Howard Kremer and Kulap Vilaysack come together Voltron style to host Who Charted! A weekly chart countdown show on the Earwolf network. Between them they offer up a delectable cross-section of the weeks major sellers in film and music, using this as a platform for interviewing their guests. They also recently doubled up the production, bringing out a secondary guestless episode each week, entitled ‘Two Charted.’
Co-host Howard Kremer
Together, Howard and Kulap bring a fantastic chemistry and partnership that harnesses both a great life and great humour. Howard, or to Kulap ‘Wie-wie’, brings his comedy to bear in all manner of ways, as frequently on purpose as by accident. Utilising his rather amazing brain, he comes up with bizarre sentences, like: ‘Harris Wittels: he’s a famous wool-gatherer cocksman,’ while some of the questions he asks belong wholly to the wrealm of otherworldliness, including such gems as: ‘If you came home with yellow hairs in your zipper, would you be in trouble with this college girl?’ or surmising his life as ‘I eat pineapple and make beats.’ Alongside this are his fabulous quizzes, spinning off entries in the charts, like ‘Redfoo or Sky Blue’ (based on the members of LMFAO) in which Howard asks questions, the answers of which would be either Redfoo or Sky Blue, but is explained so excitedly and chaotically that it becomes a delightful mess. Howard also surmises each chart, finding new and strange connections between the entries and gauging them based on this. As an added bonus, occasionally there are visits from Howard’s rather cantankerous brother Lee, whose own incredible vignettes and personal force give the show another angle and aspect, elevating it yet again, adding ever more humour to the shows edge of messiness.
Cast beside Howard is the endless spirit of wonder and happiness that is Kulap. Due to her being rather more interested in both following and uncovering pop culture, it is her who has much more of a focus on the charts, making her a perfect keeper of charts. This works with her tremendous power of personality to keep the show driven and focused, whilst allowing for it to become chaotic at all the right times.
Co-host Kulap Vilaysack
She is very much the chartkeeper her title insists of her, as she valiantly keeps the show anywhere near talking about charts, with an endless charm and effusive silliness all at the same time. One imagines without her, the show would suffer to make up for both her energy, silliness and focus. Her seemingly endless enthusiasm means she is always ebullient, with loads to say about the things she loves, refreshing the show and increasing both it’s drive and comedy. Paired together, they offer a classic one-two punch of hosting, their unbounded positivity shining alongside the constant trimmings of humour and their different presentation styles.
Each week they review a top 5 from music and cinema, finishing off with a chart that often revolves around the guests histories. The music charts have great variety, switching between top selling K-pop, to the top alternative albums, to dance charts. These charts are generally met with a sense of jolly disdain, as the music is quite often a fairly generic blend of dance and pop. The charts are often more successful as a continuation of the shows ideals when aimed towards the hosts or guests tastes, as this allows them to talk about more than just the information they’ve culled from wikipedia. It also means that the podcast can avoid the ‘old people be hating’ mantra, which had been a pervading influence on the music charts in the earlier shows, but now due to the greater variation of the charts and the shows development overall, it gets much less bogged down in a mutual dislike for the charts. I do find the British charts utterly nauseating though, but more because I’m scared of what they’ll think of us due to our woeful charts. Unlike the music chart, the film chart never changes. Instead sticking with the top 5 box office, and whilst the entries do change quite readily, it would be nice to hear them change it up a little, simply to allow them to talk about different things.
Who Charted? is a part of the EarWolf Network.
The final chart is much looser, set around the premise of an acted out game, such as chart darts, or chart roulette. The best of these games is ‘Chart Goose,’ in which the guests coax egg charts from a young charmer named Hermes. As opposed to the other games, this one allows for extra interaction, as the guests find unique ways to encourage the inimitable male goose to lay them a chart.
Recently, due to fan demand, and hopefully a sign of Howard and Kulap’s joy in doing the show, they have added a second podcast to their week, in the form of the more intimate ‘Two Charted.’ This show incorporates a personal chart from each host, with a nominal guest in producer Dustin. The first thing to say about Two Charted is that it’s great to hear them discuss the things they love, or at least really want to talk about, as this is generally a little curbed in the main show. Kulap’s charts generally take a fairly traditional form, detailing five major media things she has enjoyed during the week, be they televisual, cinematic, aural or comicular. Being as the chart is comprised of things she loves, she speaks about them with great fluency and enthusiasm, whilst Howard questions her choices and wondering why he doesn’t really involve himself in media. As such, Howard’s charts are more idiosyncratic, counting down sequences of events in short anecdotes, recently these include his top five fainting spells and top experiences at the 7/11.
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With the absence of a guest or strict formatting, the show has a luxurious feel of space and openness for the trio to talk about their chart items and for them to enhance humorous bits and ideas. It’s also great to hear producer Dustin on the microphone, either creeping Howard out by suggesting he likes redheads, or opining on music and suchlike. It would be great for the show to occasionally include a Dustin chart, as a way to fill out the show or bring an extra sense of credibility to the music charting, which is so often harmed by the unfortunate content of the charts.
It is, all in all, a really cool, joyous and positive experience of a show. With no lack of great humor or utterly charming hosts, always armed with great guests from the comedy world and beyond, Who Charted is a pretty great time. Howard and Kulap are never a chore to spend time with, every week bringing great new ideas, hilarity and simple fun to the show. Set with the format that allows for shifts in both topic and style, the whole production is a constantly delightful affair, one that you simply shouldn’t be missing out on.
You can find the podcast on iTunes, or over on www.earwolf.com. You can also twitter both hosts, at @HowardKremer or @Kulap.