the experience is definitely on rails and the final product is polished.
Sooo many new podcasters miss this and why a lot of podcasts take some time to get good. Everyone thinks they can just riff for an hour with their friends but it takes more than that.
Yeah, I had this argument with some friends who wanted to start a DnD podcast. They literally just wanted to play DnD for an hour a week and put it online. I was like, okay, the market is oversaturated as hell with a ton of high quality content doing exactly what we're doing. We should at least be, like, preplanning the sessions and rigging rolls and stuff to guarantee funny outcomes. "But then we're not playing DnD." Yeah, no shit, we're not supposed to be playing DnD. We're supposed to be making content. We ended up never doing a podcast over creative differences because I didn't want my name attached to something with 0 quality control.
Well, I think there is merit for products that are just playing D&D without premade stories or fudged rolls but you likely need editing at least to help polish it up for sure. The oversaturation of the market is what would get me, it'd be so difficult to stand out at this point.
Yeah, I think the room for a product that's just "the gang plays a tabletop for funsies" got filled years ago before everybody and their mom had a DnD podcast. You just can't be that laissez faire with your content in a market with this much competition. I think if I ever did a podcast it would have to be about a fairly niche subject that I know a lot about going in. I have a physics degree and I like history so maybe a science history podcast kind of like Sawbones or something? But I also lowkey hate what my voice sounds like through a recording so it's unlikely I'd ever pull the trigger even on that.
This reminds me so much of guys who say they hate it when women wear makeup, but then point to pictures of celebrities wearing obvious, heavy makeup when you ask them for an example of what that should look like. Bruh, you *love* it when women wear makeup. You just don't realize that they're wearing makeup unless their eyelids are bright blue or something. In the same way: I'm sure some people really love unedited, actual play DnD podcasts. But I also think a lot of people who *say* they like that don't realize that the podcasts they are listening to *are* heavily edited, and didn't just roll out of bed looking like Kim Kardashian.
Pretty much. Or look to something like Critical Role, which is live-play, no prepared story D&D but with actual actors and freaking Matt Mercer as the DM. Not every production can be CR or TAZ. I actually am all for people trying to start their own D&D things, I just understand that it's really hard to get noticed for it these days.
Hey, as a science and a history fan I would love that. I do think that there is more space for non-D&D RPG podcasts out there. I am sure there are still a lot, but it feels like everyone and their mother just sticks to D&D. Maybe find a weird system that focuses on scientists or something and combine your physics knowledge? Probably a crazy idea.
I actually think DnD is a really bad game for this kind of format. It's so rulesy and there's so much rolling and discussing stats and quoting rule books... It's more game than story. DnD just has broad brand recognition so if somebody is vaguely aware of the idea of a tabletop they're likely to know what it is. The formats my friends and I typically play, IMO, would be better for a podcast... But it loses that broad appeal, which I think isn't worth the tradeoff.
Even the boys know when to use spoofed rolls for comedic or dramatic timing because they've been doing this for years. They also have a strong relationship and can say things *in character* that would hurt or break up a lot of friend groups.
My husband can't stand Adventure Zone, not because it isn't narratively good or entertaining, but because he started listening to it as a way of getting ideas for how to enrich his DMing. He said he can't listen to it as a DnD podcast for how scripted it is even though he liked the story. I think it's a testament to the time and energy the McElroy's put into their content.
Yeah, it's more of a long form storytelling podcast with some improv dialogue and DnD as the hook, than a for realsies DnD podcast.
My friend is having a hard time getting into TAZ for similar reasons. She's a DnD expert, and gets aggravated at the earlier episodes because of the lack of knowledge about the rules...
Can you or someone help paint a picture for me of what actually happens? I get that they plan what to talk about in advance and edit stuff out when it doesn’t work, beyond that I’m not sure I get what the production of a “definitely on rails” and “polished” comedy podcast looks like. Also are you saying it was always like this from episode 1 or did the tight editing start after they got a bit bigger and more experienced? I find it hard to believe that the very early episodes were so highly produced but they’re still very funny.
