The Reality Show Show is a show about reality shows, hosted by comedy persons Hayes Davenport and Sean Clements. Launched during Earwolf’s recent spurt of new podcast output that also included projects heralded by Grant Lee Phillips, Har Mar Superstar and a show based on YoIsthisRacist.com, The Reality Show Show is one of the less headline busting amongst these projects, possibly because neither Hayes nor Sean Clements and Hayes Davenport are singer-songwriters or breakouts social commentators. Though I guess they do both sing on one of the episodes, and I guess reality television is at least based in proper human society, so I suppose they actually do fill all these roles. That’s my introduction blown then.
Hayes Davenport and Sean Clements, mid record!
It may be difficult for some to really decipher a podcast like The Reality Show Show. Is it a complex societal metaphor? A screed levelled squarely in the direction of consumer society? Two friends fighting a seemingly futile battle in which they are forced to admit and detail the sins of modern day western society in one last grasp at avoiding the gates of hell due to open by the forebodance of Mayan calendars? Or maybe it’s not that complex at all, instead rather more a largely irony-free zone, wherein two like-minded comedians talk about something they actually adore. A truthful respect for these shows, unladen with the weird quasi-ironic reverence that some podcasts display towards such unscripted television. Sean and Hayes instead offer up a genuinely incisive, humorous and smart assessment of the week’s reality television, in a way that is and could only be so enjoyable because it is directly informed by their love of the format. To try and pursue this remit without such a clear and apparent attachment to this entertainment would entirely miss the point of all the shows involved; and directly undercut the humour to such a degree that it would become almost nonsensical. So it is in Hayes and Sean’s actual enjoyment of this media that makes a supreme difference in the amping up their comedy, due to their human investment in the characters and psuedo-realities in and of themselves.
Hayes Davenport Esq.
It may be only a symptom of show’s newness, and I guess time will tell on this front, but another of the shows greatest boons is how the format doesn’t seem to be quite mapped out yet. An adorable behind-the-scenes type confusion creeps in from time to time, thanks to the necessary scripting to some of the parts, furthering this being how what exact reality television they cover changing by the week, whilst the sections change on a show by show basis as well. The first episode, for example, featuring an interview with an erstwhile but reigning executive producer of Survivor, the second a discussion about how flexible reality show rules should really be, with the third show showcasing a rather entertaining ‘sing-off’ between Hayes and Sean.
Sean Clements Esq.
But the juice that runs clearest is the vitality of Davenport and Clements sense of simpatico. Their co-operative indulgence in reality television, coupled with their knowledge of its utter foolishness as a pursuit makes for a show that isn’t merely an exploration of reality television, but rather more a joyous celebration of it. And with this being further conjoined with a seemingly innate ability to be as daft as they are hilarious combines to really propel the show onwards. Managing to retain this flux means that there is a constant sense of freshness for the pod and it’s co-hosts, keeping their UCB sensibility in full flow and freeing both Hayes and Sean to mess around to their hearts content, rarely uttering a negative comment in earnest.
Managing to maintain a level of engagement, comedy and enjoyment in spite of my admittedly very limited knowledge of this reality television programming, The Reality Show Show manages to do something quite remarkable. A podcast with freshness to spare, fulfilling the kind of function that only the modern age of entertainment could either spawn or support, this show is an unexpectedly hilarious and exquisite treat, even in the earliest weeks of it’s growth.
The podcast is on the Earwolf website and iTunes on a weekly basis. You can harangue these guys about it on twitter @SeanClements and @hayesdavenport. Goodbye now!