1. Anthony Jeselnik – Shakespeare
2. Hannibal Buress – My Name is Hannibal
3. Kyle Kinane – Death of the Party (AST Records)
4. Joe Derosa – The Depression Auction
5. Myq Kaplan – Vegan Mind Meld
6. Mike DeStefano – OK Karma
7. W. Kamau Bell – Face Full of Flour (Rooftop Comedy Productions)
8. Shane Mauss – Jokes To Make My Parents Proud
9. Ryan Singer – How to Get High Without Drugs (Rooftop Comedy Productions)
10. Glenn Wool – Let Your Hands Go

Happy listening!

But back to our favourite source of legitimately free comedy, Spotify. We’ve already mentioned Hard N Phirm and Sean Cullen on the blog before, but there are many other artists, famous and obscure, available. No notes this time round, you’ll just have to listen and make up your own minds. So, without further ado, an extensive, but by no means exhaustive, list of comedy music on Spotify:

1. Tenacious D
2. Spinal Tap
3. Weird Al Yankovic
4. The Rutles
5. Jonathan Coulton
6. Bo Burnham
7. Reggie Watts
8. Richard Cheese
9. Da Vinci’s Notebook
10. Paul & Storm
11. Steel Panther
12. Mitch Benn
13. The Lonely Island
14. Jon Lajoie

1. Todd Barry – From Heaven
   The sarcastic, deadpan comedy stylings of Todd Barry.
2. Doug Benson – Unbalanced Load
   Likeable stoner comedian. Doug also host the podcast: Doug Loves Movies.
3. Demetri Martin – These Are Jokes
   The former indie-darling of one-liners.
4. Mike Birbiglia – My Secret Public Journal Live
   This album began to see Birbiglia go toward a more story-teller style. He has since gone on to take his monologues to an off-broadway show.
5. Mitch Hedberg – Strategic Grill Locations
   Hedberg has 3 albums on spotify, including the posthumously released Do You Believe In Gosh?
6. Todd Glass – Thin Pig
   Todd Glass is manic and opinionated, yet strangely endearing. As anyone who listens to the old episodes of Comedy and Everything Else will know.
7. Matt Braunger – Soak Up The Night
   Up and coming NYC standup, well worth a listen.
8. Brian Regan – Brian Regan Live
   A true comedian’s comedian. Regan is well known for being clean (no swearing), but his act is hardly the kind of bland faff that phrase might bring to mind.
9. Sean Cullen – I Am A Human Man
   Canadian musical comic and gifted improviser. This album is mostly studio-recorded songs with narrative links, but his other album, Live! is just that, with lots of audience interaction.
10. Marc Maron – Tickets Still Available
    Marc Maron’s brutal honesty and confessional style is strangely endearing. Highly recommended if you are a fan of the WTF podcast. All 3 of Marc’s albums are on Spotify, so listen to them in order of release, to hear the effect of his messy divorce on his comedy.

1. Aziz Ansari – Intimate Moments For A Sensual Evening
   Up and coming comedian from TV’s Human Giant and Parks and Recreation. Great comic storytelling.
2. Chris Rock – Cheese And Crackers – The Greatest Bits
   Unfortunately Rock’s later albums aren’t currently available, although this compilation is well worth a listen, as are his earlier albums on Spotify, Born Suspect and Bigger And Blacker.
3. Jim Gaffigan – King Baby
   Best known for pale complexion and bits about food, Jim Gaffigan’s latest album is well worth a listen.
4. Various Artists – Comedy Death Ray
   An ensemble album compiled at LA’s premier alternative show, Comedy Death Ray. A host of great alternative comics doing shorter sets, stand outs include Paul F. Tompkins, David Cross and Patton Oswalt, who unfortunately don’t have full albums available on Spotify, but the whole album is excellent.
5. Maria Bamford – How To WIN!
   Comedy doesn’t get better than Maria Bamford.
6. Hard N Phirm – Horses And Grasses
   Nerd-comedy-songs.
7. Daniel Tosh – True Stories I Made Up
   Daniel Tosh’s self described style is to start with a joke that everyone enjoys, then proceed to make more and more obscure references until only one person in the crowd gets it. I love it.
8. Dave Attell – Skanks For The Memories
   Dave Attell’s style and cadance has produced many poor imitators. But listening to the man, you can see why. It’s hypnotic.
9. John Mulaney – The Top Part
   Fantastic debut album from young NYC comic, John Mulaney.
10. Doug Stanhope – Deadbeat Hero
    Yes, Stanhope fanboys can be obnoxious, but there’s a reason he has such a passionate following.

