Abstract
The podcast has recently emerged as a popular medium for comedians. It would not be accurate to describe the podcast as a wholly new, liberating medium that dispenses of all commercial logic in favor of the truly authentic, but it would be equally disingenuous to discount the feelings of empowerment and personal stability that the podcast medium has initiated for these comedians. Since April 2011, Paul Gilmartin, a stand-up comedian, television show host, and actor has hosted the Mental Illness Happy Hour (MIHH), a self-help podcast for those suffering from depression, anxiety, and frustration. Gilmartin's podcast has attracted over a million listeners since it debuted and has inspired a devoted following, thriving message board, and the sort of unexpected career revival that surprised even Gilmartin himself. While the man behind the microphone might be a comedian, MIHH is sobering, reflective, and unvarnished in its earnestness. I argue that the constitution of audience within this podcast disrupts more conventional understandings of fan–celebrity interaction. It tests previously held assumptions and makes ambiguous the lines between performer and audience, audience, and self-help community.
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