IamA Dan McCoy and Stuart Wellington of The Flop House podcast on MaxFun AMA!

Stu is here under the username FlopHousecat.

Is this a bit?

If it were, it would be funnier.

Stuart and Dan! Flophouse is my favorite podcast. I can no longer listen to it at my office because I laugh too much.

My question is what are your spirit animals? And if you could guess what is Elliot's spirit anima as well?

P.S. Stuart I can't believe you made me watch Castle Freak

My spirit animal is people who don't like the phrase "spirit animals." Elliott is a wise owl. But, like, an annoying kid owl, with a briefcase.

Cage or Pacino? Free David Kalan.

Cage. And David Kalan is allowed to roam free, so long as he does not violate the restraining order.

Dan Is Jon Stewart aware of the Flop House, has he listened?

He's aware of it (even had a fan come up to him on a press junket to tell him to say hi to us), but no man as busy as Jon should have to listen to our silly nonsense.

What good-bad films would you think about treating yourself with for episode 200?

I'm considering forcing us all to rewatch Nothing But Trouble.

Dan: Did you have an above average interest in politics before writing for The Daily Show? What do you think is the best thing you have had a hand in on the show?

Stu: Favorite beer other than the true king of beers, Coors Light, and favorite cocktail to drink/make?

I had an above average interest before writing for The Daily Show. Now I have a "I have to follow this for work interest." But that's fine. I had a very strong hand in writing the rant against Chicago-style pizza, which might be my high point. I also worked on the Larry David Obama convention video and Patrick Stewart as the Chinese moon rover, which I liked.

Was it hard getting into the habit of writing in the voice of Jon or the correspondents, or did it come easy to you?

Jon was second nature pretty quickly. The correspondents took a little longer since they aren't used every night. I think one writing talent I have is as a mimic, so I have that going for me.

when are you gonna start selling flop house-branded tuxspeedos as merch?

STU! MILLION DOLLAR IDEA!

(Caroline here!) How do you explain what TFH is and why people love it to the uninitiated? Or do you bother?

We say what we say at the beginning of most episodes -- that we watch a bad movie and then we talk about it. But then we point out that it's more of a comedy/friendship podcast than a movie thing, at its heart. And then we warn people about inexplicable in-jokes. We're probably not our own best evangelists.

Did Elliott bow out because John Hodgman's relentless cyberbullying has made him terrified to ever go online again?

Elliott has a small child and a wife who is already very indulgent about him doing podcast nonsense.

Dan, what are the qualities you're looking for in your ideal butt? And do you think the perfect butt exists?

Roundness, tautness, and lift. Science hasn't perfected the butt yet, but Tiffany Shepis in "The Hazing" (aka "Dead Scared") comes close.

Gotta go, guys! I have dinner in the oven. But thanks! This was a lot of fun.

I think we'll keep going answering questions until 7:15 or so, and then we'll have to call it quits.

I started listening to The Flop House because of The Oogieloves. Will we soon get to listen after you've been forced to watch terrible kids movies such as the barley released "Tarzan" or "Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return"?

Legends of Oz might be good for our next Smalltember. Or we could do a month of bad CGI movies, with that Sean Connery animated thing.

I think Stuart mentioned "getting into character" for the podcast in one of the outtakes. For both of you: do you have aspects of your "character" that you play up for recording?

I think that I am a little more of a caricature on the show than in real life. and the longer i bartend, the more i appreciate a quiet night in.

I am not actually boring. I have an exciting job, lovely wife, many friends, and an active non-work schedule. But the public has spoken in casting me as the Shemp in this trio.

Do you withhold last names, or does everyone write in as Lastname Withheld?

I withhold them, but now people write it in as a bit.

Did you use the fact that your AMA is the same day as Drea de Matteo's as a ice breaker to become best friends and eventually get her on the podcast?

Yes. We want to ask her about Joey.

Dan: what was the screenplay that had the public reading about, in general terms?

I wrote a horror comedy about a college that was a front for turning students into demons. The rules of the world were a little too muddled, and no one buys horror comedies, but the reading went really well. I see some of the actors on TV sometimes.

How creeped out are you by your fans, on most days?

Usually no more than a 4 out of 10.

Dan, how long had you been working on the switch to MaxFun?

It was brewing for a couple of months before it happened.

What if the Crypt Keeper's ding dong met a dinosaur?

It would make his bonersaur.

I ate an entire Little Caesar's pretzel crust pizza while everyone else was partying this weekend. How long do I have to live?

You died already.

What are some modern comedies you guys have enjoyed?

I like everything Edgar Wright does.

When did you know that The House Cat was going to becoming a recurring character?

I'm still baffled that a "character" that is just a sound is so popular. Sometimes things just happen.

Hey Dan, how's your knee? No really, you guys joke about it a lot but you haven't talked about it much recently and apparently it takes a full year to heal.

The Flophouse is by far my favourite podcast and I would love to see a live show here in London. The Prince Charles Cinema would have you no doubt!

It's much better, but I wouldn't call it "normal." Sometimes going downstairs is still a pain. 95%, maybe? I have a touch of tendonitis in it right now.

I loved the Prince Charles during my semester in London!

Stuart, now that the specter of Ding-Dong Gate is behind you, where do you go from here?

Dan, as you're the only constant of the Flop House, the entire thing hinges around you. You are Atlas. If you were to shrug instead of sigh, would the entire thing fall apart?

My sigh is the breath of life that animates the world of flop.

Just how naked is Stu right now?

i have on a tshirt

But it's nipple-less.

For Dan: How much time do you spend on Flop House related duties each week/month? You guys have been pretty consistent putting out new episodes on schedule. For both you guys: Does the Flophouse get in the way of doing other things you'd like to do?

