An Ode to Gil Ozeri, "Comedy Bang!Bang!" Greatest Guest

This morning during my run I listened to the newest episode of “Comedy Bang! Bang!”. It has to be my favorite podcast. It’s my favorite that I don’t cohost for sure. I love pretty much everything about the show. It’s the best improv comedy show. It’s the funniest show. Scott Aukermann has turned it into an empire. They go on tour. I saw a live show and it ruled.

What makes this show so great for me are the guests they have after the main interview. I love the main interview, but it’s the next people that make this show the best. Aukermann usually has two of his buddies on and they play characters. No one is ever themselves. This is where the show jumps from great to classic. Any number of his friends are awesome too. But this newest episode may have my favorite buddy of Aukermann’s featured.

Gil Ozeri was the final guest and he was a delight. He okayed a “busy guy”. He referred to himself as the “busiest man in the world”. He says he’s a husband and a father to many kids. That he owns multiple businesses. That he helps everyone when he can. And he kept getting calls throughout the final twenty plus minutes. His phone kept ringing and each ring was a different person. He sold a movie, talked to his mom’s gynecologist, had an alarm for his viagra, talked to business partners, had a painting commissioned, I could go on and on. But something that shouldn’t have worked was dynamite. I found myself howling. I was still listening when I finished my run and I laughed even harder after catching my breath.

This is what makes Ozeri such a great guest. He goes for it. There is no joke he isn’t willing to run with. He has an idea for a character and he makes it work. He is an excellent improviser. He is so good at just going with the flow. After listening to him today I thought about other times he was on the show and it made me smile. The fact that he is so game makes it so wonderful. Just in this past year he’s been on two other times and they were both equally phenomenal. He was Dr Sweetchat the Small Talk Robot right at the beginning of the year. That is such a memorable character. The robot is on the plug bag song. I have listened to this episode multiple times and I laugh harder each time. It will be a classic for sure. It already is for me. He was on again awhile after that. He went on with one of his improv groups, Hot Sauce. That group includes Ozeri, Adam Pally and Ben Schwartz. That is a murderers row of improv people. And Ozeri was the funniest. He plays a singer and the songs he makes up are awesome. I have listened to those aplenty since his appearance this time. They are amazing.

What makes Ozeri so extra great is the fact that he’s been around “CBB” since the start. He first appeared on episode 151 and has been on a bunch since then. I just wanted to give him a shout out today because I really appreciate how hilarious he is. I want others to check him out too. Gil Ozeri is really great at what he does. Seek him out people.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Watches "Big Mouth: Season 2"

Last week I finished up season 2 of "Big Mouth". This show is, by far, the best representation of going through puberty that I have ever watched on TV.

Now, I can only speak from a male point of view, but the way they portray the horribleness that is puberty, it is truly perfect. They have all the awkwardness and weird feelings and shame and just all around awful, awful things that happen when you are a teenager going through this time. I will say too, from the few ladies I know that watch the show, they say it is pretty on point from a female perspective.

What Nick Kroll and Gil Ozeri have done, with Netflix giving them a long, long leash, is pure perfection. First off, to make it an animated show, was the exact right way to give their message. With animation they can do things like a Hormone Monster and Hormone Monstress. This season they added a Shame Wizard, voiced by David Thewlis, and it was so real I had flash backs to all the shame I felt while I was going through puberty. The way they talk about how teens go through this at all different times was great. I was a slower developer, so I could relate with Nick. But, I had friends that were more like Andrew(John Mulaney), who were just frustrated and angry and growing faster than I was.

There was an episode this season, the premiere, when one of the girls developed faster than any other female student, and that brought me back. That was gut wrenching and hilarious to watch. There was a through line this season, it happened at the end of the first season, so it isn't a spoiler, where one of the kid's parents are going through a divorce, and we get to see her act out, like so many of my friends who had divorced parents did. It was perfect. All the stuff with her and the Hormone Monstress, be it yelling at her mom or stealing from a convenience store, I watched these friends of mine going through that do the same.

I also liked another episode where 2 of the kids try edibles for the first time and we see their journey. One handles it very well, taking it all in with glee and the other kid freaks the hell out, just like I would have had I done something like that as a 13 year old. All the stuff with the other families, like Nick's parents being overbearingly loving, or Josh's folks being loud and arguing with each other, but still deeply in love, or Jay's(Jason Mantzoukas) parents, who despise one another, but are so despicable they deserve one another is just excellent. Jay is another standout character as the crazed horned up lunatic friend that we all had in middle school. I also really like Miss(Jenny Slate), who has hippy parents, is a total nerd and is also dealing with puberty in all its awfulness. The show is simply perfection in every single way. From the writing to the voice acting to the way each kid deals with puberty it is all so well done. I can also tell how much I enjoy a show when I think about it all the time and it both, makes me laugh and cringe. That is exactly what "Big Mouth" does for me.

This show is a homerun for Netflix. It further proves that Nick Kroll makes great comedic TV. It also proves that more and more people need, and should, know who Gil Ozeri is because he is a comedic genius. I have loved both seasons of the show. I cannot wait to see where they go with season 3. "Big Mouth" is the best show ever made about puberty and I will fight anyone that says otherwise. Go watch it and tell me why it isn't. I bet you cannot find one show, or reason, why I'm wrong. "Big Mouth" is a triumph.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Watching “Big Mouth” may bring back some memories for Ty, but it also brings nightmares. Ty does have two kids that will one day enjoy the journey.

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