So You Want To Get Into The Bad Friends Podcast
I've been listening to podcasts way too long, and honestly this one came out of nowhere and just stuck. Zach Kelly and Michael Cera started recording in 2021 after a single episode basically blew up. The premise is simple: two guys who've known each other since Zach was a kid, hanging out, talking about whatever. But it's the chemistry that actually makes it work, and explaining that is harder than it sounds. Here's the thing nobody tells you about this podcast. It doesn't follow the standard comedy podcast format. There's no structured interview, no guest, no topical outline most of the time. They just talk. It's recorded in a home studio setup, which means the audio quality is decent but not broadcast-standard. That's actually part of the appeal. It sounds like you're in the room with them. I tried replicating that intimate feel once for my own side project, and what I learned is that most people overthink the production value. The bad friends podcast works because it's unpolished. The laughs are real, the tangents go nowhere, and sometimes one of them is clearly just bored and checking his phone. That's the secret sauce. Perfection kills this kind of content.
If you want to listen, it's on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. The YouTube uploads are usually the full episodes with minimal editing. Spotify gets the audio-only version a few days later. I've found the YouTube versions often have slightly better timing on the ads, but that's a tiny detail. One thing to know before you dive in: the early episodes from 2021 are rough. The podcasting voice is different. Michael Cera especially sounds like he's trying too hard to be funny in those first dozen episodes. By episode 15 or so, they found their rhythm and it just clicked. Most people who say they didn't like it bailed after one episode. That's fair. Give it at least four episodes before you judge it. The deeper episodes, the ones from late 2022 onward, are where the actual humor lives. There's a whole arc involving some absurdist bit about a fake company that lasted like six episodes. You might miss the running jokes if you only listen casually. I recommend watching the episodes in order at least once. The callback humor is part of what makes rewatching them worth your time.
Here's an edge case that trips people up. There are unofficial uploads everywhere, and some of them are cut weirdly or have wrong episode titles. If you search for a specific episode and can't find it, check the official YouTube channel first. The Bad Friends podcast team posts there, and it's the master source. Fan uploads sometimes splice together two episodes or strip the intro music, which makes the flow completely different from how they intended it. One counter-intuitive thing about this podcast is that it's actually harder to recommend to someone than a standard comedy show. You can't just say "you'll laugh at the first joke." The humor builds slowly. Some episodes are basically 90 minutes of two friends being mildly amused by an inside joke. If you're looking for quick hits, this isn't it. It's a background show. I listen to while I'm working or driving, and the funniest moments hit when you're not even fully paying attention. There's also a lot of content that lands differently depending on whether you know Zach Kelly's standup background. He used to post a lot on Instagram before the podcast took off, and some of the references assume you've seen his older stuff. Not a dealbreaker, but it helps. Michael Cera brings the dry delivery that contrasts with Zach's more chaotic energy. The dynamic between those two personalities is what carries an episode when nothing else is working.
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The podcast does have sponsor segments, and they vary. Some are genuinely funny reads, others feel like they were recorded on a Tuesday and nobody cared. The Zach and Craig show episode where they did a fake commercial for a product that didn't exist was legitimately one of the funniest things I've heard in this format. But most of the ad reads are just standard. Don't skip them unless you're in a hurry. If you're wondering whether this podcast has any depth to it beyond the surface humor, the answer is mixed. They occasionally touch on real subjects, but the podcast isn't really aiming for that. It's a hangout show, and judging it by interview podcast standards misses the point entirely. The value is in the vibe, not the information. One final note: the merchandise dropped a couple years ago and sold out fast. People are flipping it online at marked up prices. I'd skip that unless you really want something physical. The actual episodes are free, and that's where the bulk of the experience lives anyway.
I keep coming back to these episodes months after they come out. There's something about the audio quality and the casual tone that makes them feel permanent, like something you can return to whenever. That's rare for comedy content these days. Most podcasts burn bright and fade. This one just keeps chugging along, and honestly that's probably why it's still going strong years later.
