Obscure with Michael Ian Black
It's a book club, but funny! Comedian Michael Ian Black is tackling a great work of literature: Wuthering Heights. Join Michael's weekly book club as he reads aloud from a classic and asks people like Jen Kirkman, Mike Birbiglia, Michael Showalter, and even his teenage kids to weigh in with their perspectives. Season 1: Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure. The book is bleak, but Michael does a lot of accent work. Season 2: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. It's alive, and it's just a big buddy. Also, more accent work. Season 3: Wuthering Heights. It's a love story? Who knows Season 4: American Tragedy. Also a potential title of this podcast Support this show and access bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/michaelianblack
Episodes
Could Clyde possibly be a snob? Does he have it within him? Dreiser certainly seems to think so. On today's episode of Obscure, Clyde is cast from the fine home on Wycagy Avenue and contemplates a return to Chicago. But then, an unexpected turn of events raises Clyde in the estimation of his relations.
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The old Groucho line has rarely been more apropos than in this week's episode. Everybody's turning their back on poor Clyde. The hottie Sondra, the matriarchal Elizabeth Griffiths, and in fact the entire Griffiths clan, save one of the Griffiths girls. And, on top of everything else, we have to deal with the name "Bertine," of which your host is NOT a fan.
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Clyde has come a'calling to visit the Samuel Griffiths clan, those Lycurgus sophisticates to whom he is related. He's much impressed with the Griffiths manse and the fine specimens within, save for Gilbert Griffiths, his snooty cousin. It's a tale of manners on this week's splendid episode of Obscure.
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On today's episode of Mike and Tom Eat Snacks, Mike and Tom review Cheetos Puffs. Admittedly, this isn't Mike and Tom Eat Snacks, but you do get one (1) free snack review at the top of this episode. Plus, Clyde and girls, girls and Clyde. AND, an unexpected invitation arrives...
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This episode is dedicated to the combination of cake and ice cream. Why is this not a greater topic of conversation in the culture? Because we take it for granted, that's why! Well, your host isn't going to ignore this award-winning combo any longer. Cake, you're terrific. Ice cream, great. But you put those two together, and by God, you've got yourself a sum greater than its parts. Ice cream and cake, we salute you. Also ...
A new character has entered the fray, Walter Dillard, a grifter aspirant. Young Dillard attempts to ingratiate himself with our hero, Clyde Griffiths, by inviting him to a social... with refreshments! Not to mention a couple of young lasses, all of whom have their sights set on a promising young chap with a fortuitous surname. Clyde, wary and tempted, need only procure himself a dress suit to open fate's door.
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Clyde meets a fellow boarder, a Niles to his Frasier, a "brainless sprig" named Walter Dillard. Dillard is eager to make Clyde's acquaintance upon learning his surname and to squire him around the bright lights of Lycurgus. It's no Nashville, where your host finds himself hanging about petting a bearded dragon or two. Could Walter Dillard be a bearded dragon himself???
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A sibling spat, if not an outright rivalry, is emerging between the Lycurgus Griffiths children over the arrival of the hayseed Clyde. And you know what happens when hayseeds show up - allergies!!!
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Reporting from the docks today as your host gets ready to depart upon the high seas. Yes, it's a maritime adventure on this week's episode of Obscure. Your host is a guest of the Valiant Lady, the subject of our book the guest of the Griffiths Collar Company. Clyde finishes his tour of the factory and then takes his own tour of the fine residential neighborhoods of Lycurgus.
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Clyde is assigned to the dregs of the Griffiths Collar Manufacturing Concern. After a somewhat terse exchange with his cousin, Gilbert, Clyde is escorted through the manufactury, where he witnesses all the sights and sounds of a great collar concern. Fascinating stuff.
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Clyde is making his way through Lygurgus, NY in seek of his fortune. We're getting a tour of the Griffiths Collar Making Factory as young Master Clyde of the Asa Griffiths clan presents himself at the office of his cousin Gilbert. A little cousin-on-cousin action on this episode of OBSCURE.
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Those who know of my work no doubt also know the work of one of my besties, David Wain. His dad, Norman Wain, gave some business advice years ago that I remember in this episode of Obscure. Business is also very much on the mind of Clyde Griffiths and his uncle, the collar entrepreneur, Sam. Did Clyde just secure his future? Listen and find out!
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Clyde is about to meet his uncle, Samuel Griffith, who has come to Chicago and is staying at the very club in which Clyde's employ is now secured. But how to approach the Great Man? Would his uncle find him nothing more than an aged bellhop in laughable circumstances? Listen on and find out!
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Your humble host is laid up with a blown-out back as he endeavors to feed your literary hunger. A surprise awaits Clyde in Chicago, which provides our young hero with a new opportunity... and new danger?!?
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It's been three years since the tragic events of Clyde's Kansas City days. What has he been doing in the ensuing years? How did he make his way to Chicago? What about his poor, pious parents? Did the rest of the gang end up in the pokey? Find out on this informative episode of Obscure!
Check out Michael's column in the Daily Beast
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My God, yet another episode with Bella talking about the goddamned boat lunch the Finchleys are building up at Greenwood Lake. Like the rest of the Griffiths clan, Michael doesn't care. Rich people and their rich people gossip. Not for him, thanks.
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No, it's not Welsh but it certainly is fun to say. This week, we're dealing with fancy ladies and chaps, in particular a certain Bella Griffiths angling for a summer at Greenwood Lake! Plus, a facile comparison of Clyde Griffiths, Sammy Glick, and Jay Gatsby.
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There's mooks aplenty on another tantalizing episode of Obscure. One from contemporary times, and several from the book. Plus: we fail to find a good definition for "macerating wheel"!
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Those meddlesome kids are causing mayhem - absolute mayhem - out there in Kansas City, MO. They're running over girls and crashing cars and engaging in high-speed car chases. It's madness with these kids!
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"Gee, but you're mean." The fact is, these two young people are exhausting. Clyde and Hortense continue their back-and-forth and we're forced to endure their irritating pas de deux. More bickering, more dilly-dallying. And maybe Hortense is on her period. Not sure. Plus, a book recommendation!
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