Sklars and Stripes

by Randy Sklar

Publisher's Summary
Experience a new kind of comedic audio documentary from The Sklar Brothers in this Audible original.

Randy and Jason Sklar have a knack for exploring what makes America’s cities unique and wonderful, whether it’s finding out who in San Diego serves the best burritos, why basketball is so popular among those in Bloomington, or why the people of Portland can't let go of their old airport carpeting.

2017 was a year in which everyone retreated to their bubbles – liberal, conservative, and cotton-candy scented. Everyone except Jason and Randy Sklar. They didn’t have a choice; if you’re a comedian, you get a tour date and you go to work. They traveled to red states and blue states, red cities in blue states, and blue cities in red states. What emerged throughout their travels was a real sense of what everyone was going through in a historically insane and twistedly-hilarious year. And Audible recorded their experiences, insights, and off-the-cuff jokes along the way.

On the road, Randy and Jason searched for topics specific to each community they visited – then challenged themselves to see whether they could perform jokes about those topics that locals would find funny. Along with producer and fellow traveler Scott Rogowsky (HQ Trivia), they dug into the American psyche and explored its dark and quirky crevices both on stage and off. Follow their shenanigans in this docu-comedy which visits 10 different cities, each a new chapter and a new adventure. With an arsenal of jokes and a curious mind, the Sklars attempt to answer one burning question: as a nation, can Americans still laugh at themselves?

Plus, as a special bonus in Chapter 12, all listeners receive a full album of the Sklars' stand-up from the tour: The Tour Tapes.

This is not an audiobook. This is not your grandma’s travel program. This is Sklars and Stripes.

THE TOUR

San Diego

Madison

Portland

Kansas City

San Francisco

Tulsa

Denver

Bloomington

Houston

St. Louis

THE HOSTS

The Sklar Brothers hosted the critically acclaimed cult hit Cheap Seats on ESPN Classic for 77 episodes, they have been guests on Comedy Central's @midnight,, HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm and Entourage, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Comedy Bang Bang, Maron and Better Call Saul. They have released four critically acclaimed comedy albums, have had two Comedy Central Half Hour Presents specials, and currently have a one hour stand up special on Netflix, What Are We Talking About. Randy and Jason also host two hit podcasts, Dumb People Town and View From The Cheap Seats.

©2018 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2018 Audible Originals, LLC

Genres: Audiobook, Nonfiction, Humor, Comedy

Audiobook

Published April 5, 2018

Reviews

[Elyse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the Sklar brothers in their comedy specials and their appearances on @midnight and Roast Battle. This was an interesting docu-comedy and basically a podcast. As they worked on their material for each city they performed in, you heard the rough cut of the joke and then during the "real" performance, you heard the final joke. So it was a bit repetitive. But very cool to see the birth of jokes and their joke-writing process! And cool how they made specific jokes for each city, got to know the people who lived there and the places they were known for. The interlude music was annoying!

[Ivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this audiobook. I found it interesting to know how comedians come up with their material. It was also fascinating to see how the Sklar brothers try to incorporate some of the local attractions, etc. to their comedy acts for each city. This audiobook had me chuckling at times in public like an idiot.

[Ray Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an audiobook created by the Sklar Brothers who are the twin brother comedy team who became famous in the 90s on MTV. In this program they visit cities, develop material on each and present their final stand up dates. If you enjoy stand up comedy, this is a unique look into the process of working professionals practitioners of observational comedy.

I really enjoyed this. The brothers visit dozens of landmarks and iconic locations. In the end, the comedy developed for each unique venue is excellent. very funny and very enjoyable - I highly recommend.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, but best listened to in spurts as the chapters are divided by the same music cuts and that gets annoying. Randy and Jason Sklar are hilarious comedians and their producer, Scott Rogowsky, travels with them as they aim to make new material traveling the US right after the election of 45. They have to feel out a deeply divided country and try to make them laugh, and (not really a spoiler) they do a good job!

[Myriah · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was funny, an easy listen, but not really up to the hype, and VERY repetitive. Not only do we have the same musical interludes between every chapter, but we have to listen to the same jokes. And it all just stayed up on the surface of things. Easy jokes, mostly funny if you live in those places I'd imagine. Their work wasn't as groundbreaking or edgy as they made themselves out to be, it just didn't match up.

