Beloved Podcast Relaunches With New Hosts, Drawing Mixed Response

By Michael Hein

Beloved comedy and music podcast Punch Up The Jam is back, but its new hosts still have some fans feeling wary. Punch Up The Jam was created by comedians Demi Adejuyigbi and Miel Bredouw in 2017 and featured the two of them trying to improve or "punch up" the lyrics to popular songs – often with celebrity guests. Some fans are glad to see the show return, but others find it odd to listen to new hosts take over the old premise.

Punch Up The Jam is now hosted by Andrew and Evan Gregory of The Gregory Brothers. Much like Bredouw and Adejuyigbi, they are already known for creating comedy videos. Podcast network HeadGum published a trailer for the podcast reboot in December, and the first new episode came not long after – over an hour of riffs on "Wonderful Christmastime" by Paul McCartney with guest Weird Al Yankovic. Since then, the Gregory Brothers have stuck to their plan to release a new episode every week.

Still, commenters can't help but be skeptical of this reboot. Many have remarked that something feels off to have new comedians utilizing another duo's joke format, especially with the new hosts being two white men benefitting from a show created by a Black man and an LGBTQ+ woman. Apparently, some of the discomforts comes from rumors or guesses about why the previous iteration of the show ended.

Bredouw and Adejuyigbe launched their podcast in December of 2017 and it was a part of the HeadGum network from the beginning. In July of 2019, Adejuyigbe announced that he would no longer be involved with the show going forward. Bredouw was the sole host for a while before sharing duties with comedian Chris Fleming. Their last episode was published in December of 2020, and featured Bredouw's emotional farewell to the audience.

Fans on Twitter and Reddit have remarked that it seems strange that the show's title and core concept are apparently owned in some way by HeadGum rather than its original creators. Bredouw and Adejuyigbi have not commented on the revival and it's unclear if they have any involvement in it or if they will benefit from it financially.

"I would have preferred a new podcast that takes over the format but has a different title and a new feed. Run a trailer for it on the old feed and encourage PUTJ listeners to subscribe, but don't try to say it's PUTJ," one Reddit user wrote. A Twitter user added: "Here's a little nuance I'm sure no one cares about but I do, because I'm me: it kiiinda feels weird that Punch Up the Jam's new hosts are white dudes when the podcast was originally started and hosted by a black man and a queer woman. It's just. It doesn't sit right with me."

Discomforts aside, the Gregory Brothers' version of Pump Up The Jam is carrying on week to week with no time off yet. New episodes drop on Thursdays and are available on most major podcast apps. The older episodes are available there as well.

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