Podcast / Random Assault

Random Assault is GO!

Random Assault is a entertainment podcast encompassing videogames, music, tv shows, and movies. However most of the focus is on videogames, and usually there is tangents about ridiculous stories that happened in their personal lives.

Their first collaboration podcasting was a Talk Radar Fan Extravaganza. Soon afterwards their podcast getting away from the TalkRadar name was Friends With Benefits. It was Friends with Benefits for the first 5 episodes, until there was another podcast that registered the name Friends with Benefits first thus changing the name to Random Assault. Several hundred episodes later, the show rebranded again and became The Career Suicide Podcast, initially taking on a live call-in show approach on Twitch, before dropping the gimmick and just being Matt and Mitch shooting the shit by themselves.

You can find their episodes here

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This podcast uses the following tropes:

• Abusive Parents: Mitch was raised by Roman Catholics. Enough said.
• Actor Allusion: In the Halloween Episode, after Slabflapper talks for the first time, the other hosts tell Mitch to shut up, then he defends himself, having not actually said anything. Slabflapper in reality is voiced by Mitch.
• Art-Style Dissonance: Alex is the artist for the podcast, but Mitch's character design is very different from the others'. This is because Alex did his best to emulate Mitch's art style when doing his character art.
  • For a little while, Mitch was doing the episode banners in Alex's absence.
  • Le "Mr Suit Man" Tran did the banner for the episode he was on, episode 041.
• Asian Speekee Engrish: The hosts are not above doing offensive Asian accents. Played straight with the title of episode 020: "Ret's Get Lacist!!"
• Bait-and-Switch: When Alex finally played Ghost Trick, he made it out to seem that he hated the game, much to the irritation of the other hosts. Turns out Alex loved the game, though.
  • The banner for the Halloween Episode appears to be static, but is actually a Flash element. After a little bit, the banner starts to move, and all of the hosts get killed in horrific ways.
• Background Music: The show's background music consists of various tracks from various video games.
• Berserk Button: Don't insinuate that Drew likes dubsteb, don't call Kate a man, and don't talk about anime around Alex.
• Big Boo's Haunt: The haunted castle Tony "inherits" in episode 031, the Halloween Special.
• Biting-the-Hand Humor: The hosts tend to badmouth the few active listeners they have. For example, Alex calling Pipgirl fucking weird for eating toast with ketchup and that 510BrotherPanda talks like Randy Newman.
• Black Magic: Mitch's backstory is that he's well-versed in The Dark Arts, and may very well be a god of insanity and chaos. Fitting.
• Brick Joke: Sometimes the hosts will have well-timed repeats of earlier jokes.
• Butt-Monkey: Mitch, without question. Sometimes Drew.
• Call-Back: Boney Jones and Bookfart have made repeat appearances.
• The Cameo: Dan Amrich as Danta Claus in the Christmas Special.
  • JewWario, LoadingReadyRun's Graham and Paul, the aforementined Dan Amrich, and Games Radar's Cheryll deRosario have done Artist Liners for the show.
• Cannot Tell a Joke: Mitch.
• Can't Have Sex, Ever: Matt has a dry spell. Hasn't had sex in 4 years.
• Catchphrase: "Shut the fuck up, Mitch!"
• Childhood Memory Demolition Team When Alex's mom or stepmom left the abusive boyfriend, all of the Southpark characters out of modeling clay that he worked so hard on were destroyed. (Episode 1)
• Chiptunes: The theme song is a chiptune song called "Assault!"
• Christmas Special:
  • 2011's Christmas episode touches on many of the standard tropes of the format, and featuring none other than Dan Amrich as jolly ol' Saint Nick! Many of the show's past guests also make appearances.
    • Character Focus: The special is about Tony trying to figure out the true meaning of Christmas.
    • Christmas Songs: Alex made an original song for the special, "Time to Change the Mood", and the special ends with the cast singing "Old Friends, New Friends" from The Christmas Toy.
    • Did I Mention It's Christmas?: Alex is obsessed with Christmas-time, both in the special and in real life.
    • Season Finale: The Christmas Special doubles as the finale for Season 1, with Season 2 starting in 2012.
    • True Meaning of Christmas: Played with. Tony discovers the meaning of Christmas, and Alex points out that Santa giving everyone gifts sort of nullifies the point of Tony's speech. Santa then flatly asks Alex if he wants presents or not.
  • 2012's Christmas special was a madcap adventure to find Mitch, who had been kidnapped by the Krampus. Slabflapper returns, convincing the Krampus to capture Mitch with the hope of luring all the hosts together to exterminate them once and for all.
    • Darker and Edgier: This Christmas special was written by Alex, and it shows. There's a lot more violence and touchy material to be found here compared to the previous Christmas episode.
