The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds · All Things Comedy

151 - The Past Times with Jenny Tian

·1 hr 16 min·5 clips

A Wisconsin man survived a plane crash by using a foam cheese head as a protective helmet.

The Past Times format has Dave Anthony select a random historical newspaper, while Gareth and the guest have never seen it. This episode's paper is the Kootenai Herald from October 24, 1891. Jenny Tien opens by guessing 1792, Gareth guesses 1898, and Dave reveals the correct answer is 1891. The Price is Right rules debate immediately becomes a running bit, with Gareth accusing Dave of catering the rules so he always loses. The first headline Dave reads is about a Fat Man's Association in Texas, which charged initiation fees of a cent a pound — clubs for heavier gentlemen that were apparently widespread across America in the 1890s, when what was then considered fat would be considered normal weight today. Dave and Gareth riff extensively on the idea of organizing exclusively around body weight. Gareth shares a childhood memory of a restaurant chain called the Ground Round where children could eat by paying their weight in cents. Jenny opens the episode with entertaining anecdotes about the upcoming Australian comedy festival circuit: the Sydney Opera House (extremely prestigious) immediately followed by Adelaide Fringe (a literal tent surrounded by carnival rides with no soundproofing, where you can hear people on rides having more fun than your audience). The bat situation in Sydney — enormous bats the size of eagles that descend on outdoor cinema audiences and provide unwanted biological commentary — also generates extended discussion. The episode continues through other 1891 headlines with the usual mixture of historical context and escalating absurdist commentary.

As heard by us

Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds turn Squarespace and Quince sponsor talk into fast, argumentative running bits.

The episode leans hard into sponsor-read banter, with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds moving from Squarespace domain talk to Quince clothing talk and folding the details into jokes.

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Why you'd press play

Play this if you want sponsor reads that spiral into jokes about claiming a domain and family PJs.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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