Daves of Thunder
I have been a little depressed as of late, due directly to the cancellation of one of my favorite podcasts, Daves of Thunder. The Daves were comprised of Dave Dameshek, a multi-talented radio personality who has his own show on nfl.com- The Shame Report, and Dave Sweeney, a career Hollywood writer who works on TV shows, such as According to Jim, Kimmel, etc. The main source of comedy for this show was their constant bickering, fighting about what they should do on the show, and making fun of each other's current and past projects. These became staples of the show as well as other vocabulary (especially show business vocab) the two Daves propagated. I was late to the Daves of Thunder podcast, (which they referred to as their 'passion project'), and quickly caught up to speed listening to past episodes up to 5 or 6 a week. Unfortunately, due to inconsistencies in recording, they were cancelled by Adam Carolla's podcast network. There has been quite a bit of backlash due to the #2 show getting cancelled, (Carolla's show being #1, and also the most listened to podcast on the Internet).
Last Episode of Daves of Thunder- So Sad :(
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| Let it Begiiiinnnn!!! |
The Daves Divided
Among the bickering, Shek and Feeney make listeners pick a side in their dispute, The Shek Republic or Feensters Union. Usually, they pick Dameshek because they don't want to crush him and vocalize so. Shek listeners like the lists, etc. (as talked about below). Feeney likes to "crack wise" and "write pages".
Monkeys / BTL's
One of the running shticks on DOT was blatantly insulting their "audience", calling them uneducated, dirty apes, and BTL's. BTL is an abbreviation for "Below the Line", which is a show business term for everyone underneath the various directors, etc. that don't have any input in the final product. Dave Dameshek frequently would champion himself "a man of the people" to which Sweeney would bring up the car and house Dameshek owns in fashion similar to:
"Man of the people? No one in our audience drives an $80,000 Volvo. How much does NFL network pay you? It's got to be $700,000 for that bit you stole from Jeff Foxworthy. Does Foxworthy ever confront you about that?"
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| Feeney, atop Mt. Pious |
Dameshek would frequently attack Sweeney over the fact that he had a harder time recording the show due to his busy "Hollywood" schedule. 'Shek would accuse Feeney of being on 'Mt. Pious', accusing him of thinking he was "above" everybody else and would re-establish himself as "a man of the people", and being there to keep the show going.
Sidekicks
The show was rarely done with guests, but almost always incorporated their Producer "Jacuzzi" Pete and Production assistant "Blaster Girl" Katie. Sometimes, they would talk and berate their PA/Intern Singleton/ Doubleton.
Blaster Girl
Blaster Girl's real name is Katie Lavine, and is in her mid to late 20's. She is a common target for berating from the Daves, and a recurring bit that she and Sweeney are secretly in love. This is a great source of humor for Sweeney, who talks about a dream that she appeared in with him, and says great one liners such as "Something about that average looking girl makes me go crazy". They constantly make fun of her large feet, her copious marijuana smoking, and try to hook her up with any male callers, even if they are in high school. They also complain about anytime she has to read, as she does it in a very boring and monotone fashion. She works on several other podcasts at Ace Network. Also simply known as "BG"
Audio of Jacuzzi Pete doing a Hilarious Christian Bale impersonation
Jacuzzi Pete
Jacuzzi Pete is named such as it's a running bit that he spends all his free time in his Jacuzzi. JP, once overweight but still a little portly, he is regularly ridiculed as well on the podcast about his weight, etc. In an especially infamous episode, the Daves forced him to walk out on the show, only to return two weeks later. The Daves compared him to an elephant, and how his wife needs to wash him by tarping off the bathroom, spraying him with a zoo nozzle, and using rags on sticks to clean him. In addition, Sweeney would occasionaly do a bit called "Jacuzzi's Thought's", claiming JP would send him emails about random topics and secrets to which he would act confused about or occasionally deny. One of the more vehemently denied thoughts was JP's admiration for the 9/11 hijackers, despite his love for America. Jacuzzi Pete has a rivalry with part time stand-in producer Mike Cioffi, refereed to on DOT as "Jacuzzi Cioffi". Cioffi would blatantly bribe the Daves with baked goods and talk about how much talent they have, to the chagrin of JP.
Running Bits and Vocabulary
These are a few of my favorite things the Daves would do:
Sweeney the Writer
Sweeney, a professional writer, would make fun of anyone doing things in his realm of expertise.
-Would make fun of Dameshek working on the show "Battlebots", and would make jokes about Dameshek writing jokes for robots.
-A high percentage of the time someone would make a joke, Sweeney would go "Ohhh, Blaster Girl's writing pages now!" which completely kills their joke in a hilarious fashion. The implication being the joke wasn't off the cuff, and instead was written beforehand.
"Gave me the high-hat"
A reference to the flopped joke 3 drum hit, ending in the high hat. Anytime someone disrespects you, they "give you the high-hat".
Dameshek- Old Timey Words
"Gangbusters"- An outdated word that appeared in an episode of "Mad Men", means "crazy". Would use it to refer to the podcasts popularity
Crooked/ Sideways- meaning drunk "We went out this weekend, and we got crooked. I mean we really got sideways!"
Standing Drinks- Buying drinks for people, aka standing at the bar
Man in the Mirror- A way to reference yourself
Lists
Dameshek would make lists that would annoy Feeney to no end. Anytime he would transition to the lists, Feeney would start belly aching about it. Damesheks list include :best condiment (Mustard), best free appetizer at restaurants (chips & salsa), etc. This is a main point in contention between the two Daves. Dameshek would claim it gave the audience something talk and vote on, while Sweeney would complain that it doesn't have anything to do with comedy. Ironically, the back and forth was the main point of the lists. In one episode, Dameshek goes on a vitriolic rant about his problems with the show, using movie speeches. He utilizes the Alec Balwin scene from Glenn Gary Glenn Ross, and replaces "The leads are no good?"with "The lists are no good?"
Star Wars- The Daves are big star wars fans, and make references to all the different movies. They end every show with the "Yub Nub" song, the song the Ewoks sing at the end of Return of the Jedi.
Listener Submissions
The Daves of Thunder Podcast was probably the largest recipient of listener content on Ace Broadcasting. They frequently put up songs (cover songs are a favorite of the show), and listener art depicting running jokes of the show. One of my favorite songs is made after JP walks out of the show. The song starts off longing for him to come back, and makes fun of JP for eating nachos and coconut cream pies.
A Post Daves of Thunder World
The Daves of Thunder Facebook Page is even more active now that the show is gone, with disgruntled listeners. Many blame one of the producers/program directors at Ace Broadcasting, but I can't blame them. The inconsistencies with the show came to head around Superbowl weekend, with the Daves not putting up a legitimate show in 3 weeks. Prior to that, they had recorded a show in Jacuzzi Pete's minivan just a few weeks prior (which was pretty hilarious). Although I would have loved if they kept the show on, I understand that it was a business decision. I just hope for a speedy return to the Internet airwaves, in a more consistent iteration. Many fans are hoping for Earwolf, home to the "Comedy Death-Ray Radio" show, and "How Did This Get Made?" with Paul Sheer, a show where they analyze bad movies.
Thanks for reading, new post on Thursday!
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