    • Hoist by His Own Petard: Slabflapper's refusal to bow to another gets him in an argument with the Krampus, which causes the Krampus to take his powers completely. He does not realize this until the end of the episode, when he attempts to attack the hosts and they instead gang up on him. It is implied that Slabflapper was either killed or brutally injured in the ensuing melee.
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: With some of the jokes, bits and tangents Mitch has come up with, he might as well be.
• Cluster F-Bomb: Alex leads the charge with the "Fuck em Fuck em Fuck em", where he seems a parody of himself.
• Comedic Underwear Exposure: For the banner of episode 011, Alex had no idea what to draw, so he just drew the cast in their underpants.
• Comically Missing the Point: On one episode, Drew wanted to talk about Sexy Beach 3. He then went on to talk about how great the environments looked.
• Cross-Cultural Kerfluffle: Tony is from the UK and they got Irishman Mark Breen the same episode which lead to geopolitical escalations.
• Couch Gag: Different secret sounds at the end of each episode, also done on the landing pages with silly plugs and credits for that episode's hosts.
• Date Rape Averted: This has be used in some form.
• Dead Air: Averted, as the podcast is edited, so un-needed dead air will be cut. However, it is left in if the hosts acknowledge it.
• Death Is Cheap: The hosts die when they don't appear on episodes, and come back to life in the next one.
• Department of Redundancy Department: Episode 013's title: "Post Apocalyptic Snowboard Apocalypse".
• Digging Yourself Deeper: Mitch's attempts to save failed jokes.
• Dueling Shows: Due to the show's previous name, they used to have a beef with another podcast called "Friends With Benefits".
  • For a while, was competing with other Talk Radar-inspired shows such as B-Cubed, PCN-Gen, and GNA.
  • Could also be dueling with TalkRadar, or Laser Time, ironically the show that inspired them.
• Dumbass DJ: Andy closing song on episode 27 was the pinnacle of this.
• Elaborate Underground Base: The Random Assault headquarters, which is an underground skyscraper-mansion consisting of many rooms made from all sorts of things, even garbage. The facade above ground is an old, abandoned Circuit City building with the RA logo on the side, as Circuit City buildings are red cubes, very much like the show's logo. Often, guests will be brought to the mansion with a bag over their head so they can't find their way back.
  • The hosts don't live there, either. They use a series of rifts to travel to the mansion from their respective living places around the world.
• Evil Twin: Slabflapper is one to Matt, in that he's literally a negative version of Matt. His skin is blue, like a film negative.
• Executive Meddling: Seems to be all "The President of EA" does.
• Face Palm: Mitch once tried to make one audible on the show.
  Mitch: "Did you hear that? That was the sound of me face-palming, that was so bad."
• Fan Art: Numerous examples here. Also on the Facebook page.
• Fan Fic: There has been a Fan Fic written about the secret love of Alex and Mitch... and Matt.
  • Matt once read a Fan Fic he wrote about Castlevania in his youth.
• Forgotten Anniversary: The secret ending sound of episode 042 is a very un-enthusiastic message from Alex reminding listeners of the show's one-year anniversary.
• Gag Censor: Funny sound effects are used to cover up the few things the podcast DOES censor.
  • In articles on the show's website, Slabflapper's face is used to cover up naughty bits in pictures.
• Guest Host: Many guests; you can count em on both hands.
• Halloween Special:
  • 2011's Halloween spooktacular was a massive 3-hour episode in which the hosts are being pursued in a Haunted Castle by Matt's Evil Twin, Slabflapper.
    • Dramatic Thunder: Used gleefully in this special.
    • Haunted Castle: The Halloween Episode takes place in one of these, which Tony mysteriously inherits.
    • I Got a Rock: Said word-for-word by Matt near the beginning of the special.
    • Talking Is a Free Action: In the Halloween Episode, the cast is able to record a normal podcast even while being hunted by Slabflapper.
    • Unexpected Inheritance: The set-up for the Halloween Episode. Tony inherits a Haunted Castle from his dead uncle. It's all in Slabfapper's plot to lure the hosts into one place and kill them.
  • 2012's Halloween spooktacular was a massive Shout-Out to Are You Afraid of the Dark?, with each host telling a different scary story.
    • Mitch's story is a very Lovecraft-inspired Cosmic Horror Story.
    • Kate didn't have much prepared in the way of a story, so her tale is much more Lighter and Softer in comparison to the other tales. It quickly devolves into gay sex.
    • Tony's story asks the audience to figure out why the hosts were murdered.
    • Matt doesn't have anything prepared either, and accidentally recaps the story of Higurashi: When They Cry.
    • Alex's story is easily filled with the most Mind Rape, and in general could be considered a Last Note Nightmare to the entire episode.
• Heroic BSoD: Alex has one in the Christmas Special, after his Christmas dinner, plans, and the mansion are ruined.
• Hilarious Outtakes: Sometimes used for the secret ending sound.
  • The entire RECORDING for the Christmas Special was released the week after said special came out, which features a ton of outtakes.
