Microwave Porn Ep.12 “Unhaunted” | A Webseries Review on the Watch List

A Comedy Web Series

4 Swirlies

“Nigel… pretty!”

So much awesome in one webseries episode I can barely begin.

Although, before I get into the awesome, I’ll just say that there’s sort of two stories here that are resolved separately, and could just as easily each made up one episode. After all, (spoiler alert!) The two stories in the end didn’t have much impact on each other.

But let’s get into the awesome: the Yeti is hilarious, both in his own storyline and in the “bonus” scene at the end. I’m also glad the hipster girl made another appearance, her eye rolling “above-it-all”ness is totally pitch perfect. Ash Catherwood is awesome, as usual. Even even more exciting, we get to see Ash in the up-coming season two of Out With Dad. I’m always happy to see Nigel in an episode. And even if this episode was light on the microwave, that’s okay. His willingness to give up Nigel at the drop of a hat is hysterical.

The production is very good, too. It may not look it (which is another way you know it is well done) but there are some difficult shooting and sound conditions - from some snowy woods to the inside of a van. And the whole time, the show doesn’t loose its focus. Comedy has to be presented just so in order for it to work, and these guys do it right so that the jokes feel natural.

From YouTube Description:

Nigel, Allen and Dave try to get the ghost out of Dave’s house.

Microwave Porn Opening Theme Written and Performed by J. Gordon Ross and Ryan Keller

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Microwave Porn Ep.11 “Haunted” | A Web Series Review on the Watch List

A Comedy Web Series

4 Swirlies

“I have unresolved issues!”

Woah, so we have caught up with the current episodes of Microwave Porn, and it ends with a cliffhanger!

This episode is very funny, and most importantly it has more Nigel. There’s more zany happenings than your typical episode. We go from a haunting, to living in a van, to hunting a Yeti, nature’s assholes. Stand out moment is the one featured in the thumbnails, Ash Catherwood freaking out at the ghost is absolutely hysterical.

There’s a lot of things I admire about this show, but one big one is that they’re just a comedy. I like a lot of other shows that are, like, a science fiction comedy, or a vampire comedy, or whatever. Microwave Porn is only a comedy and they go for the funny. They’re not afraid to be wacky or silly if that gets them a laugh.

There’s a lot of self referential gags, which I don’t always love but this show makes it work. I hear tell they’re shooting more - so for now this is the last Microwave Porn, but we’ll throw up the new ones as soon they pop up!

From YouTube Description:

Allen and Nigel set out to find the mythical Yeti after Dave’s house gets haunted. MUSIC Umbrella Pants: Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Decay: Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons “Attribution 3.0″ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Microwave Porn Opening Theme Written and Performed by J. Gordon Ross and Ryan Keller

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Microwave Porn Ep.10 “Grandma” | A Web Series Review on the Watch List

A Comedy Web Series

4 Swirlies

“Young people need plowing.”

Episode 10 of Microwave Porn has a whole bunch of funny lines, but it is a bit of a one note joke, without a lot of the nuances of most of their other episodes. Although seeing the microwave move around a lot is fun.

There’s only one more and we’re caught up on all the currently released episodes. I do know that the Cancel Proof guys are shooting more, but I’m not entirely sure when they’ll be up. But when they are, we’ll have ‘em for ya!

From YouTube Description:

Dave’s date brings her senile grandmother along for a quiet evening with Dave and Allen.

MUSIC

Microwave Porn Opening Theme Written and Performed by J. Gordon Ross and Ryan Keller

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Microwave Porn Ep.9 “Pornography Anonymous” | A Web Series Review on the Watch List

A Comedy Web Series

5 Swirlies

“Of course I’m alive. I’m the main character. The fucking show is named after me.”

In the continuation of episode 8, Dave takes Allen to a clinic to cure Allen’s addiction. And hilarity ensues.

