''Nerd Poker'' (formerly ''Nerd Poker with Brian Posehn and Friends'', currently ''Brian Posehn's Nerd Poker'') is a weekly comedy and adventure

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

that primarily features comedian

Brian Posehn Brian Edmund Posehn (; born July 6, 1966) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, voice actor, musician, and writer. After numerous appearances as a television guest star, Posehn acquired his first major recurring role in HBO's ''Mr. Show with ...

and his friends as they play the ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...

'' tabletop role-playing game.

History

The show formally began releasing episodes in 2012 on the

Earwolf Earwolf is an American comedy podcasting network founded by Scott Aukerman and Jeff Ullrich in August 2010. In 2011, they announced a partnership with Funny Or Die. It merged with podcast advertising network The Mid Roll in 2014, a separate compa ...

network, but left the network to become independent. Co-hosts include comedians

Blaine Capatch Blaine Harold Capatch (born September 19, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian and writer. He is best known for hosting Season 2 of the Comedy Central game show ''Beat the Geeks''. Capatch was born in York, Pennsylvania, to Jean and Harold C ...

and Dan Telfer, actors Ken Daly and

Chris Tallman Christian Tallman (born September 22, 1970) is an American actor and comedian best known for his regular appearances on the Comedy Central programs ''Crossballs'' and ''Reno 911!''. Tallman was also the creator of the popular Channel 101 series ...

, and writer Sarah Guzzardo. The podcast has alternated several co-hosts through the years, and stems from a real-life ongoing game that also included comedian

Patton Oswalt Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is known as Spence Olchin in the sitcom ''The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and for narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–present) as ...

. Former co-hosts Gerry Duggan,

Sark Sark (french: link=no, Sercq, ; Sercquiais: or ) is a part of the Channel Islands in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, France. It is a royal fief, which forms part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, with its own set of l ...

, and

Steve Agee Steven Douglas Agee (; born February 26, 1969) is an American comedian, actor, writer and musician, known for roles including Steve Myron on the Comedy Central series ''The Sarah Silverman Program'' and as John Economos in the 2021 superhero fil ...

have left the show but returned as guests. The show's dungeon master (carrying over the tradition from before the show was on the air) was originally Sark. Later those duties were handed off to Blaine Capatch, then Dan Telfer.

Format

The show originated using the second edition of ''

Dungeons and Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TSR). ...

'', switched to fourth edition, went back to second, then finally settled on fifth edition when the show rebooted as an independent podcast in 2017. Previously on the Earwolf podcast network, the show went by a simple episode format. As the show has developed longer an independent program it has been divided into seasons. Season 1 was 42 episodes long, Season 2 was 47 episodes, Season 3 was a much longer 85 episodes, and Season 4 is currently at 58 episodes. Though they have played the '' Tomb of Annihilation'' pre-made adventure for their Patreon supporters as bonus episodes, the majority of the podcast consists of stories created by the respective Dungeon Masters. Some bonus episodes have also featured "Danger Rooms," one-off adventures nicknamed after the training room used by the

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...

. Guests on bonus episodes have included

Paget Brewster Paget Valerie Brewster (, ; born March 10, 1969) is an American actress and singer. She was first recognized for her recurring role as Kathy on the fourth season of the NBC sitcom ''Friends''. Her breakthrough role came as FBI Supervisory Specia ...

Jackie Kashian Jackie Kashian (born July 20, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian. Early life and career Kashian, who is of Armenian and Irish descent, was born in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin and raised by her father, Elliot, and her stepmother, Nancy, along ...

Joe Manganiello Joseph Michael Manganiello ( ; , ; born December 28, 1976) is an American actor. His professional film career began when he played Flash Thompson in Sam Raimi's ''Spider-Man''. His breakout role was as werewolf Alcide Herveaux in five seasons of ...

Matthew Mercer Matthew Christopher Miller (born June 29, 1982), better known as Matthew Mercer, is an American voice actor. He is best known for his work with Studiopolis, Funimation, Bang Zoom! Entertainment, Viz Media, and NYAV Post in anime, cartoons, and ...

Marisha Ray Marisha Ray Huber (born May 10, 1989), better known as Marisha Ray, is an American voice actress, host, producer, and creative director. She is best known for her roles as herself and her characters Keyleth, Beauregard, and Laudna on the ''Dunge ...

, and Paul F. Tompkins.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nerd Poker 2012 podcast debuts Actual play podcasts Audio podcasts Comedy and humor podcasts Dungeons & Dragons actual play

History

Format

See also

References