Owlor 🦋
Owlor@meow.social
I'm developing a fondness for one-person scripted audio-drama podcasts. They don't require a lot of resources to put together (just an audio editing program, a half-decent mic and a willingness to learn how to voice-act on the fly), so they are an excellent way to start with dramatic storytelling. (Plus, you can usually expand the voice cast later once you've gotten some experience under your belt.)
Because of the low barrier of entry and the independent nature of it, you can find some pretty fascinatingly weird stories in the format.
It's a particularly good format for character-studies, one particular setup I've seen around a couple of time is "character investigates some sort of anomaly and it gradually becomes clear by their approach that whatever is wrong with them is as fascinating if not more than the weird thing they are investigating."
Since it is a one-character sort of deal, at least initially, the main character needs to be compelling enough to spend time with.
They don't need to be super-wacky right away, especially when it comes to reporter-type characters, they may initially start out being focused on the story they are investigating and it only gradually becomes clear that there's something distinctly off with them.
3
1
1
https://www.ifoundawormhole.com/episodes/episode-01-wormholes-plumbing This is the podcast I'm listening to right now, if you need a point of reference for the style.
0
0
1
Show content
@Owlor So this is a two-person podcast, plus it's improvised and not scripted, but I think you' d like Kornfeld and Andrews.
Each episode goes deep into two characters and their relationship. It's on the extremely dry and grounded end of improv and often times feels more like a two person one act play than comedy. Each episode is completely standalone from the others and they come in pretty bite-size chunks of about 10-15 minutes each. https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/66bdba85844d4451535ca06f
1
1
0
Show content
@srol I feel like I could write an entirely separate post about the unique appeal of two-handers as a dramatic format, but it is definitely a related format in that both have a pretty low barrier of entry and a limited scope that makes for some fascinating stories.
1
0
0
Show content
@Owlor Rick Andrews (the guy with the lighter voice) is actually my first improv teacher and has been a mentor to me. I'm so mad he's moving to Amsterdam next month. A terrible blow for our community, but Amsterdam's gain.
1
0
0
Show content
@srol I've been listening to I Don't Understand Sheets right now and your description of the show definitely didn't prepare me for how funny it is. Yeah it's a lot more grounded than a lot of improv I've seen, but there's a lot of comedy in seeing this kind of awkward but very relatable situation unfold.
Like, when you're staying at a friends house and gradually become aware of how unhinged their living situation is.
I stayed at a friend's place once as I was travelling to germany and her blankets was more like bags full of down feathers, half as thick as they where wide. It's like the universe noted my preference for thin weighted blankets and was like "y'know what would be funny?"
0
0
0
kasdeya
kasdeya@Owlor oh - this reminds me of a YouTube series that I’ve been enjoying! it’s a backrooms-flavored found footage horror series that is also a character study and a cooking vlog, and there’s one episode where he does skincare as well. there’s only one actor and it’s fascinatingly weird. it’s called The Glendale Archives
1
0
0
@Owlor your description also kinda reminds me of The Left-Right Game which is a story that I’ll recommend at every opportunity lol. although it has multiple characters and is told in the form of a text transcript of a podcast instead of an actual podcast
there’s also a podcast version but I wouldn’t recommend it, because it takes things that are clearly explained in the text transcript and turns them into sound effects which are much more ambiguous. you would think that ambiguity would be a good thing in a horror podcast but IMO it actually takes away from the experience, because scary things that were delicately implied in the story are instead buried pretty deep in implication
0
0
0