History Podcast / MentalCast

* CanadaEh: Played straight with Mark Gledhill, who loves hockey. Averted, however, with most of the other Canadian cast members (of which there are a few).

* ADateWithRosiePalms: During the May 2012 episode, featuring guest star Hart Fisher, Dustin Kidd flushed a napkin down the toilet, which his mic picked up. Cue Hart Fisher accusing Dustin of masturbating live on the air.
** What actually happened was that Dustin was [[TheAlcoholic drinking]] and spilled a little, wiping it up with a napkin.

* NoPronunciationGuide: Averted with regular host Michael Riley. Michael is usually REALLY good about pronouncing even the most foreign-sounding of names. He consistently pronounces "Chiwetel Ejiofor" correctly whenever the actor's name appears.
** Played straight with most any other host on the show.
** Played for laughs with Alex Jowski, especially with TheUnpronounceable names of Bollywood film stars. Alex will intentional pronounce those names incorrectly and in a goofy voice just to cause the rest of the cast to [[{{Corpsing}} corpse]].

* AwesomeMcCoolName: Iason Skullsaber.

* {{Fanservice}}: Jillian Zurawski, natch. [[UpToEleven Taken to the extreme]] when her topless scene in ''WebVideo/TheCinemaSnobMovie'' is mentioned. Michael Riley once stated that he thought that Jillian would have "[[DidIJustSayThatOutLoud silver dollar nipples]]," and was constantly teased by Jillian afterwards, with her even going so far as to tell him to [[NowBuyTheMerchandise watch the movie to find out]].

** HilariousInHindsight because former cast member Wyatt Estabrooks became a writer for 411mania following his departure from the show.

* {{Corpsing}}: Any time Alex Jowski reads the names of Bollywood movies and the actors of said movies elicits this from the rest of the cast.
** Taylor's joke about Steve Irwin not feeling his face from the BlackComedy entry above caused the cast to do this.
** The entire #[=MacCorkle=] bit had everyone in stitches, just due to the sound of the word. Made even worse when Chelsea Tarkington mentioned it would be her new [[CasualKink safe word]].
** Any of the "Neutral Milk Hotel" moments from the BerserkButton entry caused this.
** An early example: Mike was reading a story about sending sperm for concert tickets, when Chris [=McClain=] exclaimed "Slipknot, here I come!" The [[ThatCameOutWrong entendre was unintentional]], but it caused Mike, Brad Jones (no, not the Cinema Snob) and Taylor to crack up.
** In December of 2014, Mike went on an unprecidented run of funny Benedict Cumberbatch names that caused the cast to crack up with laughter. Among the funny names were Burgerking Tennismatch, Benedryl Claritin and, Chelsea's favorite, Bulbasaur Candygram. Even Cat Lencione got in on the fun with Benabuddy Cuddlebuns.
** In the summer of 2010, Mike was reading a news story about Nintendo bringing streaming content to the Wii. He made a mistake and said "steaming content," and Dane Forgione began doing an impression of Mario having sex, followed by Wario saying "I'm a-Wario, I'm-a gonna jump in!" This broke the entire cast.

* AbsenteeActor: Happened a lot in the old days with former regular Chris [=McClain=]. He was only a regular part of the show for a while, then missed a few, and eventually was PutOnABus in July of 2009. He began CommutingOnABus in 2011, but only for a bit. Chris eventually retired permanently.
** When Taylor Scheid and Dane Forgione were regulars, they would miss more than a few. Dane, in fact, was PutOnABus himself for a few months in 2008. Wyatt Estabrooks would become his FakeShemp for a while. However, Dane returned late in 2009, and remained on the show until [[BusCrash he was permanently put on a bus]] in 2015.
** Chelsea Tarkington qualifies as this. She and regular Billy Carter have missed a few episodes during their tenure as regular cast members.

* EverythingIsBigInTexas: In fact, the show was based there (in Austin) for three years, from 2009 to 2012.

** Lewis Lovhaug from WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall has also appeared on numerous occasions.

** Michael Ray Bower from Series/SaluteYourShorts appeared in the summer of 2014.

** Finally played straight in 2017, when Michelle Light hosted the Valentine's Special on February 14, 2017, featuring an all-female cast.

** The defining moment happened during an episode of the MentalCast where Mike, Taylor and Dane were looking at a [=TenDeep=] of the Top Ten albums of the 90's. The number one album was the little known (to the cast anyway) Neutral Milk Hotel album "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea". This caused an angry Dane to lash out and start off on a rant, bemoaning the fact that the writer of the list had over 10 years worth of music to choose from, and he choose an album that only the most hardcore of indie rock fans would know. By the end of his rant, Mike and Taylor were left in fits of hysterical laughter, unable to proceed for several minutes while they composed themselves.

* RealSongThemeTune: For the first year or so of the show's existence, the show would open up with the first few bars of any random rock or pop song. This changed around mid-2008, when the theme to [[WesternAnimation/InvaderZim Invader Zim]] became the theme.
** The theme changed again with the three-year annivesary in 2010, when the theme song from the sketch comedy show ''The Edge'' became the theme. This was the theme show of the song for about 7 years.
** Played with currently as, despite the song being free use, the current theme, "Break Your Line" by Ameobacrew, is actually a real song.

** Lewis Lovhaug from WebVideo/AtoptheFourthWall has also appeared on numerous occasions.

* {{Fanservice}}: Jillian Zurawski, natch. [[UpToEleven Taken to the extreme]] when her topless scene in TheCinemaSnobMovie is mentioned. Michael Riley once stated that he thought that Jillian would have "[[DidIJustSayThatOutLoud silver dollar nipples]]," and was constantly teased by Jillian afterwards, with her even going so far as to tell him to [[NowBuyTheMerchandise watch the movie to find out]].
** Jillian also mentioned that she once wanted to "[[HoYay wreck Sarah Lewis]]."

* IAmTheBand: During an episode hosted by Jillian Zurawski, a news story came up about Green Day's set being cut short. Dustin Kidd's response was to belittle Green Day, calling them crybabies and remarking "I'm Green Day, a-boo-hoo!"

* HehHehYouSaidX: Michael Riley has said this more than a couple times in response to something even remotely sexual.
** Billy Carter has done this before, too.

** A rather egregious example of this occured during episode #147, the first time that Lewis Lovhaug appeared. During The Joker's Wild, Michael was looking for the first comic book character to call himself The Flash. Lewis correctly gave the answer of "Jay Garrick," and when Michael attempted to repeat it back, it came out "Gay Jarrick." Lewis and Dane Forgione immediately caught on to this.
** Another egregious example happens even earlier than that. Mike was reading a news story on the passing of Paul Newman (back on episode #47), and misreads the line "Newman was a racing enthusiast" as "Newman was a racist."

''[=MentalCast=]'' is a long-running pop culture news and comedy podcast that began on September 12, 2007. The show is typically hosted by Michael Riley and has featured a long, long list of cast members (at last count, around 60). Currently, the show airs on ''Culture Shock Television Network''.

** Also Abra Gauthier.

* HashtagForLaughs: #MacCorkle. The hashtag came about due to a Mental News Story about a guy who jumped naked into a lake just off of "MacCorkle Avenue," which immediately caught the attention of the cast.

* ChingChong: Dane Forgione once introduced Brody Brennick thusly:
--> '''Dane:''' Ding-dang-whunga-chung, ching-chang-chong, Brody Brennick!