''Cum Town'' was a comedy podcast that was hosted by New York City-based comedians
Nick Mullen
Nicholas James Mullen (born December 13, 1988) is an American stand-up comedian, podcaster, and comedy writer. Active since 2005, he is best known as the creator and co-host of the comedy podcast ''Cum Town'' (2016–2022) and its successor ' ...
,
Stavros Halkias
Stavros Halkias ( el, Σταύρος Χαλκιάς; born February 11, 1989) is an American stand-up comedian and podcaster. Active since the early 2010s, he is a nationally touring comic who came to prominence as a founding co-host of the po ...
, and
Adam Friedland
Adam Dean Friedland ( ; born April 10, 1987) is an American stand-up comedian, talk-show host and podcaster based in New York City. He is best known as a host of the comedy podcast ''The Adam Friedland Show'' and its predecessor ''Cum Town''.
E ...
, and produced between 2016 and 2022. During its run, it was consistently one of the most popular podcasts on
Patreon
Patreon (, ) is a membership platform that provides business tools for content creators to run a subscription service. It helps creators and artists earn a monthly income by providing rewards and perks to their subscribers. Patreon charges a co ...
and concluded as one of the top 25 comedy podcasts on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. In July 2022, it was succeeded by Mullen and Friedland's spin-off podcast ''The Adam Friedland Show''.
History
In 2016, ''Cum Town'' was created by Mullen, the primary host and producer of the show.
Halkias was the first co-host; Friedland became a second co-host, starting as a frequent guest and first appearing in the show's second episode.
The podcast concluded in June 2022 after months of the hosts suggesting its end as well as their renewed interest in stand-up comedy, particularly Halkias, who released his debut comedy special that month. On June 25, 2022, Halkias announced that he was no longer part of ''Cum Town''.
Subsequently, Mullen and Friedland revealed their plan for a spin-off podcast—''The Adam Friedland Show—''to be hosted by Friedland and produced by Mullen.
Content
''Cum Town'' episodes were typically 60 minutes long and improvised. Featured guests include
Tim Dillon,
David Cross
David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, director, and writer known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series ''Mr. Show'' (1995–1998), and his role as Tobias Fünke in the Fox/Netflix sitcom ...
,
[ Halkias, Stavros, with Adam Friedland, Nick Mullen]
Episode 11: Interview
with David Cross
David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, director, and writer known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series ''Mr. Show'' (1995–1998), and his role as Tobias Fünke in the Fox/Netflix sitcom ...
. ''Cum Town'' (podcast). Bam Margera
Brandon Cole "Bam" Margera ( ; born September 28, 1979) is an American former professional skateboarder, stunt performer, television personality, and filmmaker. He rose to prominence in the early 2000s as one of the stars of the MTV reality s ...
,
Dan Soder
Daniel E. Soder (born June 24, 1983) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and radio personality. He is best known for his frequent appearances on MTV2's ''Guy Code'' and his recurring role of Mafee on the Showtime drama series '' Billions'' s ...
,
Bonnie McFarlane
Bonnie McFarlane (born March 28, 1969) is a Canadian-American comedian and writer. She is best known for appearing on the second season of the TV reality show ''Last Comic Standing'' and for co-hosting the podcast ''My Wife Hates Me'' with her h ...
,
Jim Norton,
Kurt Metzger
Kurt Metzger (born May 24, 1977) is an American stand-up comedian, writer and actor. He won an Emmy Award and a Peabody Award for his work on the television series ''Inside Amy Schumer''.
Early life
Metzger was raised in Toms River, New Jerse ...
,
Brandon Wardell, and
Dasha Nekrasova
Daria "Dasha" Dmitrievna Nekrasova (; ; born February 19, 1991) is a Belarusian-American actress, filmmaker, and host of the ''Red Scare'' podcast with Anna Khachiyan.
In 2018, she became known as "Sailor Socialism", after her interview with an ...
.
Many of the show's riffs come from crude puns and rhymes—for example, "Louis SeemsGay" for
Louis C.K.
Louis Alfred Székely (; born September 12, 1967), known professionally as Louis C.K. (), is an American stand-up comedian, screenwriter, actor, and filmmaker. C.K. won three Peabody Awards, three Grammy Awards, six Primetime Emmy Awards, and a ...
—and involved sexually explicit scenarios or ethnic and racial stereotypes. Conversations generally centered on the hosts' personal lives, the news, the worlds of stand-up comedy and social media, and pop culture history.