This episode is like the earlier two parter (episodes 5 and 6) where Dave took Allen to a cottage in to cure Allen’s addiction. It takes us outside the “home base” set and outside of the standard set up for the series. But like the previous two parter, these feels both fresh and perfectly part of the show.

I could go on about how funny this episode is - cause it is pretty effin’ funny - but instead I wanted to talk a bit about all the subtle things that the Cancel Proof guys behind this show do to make it sing. Some we notice and some we don’t. It’s easy to say to yourself, “Oh this is a silly show that makes juvenile references to porn,” (which is true) and dismiss it even as you watch as a cheap, guilty pleasure. But here’s some of the things that say to me that there’s a lot of thought and talent that goes into making Microwave Porn.

First all, I’m always amazed by the amount of emotion that they manage to give Allen, using mostly his animated eyes. (The voice work is great, too.) Just making those things move and blink probably takes a fair bit of work, and they don’t just drop in a loop and move on, in a hurry to get the thing done, each shift of the gaze and each blink is designed to match the microwave’s thoughts and feelings in that moment. And more than just a range of emotions (he’s angry so he looks like this, he’s surprised so he looks like this) subtle movement of the eyes serve to underscore the jokes and gags - all those subtle mannerisms that separate a good comedian from a great comedian. In a microwave with cartoon eyes.

And like any show, it starts with the writing. In the scene during the drug trial, the microwave and the other two participants watch an instructional film. The film is pretty funny on its own, and in lesser hands this scene might have played out with the spotlight on the film - especially with an inanimate object watching it. But the creators skillfully gave Allen little bits of dialogue - sharp, specific - that keep the focus of the scene on the microwave even as they allow the film room to be funny.

Ash Catherwood, who plays Dave, gives just as strong and nuanced a performance. His small bit of business while seated behind the nurse’s desk is just pure play - and perfect for the character at that moment. Maybe he improvised it, maybe they scripted it, but they didn’t leave it in just because it was fun and funny, it spoke to the character’s pleasure after flirting with the nurse.

Still with me? I hope this stuff isn’t too dry. One more, I promise.

What really got me, and made me want to talk about this stuff, was their nice use of sound to create a sense of geography and connection at an important moment. They go to great lengths to use the porn music of the film to identify the drug trial room to the audience. I mean, it is a funny gag, having the music. But they make sure to keep the music playing after we no longer see the film. Why? So that, for that very last gag, as the doctors carry the other drug tester out of the room, we hear the music and we instantly get what room they’re coming out of and why. Sure, if they didn’t have the music, most people probably wouldn’t be lost. But using the music creates an auditory call back to the previous scene, underscoring the joke - as silly as it is. Plus-ing it.

So yeah, at the end of the day it is a silly little show about a talking microwave. But it is the execution of it that sets it apart from many other shows, whether web or otherwise. I think I have talked about its release schedule before, which runs counter to accepted wisdom about releasing web series, but works. If you wanna make yourself a web series, you can learn an awful lot from these guys.

From YouTube Description:

Allen tries an experimental drug to cure his pornography addiction.

Microwave Porn Opening Theme Written and Performed by J. Gordon Ross and Ryan Keller

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Microwave Porn Ep.8 “Neg” | A Web Series Review on the Watch List

A Comedy Web Series

4 Swirlies

“That’s appliance abuse. You disgust me!”

Yay, Nigel!

This is a very special episode of Microwave Porn, dealing with the silent epidemic; appliance abuse. And it is too be continued, too. Shades of 80′s sitcoms galore.

This is probably the most we have ever seen Allen the microwave move. There’s a lot of things to like about this show, not the least of which is how expressive they make a microwave seem. Another one is how they keep is fresh without feeling like they are moving away from the central concept of the show.

The humour of this episode, a little like the ‘making fun of sitcom conventions’ of the last one, is a little more about laughing at bad sitcoms than in pure, that’s just funny stuff like the episode where they got trapped at the cabin. But it’s still pretty funny. And it had Nigel!

I wonder how them Microwave fellows are gonna get outta this one?

