Another fine entry of the Earwolf comedy stable, The Fogelnest Files is a show of curated internet and pre-internet madness, distilled by Jake Fogelnest, an evocative and enthusastic host, presented to comedians who react with a suitable mix of wonder, joy and confusion. A delightful segment of internet dissection, this show is around the most amusing and simply enjoyable podcasts out there.
Egon and Jake Fogelnest!
One of the keystones in Earwolf’s success, beyond their ability to pull in the star names, is just how defined all of it’s shows are. Each podcast offers something distinct and tailored, but always improving, in a way that proves the show makers are just as intent on improving their shows are the fans are on hearing them. This is particularly pertinent in regards to ‘The Fogelnest Files,’ a show flush with an enthusiasm and joy of discovery sourced directly from the eponymous host and passed on undiluted and exuberant in the extreme. A man who takes the internet, comedy and obsession very seriously, Jake Fogelnest is the ideal host for this podcast, (presumably why he created the format) as it requires an eye for the unusual, a knowledge of the exceptional and an ability to tap into sources and madnesses that requires a true committal to combing the internet. Something of an internet curio himself, he takes his role very seriously, performing with imagination, exuberance and an infectious enthusiasm that pretty much runs the show by itself. But he is too a great comic foil for the work, his ability to stage and frame the clips as great as his capacity for analysis and providing videos that delight or confuse the guests as much as himself. It is, essentially, a perfected ‘internet,’ where the host’s raison d’etre isn’t scathing commentary, but a love of the obscure, where the aim isn’t humiliation, but adoration, where the show isn’t there to tear things down, but to build things up.
Rob Huebel, Fogelnest and Morgan Murphy!
But as modern and ‘internet’ as the show is, it does feature a heck of a lot of content from before access to the world wide web was quite the expectancy it is now. Many of the videos curated are clips from the 1980s and 90’s; TV shows, news reels and home videos that have been unveiled by their makers or uncovered by other such curators as Fogelnest, and displayed on the internet for all to see the crazy things people have made. Said clips vary from the creepy to the inordinately sincere to the obviously humorous, varying with a delicious sense of time and space, Captain Fogelnest acutely aware of how much of a deluded video you need to see before it peaks, before your fascinated gaze turns to boredom. Of course, this does bring to light the odd concept of having a show based on video clips existing in a purely audio medium, but this gap is bridged with the same ease and understanding that make the show such, the clips chosen to work at least equivalently successfully as pieces of audio, or things which the comedians can describe as, or just after, they happen and bestow more comedy on it through this. Whilst the best way to absorb the show is the logistically awkward work of syncing up the clips as they are played on the show by yourself, this isn’t a necessary hassle to involve yourself in, as the show works just as well as a pleasure for your ride to work or trip on the treadmill.
As with all the best shows, The Fogelnest Files is one that exists at it’s best within it’s chosen medium, functions at it’s peak in the current moment and ruthlessly desires to self-perfection. Much as the clips are amazing and the guests often exceptional, it is Jake Fogelnest himself who truly pushes this show into the grand spectacle it is. His limitless adventure, excitement and sense of fun really propelling the show into being something far more than a collection of internet oddness, instead harnessing this to make a great podcast.
You can find the show on iTunes or the Earwolf website, and the host is over on that twitter @jakefogelnest. Night night!