The Flopcast

Last summer, we devoted a Flopcast episode to Meatballs, the Bill Murray summer camp classic. This summer, we're going to suffer through the horrifying Meatballs sequels. (It's a court-ordered punishment, presumably. Don't jaywalk in Chickentown, kids.) So for this episode, with Kornflake kicking and screaming in protest, we get started by watching and discussing Meatballs Part II. The year was 1984. Bill Murray was off busting ghosts, and wisely avoided this turkey, but the cast is still bursting with familiar faces. In addition to Soap's Richard Mulligan and Night Court's John Larroquette, we have the girl from Escape to Witch Mountain, the older brother from The Wonder Years, the robot from Buck Rogers, and Pee Wee Herman! With that lineup, you ask, how could they go wrong? Oh, they found a way. And yes, it involved a creepy E.T.-style alien who goes to summer camp. Yikes. So hang on, grab some pizza pie, and we'll get through this together. Meanwhile, we're already not looking forward to Meatballs III...

Direct download: Flopcast_373.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:41am EDT

Kevin and the Mayor of Chickentown are preparing for a silly, geeky Fourth of July weekend at CONvergence! It's one of our favorite conventions, it's in Minneapolis, and there is a giant blue chicken sculpture nearby. Perfect. Guests at this year's CONvergence include writers Peter David and Chuck Tingle, comedian Joseph Scrimshaw, and nerd music duo The Doubleclicks! We're also looking forward to a special CD release performance by our friends Beth Kinderman and the Player Characters! And we run through our CONvergence panel schedule: You'll find the Mayor on panels about Doctor Who, She-Ra, The Magicians, and choose-your-own-adventure books! Meanwhile Kevin's panels will cover Aquaman, Riverdale, and a variety of DC stuff (comic books, movies, and TV). Plus: We reveal our new Flopcast badge ribbons! You know the drill: Find us at CONvergence and get a ribbon. (Warning: They just might be slightly Brady-themed...) Also: We recall chasing ice cream trucks for weird frozen items, because Kornflake is celebrating National Bomb Pop Day again...

Direct download: Flopcast_372.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:05am EDT

Here at last is our God's Comics concert review! Every ten years, Kevin gets together with friends Sean and Adam to form God's Comics, a cover band that only plays Elvis Costello, Men at Work, and The Monkees. In the wake of our legendary 1999 and 2009 shows, our adoring fans demanded a third show, which happened just last month at The Hearing Room in Lowell, Massachusetts. 'Twas a festive evening of old friends, classic pop songs, and one rubber chicken. (Oh, and Kornflake almost stole a couch.) We also have a special conversation recorded right after the God's Comics show, with one of those old friends, Sarah! This talk (during which much Earth fruit is consumed, Robolar-style) covers a bunch of silly topics... but we keep circling back to Silver Spoons. (You know how we feel about goofy 80s sitcoms, and you should have seen this coming.)

Direct download: Flopcast_371.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:23pm EDT

It's no secret that Kevin and Kornflake are longtime fans of Brooklyn's ambassadors of love, They Might Be Giants. (Their matching Doctor Worm tattoos sort of gave it away.) And since John Linnell (you know, the keyboard/accordion half of the band) has a birthday this week, we're sharing a few TMBG memories, and flipping through a giant (well, it might be giant) stack of TMBG albums. Including: Kevin and Kornflake on the radio, Doornail and Kornflake on a bus, Kornflake providing a shirt for John Flansburgh (you know, the guitar half of the band) at a TMBG show, a drunk idiot crashing onto Kevin at another TMBG show, and much more. So to borrow a title from a TMBG record: join us. Let's see if we can get this whole Istanbul/Constantinople business figured out. Plus: Another Kornflake on the Road segment, in which we enter the nasty world of pantomime. (Or perhaps it's just "panto." We're still confused.)

Direct download: Flopcast_370.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:55pm EDT

Here's an extra-special, extra-weird show we've been meaning to unleash for a few weeks. It's the adventures of Kornflake and Doornail at MarsCon 2019! Yeah, we already discussed MarsCon (the Minnesota science fiction convention which also hosts our beloved Dementia Track of comedy music) back in Flopcast episode 358. But now you'll get the whole story, from both Kornflake and our perpetually giggling Flopcast correspondent, Doornail! You'll hear even more about all our Dementia Track friends (Insane Ian, Cutesylvania, TV's Kyle and Linzilla, Power Salad, the great Luke Ski, Devo Spice, Jeff Whitmire, Michael Hunter, Carrie Dahlby, the Library Bards, and more), plus the Logan Awards, Dementia Smackdown wrestling, Kornflake's Dementia Water Aerobics, the Space Oddity Music Club and Brew Pub, late night fake mustache karaoke, Boob Tree, and mini-golf at the Mall of America. Can Kornflake and Doornail recall their entire wacky MarsCon weekend before they get kicked out of a bookstore café? Let's find out. Ladies, commence giggling...

Direct download: Flopcast_369.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:00am EDT

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