Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Crap Fic Theater Recommends

David Gonterman getting ready for action!

When I started this podcast, I was only vaguely aware of the thriving community of talented peopl producing audiobook recordings of the crap-fics emerging from almost every corner of geek fandom (anime or otherwise).  Since then, I've better familiarized myself with the diverse talents involved in bringing some of these notorious works of fiction to life, and wanted to recommend three that I believe are particularly good at crafting superlative audiobook dramatizations of some of the worst fanfiction on the Internet.

HEAVENS FEEL PRESS - Hosted by Plaid.  Home of Unlimited Podcast Works, an anime podcast that occasionally dabbles in first-rate audiobook productions of bad fanfiction.  They are perhaps best known for their excellent book-on-tape productions of Issei Mataloun's infamous Hellstorm Evangelion and its equally loopy sequel, as well as Tsunami the 5th's Fate of the Children.  Each productions is fucking hilarious, adroitly bouncing between comic deadpan and emotive, high-octane recitation.  In fact, we cite their audiobook series as the prime inspiration for this project.  (I also have it on good authority that the long-awaited Issei Strikes Back should come out soon and complete the Hellstorm trilogy.)

PRETENTIOUS INTERNET THEATER - An ambitious program hosted by Andrew Cook that not only boasts a vast library of sidesplitting fanfic audiobooks but also features interviews from some of their creators (notorious and otherwise).  This is pure prestige, featuring thunderous performances, wry commentary, and classical music.  I am particularly fond of their productions of David Gonterman's hate-filled and hilariously wrong American Kitsune (which almost seems to destroy our intrepid host) and Tara Gilesbie's gothoriffic Harry Potter fanfic / Hot Topic informercial My Immortal.  And yes, we apologize for also using Jean-Joseph Moret's Rondeau as our opening theme.  That was purely a coincidence!  Honest!

BAD FANFICTION THEATER - An excellent audiobook series hosted by Franzie von Karma that features fun, high-energy dramatizations of some truly terrifying works of fanfiction.  This podcast offers a vast archive of audiobooks that tears through multiple fandoms and doesn't shy away from the dark side of fanfiction.  I mean, where else could you suffer (the optimal word) through the loathsome wince-fest that is Robert Tsunai's Chibi Usa's 7th Birthday or dive into the lower depths of Robocop-x-Batman slash.  Oh, right, she also brings us more Gonterman dramatizations.  Yay.

Give these podcasts a listen, folks.  You'll be glad you did.

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