Friedland often served as the butt of Mullen's and Halkias's jokes and insults.
Mullen does many celebrity impressions, including
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
,
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
,
Tucker Carlson
Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson (born May 16, 1969) is an American television host, conservative political commentator and writer who has hosted the nightly political talk show ''Tucker Carlson Tonight'' on Fox News since 2016.
Carlson began h ...
,
Michael Douglas
Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American actor and film producer. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the AF ...
,
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper (May 17, 1936 – May 29, 2010) was an American actor, filmmaker and photographer. He attended the Actors Studio, made his first television appearance in 1954, and soon after appeared in ''Giant'' (1956). In the next ten years ...
,
E. Jean Carroll
Elizabeth Jean Carroll is an American journalist, author, and advice columnist. Her "Ask E. Jean" column appeared in ''Elle'' magazine from 1993 through 2019, becoming one of the longest-running advice columns in American publishing.
In her 201 ...
,
Dwayne Johnson
Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and former professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the developm ...
,
Joe Biden,
Andrew Cuomo
Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cuo ...
,
Patrick Warburton
Patrick Warburton (born November 14, 1964) is an American actor.
On television, he has played David Puddy on '' Seinfeld'', the title character on '' The Tick'', Jeb Denton on ''Less Than Perfect'', Jeff Bingham on ''Rules of Engagement'' and Lem ...
,
Rip Torn
Elmore Rual "Rip" Torn Jr. (February 6, 1931 – July 9, 2019) was an American actor whose career spanned more than 60 years. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his part as Marsh Turner in '' Cross Creek'' ...
,
Gene Hackman
Eugene Allen Hackman (born January 30, 1930) is an American retired actor and former novelist. In a career that has spanned more than six decades, Hackman has won two Academy Awards, four Golden Globes, one Screen Actors Guild Award, two BAFTAs ...
,
Jon Hamm
Jonathan Daniel Hamm (born March 10, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Don Draper in the period drama television series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Televisi ...
,
Norm MacDonald
Norman Gene MacdonaldThe capitalization of Norm Macdonald's surname has been inconsistently reported in publications such as ''TV Guide''. Books that discuss him, such as ''Shales'' (2003) and Crawford' (2000), as well as other sources such as ...
,
Joe List
Joseph Albert List (born April 6, 1982) is an American comedian and actor.
Early life
Joseph Albert List was born in Whitman, Massachusetts, on April 6, 1982. He began performing stand-up comedy in Boston, Massachusetts in 2000, shortly after ...
,
Mark Normand
Mark Normand (born September 18, 1983) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He began performing stand-up in his hometown New Orleans in 2006. He has performed across the United States and abroad and has appeared on ''Conan (talk show), Con ...
,
Jason Statham
Jason Statham (; born 26 July 1967) is an English actor. He is known for portraying characters in various action-thriller films who are typically tough, hardboiled, gritty, or violent.
Statham began practising Chinese martial arts, kickboxing ...
,
Ice-T,
Dave Portnoy, and
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared, along with the rest of his family, in ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' short "G ...
, with some episodes of the show featuring him trying to perfect a new impression on-air.
Availability and listenership
Weekly free episodes of the show were available via
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
,
Apple Podcasts
Apple Podcasts (known as simply Podcasts in Apple operating systems) is an audio streaming service and media player application developed by Apple Inc. for playing podcasts. Apple began supporting podcasts with iTunes 4.9 released in June 20 ...
, and
Audible
Audible may refer to:
* Audible (service), an online audiobook store
* Audible (American football), a tactic used by quarterbacks
* ''Audible'' (film), a short documentary film featuring a deaf high school football player
* Audible finish or rush ...
, among other services. Subscribers who contributed at least $5 per month via
Patreon
Patreon (, ) is a membership platform that provides business tools for content creators to run a subscription service. It helps creators and artists earn a monthly income by providing rewards and perks to their subscribers. Patreon charges a co ...
gain access to additional weekly premium bonus episodes. During the early months of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, the show was conducted via
Zoom
Zoom may refer to:
Technology Computing
* Zoom (software), videoconferencing application
* Page zooming, the ability to magnify or shrink a portion of a page on a computer display
* Zooming user interface, a graphical interface allowing for image ...
; episodes were broadcast live via
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
.