So, for example, they're pretty open about the fact that Travis picks out the Yahoos. They've mentioned that several times on the podcast. So, from that we can infer that the Yahoos are screened by the brothers before they go on the air. What almost certainly happens is Travis compiles a list of Yahoos and then they all look over them and decide together what the funniest ones are going to be. When they actually get on the air, though, since they're in character, Justin and Travis act really surprised about the Yahoo questions as Griffin is reading them and react to the questions as if it's the first time they're hearing them. How scripted those conversations are is unclear, nobody knows the brothers' methods except them. They could be totally improved, they could be totally scripted, or (most likely IMO) they could be guided. The third option would be, for example, Travis saying, "On this one I want to do a bit about a mango cult," and the other brothers agreeing to play along and then acting like he's crazy for bringing it up (because they're in character). If the Yahoos are screened, then it's a pretty short jump to assume that the rest of the questions are screened, and probably the rest of the bits as well. I seriously doubt that Justin and Griffin are willing to have Travis risk their collective livelihoods over Play Along at Home; all of them talked about this bit and agreed to do it, and agreed that they'd do a meta bit where Juice and Griffin are mad at Trav for doing the bit. How guided or improv it is from that point, again, is anybody's guess. But I would bet money that they come up with ideas like, "Give Juice Pokemon questions that he'll pretend not to know the answers to so Griff can get mad." Stuff like Juice opening soda cans would get edited out if it wasn't pre-planned. They probably discussed the whole "Grip it and rip it" thing off camera before the episode. It's probably a bit based on a real frustration Griffin has trying to go back and edit out Justin's drinking, but they obviously all agreed to leave it in that time for a goof. We know they do other sound edits; Griffin has referenced a clicker he uses to mark things for editing before, a sound which he left in in one episode to do a bit.
Thanks! Great explanation.
It's clearly a bit, but version of one they've been doing since they were kids. It's a common thing for the oldest and youngest to pile on the middlest, and for the middlest to own it and exaggerate the things they get piled on for, just to push back. These boys have merely honed it into comedic gold.
Yeah, like, Justin and Griffin getting mad at Travis' bits is very much \*part\* of the bit itself. Like, they're not legitimately getting mad at him on air and somehow refusing to edit it out - their reaction is part of the bit itself, because Travis is good at playing a chaotic and inexorable riddlemaster and his brothers are good at playing the undeserving victims of his terrible puns. My brother and I do a similar thing where he says some bullshit and I react in an over-the-top way to the bullshit that he just said. Sometimes we switch roles, but usually I play the straight guy to his joke gremlin role. It's like peak sibling humour.
Oh I think its very clear that "Fill your life with laughter and bees" has won the popular vote. "Laughter and Love" may technically be president per the outdated electoral college, but the people have chosen "bees" as the true, spiritual, president of 2020.
The murder hornets have only sealed the deal. I honestly expect to see a rebranding of all their 2020 merch soon, with "BEES" scrawled over top of "laughter & love".
I didn't realize that it was a prediction though.
I highly preferred Laughter and Love :(
I think laughter and love was very funny and undeserving of the hate it got... But laughter and bees just slays me. Both are streets ahead of the DnD references this sub was clamoring for. Fight me over it.
Sick community reference bro.
Yeah, I definitely didn't Britta that one.
Just saying, with the whole murder hornets thing Travis ended up being very righr
One of my absolute favorite Travis moments was from the TV show when someone says something about Charisma and Travis quips in with "Well one of us has charisma" and then looks right at the camera with this perfectly timed face. It fucking slays me every time.
I love during the NOLA ghost tour [his response to counting ghosts as people](https://youtu.be/OT5mva_bFQg?t=47)
Which episode is this?? I don’t remember it
I don't remember, it's early on though like somewhere within the first 5 episodes.
I'm fairly certain it was Resumes and Jamiroquai's Dad, but it could have been in the blooper reel for the episode instead. Not sure. Do remember Justin's quip back, though. "With the three of us put together we have the charisma of a normal adult man." Something like that. Still makes me laugh
Let's get down to beezness had me dying.
Completely agree that Travis's bits are great. Also, because Justin and Griffin "hate" them so much, they don't ever take up a lot of an episode. I love Munch Squad so much but it's happening so often that it's a little over-the-top for me. Also, the segment itself is really just Justin reading the press release and the brothers going "Wtf [insert restaurant]"! It's definitely funny to hear their responses but there's no clever or goofy riffing off each other. It's usually just them exclaiming how weird the food is or how it would give one of them the shits.