[Keri (TheAudioAuditor)]

Audio book review.
No star rating - biography.

An interesting collection of stories from different cities around the country. All comedy routines aren't my style of humor, and all cities I can't relate to, but it was nice hearing so many voices and viewpoints. I found my mind wandering through a lot of the book, but it was still good.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great peek into the Sklar's comedy writing process and touring. Their observations on the different cities they visit on this tour were hilarious and heart-warming. This was a fun audiobook that helped me pass time during the quarantine.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed this and found the Sklar Brothers so funny. This is an Audible exclusive that has a podcast feel to it.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to laugh but ehhh. Not my style

[Lamadia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was laugh out loud funny.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of comedy skits recorded at 10 cities. It is interesting to learn a bit about the creative process that produces these routines.

[Dave Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

think this was a free audible book of month choice - i laughed quite a bit so - worth a listen

[Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 / 5

Part stand-up comedy set, part travel log, and part political commentary, Sklars and Stripes chronicles the Sklar brothers' travels across the USA to perform stand-up. The brothers give themselves the added challenge of producing 5-10 minutes of comedy specific to each city they visit, citing points of interest. This includes jokes about food, sports, and the recently elected Trump administration (the book was produced in 2017).

Pros:
- Some of the jokes are funny. I can't say any of them were gut-busting in their humor, but there were plenty of chuckles to be had.
- The brothers visit cities all across the nation, from east to west, and north to south. Between the stand-up portions of the audiobook and the brothers' discussions, I got a sense of what it was like to visit (if not live in) the various cities
- Though the process is never explicitly discussed, it was fascinating to see a joke develop from a comment on location to a joke on stage.

Cons:
- I didn't think this would bother me as much as it did, but the interstitial music didn't change from chapter to chapter.
- There is definitely a formula to this work. It starts with the brothers talking about how hard it will be in the new city. From there, they cut in recordings from their stand-up shows, interviews with locals (and occasionally other comedians and artists), and thoughts from their visits to local attractions. Lastly, they talk about how they succeeded in the chapter's city. The episodic nature of the book isn't a problem, but it does make it feel more like a podcast than an audiobook in my mind.
- Sometimes, the quality of the recording is so bad it's unintelligible (even at high volumes). I know the brothers give a disclaimer at the start of the book about this, but it happened a bit more often than I would have liked. Even on the sections that were easy to hear and understand, the audio quality was a few rungs below the average audiobook on Audible (likely due to the fact that these are field recordings).
- Though this production purports to be an audiobook, it really strikes me more as a podcast. There isn't anything wrong with that, and I bought the work on sale for $3, but I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed at the production values.
- [nit-pick] The final chapter of the audiobook is a recording the city-specific portion of the brothers' sets in the various cities. This is actually nice to include, but given that the best jokes are already woven into the "main" body of the work, this feels a bit superfluous. Added annoyances are: 1) the fact that the cities in this section are not in the same order as the rest of the book, 2) the city's names are not given before each set (granted, it is easy enough to figure out which city they're in based on context clues and the jokes they tell, but given the variability in the audio quality, this might not have been a bad thing to include), and 3) again, the audio quality is an issue throughout.

Conclusion:
This is a fun little book, especially if you can get it on sale. I would say it lives up to what it promises, but doesn't go much further. Moreover, it may be best to listen to this audiobook over many sittings (rather than in a few short bursts), as doing so would help hide some of the bigger issues of this work (audio quality, repetitive structure and music, etc).

[Onionboy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was promoted as a deep dive into bridging the political divide via comedy. Instead, they just rolled into a town, asked a few questions about local things, then made a few jokes about those things in their set. When they found themselves in a conservative town, the just toned down their liberal slant al little. That's it.

At one point in this audiobook, they interrupted a museum tour guide telling a story (to them privately, not during a tour) and said his punchline before he could say it. He was nice about it, but that is just inexcusable. They are supposed to be professional comedians. They should know more than anyone that you just don't do that. They talk over each other so much, which really gets annoying.

Another time a person on the street tried to tell them a joke. I agree, the joke was no good. But they went on and on telling him how bad his attempt at humor was for way too long. And they had to include it in their audiobook. I don't think that is how you should treat your audience.

I agree with others, this was repetitive. You hear each joke twice. The musical cues are played often. It is best listened to a little bit each day over time, rather than large doses.