Gosh-Darn Fiasco is a live-play role playing game podcast hosted by musician Angela Webber. But where most of these kind of gaming shows feel like audio dramas, this one is more like improv. The difference lies partly in the source material, and partly in the rotating team of talent that comes to play.
“Fiasco” is a GM-less roleplaying game in the style of classic caper movies. Written by Jason Morningstar and published by Bully Pulpit Games, it is a storytelling RPG. This means the goal of the game is to play out a scenario, rather than winning a battle. As the name implies, the fun isn’t in winning, it is in snowballing the story from a small problem into a huge catastrophe.
Each episode, Weber and her guests play through one single play Fiasco game from beginning to end. There are a variety of settings, or ‘Playsets’ that they have gone through, from a Colonial Salem to McMurdo Station to a heist at the Jim Henson Workshop. Each episode takes the Cohen Brothers aesthetic of the game and turns it even more towards the comically ridiculous.
Frequent guest such as Lucia Fasano and Kevin M. Arnold add improv chops to the game, making it a lighthearted, gonzo joy to listen. Gosh-Darn Fiasco is a monthly podcast that runs about 90 minutes per episode. It’s not something you’re going to get through in a single commute, but it is a heck of a lot of fun!
