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The Pest thing started because other radio shows had armies. The pests really worked more to annoy than to attack, by photobombing live news reads or calling rival shows. The Pests really came into their peak during the bans and firings, fighting back against the PC cunts. That's the grossly oversimplified version. People like HTG stepped up and challenged the horse-shittery going on and pulled off some pretty good victories.

The O and A fans were labeled pests by Opie or Jimmy, I don't remember. I vaguely remember that particular show.

I think you have it a little mixed up. There used to be an O&A army, that's what it was called. Opie or Jimmy just relabeled it to "pests" because "army" was so hack. You have to admit, the idea of a group of self-interested trolls is more palatable than the idea of a mob of belligerent fanatics. That seems to be what everyone has when their career is in their infancy. Like Rogan now. If he sticks around for another decade - and it seems like he will - his 'army' will eventually feel the same jaded douchechills and take it down a notch or two.

Don't you just hate when a stoner friend of yours listens to Rogan for the first time and decides he's going to explain the universe to you?

Ah, okay cool. I always tuned out when it came to other listeners. Except Stephen S from Bayshore. That motherfucker always makes me laugh.

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Yeah I think it was a throwaway and some overzealous people took it and ran with it. Instead of a zany little quip that stands next to their name on a forum, it became a part of their identity.

I would agree until I posted about how I hate the way they treat bobo. Several of the members of this sub didn't have the balls to reply publicly and instead just wrote harassing shit to my inbox.

There is definitely a fan base for this show that isn't a bunch of retarded suburban new york dumb lugs. There are several poisonous superfans here that belong on a message board rather than on reddit... maybe it's just one person with many accounts... Regardless, if you're afraid to post a response publicly you're a fucking jackass.

Yes. I find most O&A fans to be pretty far to the right of me. Often bigoted. Basically Anthony without the talent.

I met one of my dearest friends through O&A via Twitter.

The majority of you people are the scum of the earth though. I used to wade through the primordial ooze of wackbag before I got so disgusted I nearly quit listening to the show. At least this sub is populated by people that still have a soul to lose.

I really don't give a shit 'cause fans that take it to that level are fucking losers.

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no

i like reading stuff on the wackbag,half the people there are living for a re tweet from one of the guys and the other half fantasize about being friends with them.

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Good thing you keep that to yourself then.

Lol what's he write?

Something about getting retweeted by Opie and getting invited to the compound.

I feel alienated by other fans because I'm one of the few female fans. I get harassed regularly on here via private message. It sucks. Oh well. I deal with war crimes at work and the show makes me laugh all the trauma away.

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Seriously? You get harassed via PM here? Jesus.

O&A fans are known for being classy and not creepy at all.

I think....

Depends on the situation and context.

As obsessed with the show that I am, there's a number of values between the hosts and fans I don't agree with. For instance, I'm a certified Special Education teacher, so how comfortable do you think I am everytime they make fun of "retards"? Not at all. However, the show has actually helped me in that regard to move on from it even though I hate that word, because I know the bashing I would get if I ever complained. There's other things I don't necessarily enjoy, such as the excessive "Old people suck I hope they all die" schtick, or even some of the celebrity bashing. But again, the show has given me the ability to separate all of that from the stuff I do enjoy. If it gets to be too much, I turn it off and try again later. No harm no foul.

I enjoy a lot of Pest-y humor. For instance, the Facebook Jocktober raids, hijacking the Ferrell/Burke shows, and others. The Chip references here never seem to get old, and I love seeing an "UnclePaul" username pop up on some random corner of the interwebs. Whenever I feel down, I go and read the Amazon reviews for Jimmy's CDs and am usually in tears laughing by the time I'm done. So those instances of Pest humor are great and healthy.

