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There doesn't seem to be a Mission to Zyxx thread in this forum, and only a few search hits in places like the serialized fiction thread. With the show beginning its third season it feels like time to change that. MISSION TO ZYXX is a radio comedy/drama podcast produced by a bunch of alumni from the Upright Citizens Brigade comedy theatre in NYC. It tells the story of a misfit crew on a diplomatic tour of the rear end-end of the galaxy to "discover their heroic destinies and meet weird bug creatures and stuff". Every week the cast (plus a special comedian/celebrity guest) record an episode of improv, which is then meticulously remixed and edited with sound effects and music. The end result is somewhere between a scripted serial and a live roleplay recording--it tempers the more focused narrative of the former with the goofy freeform of the latter. Overall it's a fun little adventure that produces some good laughs.  THE CAST: Alden Ford is Pleck Decksetter, the ship's ambassador and nominal leader. Pleck is a farmboy jumped up to command ranks with a real gee-whiz attitude about the universe. He's got a good heart but can be incredibly naive. Most of the unfamiliar elements of the setting are introduced to the audience by explaining them to Pleck. Jeremy Bent is C-53, the protocol and diplomatic relations droid. (Yes, there's a running Star Wars parody theme in this show. It's not too strong, until sometimes it is.) C-53 has a dry, weary humor and seems to take joy in misinterpreting commands. Allie Kokesh is Dar, the security officer. Dar is a former smuggler who was strong-armed into straightening up and joining the ship's mission. They are described as huge and intimidating, with an alien array of bodily orifices, chutes, and flaps. I've always pictured them as somewhat arachnoid. Moujan Zolfaghari is the Bargerean Jade (aka Bargie), the AI who runs the ship. Bargie was a movie star in her youth (it's established in-universe that there's a whole genre of romance/action movies about ships, literally the ships themselves) and is now a bit washed-up and starved for glory. Seth Lind is Nermut Bundaloy, the missions operations manager who dispatches the crew from afar. He desperately wants to climb the corporate ladder and prove himself by managing the best diplomatic team in the fleet in the most exciting quadrant of the galaxy. Possibly the only character more naive than Pleck. Winston Noel plays many background voices and secondary characters, but the most recurring are the CLINTs, or clone light infantry nomadic troopers. (Again with the Star Wars parody.) CLINTs are the belligerent enforcers of galactic order but are prone to infighting and petty bickering. Shane O'Connell doesn't have a character but he does all the sound engineering and deserves recognition. Every episode gets many hours of audio treatment to add sound effects and music or just to edit out the rough patches and laughs between improv scenes. The end of each episode includes an unedited outtake, which really gives a good look at how much work goes into those scenes. Find episodes at https://missiontozyxx.space/ or on the Maximum Fun network, where it just started its third season.
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Mar 28, 2019 18:49
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| # ¿ May 12, 2024 05:06 |
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Now taking applications for a better thread title.
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Mar 28, 2019 18:49
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Very much enjoyed this week's episode with the increasingly specific perverts at the library.
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Apr 6, 2019 23:04
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Does the pelvis say "let's party" or "juck party"? I've never been sure, sometimes it sounds like one and sometimes the other.
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Apr 9, 2019 00:06
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SpacePig posted:It's "Let's Party". One neat thing about being a MaxFun donor, and I assume what was previously cool about being a Patreon backer, it's that they have some songs for download and for ringtones, and that's one of them. Oh nice, I knew they had songs on the donation rewards but I hadn’t gotten to them yet. I listened to the live shows though and they are very good.
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Apr 9, 2019 05:58
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And they said AJ wouldn't have fans...
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Apr 26, 2019 05:19
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Beano, now, I'm not sad to miss. He had some good moments but was a real acquired taste.
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May 2, 2019 15:12
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tsob posted:Is the sound mixing on the early episodes kind of iffy, or is it just the headphones I'm using? I listened to the first episode, and only understand about half of what Bargie and C-53 were saying. I'm using some bone conduction headphones I originally bought mostly for running, for the simple reason my main headphones snapped a few weeks ago and I haven't bought new ones yet; so it's possible the relatively low level sound transfer on them is responsible but Pleck, Dar and Nermut were all fairly clear and easy to understand so I'm curious. I did find the sound and/or background sound was occasionally distractingly loud compared to the voices as well though. Is it a thing and does it get better if it is? I just went back and listened to the first episode on my desktop work computer and while I wouldn't rule out the sound quality getting better over time, I'm not hearing the differences you describe. Bargie and C-53 sound fine and the background noise isn't distracting.
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May 2, 2019 17:03
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Entropic posted:I’m still catching up in season 2, but the first time I heard the foley sounds of Beano just walking around I couldn’t stop laughing, it’s amazing sound design work. Especially with headphones as he runs from side to side. (Is that in my imagination? I don't think so; pretty sure the sound design is in stereo and that just makes it even better.)
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Sep 11, 2019 17:17
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They released a bonus episode last week of Bargie and C-53's podcast spinoff from the finale. The voices started out a little grating but grew on me over time. I liked the rapid-fire nature of it. There's also apparently a bonus episode on the Maximum Fun but I haven't bothered to look that up yet.
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Nov 4, 2019 18:15
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I liked Dependents Day a lot. Maybe just because of the song. But I felt like it was a great example of their improv world-building process. Also I am never sad to hear a Grower Mind episode. Incidentally I'm really glad they recapped the finale because I found it kind of incomprehensible when I listened to it six months ago.
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Feb 22, 2020 04:58
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It's always good when a creative work gets to end on its own terms. I hope they keep the same format for future projects though.
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Apr 14, 2021 23:11
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| # ¿ May 12, 2024 05:06 |
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The live performance recordings also show that they are pretty good at stringing together a scene without editing. Not to mention doing sound/voice effects on the fly. (Or am I dumb for not realizing those get post production work too?)
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Apr 16, 2021 04:19
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