Podcast
SmartLess Presents ClueLess
Hosted by SmartLess Media · EN
SmartLess Presents ClueLess is a bite-sized, biweekly podcast (10-12 minutes an episode), in which our host, Emmy-winning writer Elliott Kalan, guides the listener through different puzzles, brainteasers, & conundrums to see if they’re faster than this season's contestant Sean Hayes!
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Episodes
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Re-release: 212 - Leg Day/This Or That (w/ Janet Varney and Neil Patrick Harris)
Today00:29:41Summary readyWhile our host Elliott is away in London this week auditioning for the lead role in the next James Bond film (it's down to him or Jacob Elordi, fingers crossed!), please enjoy another repeat performance. On this episode of ClueLess, host Elliot Kalan welcomes back the highly entertaining duo of Janet Varney (SF Sketchfest, Avatar: Braving The Elements, Stan Against Evil) and her good friend Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother, A Series Of Unfortunate Events, Starship Troopers) to take a couple reps of a new game: Leg Day (ClueLess fans will pick this one up right away). Then, it’s a return of a new favorite, This Or That: Elliott will provide a series of clues, and on this occasion you must answer if they refer to a designer perfume or a Swedish black metal band. A knowledge of contemporary pop stars is needed for the MegaClue! Listen to Janet’s podcast E Pluribus Motto with John Hodgman! Follow Neil Patrick Harris @nph on Insta Puzzles in this episode are by Jason Reich and Brock Mahan. Script by Elliott Kalan, additional material by Maddie McCann. Music and sound effects by Devon Torrey Bryant. Buy Elliott’s book Joke Farming: How To Write Comedy And Other Nonsense HERE. Buy Devon’s album Blame It On My Zodiac HERE or stream it anywhere you listen to records. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
SummaryRe-release: 211 - Breaking The Law/Linkuistics (w/ Janet Varney and Neil Patrick Harris)
1w ago00:31:10Summary readyWhile Elliott is out of circulation this week doing ten years in Leavenworth (or is it eleven years in Twelveworth?), please enjoy another encore presentation (don't worry, he should be released soon for what the parole board refers to as "polite behavior"). On this episode, Elliott welcomes back the hilarious Janet Varney (SF Sketchfest, Avatar: Braving The Elements, Stan Against Evil), only this time she’s brought along her wonderful friend Neil Patrick Harris (Doctor Who: The Giggle, Gone Girl, Neil’s Puppet Dreams)! First up is a very relaxed game about bizarre state laws (do NOT overthink this one), and then we’ll have a return of an old favorite: Linkuistics! Elliott will give you a word and the starting letter of a second word that completes a well-known phrase, guess what the phrase is and try to keep your word chain going longer than your opponent! In the MegaClue, we’ll ask you to come up with your own connections between given words! Listen to Janet’s podcast E Pluribus Motto with John Hodgman! Follow Neil Patrick Harris @nph on Insta Puzzles in this episode are by Jason Reich. Script by Elliott Kalan. Music and sound effects by Devon Torrey Bryant. Buy Elliott’s book Joke Farming: How To Write Comedy And Other Nonsense HERE. Buy Devon’s album Blame It On My Zodiac HERE or stream it anywhere you listen to records. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
SummaryRe-release: 210 - Take A Wild Guess/Tone Note (w/ Janet Varney and John Hodgman)
2w ago00:24:49Summary readyWhile our host Elliot Kalan is busy this week attending the premiere of his new film Ocean's Elliott (in which Elliott, Elliott Gould, Chris Elliott, and Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott conspire to steal an original print of The Taking Of Pelham 123), please enjoy another repeat performance. On this episode of ClueLess, host Elliott Kalan welcomes back his pals Janet Varney (SF Sketchfest, Avatar: Braving The Elements, Stan Against Evil) and John Hodgman (Dicktown, The Daily Show, The Areas Of My Expertise) to get into the ballpark for a new game called Take A Wild Guess! Then, it’s the return of an old favorite, Tone Note! Elliott will give you a clue, and the answer will always be a two-word phrase where the words are anagrams of each other. You’ll have to assemble your own for the MegaClue! Visit SFSketchfest.com for tickets and more information! Listen to Janet & John’s podcast E Pluribus Motto! New episodes every Monday. Puzzles in this episode are by Jason Reich. Script by Elliott Kalan. Music and sound effects by Devon Torrey Bryant. Buy Elliott’s book Joke Farming: How To Write Comedy And Other Nonsense HERE. Buy Devon’s album Blame It On My Zodiac HERE or stream it anywhere you listen to records. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