I don't enjoy blind bashing/praise or hero worship. It goes on both sides. The obvious ones are people saying "Meh, the show was a bit off today" or "I'm starting to get a little tired of the Obama and guns discussion" to be immediately met with "YOUR SUCH A PUSSY HATER GO LISTEN TO STERN AND THEN KILL YOURSELF YOU CUNT", or even on the other end, the blind bashing. Believe it or not, Opie's role is not the comedian on the show. He's the radio professional who's supposed to time the show out so it's the best experience possible for the listener. If it wasn't for him, Anthony wouldn't have gotten his big break, Norton would be one of the many struggling road comics, and we'd have no O&A show or many of the classic moments they bring. To that end we need to realize the guys are human, not comedy machines or Gods. They have their off days too, or the ability to make us rage. Half the fun for me of listening to the show is that I rarely agree with them.

So in summary, I like and dislike parts of the fanbase and the show for my own reasons. So does everyone else. Groupthink and hero worship are dangerous to anyone or any cause, so don't do it. Now if y'all excuse me, this Regular Joe needs to get to the post office to mail some books, or maybe even fe-mail some books or sumthin.

tl;dr: you like the show

I've been trying to find the damn clip where that special education advocate called in and had a good debate with the boys. It was very interesting.

the show attracts a pretty wide variety of people and it would be unfair to paint them all with the same brush. in my opinion, ants fans suck. ant is a funny fucker but his fans blow ass. opie fans are awesome, since most of them actually understand the show and how it works as a dynamic. fans of jim are usually cool too.

here on reddit since the crowd tends to be more liberal and more nerdy i enjoy the subreddit alot. but the crowd that shows up to live events i would never want to hang around with.

Jim as an intellect is hilarious to me. I love when colin is in because i know that hes going to call jimmy on his fake-intellectual bullshit. jimmy wants to be an intellectual sooo bad.

That said his fans are usually way better than ants fans. Ants fans are all fat racist pigs. Ant has the brainpower to be an intellectual guy but chooses to waste it on niggermania and guns and buying drones and floating in his pool all day.

I think it depends on why you listen to the show.

The majority of the people here seem to listen to the show for the comedic aspect, and occasionally the drama (e.g., with Bobo, the interns, etc).

You can't listen to the show and take them seriously on any subjects except comedy and radio, since the boys are dolts. Some people get so wrapped up in how Anthony feels about Zimmerman, for example... or how Jimmy doesn't know the law. Their job is to make dick jokes, not be legal analysts.

I get along with the fans that listen because the show is just kind of silly and they need something to kill time -- I generally don't get along with fans that consider the show to be important on any level.

I'll definitely agree with your point about mimicking the way Jimmy talks (or for that matter, Opie and Ant as well). Every time I see that I cringe really hard and instantly close the tab. It fucking annoys me so much for some reason. Although to be honest, I did catch myself doing it one time and instantaneously felt like a total idiot.

Picking up little phrases or wording things similar to the way they do is one thing - but people who mimic the Chip bit are fucking infuriating.

I'll probably sound like a douche, but I actually love considering myself as a part of the "pest comunity". there's a certain O&A-ism to the show that most of the fans "get" like calling bullshit on inauthenticity and dumb hacky entertainment. and it's fun knowing you share that mind set with other people who are fans of this (relatively) niche show.

I guess it's because I rarely go on fan sites and dont know how idiotic and racist some fans can be .But for me, an O&A fan is someone witty and smart. Even when there's a "pest attack" or a jocktober I always consider that the main goal is to be horrendously funny and clever with your joke, not actually try to hurt someone or be inhuman.

I feel like it used to be a lot worse. Years ago you could only really go to wackbag to discuss the show, now you have alternatives. The whole "pests" thing spawned from a potentially good bit, but the fans - a few prominent wackbag users in particular - poured on the bootlicking in the hopes of becoming regular parts of the show, even making it on air a couple of times.

After that I took a break from the show, and when I came back there were no more "pests" and O&A seemed more likely to call out that kind of sycophantic behavior in general, which is great. The downside is that the change also somewhat coincides with Anthony going off the deep end with his political views, so one insufferable thing was replaced by another.

It does. I enjoyed the pest thing when it meant calling other shows and AOTM type things. But the "we all must mimic the jokes and ideology of our favorite funny person" is alienating. Seems to be less prevalent here than even on twitter though.

Wait, I get the subscribing to the hosts' opinions, but what do you mean about mimicking the way Jimmy talks? Are you talking about his influence on people's word choice or just how they speak in general?