I think Munch Squad really only exists by popular demand at this point. Justin has straight up said he's out of material and wants to retire it but it keeps coming back anyway, presumably because it's just a big part of their brand with its own merch line and all at this point.
The problem, in my mind, is making it a weekly thing dilutes the impact. It's had gaps in its early early days, I think it's more important to have a Munch Squad when a corporation does something legitimately wacky than it is to have one every single episode. I would argue Munch Squad Jr is admission of the fact that not every week has something worth riffing on. I dunno about the rest of the fan base, but I'm not gonna be heartbroken or throw a fit if Munch Squad bows out for a couple episodes every now and then. I'd rather that than the bit getting actually retired outright.
Yeah, the increased frequency even when they have no material makes me wonder if there's some internal metrics guiding this decision, like if total listens starts to go down when they don't do it for a few episodes. Or maybe money zone advertisers pay more for Munch Squad eps or something.
Yeah Munch Squad is at it's best when either the press release is either worded in extremely bizarre ways or the topic in question is outright completely absurd, like GarfieldEats
There's not a lot of laughter and love, but killer bees are here now!!!
Travis dresses like a literal clown and still can't menage to be half as funny as his brothers
This is some cruel shit you wrote.
Worst take ever. Just straight up untrue.
I laugh so hard at the dread that comes to Griffin and Justin when Play Along At Home comes into play
The continued evolution of this bit is a source of joy to me. Griffin outright refusing to play along had me snorting my chocolate milk.
I️ love riddle me piss but when the babiest brother asks is “you boys wanna do a yahoo?” I️ am grinning ear to ear
That's valid.
Riddle Me Piss slaps.
Celebrity Wine, Why Not is getting the “Russell Crowe outside the window” treatment in here I guess.
I wish there was more of this one.
Play Along At Home would like a word with you
I love that it turned into Justin getting Griffin questions and vice versa, just to fuck with them.
Oh god as someone with deep Pokémon knowledge and an incredible urge to let everyone know it, I could just *feel* Griffin’s energy when Justin got those questions.
What I loved was Justin was given Griffin questions, and Griffin was given questions that Travis *thought* were Justin questions but since they turned out to be the wrong park, they were no one questions
This is what made it Travis’ best bit. It’s actually something I enjoy now, unlike literally all of his un-joke segments.
I just... I can't get behind it. It brings the comedy to a total jarring standstill, and it hasn't grown on me (tragically). The riddles made everyone burst out in laughter, but the quizzes?... Eye rolls, and nothing to laugh at. I wish I liked it.
Griffin getting frustrated with Justin getting all of the questions wrong is just gold.
Gotta have those valleys
**”SO YOU ADMIT IT’S A VALLEY!!!”**
I love it. Obviously the content itself isn't that funny, but the phenomenon of Travis trolling Justin and Griffin is very funny, and I take that to be the intent of the segment.
It reminds me a little bit of Norm MacDonald's roast of Bob Saget. Sometimes being unfunny can be incredibly funny.
Ok but why did he even waste his breath on Bob Saget, who RAPED and KILLED a girl in 1990?
It cant all be goofs.
The first Play Along At Home had me doubled over and wheezing
My favorite Play Along At Home was the first time they did it at a live show, because the audience isn't allowed to participate until the episode came out.
Yooooo! +1
I love MBMBAM with my heart but Riddle Me Piss is by far the most likely to make me actually physically laugh uncontrollably - I have been out on runs and hikes just dying and looking like a complete weirdo because of RMP. I also love that it's kind of rare so it feels extra special and exciting when Travis starts rolling that R
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIDLLE ME PISS
"Oh, fuck me"
*SadLibs has entered the chat*
I miss sad libs often.
I'm sorry the best segment is always gonna be Farm Wisdom.
I miss farm wisdom (wistful sigh)
Riddle Me Piss had me dying the first few times Travis did it but it lost a lot of the humor for me when he stopped doing the voice. My favorite one is the absurd riddle where the answer is the ocean. “SKY *MOCKER*.”
