When the morning commute gets rough or the day becomes a bit too long, podcasts become anyone's saving grace. With countless shows offering innumerable hours of content out there, podcast feeds can become a dangerous rabbit hole of which escape is futile. As an avid podcast listener since 2007, I've personally experienced a decade's worth of laughs and knowledge, improving how I perceive the world around me. While some shows have come and gone over the years, there are a few gems that have since stuck around as classic recommendations I scream at people desperate for some audible entertainment.

The following list is dedicated to great podcasts and the even greater episodes any fan of podcasts should check out immediately.

5. Ten Minute Podcast--"Will Proves the Existence of God."

Ever find yourself listening to the incoherent ramblings of a drunk at a party or a crazy conspirator on the street? Host Will Sasso's monumentally not safe for work theory as to why God does indeed exist will evoke a similar sensation.

Taken from the spectacular "Ten Minute Podcast" (of which really any of its episodes could make this list), the episode "Will Proves the Existence of God" is one of the most consistently laugh-out-loud funny comedic bits currently existing in podcast feeds anywhere online. It all begins when host Will Sasso passionately defends his findings as 100% factual proof of the existence of God. Unfortunately, his opinion quickly unravels as something colossally incomprehensible with co-hosts Chad Kultgen and Tommy Blacha stunned at the sheer idiocy on display.

With the episode only lasting ten minutes long, there isn't a lot of content to discuss here, and to even hint at Will's shocking reasoning ruins so much of what makes this such a blast to listen to. Just give it a listen. And please, for the love of God, make sure nobody else is around to hear it.

Listen here: https://www.acast.com/tenminutepodcast/tmp---will-...

4. Off Book: The Improvised Musical--"Shrugging Destiny (w/Paul F. Tompkins.)"

The newest podcast to be featured on this list, "Off Book: The Improvised Musical" is exactly what the title suggests. Comedians Jessica McKenna and Zach Reino create weekly musicals on the spot with the help of a weekly guest co-host. Opening with a normal discussion/interview with the guest host, a certain observation in the interview will be made as a jumping off point for a wholly original musical to spring forth.

In the premiere episode "Shrugging Destiny," comedian and podcast aficionado Paul F. Tompkins helps Jessica and Zach use their own childhood stories of parental disapproval for elementary school musicals to create a story of precocious child actor Devon and the trials and tribulations on his journey to achieving fame and success. With the opening song "You Gotta Crush A Kid's Dreams" setting the stage for the hilarious, wide-open shenanigans that will eventually follow, these three players use their natural talents of improvisational comedy and their love of musical theater to create a fantastic piece of entertainment filled with genuinely catchy songs and hilarious comedic bits.

While not every episode of "Off Book: The Improvised Musical" is a masterpiece like "Shrugging Destiny," this pilot is simply too astonishing to ever pass up. Equally impressive as well as hysterical, "Shrugging Destiny" is guaranteed to delight both musical theater fans as well as comedy lovers alike. It's an ambitious feat that ranks as one of the year's newest and greatest podcasts.

Listen here: https://player.fm/series/off-book-the-improvised-m...

3. Laser Time--"Toys R Us Kids Music."

At one point in life, we all are saddled with a soul-sucking, life-crushing job we want no part of working. Brett Elston, co-host of the "Laser Time" pop-culture podcast reached this milestone in the form of his five year stint at Toys R Us. Throughout the show's catalog of episodes, Brett makes numerous references to his time at Toys R Us, but it's in episode 120 "Toys R Us Kids Music" that his sexually frustrated, adolescent angst finally return in the form of a rage induced listening party.

Subjecting listeners to the same music Brett was forced to listen to on repeat throughout his employment, the "Laser Time" gang takes one for the team and must endure painfully obnoxious children's songs while Brett provides detailed memories and stories that coincide with the music at hand.

