Method 1

Method 1 is a weekly podcast hosted by Nik Vulper, featuring co-host Gir Tygrin and DJ Oddy. They take a humorous slant on current events, review a beer and a clip from the internet, then answer listener letters. They used to record live every Sunday night at 8 PM Eastern Time, but since their 57th episode, they have moved their show to Wednesday at 8pm. They did this avoid scheduling conflicts with Sunday Night Football and Family Guy; also because Nik and Gir prefer broadcasting on this day. They broadcast live on uStream and offer downloads of their entire archive through their homepage.


 * Address: http://www.method1show.com
 * Staff:
 * Nik Vulper: host
 * Gir Tygrin: co-host
 * Oddy: DJ
 * Ran from/to: July 27, 2008 - present

Episodes vary between 74 and 80 minutes, fitting into this time constraint so they can be burnt onto a CD-R. Though technical difficulties have pushed the show to a Monday publishing or re-record on a few occasions, a new episode of the show has been put out every week since its inception.

Show format

 * Introduction -- Episodes start with a reading of the show's intro blurb. The text is "Method 1 is proudly recorded in Ubuntu, using open source software.  Our show is intended for adult listeners, as it contains explicit language and unbridled opinions."


 * Theme Music -- Since Episode 6, the show has utilized an electronic music piece put together by Rok Kaiser as its official theme. Before that the show utilized classic video game intros, which moved to after the theme music when the song was added.


 * Nik's Intro -- About halfway through Rok's theme, the music is faded down and Nik comes in to give the date, episode number and a preview of some of the stories to be featured. He then says "I'm your host Nik Vulper, my co-host is Gir Tygrin, and..." followed by a brief look into his week, or something entirely random.


 * Sound Clips -- Video game themes were used first, followed by classic game shows, and finally cartoon intros. This section has been phased out of the show.


 * News -- Nik and Gir go back and forth for a while, discussing what has happened to them in the past week, filling listeners in on their jobs and happenings with Furry Connection North. They then do a few general interest news stories (usually four), before going into the next segment.


 * News... that PISSES US OFF -- This segment features stories that raise the hosts' ire. The introductory sound bite features the cocking of several of Gir's personal guns.


 * Confuse News -- The last news segment features stories that boggle the hosts' minds. When their brains have been sufficiently hurt, they move on to drinking.


 * Beer of the Week -- Each week the hosts (or one of the wonderful listeners) buy a different beer, which is then sampled and reviewed on a five star scale. Currently the worst review is from a Sri Lankan beer called Lion Stout.  Dragon's Milk and Orval Trappist Ale are the only two so far to get 5-star ratings from both Nik and Gir.


 * Who's Manning the Internet? -- After utilizing a sound bite of Stan Smith from American Dad as the intro, the hosts talk about a different humorous clip from the internet. Following a brief description, they play a sample and then tell folks how to find it online to watch the whole thing.


 * Football/Sports -- During the fall, Nik discusses what has happened with the Michigan Wolverines (and sometimes the Detroit Lions) that weekend. When the team wins, he plays a sample of Hail to the Victors recorded by the Michigan Marching Band.  When the team loses, he plays a clip of the fight song shifted into a minor key.  During other seasons, sports may be covered, depending on something notable happening, otherwise this segment is omitted.


 * Listener Letters -- In the last segment of the show, Nik and Gir answer questions submitted either by audio or text. Since Episode 26, they have had a SkypeIn number (734-961-4121) where audio letters can be submitted over the phone.

Listener interaction
Method 1 thrives on interaction with its audience. The intro, which is usually read by a listener, refers to it as "our show". This means that it belongs to everyone who enjoys it, not just the hosts.

Intros are either submitted digitally, over the phone, or recorded in studio. Most of the stories reported are submitted by listeners, who are credited before Nik reads their submissions. When multiple people submit the same story throughout the week, it is almost always used, so the hosts can give the listeners what they want.

Since going live on episode 31, the hosts interact with the uStream chat room, repeating comments they find humorous and responding to questions that are posed. Art is produced most weeks by Alpha Raye during the show, putting the hosts into humorous situations inspired by the stories being read.

Bonus material
Started as a way to finish the six pack after episode 5, supplemental material is recorded after the main show is exported as a WAV file. This leads to a super-bonus material in the interim for the viewers of the uStream during that 3-5 minute process. Normally that time is filled with the hosts wandering off to go to the bathroom or grab a snack, but interesting exclusives have happened in this time.

When the bonus material proper starts, Nik and Gir cover topics that they skipped over in the main show. These may include happenings from the weeks, stories that were skipped for time constraints, explaining personal references they made during the show, reviews of movies or shows they enjoyed (or hated) during the week, and whatever else they feel like doing. There is no time constraint for the bonus material, though they average about 20 minutes when recorded.

The alternate dimension / convention performances
Nik and Gir were at a quandary of what to do for Episode 18, due to the need to record while they were at MFF. Utilizing technology, they tapped into an alternate dimension's recording of Method 1. This world seemed like a utopia at first, but in reality was actually very boring. The show featured a wine of the week and a highly ranked Michigan Wolverine Football team, coached by Les Miles. While at MFF, Nik and Gir were granted programming space on Sunday night to record an episode anyway.

Keeping to their weekly performance commitment, Nik and Gir recorded episode 40 live at Furry Connection North. Due to Nik accidentally deleting the news file, this episode featured a more laid back performance. The regular segments were represented with one or two news stories, but they mostly told their own stories to fill the time. Despite the rough start, the hosts and listeners had a great time. Alpha Raye did live art for the show, and Knight Fox joined them as secondary co-host and for the beer review as well.

In addition to their performance at FCN, Nik and Gir also performed at Anthrocon and MFF in 2009. To keep with their weekly performance, they will happily perform at any convention they attend.