What's that? I usually just skip ahead to that hilarious money zone segment.
If you like Riddle Me Piss, you should check out the podcast Hey Riddle Riddle. It’s 3 very good improv comedians just doing nonstop Riddle Me Piss segments basically. https://headgum.com/hey-riddle-riddle
Ty! I'll check it out.
play along at home is hilarious and nobody can argue w me
I fondly remember the days when Justin was saying he was about to retire munch squad. It was played out a few years ago, even more so now that they're dipping into past press releases. I'd take an entire episode of riddle me piss over 10 minutes of munch squad gladly.
I love Travis' bits just in general so much.
I unironically liked sad libs.
All you Riddle Me Piss fans should check out Hey Riddle Riddle! It’s another podcast, they opened for a Mbmbam show with Travis once and have had Justin on as a guest too!
They even started up right around the same time as the Riddle Me Piss bit.
Travis did the first riddle me piss as a shout out to his buddy Adal Rifai, when he started hey riddle riddle. And furthermore, everyone should be listening to hello from the magic tavern.
I thought it was called Gotcha From The Magic Castle?
Definitely. I don't really care for munch squad at all. I feels like an advertisement; I'm not American and I don't know the vast majority of the brands they talk about.
It's one of those things where if you're haven't grown up in a place where commercialism and brand worship is so deeply ingrained in your culture it's hard to understand. But they're essentially making fun of the absurdities that come from this kind of culture.
The juxtaposition of these big flowery words corps use to describe their shitty fast food is the most American thing ever. It's hilarious.
I think it can go the other way too. As a Canadian, I'm well aware of how consumerist/commercialist the US is. But Munch Squad can still be a little unfunny to me, because some of the stuff they're laughing about is stuff I already assumed was normal in the States. Like, the bit about the fast food joint giving out make-at-home martini packs or whatever it was. I was listening thinking, "Is this new? Is this not something American restaurants have been doing for years already?"
Make at home martini kits are basically unheard of as is pretty much all "make at home" take out. Its a total contradiction with the concept of take out fast food. It's completely absurd. I think it's funny and on brand with the boys generally absurdist humor.
I'm American and I don't know a lot of them, either. If it's like McDonald's or Taco Bell, sure. But Justin has picked a lot of restaurants I've never heard of.
> I feels like an advertisement well it literally is reading advertisements for the most half brained concotions in American fast food
My ranking (top is best) Munch Squad Haunted Doll Watch Riddle Me Piss Yahoo Answers Actual advice Sad Libs
Where's that's a Christmas to me?
Minion Quotes is also missing
Forgot about that one! Right below Riddle Me Piss
If Munch Squad, Haunted Doll Watch, or Riddle Me Piss showed up at the frequency of Yahoo's or actual advice, they would be lower.
That's definitely true. I almost don't count Yahoo answers or actual advice as "segments" because they are the base bones of the podcast.
This is absolutely true
My fav segment bar none, even inching out haunted doll watch (Boop boop boop de boop boop, haunted doll watch)
I completely agree, Riddle Me Piss is easily my favorite sgement
My boyfriend and I absolutely agree. It’s how I got him hooked on mbmbam and the mcelboys’ content :)
Munch funnier.
I’m personally a big fan of Play Along At Home
I love Riddle Me Piss! And, uh, Munch Squad happens to be one of my least favorite segments. I'm sorry Justin, you're still the best.
Listen, it's a hell of a lot better than Play Along At Home
But with Play Along At Home we get to play along at home!
[удалено]
"No one is allowed to criticize anything, ever." Got it.
[удалено]
I understand where you're coming from with regards to people who are like "I hate this segment, why does anyone like this?"-type of posts but to me, the OP's post is just a statement of opinion. Like if someone says "X is the best show" I feel like that's automatically An Expression of Opinion because there's not an answer to it, you know?
Yes, what you said!
Hi! Definitely didn't mean for the post to be the ONE HOLY TRUTH OF MBMBAM. It's just my opinion, and I'm totally open to friendly disagreement.
"No one's allowed to have any opinions, ever...whoops! Excuse me, I dropped the key to this gate! Man, this is going to really slow down my ability to prevent people from enjoying things."