• Hypocrisy Nod: Tony said he hated cheese but loves lasagna.
• I Call Him "Mister Happy": There has been a discussion about the names of the hosts' members before.
• Inconvenient Summons: Mitch has said that he can be summoned very much like Candyman, where if his name is uttered into a mirror a number of times, he will be summoned to that person.
  • It is implied that Slabflapper also is summoned this way. Although, it more resembles Beetlejuice's rules. (No need for a mirror; say his name enough times in a row and he'll appear.)
• Japanese Ranguage: Again, used now and again and in the title for episode 020.
• Large Ham: Mitch, if he's given too much rope.
• Laugh Track: Sometimes used for laughs to parody the format of TV sitcoms.
• Long Runner: The show is currently in the 280's, and shows no signs of stopping any time soon
• Lovable Sex Maniac: Matt.
• Mistaken for Gay: Matt by his real-life friends.
• Mr. Fanservice: Most photographs of Matt have him naked or topless at the very least.
• Naked Apron: Mentioned in the Christmas Special.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Slabflapper.
• No Sense of Direction: Very noticeable when they just talk to one random thing to the next with no purpose. Matt falls back on his penis, Alex talks about how much he hates certain things , and Mortal Kombat, Mitch projects loudly about JRPGS, and animes like One Piece, and Kate talks about how she's poor, fat, and that she can take 12 inches of a 17 inch dildo up her ass.
• N-Word Privileges: One of Matt's friends regardless of race said "Fucking Niggas in the butt." in which a Hispanic woman who overheard it looked shocked and afraid. Kate often claims that Tony has granted her The Privileges. In fact, Tony mailed N-Word Privileges cards to all the hosts.
• Only Sane Man: Tony.
  • Alex seems to fancy himself this when Matt's away.
• Overly Long Gag: If the gag starts to get too long, someone will call "Walt Disney", signifying that the joke has gotten tired.
• Porn Stash: Used quite often when discussing porn.
• Portal Network: How the hosts are able to live all around the world (USA, Canada, and even England), and be able to come together to record the podcast in the mansion.
• Pre Emptive Shut Up: Used quite a bit. Three guesses as to who it's often directed to.
• Put on a Bus: Drew left the show very quietly.
  • Tony left the show after episode 105 to very little fanfare.
    • Subverted with Alex, who got the show's entire first livestream dedicated to him leaving
• Radio Drama: Due to the medium of the show (a podcast), scripted episodes (the Christmas Special or Halloween Episode) more or less become this.
• Red-and-White Comedy Poster: The show's logo is red and white.
• Robot Buddy: The RAPE-bot, who Alex destroyed. He got better, though.
• Ruleof Three: Three segment podcast.
• Running Gag: Mitch being told to shut the fuck up, Tony's ignorance of the letter T, Matt's chronic masturbation.
• Self-Deprecation: Depending on the host, used often. Kate brings up that she is chubby, poor, has no family and no friends.
• Settled for Gay: Homosexuality is not off limits.
• Shock Jock: Some of the hosts fancy themselves as this.
• Shout-Out: "RA Play" is a pun on Rapelay.
  • Tony is often depicted wearing a Galactus helmet.
  • The banner for episode 033 features Matt is Phoenix Wright's signature pose.
  • The banner for episode 036 is a GIANT homage to Ghost Trick.
  • The opening to the Halloween Episode is an awesome, custom version of The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe.
• So Unfunny, It's Funny: Some of the episodes the cast thinks sucked turn out to be liked by the fans.
• Spin-Off: The "Minor Assault" casts, which usually involve only two people and focus on a specific show, game, or series.
  • RA Views, video reviews done by one host each.
  • RA Plays, which are Let's Play videos done by the hosts.
• Surprise Incest: The other hosts claim Drew has a lot of surprise sex with his 2 younger brothers.
• Smurfette Principle: Usually principle than the exception. The exceptions are very rare.
• Suicide as Comedy: All the hosts will commit suicide (and even the listeners) when Random Assault hits 1,000 episodes.
• The Bus Came Back: Tony returned for the episode 150 special.
  • Alex came back briefly for episode 280, not even staying for an entire segment.
• Theme Tune: Was "Popular Potpourri" from the VVVVVV soundtrack, then the Dog Ending song from Silent Hill 2, and now an original composition by Mitch, "Assault!", under his artist name "Magnetar".
• Too Much Information: A lot of the things Matt or Kate say.
  • Kate's infamous "lemon" story.
• Trap Door: Sometimes, a host will fall down a trap door and won't be able to get out until their internet or Skype works aga-I MEAN until they climb out.
• TV Tropes Will Ruin Your Vocabulary: In-Universe. Mitch is known to speak in TV Tropes on the show, which Kate often yells at him for.
• Who Would Want to Watch Us?: Many times the cast asks why anyone is even listening to the show.
• You Can't Go Home Again: Kate will never be accepted by her family for wanting to be a female.

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