SummaryRe-release: 209 - A Hello To Arms/Odd One Out (w/ Janet Varney and John Hodgman)
3w ago00:27:52Summary readyWhile our host Elliott Kalan is away this week getting ready to host a Quatro De Mayo event (nobody goes to those, all the big parties are the next day), please enjoy another repeat performance. On this bonus size episode of ClueLess, host Elliott Kalan invites his friends Janet Varney (SF Sketchfest, Avatar: Braving The Elements, Stan Against Evil) and John Hodgman (Dicktown, The Daily Show, The Areas Of My Expertise) to go sifting for letters in a new game called A Hello To Arms! Then, they’ll check in with an old favorite and see if they can identify the Odd One Out! Visit SFSketchfest.com for tickets and more information! Listen to Janet & John’s podcast E Pluribus Motto! Puzzles in this episode are by Jason Reich. Script by Elliott Kalan. Music and sound effects by Devon Torrey Bryant. Buy Elliott’s book Joke Farming: How To Write Comedy And Other Nonsense HERE. Buy Devon’s album Blame It On My Zodiac HERE or stream it anywhere you listen to records. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
SummaryRe-release: 208 - The Sort ‘Em Consortium (w/ Naomi Ekperigin and Andy Beckerman)
4w ago00:19:09Summary readyWhile our host Elliott Kalan is busy this week judging the results of the International Championship Tractor Pull in Belgium (the world's heaviest motorsport), please enjoy another puzzling and hilarious re-release! On this episode of ClueLess, host Elliott Kalan invites married podcasters Naomi Ekperigin and Andy Beckerman (co-hosts of Couples Therapy) to get organized with another round of The Sort ‘Em Consortium! As you may recall, in this game Elliott gives you all the answers first, and then gives you a series of clues where each answer relates to one clue only. This time: colors! And before that, a game about directions and cities with the same names! Puzzles in this episode are by Brock Mahan. Script by Elliott Kalan. Music and sound effects by Devon Torrey Bryant. Buy Elliott’s book Joke Farming: How To Write Comedy And Other Nonsense HERE. Buy Devon’s album Blame It On My Zodiac HERE or stream it anywhere you listen to records. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
SummaryRe-release: 206 - This Or That? (w/ Naomi Ekperigin and Andy Beckerman)
Apr 1300:21:12Summary readyWhile our host Elliott Kalan is busy this week opening his new theme park Vice President Universe (come for the death-defying Spiro Agnew Drop Tower, stay for Hubert Humphrey's Haunted House), please enjoy another puzzling re-release! On this episode of ClueLess, host Elliott Kalan welcomes back his married friends, the hilarious Naomi Ekperigin and Andy Beckerman (co-hosts of the podcast Couples Therapy) to weigh their options in a new game - This Or That! Elliott will provide a series of quotes, and on this occasion you must answer if it was said by God (as quoted in the Bible) or by Wu-Tang Clan member U-God. Before that, another round of our game First And Four-Most, where you’ll answer questions about the most common things people injure themselves falling out of, off of, or over. Plus: Andy’s wrong answer initiates Judgement Day, sorry about that. Puzzles in this episode are by Brock Mahan. Script by Elliott Kalan. Music and sound effects by Devon Torrey Bryant. Buy Elliott’s book Joke Farming: How To Write Comedy And Other Nonsense HERE. Buy Devon’s album Blame It On My Zodiac HERE or stream it anywhere you listen to records. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
SummaryRe-release: 205 - Bizarro Movie Guide (w/ Naomi Ekperigin and Andy Beckerman)