As of June 2022, ''Cum Town'' was the 10th-most popular podcast on Patreon and the 12th-most popular creator on the platform overall; with more than 20,000 paying members, it had around $100,000 in monthly earnings.
It was the number one podcast on the platform for most of 2017 and 2018.
On
Apple Podcasts
Apple Podcasts (known as simply Podcasts in Apple operating systems) is an audio streaming service and media player application developed by Apple Inc. for playing podcasts. Apple began supporting podcasts with iTunes 4.9 released in June 20 ...
, it was the 17th-most popular comedy podcast in the U.S. and 126th overall.
Hosts
Nick Mullen
Nick Mullen
Nicholas James Mullen (born December 13, 1988) is an American stand-up comedian, podcaster, and comedy writer. Active since 2005, he is best known as the creator and co-host of the comedy podcast ''Cum Town'' (2016–2022) and its successor ' ...
(born December 13, 1988) is a stand-up comedian, comedy writer, and podcaster.
Much of his comedy is
ironic
Irony (), in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what on the surface appears to be the case and what is actually the case or to be expected; it is an important rhetorical device and literary technique.
Irony can be categorized into ...
,
observational
Observation is the active acquisition of information from a primary source. In living beings, observation employs the senses. In science, observation can also involve the perception and recording of data (information), data via the use of scienti ...
and
self-deprecating
Self-deprecation is the act of reprimanding oneself by belittling, undervaluing, disparaging oneself, or being excessively modest. It can be used as a way to make complaints, express modesty, invoke optimal reactions or add humour. It may also be u ...
, and focuses on
internet culture
Internet culture is a culture based on the many way people have used computer networks and their use for communication, entertainment, business, and recreation. Some features of Internet culture include online communities, gaming, and social media ...
.
A nationally touring stand-up, Mullen earned recognition in the early 2010s;
he was a two-time finalist for the Funniest Person in Austin contest (2010 and 2011),
was selected as part of Montreal's ''
Just for Laughs'' festival New Faces program in 2012,
and was a finalist for New York's Funniest Stand-Up at the 2015
New York Comedy Festival
The New York Comedy Festival is an annual comedy festival co-founded by Jarrod Moses and Caroline Hirsch in 2004. The festival is produced in association with Comedy Central, the Huffington Post, and Carolines comedy club located at Times Squar ...
.
After a break, he resumed performing in 2022.
Mullen's writing credits include ''
Comedy Knockout
''Comedy Knockout'' is an American standup comedy game show television series. The show debuted on April 21, 2016. It is currently airing on truTV
TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery ...
'' on
TruTV
TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts comedy, docusoaps and reality shows.
The channel was originally launched in 1991 as Court TV, a network that focu ...
(premiered 2016), ''Make Me Understand with
Jim Norton'' (2016
IFC television pilot
A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...
), 2017's ''
Problematic with Moshe Kasher
''Problematic with Moshe Kasher'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Moshe Kasher. The series premiered on April 18, 2017, on Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its ...
'' (
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...
), and
Sacha Baron Cohen
Sacha Noam Baron Cohen (born 13 October 1971) is an English actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his creation and portrayal of the fictional satirical characters Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Brüno Gehard, and Admiral ...
's ''
Who Is America
''Who Is America?'' is an American political satire mockumentary style television series created by Sacha Baron Cohen that premiered on July 15, 2018, on Showtime. Baron Cohen also stars in the series as various characters and executive produce ...
''.
Stavros Halkias
![Stavros Halkias 2021](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Stavros_Halkias_2021.png)
Stavros Halkias (born February 11, 1989) is a stand-up comedian and podcaster. Active since the early 2010s, he is based in New York City and tours nationally. He released his debut
comedy special
A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of ent ...
''Live At The Lodge Room'' in June 2022.
Halkias was born and raised in
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
, Maryland, to
Greek immigrant parents. He began performing comedy while attending the
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a public research university in Baltimore County, Maryland. It has a fall 2022 enrollment of 13,991 students, 61 undergraduate majors, over 92 graduate programs (38 master, 25 doctoral, ...
.
In 2012, he was named Baltimore's New Comedian of the Year.
He has written and performed on
Adult Swim
Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim
Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...
and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...
, IFC,
MSG Network
The MSG Network (MSG) is an American regional cable and satellite television network, and radio service owned by MSG Entertainment, Inc.—a spin-off of the main Madison Square Garden Company operation (itself a spin-off of local cable provider ...