There is a wealth of comedy on Spotify, so expect further posts in the future. If you’re after a more complete list, take a look at Comedify. The interface is a bit clunky, but they have a near-complete listing of all the comedy albums available.

However, at its core, podcasting is just radio (or video) in a handy, self-updating and convenient form. Best of all, most of it is free! Of course, for every 1 great podcast, there are 10 mediocre ones, and 10 truly awful ones. So here I have compiled a list of essential listening, in no particular order:

Entertainment

1. Superego (iTunes link)
   Superbly produced improvised audio comedy.
2. The Bugle (iTunes link)
   The best political comedy podcast on both sides of the Atlantic, featuring Andy Zaltzman and John Oliver of the Daily Show.
3. Answer me this (iTunes link)
   Britain’s best home-grown podcast. You’ve got questions, Helen and Olly have entertaining answers.
4. As it occurs to me (iTunes link)
   Richard Herring’s sketch and panel comedy show, written and rehearsed in 48 hours. An interesting financial model too, where people pay to see the show live at the Leicester Square Theatre, and the podcast is put out for free download.
5. Comedy Death Ray-dio (iTunes link)
   Scott Auckerman is joined by guests (mainly L.A. comedian, regulars including Paul F. Tompkins, Nick Kroll and Tom Lennon) in a free-flowing comedy chat with comedy songs in between.
6. The David Feldman comedy podcast (iTunes link)
   A mix of comedic monologues, live sketches and comedian interviews.
7. Doug Loves Movies (iTunes link)
   Stoner-comic Doug Benson and comedian friends talk about movies.
8. Onion News Network (iTunes link)
   News satire done right.

Interviews / discussion-based

1. WTF with Marc Maron (iTunes link)
   Marc Maron has a background in radio, and it shows here for his in-depth interview show. Usually pre-ambled by some personal confessions from Marc’s life, always fascinating and very open. His 2-part interview with Carlos Mencia (and some other Latino comics who have worked with Carlos in the past) (iTunes link 1 and 2) shows his ability to really get down to the issues in an entirely engaging way.
2. We’re all friends here (iTunes link)
   Up-and-coming NYC comics do tell-all confessions. The interview subjects and their friends and family are probed for their darkest, most sordid secrets and interviewed about them in front of a live audience by Matt Ruby and Mark Normand.
3. Comedy and everything else (iTunes link)
   While often getting into left-wing political ranting, there’s also lot’s of fantastic advice and tales of personal journeys in comedy on this long-form talk podcast. The episode featuring Patton Oswalt is particularly full of honest advice.
4. The Nerdist (iTunes link)
   Chris Hardwick, king of the nerds interviews comedians and others.
5. Doubling Up (iTunes link)
   UK comics Rob Heeny and Nick Doody interview comedians on the UK circuit. Also featuring an unheard interview with Bill Hicks in one episode.
6. The Green Room (iTunes link)
   Phil Butler interviews comedians from around the UK.
7. Roadstories (iTunes link)
   Comedians talk about life on the road.
8. The Stand Up Chronicles (iTunes link)
   Great interviews with comedians about their process and journey in comedy.
9. TVA Podcast (iTunes link)
   Canadian comedian Todd Van Allen interviews comics on the Canadian circuit, as well as guests from the US and UK.
10. Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show (iTunes link)
    A long form chat show with actors and comedians, hosted by actor & comedian Kevin Pollak.
11. The Sound of Young America (iTunes link)
    Jesse Thorn’s long-running public radio programme featuring guests from all over the world of pop-culture, including many great comedians.
12. Marsha Meets (iTunes link)
    Marsha interviews UK comedians and guest comics from around the world.