There are many advice podcasts online, but only one hosted by comedians Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld.
The duo are mostly known from their time featured in College Humor, where they started off as writers before eventually producing their own video sketch series entitled Jake and Amir. As the popularity of their sketches grew, they began their weekly advice podcast where they aim to help people with any problems they may be facing in their lives – although they often end up going on tangents and failing to actually answer the question at hand.
The topics they address vary from relationships and sex, to drugs, friendships, and truly bizarre situations that border on the unbelievable.
Jake and Amir’s chemistry and comedic timing truly shine in the podcast, as do their skills in improvisation; the whole podcast is unscripted and unedited. No episode ever feels devoid of comedy and their clear love of their work makes it a genuine delight to listen to.
The podcast regularly features guests ranging from the hosts’ friends and family members to comedians, actors, athletes, and musicians. The guest appearances on the show never feel forced and there always seems to be a friendly, playful atmosphere in the studio.
After the success of their initial podcast, Jake and Amir branched out to form their own podcasting network called HeadGum, aiming to “produce, curate, and promote the best podcast content from around the web”.
On their website, you can find a wide range of – mostly comedic – podcasts curated with more unique voices in the style of Jake and Amir.
The HeadGum network now also produces sketches featuring Jake and Amir and their various staff members: similar in tone to their College Humor videos, but following a different format. These videos can all be found on HeadGum’s Youtube channel and they generally release a video every week. These short videos are a great showcase of Jake and Amir’s absurdist humour and will probably give you a good indication of whether or not you will enjoy their podcast.
Overall, I would highly recommend If I Were You – and any other HeadGum production – to anyone looking for a good comedy podcast. If you enjoy their specific style of humour, I would also suggest watching their HeadGum sketches and their older Jake and Amir videos.
As a long-time fan of their work, it is nice to see their network growing and it will hopefully continue to expand to keep their specific genre of comedy alive.
Image: tynyuk @ shutterstock