Rude Tales of Magic: Down for the Count

December 7, 2019 12:53 PM

Metaphorically at-sea and literally in-woods, our heroes struggle to survive encounters with the natives and wildlife of the Teenage Forest. Thirsty provincial royalty, swarms of altered beasts, secret societies, ancient mad scientists, and more await our heroes in the dark hollows of the great woods on this night. But will they all live to see the dawn?
posted by yellowbinder (8 comments total)

Relistened this morning and literally laughed to the point of muscle spasm when de Bonesby revealed it had been five days since he drank blood at the impromptu 12 step meeting. That poor boy. It's often the little throwaway moments that hit the hardest on this one. Some of those throwaway moments will pay off, so pay attention.

I figured out why I had trouble differentiating de Bonesby and Stirfry at first, as they say, that is what he sounds like. I also kept forgetting Bellow at this point on first listen, probably because he is unconscious most of this ep. Loved his little grunts as people introduced themselves at the meeting.

And that's not getting into Stirfry calling Count Ivan a nasty freak, or burning him with that sunny day line, or Flipcup (FLIPCUP!). Wow Stirfry is really a masterful character, in that I hate him so much and love him so much at the same time.
posted by yellowbinder at 12:58 PM on December 7, 2019

Also - Cordelia using Mage Hand to stroke Bellow's cheek! She got it bad.
posted by yellowbinder at 1:00 PM on December 7, 2019

F L I P C U P
posted by Rock Steady at 8:57 AM on December 9, 2019 [1 favorite]

I love the running joke about Albee always accidentally completing the "Shave and a Haircut" melody instead of leaving off the last two notes, and it's probably down to the quality of the improv that I can't tell if it started off as a genuine accident or not.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 1:32 AM on January 30, 2020 [1 favorite]

Ok, so I've started listening and I'm enjoying this a lot, but the sound levels really bounce around between speakers - some people are really soft, and others (especially the DM) are very loud; it makes it very hard to find a volume level where I can hear everyone without fear of having my eardrums blown out. Is this something that improves over time?
posted by nubs at 8:08 AM on January 30, 2020

It does get a bit better, but Branson does... a lot of yelling, and the actor that plays Frederick de Bonesby has a pretty delicate voice, especially in character (since he has no skin or flesh and no fats).
posted by Rock Steady at 8:58 AM on January 30, 2020 [1 favorite]

I listen on headphones and haven't had much issue with sound levels, for what it's worth.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 10:17 AM on January 30, 2020

Thanks - the issue might be that I'm listening while driving, and the softness of voice for de Bonesby means it gets lost in the road noise, while Branson's yelling is audible no matter what.
posted by nubs at 10:23 AM on January 30, 2020 [1 favorite]