From YouTube Description:

Allen tries to give Dave advice about how to properly use a ‘neg’.

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Microwave Porn Ep.7 “Nikki Payne” | A Web Series Review on the Watch List

A Comedy Web Series

4 Swirlies

Dave, your microwave is talking! Take off your pants while I kill it!”

This episode gets back to the roots of the earlier ones, after the two parter at the cabin, and focuses on Dave’s dating life.

The lighting and production in this one seems a lot slicker and sharper, and they got themselves a real guest star - Nikki Payne. Oh, and it looks like Dave got a haircut. Lookin’ good, buddy!

This episode is designed to parody a sitcom, which works but is a little too “meta” and ironic for my tastes. I just want to see a funny little story, although the jokes about the studio audience are frickin’ hilarious, especially off the top.

There’s also a bit of an Easter egg at the end. If you watch to the end of the closing credits, there’s an extended, audio only Cancelproof zombie apocalypse. Very fun.

From YouTube Description:

Dave gets a visit from his ex-girlfriend Nikki Payne.

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Microwave Porn Ep.6 “Mountain Man” | A Web Series on the Watch List

Dave, Allen and Jennifer take a weekend trip to help Allen kick his pornography addiction.
More info after the review…

5 Swirlies

“This hostage marriage isn’t working out so well, is it?”

This episode takes a sharp turn from the usual Microwave Porn episodes. But we get more songs, a microwave in a beard, hate sex and an appearance by God.

Watch now.

More info…

MUSIC

Decay: Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Microwave Porn Opening Theme Written and Performed by J. Gordon Ross and Ryan Keller

Related External Links

Microwave Porn Ep.5 “Into the Wild” | A Web Series on The Watch List

Dave, Allen and Jennifer take a weekend trip to help Allen kick his pornography addiction.

4 Swirlies

“I thought horses only banged chicks on websites. Dave, did you know they could bang each other?”

The first of a two parter for this hilarious web series. One of the joys of this series is that all you have to do is show Allen, the porn addicted microwave, doing anything and its funny. The montage of cottage activities is pretty funny, and its the song that puts it over the top. If you’re watching it at work, this is one to show around to the work colleagues. Tell ‘em you saw it on The Watch List!

As to what happens in the episode, let’s just say that their attempt to have Allen kick his problem cold turkey doesn’t go so well. How are they gonna get out of this one?

Microwave Porn Ep.4 “Succubus”

Allen the talking, porn addicted microwave creates an internet dating profile for his roommate Dave. Things don’t go according to plan.

4 Swirlies

“I’m six foot five and I make a million dollars every twenty minutes?”

There’s not much to say here except this is another hilarious episode. Maybe even the funniest one yet.

I’m pretty sure I’ve said this before, but I’m really impressed with how they stay true to their premise and set up, while still (up to episode 4) making each story feel fresh. I mean, that’s something many TV sitcoms can only aspire to.

I heard somewhere the guys behind this series have another one coming out soon. I can’t wait to see what else they’re doing!

Microwave Porn: Ep.3 “Borgya”

Dave meets a Slavkishkian model at the Architect’s Ball. She only speaks 3 words of English. Fortunately, Allen the talking. porn addicted microwave is ready to help.

4 Swirlies

“You don’t talk to Nigel! Nigel is my friend!”

This is a weird one – from the odd scene with Nigel “dropping a deuce” and undressing in slow motion to the just slightly not-the-real song “Shove it” to the transitions where Alan the porn addicted microwave talks us through the episode’s structure (“That was the build up.”)

And it is pretty damned funny.

What I liked was the way Alan drives the episode. It is kind of a straight and zany set up, with Dave trying to keep things “normal” until he can stand it no longer and becomes the “zany” one.

Outside of all the porn jokes and the strangeness of it, this is really well constructed series – Dave and Alan will always want different things, but because Alan can’t really do much for himself, he’ll always be up in Dave’s business.

Nice job, Cancelproof.