The D and K Podcast: Instagram as a Medium for Comedy and Storytelling

Saturday Night Live comedian/director duo Kyle Mooney and Dave McCary, who are known for their comedy videos with the group Good Neighbor, have a brand new podcast coming out! Well, not really. They’re just promoting one. Allow me to explain.

On May 27^th Kyle Mooney retweeted this.

Around this time, I’m sure a lot of the comedian’s fans were like me and didn’t suspect anything.  I assumed this was podcast was legit and couldn’t wait to hear it. I went to the twitter page of the D and K podcast to see if I could find any details about it. I should have suspected something when the twitter "about me" section said nothing but “A new podcast”. But I was hopeful and searched more. That’s when I found the D and K podcast Instagram page.

When I first visited the Instagram page, it only had a few posts, but they made it clear that the podcast was probably a joke.

The joke seemed to be that Kyle is extremely excited about making this podcast with his friend Dave, but Dave never agreed to be part of it. I thought that the joke was great and subscribed to this Instagram account, expecting to see variations on this same joke pop up on my feed from time to time. The D and K podcast quickly showed me that it was much more than just one joke.

It wasn't long before the D and K podcast Instagram account introduced a new character into the podcast’s story line. And through interactions with the new character, we learned more about the Kyle and Dave characters. As the account added new characters and new elements to the story of the podcast, it became clear that rather than just being a random assortment of 6-second bits, this Instagram account had a story arc emerging. Albeit a ridiculously unrealistic story, but one with twists and turns. One with moments of sadness, happiness, humor and suspense

The D and K podcast has proven to me that Instagram can be an effective medium for storytelling and comedy. While effectively parodying the idea of having a hype-generating Instagram account, Kyle Mooney and Dave McCary utilize every single aspect of an Instagram account that promotes a podcast to contribute to the story. They post photos, videos, and even purposefully unfunny memes that would likely be seen on a podcast Instagram. They also hold obviously satirical contests to have viewers make videos, artwork, and music. Every single comment on a post and every single hashtag is simultaneously contributing to the story arc, and parodying typical Instagram behavior.

I would highly recommend that anyone interested in modern comedy, digital storytelling, or social media in general check out this Instagram account. It proves that no matter what the current trends in social media are, there will always be entertainment innovators who will find a way to shape these trends into an effective medium for storytelling.

Here is a link to the D and K podcast. You should scroll all the way to the beginning and view the posts in chronological order.  The account is still being updated, so make sure to check back later to continue experiencing the D and K podcast saga.