Every week, comedian Jimmy Pardo and podcast producer Matt Belknap welcome a guest into the 90-minute unscripted conversation aptly titled Never Not Funny. His critically and financially successful podcast was named "The #1 Relatively Obscure Thing You Need To Be Paying Attention To" in GQ Magazine's 2010 Comedy Issue.
Never Not Funny's First Season
In early 2006, Belknap approached Pardo with the idea to broaden his audience through podcasting. However, free form conversation was not the original concept. Read more from Belknap about NNF’s origins.
“There’s a clip on the internet of my live show, Running Your Trap, where I actually say: ‘We are doing our first podcast here tonight. I don’t even know what that is, but I’ve got a Sony Walkman’ or whatever my joke was," says Pardo. "And initially, my live Running Your Traps were going to be the podcast.
“After doing that one, [Matt and I] went: 'Nah, that’s not what I want to do, that’s not what I want to get out there.’ Then, Matt came over to my house, and we did it at my dining room with me and him and Mike Schmidt. We did 59 episodes with Mike, and one very uncomfortable 60th episode [when Mike's departure was announced], and then we’ve been doing it for 3 years since then.”
NNF Guests: Funny Over Fame
When asked to choose favorites among their over 200 episodes, Pardo has a difficult time. With guests ranging from comedians (Paul F. Tompkins, Sarah Silverman) to musicians (Mark Volman of The Turtles) to writers (Steve Almond) to actors (Jon Hamm; Ty Burrell), the only qualification is that the guest must jell with the show’s loose format and Pardo’s rapid-fire wit. Pardo does not focus on name recognition.
“I want to book funny. Other shows are focusing a lot on famous people, and I think we’ve made our mark by not doing that. If it just so happens that [our guests are] famous or won awards, great.
“I would love to do more musicians, and I would love to do more…I hate this phrase...more out-of-the-box-thinking people. I just don’t have the reach to get them, and I don’t want to pay a booker to do that.”
However, Pardo does have dream guests. “I would love to have some legends on, like Don Rickles or Richard Lewis or Joan Rivers.”
Conan O’Brien on Never Not Funny
Conan O’Brien appeared on NNF in December 2009, during his run as host of The Tonight Show (for which Pardo was the warm-up act). In addition to being one of NNF's most high-profile guests, O’Brien was Pardo’s boss at the time. However, Pardo didn't agonize over the potentially nerve-wracking podcast.
“I was so sick that day that I didn’t have a chance to be nervous. At that point, he was the biggest name we’d ever had; and also, because I had to see him the next day at work. So, maybe 1% of me was nervous. People at work were talking about it, like the higher-ups were saying: 'I understand Conan’s doing your show today.’ That was conversation? So, in that regard, I was like 'I hope this goes well.’”
Or you don’t have a job?
“Or I don’t have a job. I blame Conan getting fired from NBC on him doing my podcast.”
NNF Subscriber Numbers Continue to Grow
Never Not Funny remains one of the few financially successful comedy podcasts, building a loyal and growing base of subscribers since its debut. The show employs the Freemium platform, and offers two versions of each episode: a free 20-minute podcast, and the full 90-minute show for pay.
In addition, Pardo and Belknap have been offering a video stream of the podcast since the fourth season. For most of that time, the number of audio-only subscribers outpaced video subscribers 2-to-1; but Pardo says that the number of video subscribers is increasing.
With competition from free podcasts increasing each month, NNF's growing subscriber base proves that comedy fans are willing to pay for high-quality content. As for Pardo, he regularly listens to three other podcasts: Comedy Death Ray Radio, The Garry Meier Uncut Podcast, and Paul F. Tompkins' new The Pod F. Tompkast.
NNF’s Surprising Fans
Of the thousands of Never Not Funny subscribers both in and outside of the entertainment industry, two stand out for Pardo: Jon Hamm of Mad Men; and actor and Broadway star Craig Bierko.
“Jon apparently listens to it in his trailer to make the time go by faster. [And], we just found out that Craig Bierko is a fan. He tweeted recently, ‘Hey, everybody, you need to be listening to this podcast. It’s great’, so that was pretty cool."
With a burgeoning worldwide fan base, Pardo has no plans to end Never Not Funny. “I enjoy doing, it, and people are paying me to do it, so I can’t see stopping. People are laughing, and paying me money to laugh. So, why would I stop?”
Never Not Funny is available for download through their website and through iTunes.
Christine E. Taylor - Christine E. Taylor is a freelance writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Christine is currently writing a series of articles ...
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