Comedy Bang! Bang!: “Carly Rae Jepsen”
(Episode 4.24) “Carly Rae Jepsen Wears a Chunky Necklace and Black Ankle Boots”

For those who have only watched Comedy Bang! Bang! the TV show and haven’t experienced the podcast, there’s a certain level of structure to the show that is missing from the podcast. For example, in the most recent episode of the podcast, a health teacher/bongo player played by Andy Daly turns out to have a split personality that murders people, diversions occurred involving Jason Mantzoukas discussing what he would and wouldn’t do for charity, and there’s a surprise visit by Paul F. Tompkins’ Jarles and an entire audience of guests that appeared for a minute, only to disappear as quickly as they came. The podcast has a level of throwing as many different ideas and characters into the mix as possible. What’s great about “Carly Rae Jepsen” is that it also has that freeform feeling to it.
This grouping of episodes has been pretty structured so far and better than ever for it, but “Carly Rae Jepsen” really reminds me of how great this show can also be when it’s throwing crazy things into the story just for the hell of it. We learn that after every episode of Comedy Bang! Bang!, Scott likes to put a couple inches of hot beef inside his mouth. I’m talking about a burger my dear lad! Zeke the security guard is in charge of guarding his post-show burger, but is foiled by the Hamrobberer, who steals Scott’s burger. When Zeke refuses to shoot the Hamrobberer, he is fired, but then comes back as RobotCop, who is swift in judgment with shows of force that are not proportionate to the crimes.
More than ever, this season seems interested in creating an entire world of CBB staff, which only adds another fun level to this show. Eric the PA has almost become as much a sidekick as Kid Cudi, and with Mitch getting shot in the knee for accidentally taking a pen, it’s great to see The Birthday Boys appearing on camera as much as possible. Zeke’s story is a reminder of how great the show’s recent film parodies have been, as we discover that he used his family computer to make a RobotCop costume and get his job back, and instead of flashing back to his own memories, he’s flashing back to his own computer’s memories. I also believe that the Hamrobberer should cause more problems on this show in the future, maybe even teaming up with The Quizzler?