Apr 600:18:59Summary readyWhile our host Elliott Kalan is otherwise engaged this week, putting the finishing touches on his 10-part documentary series New Jersey: Jewel Of The Americas, please enjoy another brain-twisting re-release! On this episode of ClueLess, host Elliott Kalan welcomes back his friends, the hilarious Naomi Ekperigin and Andy Beckerman (married comedians and hosts of the podcast Couples Therapy) to flip through the uncanny pages of the Bizarro Movie Guide! A copy of the TV listings has fallen into Elliott’s possession from an alternate universe where things are pretty opposite, can you make heads or tails of the titles in their RomComs section, and translate them back into our world? Keep track of your answers, you’ll need them to solve the MegaClue! And before that: PHOBIAS. Puzzles in this episode are by Jason Reich. Script by Elliott Kalan. Music and sound effects by Devon Torrey Bryant. Buy Elliott’s book Joke Farming: How To Write Comedy And Other Nonsense HERE. Buy Devon’s album Blame It On My Zodiac HERE or stream it anywhere you listen to records. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
SummaryRe-release: 204 - Word Centipede (w/ Naomi Ekperigin and Andy Beckerman)
Mar 3000:24:09Summary readyWhile our host Elliott Kalan is busy this week preparing his one-man performance of The Taking Of Pelham 123, please enjoy another hilarious re-release! On this episode of ClueLess, Elliott invites his friends Naomi Ekperigin and Andy Beckerman, married couple and hosts of the podcast Couples Therapy, to contend with the many limbs of our old foe, the Word Centipede! Elliott will give you three words, and you have to figure out which new word can be added either in front of or behind them to create three new compound words! Can you do it faster than Naomi and Andy? And can you keep track of your answers to defeat the MegaClue?! Puzzles in this episode are by Kevin Leman and Matt Pack. Script by Elliott Kalan. Music and sound effects by Devon Torrey Bryant. Buy Elliott’s book Joke Farming: How To Write Comedy And Other Nonsense HERE. Buy Devon’s album Blame It On My Zodiac HERE or stream it anywhere you listen to records. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
SummaryRe-release: 203: Bot Bops (w/ Max Silvestri and Gabe Liedman)
Mar 2300:18:35Summary readyWhile our host Elliott Kalan is busy this week completing his scholarly tome on the social history of the chicken tender, please enjoy another repeat performance! On this episode of ClueLess, Elliott welcomes back comedians, best friends, and co-hosts of I Need You Guys, Max Silvestri and Gabe Liedman, to attend another infernal recital of Bot Bops! Elliott’s non-branded digital assistant will regale you with five classic songs in its own cold, inhuman style, name the song for one point and the artist for another point! Keep track of your answers in order to solve the MegaClue! Puzzles in this episode are by Jason Reich. Script by Elliott Kalan. Music and sound effects by Devon Torrey Bryant. Buy Elliott’s book Joke Farming: How To Write Comedy And Other Nonsense HERE. Buy Devon’s album Blame It On My Zodiac HERE or stream it anywhere you listen to records. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
SummaryRe-release: 202 - Word Workout (w/ Max Silvestri and Gabe Liedman)
Mar 1600:16:56Summary readyWhile Elliott is otherwise engaged this week cataloguing his Oingo Boingo B-sides, please enjoy a repeat performance of this Season 2 episode featuring the hilarious Max Silvestri and Gabe Liedman from the SmartLess Media show I Need You Guys! In this episode, Max and Gabe will tackle some out-of-this-world questions about astronaut movies, and then they'll help words get very slightly smaller in another round of Word Workout! Puzzles in this episode are by Josh Richmond and Brock Mahan. Script by Elliott Kalan. Music and sound effects by Devon Torrey Bryant. Buy Elliott’s book Joke Farming: How To Write Comedy And Other Nonsense HERE. Buy Devon’s album Blame It On My Zodiac HERE or stream it anywhere you listen to records. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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