Despite the episode being gut-bustingly hysterical, "Toys R Us Kids Music" makes the list because of just how enjoyable it is to hear these best friends swap awful job stories while also discovering strange, obscure music that could irritate anyone. The majority of the episode's enjoyability stems from the very natural reactions of funny people listening to funny things. The "Laser Time" team is known for their nostalgic driven quest to unearth strange pop-culture, and to hear the surprised reactions of those that have "seen it all" makes the episode just oh so entertaining.

Listen here: https://overcast.fm/+-SxHfVec

2. Funny, Cuz It's True--"Four Aces."

Few things are as exciting as an amazing story told by an expert storyteller. In the "Funny, Cuz It's True" podcast, host Kevin McGeehan steps up to the plate as one of the finest storytellers to bless the radiowaves with his "Funny, Cuz It's True" live show filmed at the Second City in California. While the podcast normally follows a format presented in three parts with three always changing storytellers sharing funny and interesting tales under one blanket theme of the night, it's Kevin McGeehan's one-man show "Four Aces" that rises above as mandatory listening.

Introduced as a tale about his "unique mother, a successful bank robbery and a very unorthodox party," the true story of "Four Aces" takes many twists and surprising turns, constantly building to one amazing finale. Told with an infectious charm, pristine timing and an innate vulnerability, Kevin McGeehan grabs hold of his audience, refusing to let go. A complicated story such as this should not be this easy to follow yet McGeehan's gift of storytelling makes this one darn entertaining listen.

Kevin McGeehan's epic "Four Aces" is a story bursting at the seems with comedy, tragedy, love, pain, and triumphant joy- to spoil anything more would serve as an offensive detriment. Kevin McGeehan's "Four Aces" is a reminder of just how spirited the world can be, even when staring into the bleak void it may open.

"Four Aces" is a reminder of just how important amazing storytelling can be.

Listen here:

1. Comedy Bang Bang--Episodes 150, 215 and 286 the "Time Bobby" trilogy.

Improvisational comedy is an art form and to see it executed perfectly is nothing short of a miracle. Scott Aukerman's "Comedy Bang Bang" podcast relies solely on comedic improv as the basic structure of a talk show-like environment. Beginning with a standard interview with legitimate celebrities, the second half of any "Comedy Bang Bang" episode goes off the rails as strange characters played by established comedians hijack the episode and create an improvised comedic adventure that differs every episode. But ask any listener the funniest and strangest glimpse into the world of "Comedy Bang Bang" and the "Time Bobby" trilogy is unanimously agreed upon as one of the greatest podcast episodes ever made.

The "Time Bobby" trilogy forgets the original "Comedy Bang Bang" format and instead goes right for comedic improv with escalating events and shocking plot twists. Playing himself, Scott Aukerman lands what appears as an exclusive interview with Broadway legend Andrew Lloyd Webber (played in an exaggerated form by comedian Paul F. Tompkins.) After a few minutes of talk-show like engagement, a young orphan boy named Fourvel (played by SNL's Bobby Moynihan) interrupts the interview and proceeds to wreak havoc on the studio. With Andrew Lloyd Webber and Scott Aukerman held hostage by Fourvel, the story delves deep into catastrophic consequences that threaten the apocalypse.

Told over the course of three episodes, the "Time Bobby" trilogy is some of the greatest Improv ever recorded in the history of the genre. Despite it being some of the funniest recorded content anywhere online, the chemistry between players Aukerman, Tompkins and Moynihan rivals that of decade long lasting improvisational troupes, and the ideas they bring to the table are flat out extraordinary. With each part rising in exaggerated drama, the explosive crescendo resulting in time travel, a killer corgi army, and *literally* the end of the world, the "Time Bobby" trilogy is some of the most ambitious work found anywhere in the world of comedy.

To miss this trilogy would be a mistake of great proportions. It's mass appeal in both details and inventiveness provides endless replays while the decision to include both broad and subtle comedy solidify this as a go-to recommendation for anyone in need of a laugh.

Listen to a sample from episode 1 here:

There are billions of hours of podcast content out there so if your favorite didn't make the list this time, check back in the future for more lists dedicated to more podcasts. In the meantime, happy listening!