Video: Press Conference: Ford Taps Doug  as 2012 Focus Spokesperson

“Well, pretty pants…” Up until the moment Paul F. Tompkins’ voice boomed from the mouth of this delightful little orange fella, I pretty much hated all puppets (non-Muppet puppets that is, oh and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, of course).

I am now a Doug the Puppet fan, and dare I say a 2012 Ford Focus fan. These commercials directed by Paul Feig are really funny and make good use of Tompkins’ refined yet aggressive delivery. Watch them all. You can even follow Doug on Twitter (@FocusDoug) and read the tweets aloud doing your best PFT impression (put on bow tie and a natty steam punkish outfit first to get in the mood).

Now that I am assisting in a multi-tiered viral marketing campaign (I used the phrase “2012 Ford Focus” like three times) for the 10th largest American corporation I fully expect to be compensated with — at the very least — a Ford Fiesta.

Ted Leo And The Pharmacists – “Bottled In Cork” (Official Video)

“Take a whispering class!” Vote Funny.

More: Funny Videos for Great Songs

Paul F. Tompkins, America’s favorite and most frequent comedy podcast guest, now has his very own downloadable pod-based show. I just listened to “The Pod F. Tompkast” and I’m glad to report it is a funny (better be!) and promising first effort. I’m a big fan of the Philly-born and bred comedian and after years of hearing him politely bust balls and dish on the inner workings of the comedy world on numerous radio shows and podcasts, I was excited to hear what kind of show he would put together.

I was picturing a podcast that wears a big bow tie and a bowler and spews old-timey carnival music with lots of bullhorn and funny voices.

Thankfully, it does not do that. (Okay, there are some funny voices.) The Tompkast (love that name) has an intimate late night vibe replete with gentle background ivory tickling and a silky smooth delivery by the host. Tompkins contrasts this coziness with a somewhat creepy electronic voice (Hal 9000ish) guiding you through the show. Nice touch.

The show starts off strong with Tompkins’ free flowing, grammar checking, slightly giddy/slighty sleepy welcome spiel that gives you a good idea of his sense of humor: smart, self-deprecating and confident. It quickly segues into the show’s best segment, a little chat between Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and rapper/bad actor Ice-T. Little known fact: they’re BFFs. I’m at loss for words to describe just how much I enjoy Tompkins’ less than spot-on impressions (can’t wait for Danny Glover next).

Tompkins has performed these two characters many times, most notably on Comedy-Death-Ray Radio (my favorite comedy cast out there) and the Superego podcast. When I want to sell my friends on comedy podcasts, I immediately point them to the Comedy Death-Ray episode where host Scott Aukerman chats with Ice-T about his new reality show, Crib Death. “It combines my love of flipping houses with my love of blowing things up.” Tompkins’ lisp-filled lewdness is gold.

Back to The Tompkast. Tompkins follows the celeb convo with a taped stage bit from one of his February Largo appearances highlighting the absurdity of the poorly-functioning Google Voice email translator, while funny, it went on a wee bit too long. It was great to hear Tim Meadows make an appearance, though. I love that guy and want to see more of him on the TV.

Tompkins then plays a phone interview with and old friend of his, comedian Jen Kirkman. I’m only familiar with Kirkman from The Best Show on WFMU where she calls in frequently. She usually comes off as a bit scattered or confused. That’s pretty much how this interview went. It’s was pleasant enough but meandering, not enough back and forth. Steering guests off of long tangents is a skill. Guys like Tom Scharpling (Best Show), Scott Auckerman and even Doug Benson make hosting comedy shows and setting up guests seem easy, it’s because of their experience and masterful ability to move the shows along and know when to bail or roll with a bit.

That said, I think Tompkins would do wonderfully with a guest or two in studio where the the conversation would be more natural. I’m sure that’s in the the works for future episodes.

Tompkins ends the cast with a hilariously long segment plugging his upcoming shows, warning against do-it-yourself family dentistry and thanking everyone — and  I’m talking everyone — who helped him launch the show, even the riddle-spewing troll who lives in the alley behind Largo. You can tell he’s having a ball (lots of giggling and talking to himself) and does not want the show to end. Like a late night phone call with your funny drunk pal, you don’t want to hang up either.

Hoping he’ll do another one. Not always the case with much heralded comedian-based podcasts. They take a good bit of work to produce and the hosts get bored easily. We’ll see.

Listen here or on iTunes.

Sweet Art: These 100 Cereal Box Covers should take you back to the glory days of wolfing down bowl upon bowl of multi-colored, crunchy goodness on Saturday mornings while trying to figure out why Wendy and Marvin were replaced by Zan and Jana.

WTF Top Chef? Pretty low-rent season, huh? The top chef so far (most wins) dazzled a bunch of yapping yentas on some morning TV show with a disgusting cold tomato-watermelon-cheese salad. This concoction was a big hit with Jersey housewives about 5 years ago. The look on the faces of the other chefs who lost and actually cooked fairly complex dishes was priceless: quietly seething in their own juices.

I do enjoy watching the dopey girl with an Irish cottage roof for a hairdo, Thatchy seems a bit lost, but oddly confident as she smothers the life out of dishes with globs of pungent cheese. The show has also turned into Product-Placement-Palooza. Oh well, all good things must come to end. Gotta motor, need to go buy some GladWare® Containers and a T-Mobile Sidekick 3™.

Where’s the Beef? Oh, right here in this flame-broiled man perfume.

“Aaah Haaa Yeahhh!” The Davide Lee Roth Soundboard rules (via Kevin Hoffman),  almost as much as the beloved Ladies Man Soundboard that I still get a kickout off, “Hey, what’s happenin’?” That’s gold.

Step Right Up and Buy Some Punk! R5′s Punk Rock Rock Flea Market – Holiday Edition – This Saturday! “100+ tables of vendors selling old records, clothes, art, music, food, bicycles, stereo equipment, instruments, automobiles, tools, posters, furniture, computers, skateboards and lots of other stuff !” R5 website.

Magazine Airbrush Artist Works Serious Overtimes, Injures Hand: Another slightly nude Aniston Cover… yawn…

The Ironman of Radio: Looks like WPRB’s Jon Solomon is keeping the streak alive, 21 years in a row:  24-Hour Holiday Radio Show on WPRB, 2008 Edition. The spectacular begins 6:00pm on Xmas Eve. Always a great listen, check in with him and send him nourishment.

Paul F. Tompkins: Philly-born Funnyman (aka TwitterKins) on Conan tonight.

Very Bad Ads: This could be the longest list ever created, but luckily Illuminati pared it downed nicely for us: Commercials that suck the fun out of watching television.

MixWit is Kaput! Oh well, fun while it lasted: http://mixwit.com

Flip Out!: Dolphin Stampede

Still Waiting for an Actual Capture or Legit Sighting: Sci Fi to gather more “Draft Hunters” “Ghost Hunters”

Eating Out of The Palm of Your Lap: Gabe & Max’s Guide to Man Style #3: Dining & Wine

Download Free Mp3: “Nothing Ever Happened” by Deerhunter (via KEXP)