Podcast: John Hodgman and Jonathan Coulton live at Coolidge Corner Theatre

Published Oct 30 2008, 03:24 PM by Shaula Clark

Last Wednesday, the Coolidge's upstairs theater was heaving with excitable dorks of all stripes, all giddy with anticipation for a live reading and performance from John Hodgman and his surprise musical guest, Jonathan Coulton. You don't get a bill like this too often, folks. (Impatient peeps, scroll down for the MP3 download.)

Hodgman may have rocketed to minor-television-personality fame as the tweedy, bemused PC in those Apple ads, but he's been making our nerd hearts go pitter-pat for years now -- as a McSweeney's contributor, a Daily Show correspondent, a This American Life darling, and the author of Areas of My Expertise, which spawned the infamous 700 Hoboes Project. Coulton, a college buddy of Hodgman's, is the sensitive geek troubadour who's been tearing up the blogosphere with painfully hysterical Creative Commons-licensed jams like "Code Monkey" and "Skullcrusher Mountain."

Hodgman's Coolidge reading of his new book, More Information Than You Require, was a very special appearance indeed. Brookline is Hodgman's hometown, so we were treated to strange asides like this: John Hodgman describing a childhood visit to Universal Studios in LA, where a Charlie Chaplin impersonator mistook young Hodge for a girl and demanded a kiss (an incident he describes as "a traumatic homosexual silent-comedy date rape"), only to pause the story, look out into the audience, and note: "You will remember this, Dad -- you were the one who took me."

This all-too-brief and face-hurtingly funny reading segued into the musical portion of evening, with a buckskin-shirt-and-coonskin-cap-clad Coulton laying down a few gems. Here's the set list, with helpful time demarcations:

37 min: An ode to Adama, Starbuck, those other wily Capricans, to the tune of the original Battlestar Galactica theme song
39 min: "Tom Cruise Crazy," which is just as awesome as it sounds
43 min: "The Future," a wistful sci-fi epic of adolescent angst
47 min: "Brookline," Coulton's chronicle of getting sucked into the charming-yet-Lovecraftian vortex that is Brookline, thanks to Hodgman's nefarious influence
52 min: "The Presidents," an "88 Lines About 44 Women"-style ditty about all the presidents so far (a song that's about to get a major retooling)
57 min: The evening's grand finale, a moment of musical/literary history that MAY NEVER BE REPEATED, in which Hodgman picks up a ukelele and joins Coulton in an adorably wobbly rendition of "Tonight You Belong to Me." Holy swoon.

After that, we all scooted out of the theater and over to the Booksmith, because the 7 pm screening of Vicky Cristina Barcelona waits for no one. ("The movies must go on!" Hodgman proclaimed, shooing us out. "I know from when I worked here.")

Listen to the full reading and concert here:

DOWNLOAD: John Hodgman reads from "More Information Than You Require" and Jonathan Coulton performs live at Coolidge [MP3] (recorded October 22, 2008)

If this podcast is in fact less John Hodgman information than you require, we humbly submit to you a few This American Life gems:

-John Hodgman explores the secret inner life of Cuervo Man
-John Hodgman is both delighted and horrified to be professionally entangled with legendary B-film star Bruce Campbell (who is coming to Boston in just one week!)
-John Hodgman investigates the psychological significance behind the age-old question: "Flight or invisibility?"

Also, Bostonist has a great slideshow up from the event -- check it out.

Filed Under: Podcast, Coolidge Corner Theatre, John Hodgman, Jonathan Coulton

Jonathan Coulton

Jonathan Coulton is a geek rock/folk rock musician. He is best known for such compositions as "Still Alive" and "Code Monkey", as well as his...

Coolidge Corner Theatre

290 Harvard St, Coolidge Corner

The Art Deco talkie kingdom’s revolving roster of indie films makes for a cinematheque elite, but the real showboatin’ gems at the Coolidge are the...

| More

Their Cupola Runneth Over: Iron Guild Halloween Iron Pour 2008

Double Check Your Voter Registration

1 Comments

Batshua said:

If anyone wants just the Jonathan Coulton songs, I did my best to break up the recording into six tracks.

February 1, 2009 11:40 PM

Friends' Activity

Popular

Most Viewed

All Blogs

Phlog (1,867)
Laser Orgy (233)
Outside The Frame (453)
On The Download (2,858)
Talking Politics (1,841)
PageViews (322)
Dont Quote Me (583)

See more deals

Filed Under: Podcast, Coolidge Corner Theatre, John Hodgman, Jonathan Coulton

WFNX Radio
Podcast: My Song Is Better Than Yours 12-02-10
Published 12/2/2010 by MorningIntern
Riot Grrl vs Classic Country music on today's broadcast. "You're No Rock N' Roll Fun" by Sleater-Kinney takes on "God's Gonna Cut You Down" by...

WFNX Radio
Podcast: Kyle Buchanan 12-02-10
Published 12/2/2010 by MorningIntern
Kyle Buchanan of Vulture.com joins the show to talk about Black Swan and potential Oscar winners.DOWNLOAD: Podcast Kyle Buchanan 12-02-10.mp3To save podcast, right click and...

more by Shaula Clark

Spongebob Grabass: We squeeze actor Tom Kenny for info on masked-wrestling melee Lucha Vavoom | November 05, 2010

''We haunt to scare'': Scenes from SpookyWorld | October 29, 2010

PHOTOS: Feast of Flesh X: Night of the Living Dead Trekkies | October 08, 2010

No Mad Men chat today -- we'll talk about S04E11 (and S04E12) next Monday | October 04, 2010

LO500 Battle of the Week: Portal vs. Myst | September 30, 2010

See all articles by: Shaula Clark

Follow the Phoenix

Latest Comments

WFNX Boston Accents playlist 11.28.10: 2010 Boston Music Awards edition - Boo no Army of Toys!

By Jen on 12-06-2010 in On The Download

Gears of War 3: Female Character Added, Game Ruined - Well I've heard it's "confirmed" there's a Sam Byrne in Gears 3, and the blonde...

By paradox4 on 12-05-2010 in Laser Orgy

Gears of War 3: Female Character Added, Game Ruined - Its about time for female character! Maddy Myers you little idiot go fuck yourself!

By works4me on 12-03-2010 in Laser Orgy

HBO's Game of Thrones: Does the new trailer do the show justice? - I wouldn't worry too much about the trailer. Even the Sopranos didn't try to advertise the subtleties...

By JCB on 12-01-2010 in Laser Orgy

Patronage Politics - What did O'Brien get out of it, anyway? Popularity with legislators?

By Farnkoff on 11-27-2010 in Talking Politics

Latest Comments from Phlog

Podcast: John Hodgman and Jonathan Coulton live at Coolidge Corner Theatre

1 Comments

Batshua said:

Leave a Comment