The History of Comedy Podcast: from Apuleius to Zelensky

Find me on Instagram.  Support me on Patreon.  Both will provide notifications for new podcast episodes (not just "here", but under many different headings).https://www.instagram.com/a_bas_le_ciel/https://www.patreon.com/c/a_bas_le_ciel/postsAR+IO abbreviates the motto "Active Research and Informed Opinion", providing consistent numbering for all of the episodes (AR+IO-001, etc.) hosted by Eisel Mazard across many different podcasts, and united by one Patreon.  Eisel is better known as Zel from Ashdod, and was formerly known as the voice (and author) behind the (banned) youtube channel à-bas-le-ciel.

Find me on Instagram.  Support me on Patreon.  Both will provide notifications for new podcast episodes (not just "here", but under many different headings).https://www.instagram.com/a_bas_le_ciel/https://www.patreon.com/c/a_bas_le_ciel/postsAR+IO abbreviates the motto "Active Research and Informed Opinion", providing consistent numbering for all of the episodes (AR+IO-001, etc.) hosted by Eisel Mazard across many different podcasts, and united by one Patreon.  Eisel is better known as Zel from Ashdod, and was formerly known as the voice (and author) behind the (banned) youtube channel à-bas-le-ciel.

Implicitly, this is a significant contrast to my old "manifesto" titled On Community, although it does not address the thesis of that video, directly, in any way: if you regard this as a manifesto, it is addressed to the youtuber (or podcaster) as a solitary intellectual dissident, cultural critic, commentator and comedian --not as the center of an incipient community, pulling together like-minded people (as per "the spirit season one") with an ambition to accomplish something more than they could ever attempt alone.Find me on Instagram.  Support me on Patreon.  Both will provide notifications for new podcast episodes (not just "here", but under many different headings).https://www.instagram.com/a_bas_le_ciel/https://www.patreon.com/c/a_bas_le_ciel/postsAR+IO abbreviates the motto "Active Research and Informed Opinion", providing consistent numbering for all of the episodes (AR+IO-001, etc.) hosted by Eisel Mazard across many different podcasts, and united by one Patreon.  Eisel is better known as Zel from Ashdod, and was formerly known as the voice (and author) behind the (banned) youtube channel à-bas-le-ciel.

An article and a podcast: https://a-bas-le-ciel.blogspot.com/2025/02/instagram-is-destroying-stand-up-comedy.htmlAnd, now, also a youtube video: you can follow it as an audio only podcast, or as "a video podcast", etc., on Spotify, or Apple podcasts, your call. Find me on Instagram.  Support me on Patreon.  Both will provide notifications for new podcast episodes (not just "here", but under many different headings).https://www.instagram.com/a_bas_le_ciel/https://www.patreon.com/c/a_bas_le_ciel/postsAR+IO abbreviates the motto "Active Research and Informed Opinion", providing consistent numbering for all of the episodes (AR+IO-001, etc.) hosted by Eisel Mazard across many different podcasts, and united by one Patreon.  Eisel is better known as Zel from Ashdod, and was formerly known as the voice (and author) behind the (banned) youtube channel à-bas-le-ciel.

Find me on Instagram.  Support me on Patreon.  Both will provide notifications for new podcast episodes (not just "here", but under many different headings). https://www.instagram.com/a_bas_le_ciel/ https://www.patreon.com/c/a_bas_le_ciel/posts AR+IO abbreviates the motto "Active Research and Informed Opinion", providing consistent numbering for all of the episodes (AR+IO-001, etc.) hosted by Eisel Mazard across many different podcasts, and united by one Patreon.  Eisel is better known as Zel from Ashdod, and was formerly known as the voice (and author) behind the (banned) youtube channel à-bas-le-ciel.

Much more than just a book review, this is an analytic discussion of stand up comedy in the 2020s —regarded as a decade of decline— although it does happen TO INCLUDE a review of Steve Sabo's book (that touches on many of the same subjects in passing). Find me on Instagram.  Support me on Patreon.  Both will provide notifications for new podcast episodes (not just "here", but under many different headings). https://www.instagram.com/a_bas_le_ciel/ https://www.patreon.com/c/a_bas_le_ciel/posts AR+IO abbreviates the motto "Active Research and Informed Opinion", providing consistent numbering for all of the episodes (AR+IO-001, etc.) hosted by Eisel Mazard across many different podcasts, and united by one Patreon.  Eisel is better known as Zel from Ashdod, and was formerly known as the voice (and author) behind the (banned) youtube channel à-bas-le-ciel.

Writing for a cluster of news commentary comedy shows in New York City remains one of the few viable options to earn a living in comedy this century, with the cinema revenues in a state of utter collapse and all forms of television broadcasting in decline (digital or conventional: even Netflix and Disney+, not just cable TV is now in decline). Joe Toplyn's book is in some ways a set of reflections on a period of history now coming to an end, and it is also practical advice on what you can do with your own career, before it's over. Find me on Instagram.  Support me on Patreon.  Both will provide notifications for new podcast episodes (not just "here", but under many different headings). https://www.instagram.com/a_bas_le_ciel/ https://www.patreon.com/c/a_bas_le_ciel/posts AR+IO abbreviates the motto "Active Research and Informed Opinion", providing consistent numbering for all of the episodes (AR+IO-001, etc.) hosted by Eisel Mazard across many different podcasts, and united by one Patreon.  Eisel is better known as Zel from Ashdod, and was formerly known as the voice (and author) behind the (banned) youtube channel à-bas-le-ciel.