It's all over the youtube comment pages. Calling people "dummy", or otherwise borrowing that whole comedy cellar comedian table lingo. I saw a guy getting mad at a liberal, saying that the guy doesn't think for himself, and then going on to tell him he's a "boring, predictable zilch"

Yes. I know a "hole" when I hear one, but would never use the term. When I see a comment on something that uses it, I get "douche chills". LOL. See what I did there?

The Opie and Anthony Travelling Virus is no more because the fans booed every comic that came on. The comics weren't even that bad, some of them weren't even established, and they got booed, it was damn ridiculous.

Opie went on air back then and trashed the fans for booing everyone. There's being a fan, and then there's just being a dick to comics who are just trying to tell jokes.

Yeah, but group thought mentality in general is something I tend to despise and avoid. I don't even want to know people who pretend to be like Jimmy with less humor.

Meh, the fans have their own opinion. A lot of them here are starting to grow tired of either Jimmy, Opie, or Anthony.

I agree with Jimmy a lot, though. Before he started going all devil's advocate, he was really insightful regarding many social issues.

Seems like there are two types of fans ones that love everything the hosts say or ones that just hate everything the show has become. None are happy.

then theres the ones actually happy with the show who dont feel the need to go on the internet and bitch about it. those ones are probably the largest group by far.

dont let the vocal minority be your entire picture of the fanbase

Good to know there is others. Its exhausting sometimes

No, because I don't think most of the listeners agree with the hosts at all times.

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Ive been listening since 2000, on WYSP in Philly. Some things I feel liek I need to get off my chest:

1. I dont care about the personal lives or "behind the scenes" of the show, at all. The show is there for entertainment, and anything beyond the show simply doesnt interest me. Its like giving a shit about what the actors of your favorite TV show/movie do in their spare time.

2. I love Sam, thought Danny was pretty funny, and genuinely like the Opie character. The hivemind of hate for these characters is RIDICULOUS.

3. I feel like people like to think they know the hosts of the show simply because they hear stuff on the radio, read things on twitter, etc. You dont. You dont know Anthony Cumia, Gregg Hughes, or Jim Norton. You dont know what they are really like off the air or how close the real person is to the character they play on the show. The people you hear on the radio are characters of a show, just like the actors on a TV show are playing characters.

4. Just listen to the show, enjoy it for what it is, and stop stirring up drama.

DISCLAIMER This post isnt directly pointed at this sub-reddit, any particular user, or any particular forum. This is directed at the fans Ive met and spoke with in real life and on the internet. This is a radio show; entertainment. Sit, listen, and be happy. Going any further than the show is weird.

When Steve C died, Kevin from Connecticut said on instant feedback at the time: "I know you didn't like Steve C...". Then Opie went off. It really showed how the show was just a show, and the staff was a lot closer than people heard on the show.

Perfect example.

Yes, of Opie being a baby douche.

Why do you listen to the show if you don't like Opie

Wackbag is a prime example of the jaded fanbase, there was one guy who got permabanned just for ASKING people who stopped listening to the show why they did and the mods axed him. It's bizarre to me how people there seem to pontificate and make the most absurd assumptions of the host based off of the littlest things, the non-stop hatred for Sam being a half-breed/queer etc. was what made me stop going there, just not a fun place at all, just seems like people post there to see who can be the biggest dickstain. Seriously 4chan can be more inviting than that place.

It's sad though, the new breed of O&A fan base seem to get off on living vicariously through the show, and the fact you have these individuals walking around like this bottled up with the life experiences and opinions based off of people they don't even know, I can't imagine people to that degree are the most mentally/emotionally stable.

yeah I Just don't care nor want to interact with other fans on some frequent basis. I disagree with jim frequently, opie I find lazy at times and anthony I agree with mostly but overall the show is entertaining and fun so that's all that matters

I feel bobo is a condensed version of all the fans. Wanting attention from the show, lack of any game with women, out of shape, enjoy a show with really good comic content but really only appreciate the racial and dick jokes, something just wrong with them mentally, railing against things Anthony hates while themselves being hypocritical douches, etc..... Long run on. I know.

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