Scharpling and Wurster are a long-form radio comedy duo composed of

Tom Scharpling Thomas John Giuliano II (born February 9, 1969), known professionally as Tom Scharpling, is an American comedian, television writer, producer, music video director, voice actor, and radio host. He is best known for hosting the weekly Internet r ...

and

Jon Wurster Jonathan Patrick Wurster (born October 31, 1966) is an American drummer and comedy writer. As a musician, he is best known for his work with Superchunk, the Mountain Goats, and Bob Mould. He is also known for appearing on '' The Best Show'' with ...

. Scharpling was a writer/producer for the USA network program ''

Monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

''. Wurster is the drummer for indie rock pioneers

Superchunk Superchunk is an American indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, consisting of singer-guitarist Mac McCaughan, guitarist Jim Wilbur, bassist Laura Ballance, and drummer Jon Wurster. Formed in 1989, they were one of the ...

and was also the drummer in The Ascended Masters, Guided by Voices vocalist

Robert Pollard Robert Ellsworth Pollard Jr. (born October 31, 1957) is an American singer and songwriter who is the leader and creative force behind indie rock group Guided by Voices. In addition to his work with Guided by Voices, he continues to have a prol ...

's solo touring band. He is also currently the drummer for

The Mountain Goats The Mountain Goats are an American band formed in Claremont, California, by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. The band is currently based in Durham, North Carolina. For many years, the sole member of the Mountain Goats was Darnielle, despite the ...

and

Bob Mould Robert Arthur Mould (born October 16, 1960) is an American musician, principally known for his work as guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for alternative rock bands Hüsker Dü in the 1980s and Sugar in the 1990s. Early years Born in Malone, ...

. Scharpling is the host of the long-running radio program '' The Best Show'', which was originally broadcast on

WFMU WFMU is a listener-supported, independent community radio station, licensed to East Orange, New Jersey. Since 1998 its studios and operating facilities have been headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. It broadcasts locally at 91.1 Mhz FM, in ...

from 2000 to 2013 and has since begun broadcasting independently over the internet as of 2014, airing for three hours on Tuesday nights and released as a

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 ...

the following day. Wurster's calls, which include a variety of characters who typically call from the fictional town of Newbridge, New Jersey (e.g. Timmy von Trimble, a two-inch tall racist, Corey Harris of the band Mother 13) or elsewhere (e.g. The Gorch, an elderly hoodlum who claims he was the basis for

Fonzie Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli, better known as "Fonzie" or "The Fonz", is a fictional character played by Henry Winkler in the American sitcom ''Happy Days'' (1974–1984). He was originally a secondary character, but was soon positioned as a lea ...

, Philly Boy Roy, an enthusiast of all things

Philly Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

), are the main feature of the show. Scharpling and Wurster released a series of "Best of the Best Show" CDs on

Stereolaffs Stereolaffs is the comedy record label run by Jon Wurster and Tom Scharpling of the longform radio comedy duo Scharpling and Wurster. Discography *Rock, Rot and Rule (1999) *Chain Fights, Beer Busts and Service with a Grin (2002) *New Hope for ...

Records, a label they founded in 1999, between 2002 and 2007. A retrospective, 16 disc box set, ''The Best of The Best Show'', was released by

The Numero Group The Numero Group is an archival record label that creates compilations of previously released music, reissues original albums, and creates album reconstructions from a variety of musical genres. The label, known as Numero, was founded in 2003 b ...

in 2015. Scharpling and Wurster contributed to several episodes of the 2006 season of the Cartoon Network program ''

Tom Goes to the Mayor ''Tom Goes to the Mayor'' is an American adult animated series created by Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim for Cartoon Network's late night programming block, Adult Swim. It premiered on November 14, 2004 and ended on September 25, 2006 with a t ...

''. The duo also co-authored the "(Not So) Great Moments in Rock" for

Harp Magazine ''Harp'' was a print and online magazine that provided in-depth information on current music, mainly the adult album alternative genre, which encompasses a large variety of music. It was published from 2001 to 2008. The sister publication of ''Ha ...

. In 2016, the duo guest-starred in

Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, a ...

episode "

The Marge-ian Chronicles "The Marge-ian Chronicles" is the sixteenth episode of the twenty-seventh season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'', and the 590th episode of the series overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on March 13, 2016. Pl ...

," playing Paul and Barry, scientists leading a privately funded mission to Mars.

Discography (with Scharpling and Wurster)

* ''Rock, Rot and Rule'' (Stereolaffs, 1999) * ''Chain Fights, Beer Busts and Service with a Grin'' (Stereolaffs, 2002) * ''New Hope for the Ape-Eared'' (Stereolaffs, 2004) * ''Hippy Justice'' (Stereolaffs, 2005) * ''The Art of the Slap'' (Stereolaffs, 2007
press bio
* ''The Best of The Best Show'' (Numero Group, 2015) * ''Scharpling & Wurster: Live at Third Man Records'' (Third Man Records, 2016)

References

External links

Scharpling & Wurster home pageStereolaffsStereolaffs MyspaceBest Show archivesFotpedia archive of Best Show/Scharpling & Wurster ephemeraOnion interview with Jon Wurster''A matter of characters''
(Mike Miliard, The Boston Phoenix, April 4, 2007) {{DEFAULTSORT:Scharpling and Wurster American comedy duos American comedy radio programs Third Man Records artists