Genre Comedy, advice Updates Once per week No. of episodes 347 | Language English Length About an hour | |
Hosted by Justin, Travis, and Griffin McElroy | ||
My Brother, My Brother and Me (often abbreviated as MBMBaM, pronounced /məˈbɪmˌbæm/) is a weekly comedy advice podcast distributed by the Maximum Fun network and hosted by brothers Justin, Travis, and Griffin McElroy. Regular episodes of the podcast feature the brothers humorously providing answers to questions either submitted by listeners or found on the Yahoo! Answers service.
Contents
The show was independently produced and released by the McElroy brothers from April 2010 until it joined the Maximum Fun network of podcasts in January 2011. In 2010, the show was consistently listed among the top 10 comedy podcasts on iTunes. Writing for The A.V. Club, critics David Anthony and Colin Griffith both counted MBMBaM as one of their top 10 podcasts of 2012. A TV series based on the podcast premiered on Seeso in February 2017.
Format
Each week the McElroy brothers alternate between answering questions that have been directly submitted by listeners and questions that listeners have found on Yahoo! Answers. The second type of question is usually referred to by the brothers as a "Yahoo." The questions will usually prompt the hosts into long humorous discussions.
Advertisements from corporate sponsors and paid messages from listeners are read by the hosts on air during a segment called "The Money Zone."
Episodes of the show are occasionally performed and recorded in front of live audiences at venues in cities such as Los Angeles, New York City and Huntington. A special episode called "The Adventure Zone" was released on August 18, 2014, shortly after Justin and his wife had a baby. It featured the brothers playing a game of Dungeons & Dragons with their father, Clint. The Adventure Zone was later spun off into its own podcast on the Maximum Fun network.
"(It's a) Departure" by John Roderick & The Long Winters (from the album Putting the Days to Bed) has served as the primary theme song for My Brother, My Brother and Me since the show joined the Maximum Fun network on January 17, 2011. Prior to this, the show's theme song was "Take a Chance on Me" by ABBA, while "Root to This" by Fear of Pop and later "Play Your Part (Pt. 2)" by Girl Talk was used as a closing theme.
TV Show
A television series based on the podcast was ordered for NBC's Seeso streaming video platform. Filming took place for three weeks during September 2016 in the McElroys' home of Huntington, West Virginia. "(It's a) Departure" by John Roderick and the Long Winters was retained as the theme song for the television series. The show's first season ran for six episodes, all of which were released via Seeso on February 23, 2017.
Guests
The show occasionally features guests (referred to as "guestsperts") who help the McElroy brothers answer questions. Notable past guests include:
Hosts
Justin, the oldest brother, lives in Huntington, West Virginia, and works as an editor-at-large at Polygon, a video game website. He also co-hosts the medical history podcast Sawbones with his wife, Dr. Sydnee McElroy. In 2016 Justin co-invented asynchronous podcasting with Roman Mars creating the first episode of Smart Stuff which began in MBMBaM 316 and was completed in 99% Invisible 225. Justin also hosts a YouTube show called "Things I Bought at Sheetz" with Dwight Slappe.
Travis, the "middlest" brother, lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, and worked as a master carpenter for the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company. He also co-hosts the doomsday prepping comedy podcast Bunker Buddies with Andie Bolt, a podcast on frustrations and rants with Tybee Diskin called Interrobang, a podcast on manners called Shmanners with his wife, Teresa McElroy, a podcast on current events with Brent Black called Trends Like These, and a podcast called Surprisingly Nice with Hal Lublin, where they interview people they are fans of.
Griffin, the "sweet baby brother", lives in Austin, Texas, and is the senior editorial producer, video for Polygon. He also co-hosts a video game podcast called Cool Games, Inc. with Polygon colleague Nick Robinson, and a podcast about The Bachelor and The Bachelorette called Rose Buddies with his wife, Rachel McElroy. In addition, Griffin was named one of Forbes' "30 under 30" for the year 2016. All three brothers co-host a yearly podcast called Till Death Do Us Blart with Tim Batt and Guy Montgomery where they review the film Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2.
All three were raised in Huntington by Clint and Leslie McElroy. Together with their father, a radio personality himself, the brothers produce a Dungeons & Dragons podcast called The Adventure Zone. The three brothers also provide the in-game commentary for the video game 100 Ft. Robot Golf.