On show weeks it takes about 3 hours to do the show, and about 2 hours to do all the technical stuff involved in cleaning it up and posting it. I probably spend a few more hours each week interacting with people online and promoting it. The show doesn't keep me from doing anything I want to do -- it's more like having a popular podcast helps me feel better about the things I'm not doing (performing live comedy more regularly, writing spec scripts). The fact that it's been a success gives me a nice creative outlet outside of my day job.

It's great to have you on the Maximum Fun network. Makes it easier to support one of my favorite podcasts.

Speaking of the network one of the other podcasts "Judge John Hodgman" seems to have some "history" with member(s) of the Flop House. Can we expect some settling of accounts or other such cross podcast shenanigans?

I know Elliot isn't there, but I don't expect that will keep you from speaking for him in his absence. (it's what he gets for having a "life" and not showing up).

We'd love to have Hodgman on the show, but he's a busy man with a family. It might be hard to persuade him to sit in my apartment and watch a lousy movie for two hours before having to talk about it for another hour+.

How will you decide who gets to wear the Dex Dogtective costume for Halloween this year?

Fight to the death.

How many fish can you name?

All of them.

What is the one movie that you really liked that most of the general public seemed to not care for or generally forgot about?

I think Burn After Reading is a really underrated Coen brothers film. I'm sure there's a better answer I can't think of.

What is your go-to so bad it's good movie? Also, how bout plot twist at the end of Rocket Crocodile in the World of Tomorrow? Thanks for all the entertainment on my commute.

I was into Troll 2 before it became a "thing." (What a bad movie snob!) So I'll pick something less well known that I just saw and was baffled by -- the Canadian horror no-budget shocker "Things."

Given that you see so many forgettable, middle-of-the-road mainstream flops, what elements do you think they lack that would make them better?

No one commits in today's mediocre bad movies. They're all just chasing wide-appeal blandness. If people swung for the fences we'd have more good movies and more hilariously terrible ones.

What advantages does this AMA have over, say, a train? Which I could also afford.

This can get derailed without killing anyone.

Stuart, if you were a character from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure what kind of stand would you have and what would it be called?

Dan, now that you're with MaxFun, can you talk one of McElroys into watching Meet the Deedles/Good Burger with you guys next time they're in New York?

I can think of nothing more delightful than meeting the McElroys. One of my favorite shows.

Well I was going to ask "What if Penny met a dinosaur?" But everyone else got there first...

Hello Dan and Stuart. As a none facebooking follower of your show I would like to ask how did the live show go? Do you have a new found respect for the Lohan? And what would it take to get you to do a show in London (on the basis you don't know where Manchester is)?

EDIT: A word - And thanks both of you for responding!

The live show was a huge success. Sold out all the seats and had some surprise guests, including Hallie Haglund and co-writer of "He's the Housecat" Alex Smith doing a live rendition with Stu. As for the movie -- it may be Stockholm Syndrome, but I liked it more the third time than the first. We would come to London if someone paid us to do so.

So you guys do an internet thing, and I think it's been well-established that internet fanbases can be the worst. What's the creepiest thing that a fan has ever done for you?

Also, what do you think about the future of podcasting? Do you think the medium has sort of plateaued or that there's still room for growth there, whether creatively, economically, or just in terms of reaching a wider audience?

There hasn't been creepy stuff per se. People are occasionally mean on the Internet, because it's the Internet, but even most of that has just been attempts to pal around gone wrong. I've actually gotten one or two nude photos from fans, but that's not creepy so much as a nice surprise.

As for the future of podcasting, I think there's a lot of room for growth still, as it becomes more popular, but it's a glutted market right now and harder for the signal to cut through the noise. I don't know if anyone who didn't already have a following is ever gonna get rich off of it.

To what do you attribute your popularity among the Lastnamewithheld family?

Their father-in-law, Alan Smithee, is a big bad movie aficionado.

How hard are the hook hands making it to do this AMA?

Oh also, thanks for The Guest recommendation. My friend was going to make me to go The Equalizer but the theater was playing The Guest as well and I convinced him to see it. Great movie.

I'm having no trouble typing at aid;fakn'adm/d

Dan and Stu: how did you two decide to do a bad movie podcast? Did you reconnect in NYC or were you always in touch after college?

I had the vague idea to do a podcast, as a struggling comedy guy -- podcasting was new, so it seemed like a good way to get heard with less competition. I was already into bad movies. I thought Stu was the funniest person I knew who wasn't pursuing comedy, so I wanted to get him out there into the world. We didn't really much know each other at Earlham College, but we connected through mutual friends in the city.

Thanks for reading three of my letters on three successive episodes!

Will The Flophouse be open for Jumbotron messages now that you're part of the awesome MaxFun Family?

Perhaps! We're new to the family so we haven't looked into it yet.

I loved your crossover with We Hate Movies. Any future plans for another teamup?

I'm sure it will happen again. I generally don't listen to other bad movie podcasts because I don't want it to affect what we do, but I listened for the crossover and they're really funny.

At what point after adding Elliott did you think the group had solidified?

Almost immediately. We love all the guest hosts, but he brought something special. A quality we like to call "unshutupability."

pancakes or waffles?

Waffles.

I understand why you decided to do a combo Awards Floptacular, but missed your awards for the movies you watched. Can you bring those back next year?

We'll think about it. It's not as much fun for us.

Hey guys, which one of the peaches would win at the Leonard Maltin game?

Probably Elliott, but I might give him a run for his money. I've got a really broad film frame of reference.

Are there any films you liked, but hated yourself for enjoying them?

Does pornography count?