Hello from the Magic Tavern

Hello from the Magic Tavern is an improvised comedy podcast hosted and produced by Arnie Niekamp. The podcast is set in the fictional world of Foon, a magical realm where a fictionalized version of Niekamp is trapped after falling through a dimensional rift in Chicago. Niekamp and his co-hostsa wizard named Usidore the Blue (Matt Young), and a shapeshifter, Chunt (Adal Rifai)interview various magical creatures at the Vermillion Minotaur tavern. The first episode was released in March 2015. New episodes are released every Monday.
Niekamp, Young, Rifai, and many of their guests are regulars of the Chicago improv comedy community. The podcast has generated a strong fanbase and received generally positive reviews. iTunes has named it as one of the Best Podcasts of 2015 and "The Guardian" ranked it one of the "10 best new podcasts of 2015 (that aren't "Serial")."
Concept.
"Hello from the Magic Tavern" is hosted by a fictionalized version of Arnie Niekamp, who fell into a trans-dimensional portal behind a Burger King restaurant in Chicago and landed in Foon, a magical land in the style of Narnia or Middle-Earth. Although unable to return to Earth, Arnie starts a podcast using equipment that he happened to have with him and a weak Wi-Fi signal from the Burger King through the portal to teach people of Earth about Foon. He is joined each week by co-hosts Usidore the Blue (Matt Young), a wizard, and Chunt (Adal Rifai), a shapeshifter who is in the form of a badger for most of the podcast.
The podcast is recorded in The Vermilion Minotaur, a tavern located in a town called Hogsface near McShingleshane Forest. Each week, Arnie, Usidore, and Chunt interview magical creatures to introduce the listener to new aspects of the world of Foon.
Real-life fans and listeners of the podcast can interact with the characters by sending email messages to Arnie and Chunt (some of which are read on the show) and through in-character Twitter accounts set up for Usidore and Chunt.
Production.
The podcast was conceived by Arnie Niekamp, who said he enjoyed podcasts that felt like a "laid-back chat show" and relished the idea of introducing a "really weird story". He said that a podcast had to "do something sort of high-concept or a little more niche" to distinguish itself and be successful. Niekamp pitched the idea of the podcast to Matt Young and Adal Rifai, who ultimately became his co-hosts. The trio recorded a pair of "test episodes" to ensure the concept worked, and they eventually became the first two episodes of the actual podcast.
Niekamp, Young, and Rifai are improv comedians from the Chicago area who have performed together for more than a decade prior to "Hello From the Magic Tavern". They worked together on the weekly satire show Whirled News Tonight at the iO Theater, in which they would improvise scenes based on newspaper clippings. Nearly all of the guest stars interviewed on the podcast each week are also improv comedians from Chicago.
Reception.
"Hello from the Magic Tavern" has generated a fanbase, particularly through social media platforms like Reddit and Tumblr. The show has received generally positive reviews, and was named one of iTunes' best podcasts of 2015. "The Guardian" also ranked it one of the "10 best new podcasts of 2015 (that aren't "Serial")". "Guardian" writer Melissa Locker called the show "unabashedly goofy" and "incredibly entertaining and binge-worthy", particularly praising the comedic chemistry of Niekamp, Young, and Rifai.
The A.V. Club also ranked it among the best podcasts of 2015, and declared the Vermilion Minotaur the "best fictional place we want to go to." Writer Ben Cannon called the podcast "Hello From the Magic Tavern" "comic podcasting's most continually rewarding achievement", and praised it for its worldbuilding abetted by consistent callbacks to jokes and references from past episodes. He added, "There is simply no other podcast recording today which contains as vast and vivid a collection of fantastic oddities as "Hello From The Magic Tavern"."
NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour included the 59th episode "Dr Ward" among its "Favorite Podcast Episodes Of 2016". Panelist and author Glen Weldon states that "Ok, yes, I've talked about this podcast a lot. And Linda, Stephen and I even appeared on it once. But this episode represents such a hugely satisfying listen I had to include it. HOWEVER. It's not an episode to jump in on. Instead, I'd recommend starting with the very first episode, to determine if it's your thing. If it is, this episode, which arrives after the show's been building out its huge, improv-driven world for over a year, cracks open everything that came before in a rich and powerful way. To say how it does this would spoil it."
Max Temkin, co-creator of the card game Cards Against Humanity, has been a strong proponent of the show, calling it in a blog entry "probably my favorite comedy thing happening right now". He said the show is effective because of the "special comedy relationship" of Niekamp, Young, and Rifai, of whom he said, "their instincts are incredible, and they have the kind of rapport that only comes from a decade of working together."
Steve Guntli of "The Northern Light" praised the show's consistency and world-building, which he said makes Foon "feel like a real and lived-in place." He also praised the voice acting, particularly the performance of Matt Young, who he said plays Usidore to "pompous perfection."
Foon.
Foon is a fictional magical place where Arnie Niekamp, Adal Rifai, and Matt Young's podcast takes place. It is the "alternate dimension" to earth that Arnie traveled to. It has many similar components to Earth, and is home to most of the fantastical guests on the show. Its most popular sport is "Mittens," which is a variation of football with very contradictory rules. It is full of magical beings like memory gremlins and reverse mermaids. Their most popular song, "7 Dragons and a Baby," can be heard by listening to magic travelling bards: Glenn Miller and Spants.