's ''
People Talking Sports and Other Stuff'', and Comedy Central series including ''
Comedy Central Stand Up Featuring''.
Since 2019, he has co-hosted the basketball podcast ''Pod Don't Lie'' with Sam Morril.
Adam Friedland
Adam Friedland (born April 10, 1987) is a stand-up comedian,
sketch comedian, and podcaster.
Born to
South African Lithuanian-Jewish immigrant parents, he primarily grew up in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
. Friedland got his start in the
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
comedy scene by running and hosting comedy shows at the DIY venue Subterranean A; he gained local notability in the local comedy scene for his "alternative" performance piece-oriented comedy. He performed at the
Bentzen Ball
The Bentzen Ball is a comedy festival held in Washington, D.C., first in 2009, and then in 2013. It is produced by the D.C.-based online magazine and event company ''Brightest Young Things'' (often abbreviated as BYT) and curated by Tig Notaro. ...
in 2013 and 2014 and was named to the annual "Best of D.C." list by the ''
Washington City Paper
The ''Washington City Paper'' is a U.S. alternative weekly newspaper serving the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The ''City Paper'' is distributed on Thursdays; its average circulation in 2006 was 85,588. The paper's editorial mix is focused ...
''.
He moved to New York City in 2014.
Outside of ''Cum Town'', he is best known as the host of the live alternative comedy show ''Funny Moms''; the show began in Washington in 2012 with co-host Sara Starmour and moved to Brooklyn in 2015.
Reception
Dirtbag left association
''Cum Town'' was often associated with the
dirtbag left
The dirtbag left is a style of left-wing politics that eschews civility to convey a left-wing populist and anti-capitalist message using vulgarity. It is most closely associated with American left-wing media that emerged in the mid-2010s, such a ...
, though it is not expressly political.
A February 2020 ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' article described ''Cum Town'' (by allusion, citing its "unprintable name") as "bards of the new American left", alongside podcasts ''
Chapo Trap House
''Chapo Trap House'' is an American left-wing political podcast founded in March 2016 and hosted by Will Menaker, Matt Christman and Felix Biederman with Amber A'Lee Frost as a recurring co-host. The show is produced by Chris Wade and formerly by ...
'' and
''Red Scare''. Several ''Chapo'' hosts, including Amber A'Lee Frost, Will Menaker, and Felix Biederman have appeared on ''Cum Town''; Mullen, Halkias, and Friedland have made multiple appearances on ''Chapo''.
Though the hosts occasionally discuss their responses to current events and politics—with all three expressing support for 2020 presidential candidate
Bernie Sanders
Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...
—they deny any specific political agenda. In May 2017, Friedland tweeted, "Cum town is not a socialist podcast it's not a fascist podcast it's a podcast about being gay with your dad."
In July 2021, the hosts disagreed with
Andrew Marantz
Andrew Marantz (born September 26, 1984) is an American author and journalist who writes for ''The New Yorker''.
Marantz was an undergraduate at Brown University from 2002 to 2006 with a bachelor's degree in religion and religious studies. He was ...
's characterization of the podcast as a "flagship product of the dirtbag left" in a ''
New Yorker
New Yorker or ''variant'' primarily refers to:
* A resident of the State of New York
** Demographics of New York (state)
* A resident of New York City
** List of people from New York City
* ''The New Yorker'', a magazine founded in 1925
* ''The New ...
'' article.
Halkias instead suggested that its motivating force was not political but financial. The hosts initially believed the podcast would be unsuccessful, "and people are stupid enough to give us money, and we are trapped doing
he podcast.
Criticism
In association with their dirtbag left peers, the podcast and its hosts have been criticized for their use of ironic offensiveness. Critical bloggers have argued that the hosts' use of slurs and edgy jokes, particularly Mullen's, perpetuates harassment and continually crosses the line into actual hatred and contempt. Others have countered that offensiveness is
subjective.
Some online commentators have made a distinction between the podcast and their listeners, critiquing the show's fan base as opposed to the hosts, or critiquing both in tandem.
In 2020, the podcast's
subreddit
Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images ...
(which was not moderated or endorsed by the hosts) was removed from
Reddit
Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images ...
due to the platform's new policies on hate speech.
References
External links
*
*
*
{{Podcast platform links
Comedy and humor podcasts
2016 podcast debuts
Patreon creators
2016 establishments in New York City
Audio podcasts
American podcasts