Starring Bryan Safi (host of ‘That’s Gay’) and Erin Gibson (host of ‘Modern Lady’), Throwing Shade is dually an aggressively ludicrous and enthusiastically serious take on the issues of the week, usually those specifically affecting women and the gay community. Hilarious, timely, right-headed when it counts and deliciously dirty in all the places it doesn’t, this is a podcast of deep cuts. It’s the show for you. Yes, you.
Now, I must admit, this podcast specifically is one I only came across because they joined the MaxFun network (JordanJesseGo, Judge John Hodgman). And my joy is barely under control. Having heard Bryan Safi on the How Was Your Week podcast, and as an occasional viewer of his stand-out web series ‘That’s Gay,’ to hear he also had a podcast of his own was gorgeous news. Not to mention Erin Gibson, podcast frequenter and host of ‘Modern Lady.’ The very first thing to say about this show is that it’s probably the most charming podcast I’ve ever heard, and in a medium where charm is the premium currency, this is a real achievement. Combining a delight in obscenity, ridiculousness and discussion, the hosts are jointly fabulous, fantastic, and delightful. They key into that vital part of the neuroses of podcasting: the feeling that the people who speak down your ears are your ‘real life’ friends. The duo are joyous company, speaking with a combination of genuine candour, proper humour, and actual discussion of really important issues which are under-considered.
Throughout the episodes Erin and Bryan discuss three or four of the salient issuesaffecting women or the gay community, or in fact, the world in general. Their approach is one that veers wildly from serious to farcical, reflecting the scale of the issue, or the ease of which it can be ridiculed. Discussions move sharply, quickly jerking from, say, laws regarding abortion, to anecdotes about vacations and bizarre joke riffs that end up with one or the other convinced that they are insane, before fading into the break music. How they maneuver between their contemplation on these occasionally complex problems so important to the way people live, into strange five minute bits about bizarre sexual encounters is genuinely masterful. The playfulness interwoven with their concern is an engaging mix, and one that really aids the podcast and the topics covered. Since we can deduce that they are both coming from really honest and heartfelt places, allied with this humour and joy in the revelation of the obscene gives the podcast both a really strong core, and an element of difference.
Discussion of the issues is this podcast’s main point of difference. Being able to unabashedly, eloquently, and necessarily break down the imminent difficulties (which are both serious problems on their own and indicative of serious problems as a whole) is both a real skill and a really fresh talent for the podcast-iverse. It is entirely vital that ill-thought out laws, offensive malpractices and humiliating injustice are brought to light, discussed and ridiculed. Highlighting and humiliating these problems is vital to getting people to take notice, and through their newfound knowledge, at least understand the landscape, if not change it themselves.
And it’s damn filthy. Without (or maybe with?) the express purpose to make a gross-out show, they actually get pretty close to some of the filthiest ideas I’ve heard in podcasting. Discussion frequently breaks bad, forcing either Erin or Bryan into a revelation that comes as so against character and so utterly bizarre, cast against their straight-facedness and refusal to break character, that it can’t help but be consistently hilarious. This comes alongside the audience never questioning these strange sexual oddities they describe as their actual lifestyle, or as a disguise for some more horrible desire, which some shows really do not succeed with. Not naming any names of course. This is a great comfort, as the humour comes from a place of comedy as well as retaining such a level of ludicrousness and perfectly honed level of ridiculousness. Directly counter-posed with really rather more serious matters. For a show only around 20 episodes in, it is really strongly developed, and this is in large part down to Bryan and Erin’s charisma and chemistry. Their love of one another is evident in their conversation and the way they bounce off one another as characters and concepts works to great effect.
You can find the podcast at www.throwingshade.com, on maximumfun.org, or over at iTunes. Otherwise, you can try and get their attention on twitter at @bryansafi and @gibblertron. Get involved young patriots.