The Ira Glass Sex Tape You Didn't Know You Didn't Want To Hear (VIDEO)

We talked to Julian Joslin this morning, co-writer and producer of the pitch-perfect "This American Life" parody that's doing internet rounds. "The Ira Glass Sex Tape" is one of those forehead-slapping thought experiments that answers a question way overdue: with celebrity sex tapes such a fact of modern life, would any actually surprise us at this point?

Apparently, yes! Joslin told us once he and his roommate realized nebbish NPR host (and hipster icon) Ira Glass was the only celebrity they'd be shocked to see in a grainy hotel room, they also knew "a profound life lesson" would be involved. The result is a barbed love letter to public radio's self-seriousness, with a familiar cast of characters that includes Alex Bloomberg, Jonathan Goldstein and Terry Gross, who's kind of the co-star.

To conjure the supporting characters, Joslin trolled NPR footage, splicing Gross from nine "Fresh Air" episodes including interviews with Jay-Z, Gene Simmons, Woody Allen, a dominatrix of unknown provenance and Keith Richards. Goldstein's and Bloomberg's sound bytes come largely from the "Testosterone" episode of "This American Life." And Glass is the only invented character, voiced by Joslin in a dead-on impersonation that's a sure sign of a "This American Life" fanboy.

So here it is. The only sex tape that might actually shock the nation, because it's fancy enough to have "two acts."

LISTEN:

Comments

[Porfirio Wise]

01:16 PM on 10/24/2011

I thought Ira was gay

[bootooyoo]

07:56 AM on 10/16/2011

That was brilliant.

[Polymera]

06:53 AM on 10/16/2011

That was amazing. I love the line at the end: "We don't choose who we are, but we do choose who we become."

[StrawHat]

05:16 AM on 10/16/2011

Cute. Is parodiable a word? If it is, then Ira Glass' photo is next to it in the dictionary.

[ZenSufi]

10:55 PM on 10/15/2011

Ewwww...Gross.

[Reenie0528]

08:30 PM on 10/15/2011

"I wouldn't be able to hear you over my own neuorses". How funny!

[CollegeChef1]

01:33 PM on 10/15/2011

I guess Ira doesn't really laugh it himself too often.

[SimonBao]

01:41 AM on 10/14/2011

"What I like to think of as 'your NPR member station.'"

That made the whole thing worth listening to.

Plus it was a completely spot-on and affectionate parody.

[hty7645]

04:07 PM on 10/14/2011

waste of space

[AnitaMan]

06:55 PM on 10/15/2011

surprising you have no fans

[Abnormal Wrench]

12:30 AM on 10/13/2011

Well, Ira is an atheist. I could believe it.

[JayBachand]

04:48 PM on 10/17/2011

Fact: atheists are more moral than the religious.So...you're flat wrong.

[Abnormal Wrench]

11:17 PM on 10/17/2011

Sarcasm is hard to relay in text.

[EricIndiana]

06:01 PM on 10/12/2011

Republicans in Congress are going to think this is real.

[Rock Jocelyn]

09:07 AM on 10/20/2011

Man, my mom thought it was real.

[Bev McClellan]

02:21 PM on 10/12/2011

I love this! NPR rocks!

[CabCurious]

08:52 AM on 10/12/2011

This is hilarious.

[samuraifrog37]

07:40 AM on 10/12/2011

N.P.R. Is the best radio bar none. This didn't bowel me over, still a few laughs. By the way; listen pass what some of you call "liberal bias" and you'll hear vastly knowledgeable entertaining riveting broadcast radio that shouldn't be missed.

[icarus85]

04:23 PM on 10/12/2011

yea but isn't it great that almost every time NPR is mentioned as a great source of the informative kind of information, someone of the far-right political ideology will reply with the phrase "liberal-bias"

also known as the knee-jerk reaction - don't we all love repetitive talking points? i think the theory is if repeated enough, maybe, hopefully it becomes true.. (example: Fox News, Fair and Balanced)
Why give a nuanced argument when enough Americans will just go with what they heard more times???...... *crying internally*

I love NPR, it is what makes my two hour daily commute informative and not a complete waste of time

[Fortune27]

05:18 AM on 10/12/2011

I actually heard the very first broadcast of This American Life - an actual I-am-stuck-in-my-car-until-it's-over moment. And I've been a fan every since. This was funny and brilliant. Very well done.

So, I'm thinking they'll be making the NPR rounds any moment.

[SimonBao]

01:35 AM on 10/14/2011

The first time I ever heard This American Life was the original broadcast of the now-famous Squirrel Cop story. I was completely caught off guard, it wasn't like anything I'd heard over the radio before.

And it was the Squirrel Cop story. I've been a fan ever since. :-)

[Euphoria123]

12:04 AM on 10/12/2011

hahaha this was v. good.