By Noe Gutierrez
The Idle Effect is a new geeky, pop culture and comedy podcast brought to you by Jerry ‘Jer’ White (Producer/Writer/Host) and Charlie ‘Chuck’ Ellis (Producer/Writer/Host), Melissa Hull (Camera operator/ Voice Over) and Makena Hull (holds up signs and make noises). It appears to be filmed and recorded in the nerdiest space possible.
The meaning behind The Idle Effect is best defined by the hosts themselves. White: “It’s basically just what happens when someone has a Best Buy card and too much time on their hands.” Ellis: “The title is an effective method of keeping the listener’s expectations low.” Those low expectations are surprisingly raised after watching the first episode. I found myself despising the scene between William Shatner and Godzilla but remained riveted by the seriousness of White and Ellis’ approach to their inaugural episode. I laughed for roughly 44 of the 45 minutes.
If you’ve ever had a conversation with Ellis you know that his tangential thinking and laborious verbosity are classic “Chuck”. The Mighty Jack frontman/guitarist/keyboardist pulls you in like a tractor beam, (Star Wars, not Star Trek), and does not let go until you’re glassy-eyed and have a blood alcohol content of .10. This is also the allure of The Idle Effect. They are each other’s funny man and straight man at the same time. This balance of camaraderie is what makes it work. This charismatic couple seem hell-bent on poking fun at all of pop culture. White comes clean on their intent. “We’re not here just to make people laugh…but make the right people laugh.” Ellis agrees, “We’re here to amuse ourselves and hopefully amuse others along the way.” Their humor is appropriate for the podcast medium; so much that they earned the dreaded “Parental Advisory – Explicit Content” label for their first episode.
A podcast is a free and unique media that is comprised of a digital audio file made available on the Internet for downloading to a computer or portable media player. They are typically available as a series of which new installments can be received by subscribers automatically. White cuts to the bone on why they chose the podcast, “I wanted to work in a medium where nobody could tell us what to do.” Ellis counters with, “Plus we were told that we should do one.” In addition to audio, they shoot video of their episodes.
Filming video of the podcast is an option White and Ellis could not resist. They have the faces for a podcast. White admits, “I’m just too beautiful to not be seen as well as heard.” Ellis concurred, “What he said.” The Idle Effect follows in the footsteps of other nerdy podcasts like The Nerdist, Wired and The Read.
White concedes that they are following the path of the biggest geek known to man. “We’re copying everything Kevin Smith has done but on substantially less of the budget.”
Coachella Valley Weekly asked White and Ellis a few other inconsequential questions:
Is there a script?
JW: “Have you heard the show?”
CE: “Uh…Define script?”
Will product placement be an element of the show in the future?
CE: “Are you asking will we compromise our integrity & principles for personal financial gain?! Hell yeah we will! See we come from the Gene Simmons school of…well The Gene Simmons school …where selling out is the new keeping it real.”
JW: “Did you want to buy time on the show?”
Same question but with alcohol?
JW: “Oh, so you’re assuming there are parts of this done without alcohol?”
CE: (Takes a drink)
Are there any topics that are off limits?
JW: “Only Mexican cat juggling.”
CE: “We try not to talk about last summer’s Fantastic Four movie, but occasionally the subject still comes up…also Jerry’s time in Nam is usually avoided too…although I’ve always thought that him having a flashback while we’re live could make for a fun and interesting segment.”
What’s the future of The Idle Effect?
CE: “Now that we are getting the Noe Gutierrez bump who knows? Start doing some live shows in front of an audience. ..possibly opening up for Aphrodisiac Jacket?”
JW: “Go on to make a butt-load of money, spend it all on hookers and blow, and end up broke and homeless in Encino.”
Is the podcast a lost art form?
JW: “No…now Mexican cat juggling, that’s a lost art form, but I can’t talk about it.”
CE: “Some of the cynics out there might consider our medium as archaic and passé…a discarded relic from a bygone era. But to them we say no! You’re dumb! If you look at countries like St. Vincent & The Grenadines or Mauritania…you’ll see that podcasting is just catching on there.”
Episode #1 and #2 are available via iTunes or podbean.com. You can watch the episodes on YouTube as well. Episode #3 will be up once you read this.
Email – Idleeffect@yahoo.com
Find us on Facebook.com/theidleeffect
Listen on iTunes or Idleeffect.podbean.com
Watch on Youtube
Parental Advisory. Explicit Content.
