Travel back to a simpler time when school desks were your best defense against nuclear weapons, and giants were made of good ol' fashioned iron - well, space iron. Yes, animation fans, this week we're shamming director Brad Bird's breakout classic, The Iron Giant! Marcus is our writer because somehow a movie about robots and teaching them to love snuck past him. It's the perfect match of sham-writer and material! This episode is bound to excite, thrill, and entertain you so much that you'll scream "HOG HUG!" at the top of your lungs! Quit worrying about the Communist menace and listen already, tiger!
41: Andrew writes Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
It's finally happening, gang. ShamFiction is crossing the barrier between platforms 9 and 10 as Andrew tackles that holiest of holies known as Harry Potter fanfiction! Sure, he's read all the books and seen all the movies, but he hasn't read the published script for the hit West End production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, so it counts! Completely sham-able! So listen up as we dust off our Quick-Quotes Quills and set our Time-Turners way way back, and prepare yourself for this epic two-part episode (really it's just one really long episode) of the show! Accio heartstrings!
40: Eric writes Scream
Happy Halloween, sham-listeners! We've reached our final destination on the Spooky-tober trail! Let's kick this episode off with a question: Do you like scary movies? The killer in this week's property sure does. He'll quiz you on them before he MURDERS you! Jeepers creepers, gang, that means it's time to sham horror-movie-maestro Wes Craven's nineties classic, Scream! Will this week's sham-writer, Eric, be able to sufficiently (and self-referentially) spook us? Will Marcus struggle to mask his dislike of the film? Will Andrew claim to be a movie expert and get most of his references wrong? All these questions (and more) will be answered! BOOGA BOO!
39: Marcus writes Stranger Things
Our next Spooky-tober stop is in Hawkins, Indiana. 1983. A boy named Will Byers has vanished, and it doesn't feel like an ordinary incident. There's been a lot of movement at a nearby government facility ever since; Will's mom, Joyce, swears that her son has been communicating to her through lightbulbs; and Will's friends have met a weird girl with a shaved head near where he disappeared. Our man Marcus is on the case, but he'll soon realize these aren't normal things, nor simply strange things. These are... Stranger Things!
38: Andrew writes I Am Not a Serial Killer
Spooky-tober continues with Andrew's dark take on Dan Wells' horror/thriller, "I Am Not A Serial Killer"! Venture deep into the mind of John Wayne Cleaver, an unassuming youth in small-town America who has a dark secret. He battles with urges to kill and a fascination with the morbid. He wants to stay strong, but will Mr. Monster get the better of him? Join us for this chilling tale.
37: Eric writes Suicide Squad
To kick off our Halloween-themed Spooky-tober series, Marcus and Andrew implant an explosive into Eric's head and tell him to go save the world with a team of DC Comics villains you all know and love! We've got everyone! The Joker! Harley Quinn! Deadshot. El Diablo... Slipknot...? Captain Boomerang...?! You know and love all of them, right? We swear we didn't make any up - even if one shares a name with a popular masked heavy metal band from the mid-aughts. Do you know what happens when you order those bad guys to do good? It turns into some sort of... Suicide Squad! Listen, if you dare... BOOGA-BOO!
Just the Fics Volume Three
In this special bonus episode of ShamFiction, we've compiled "Just the Fics" from our third quarter of the season and put them all into this one mega-episode for your listening enjoyment! It's a Shamthology of short stories from Eric, Andrew, and Marcus!
36: Marcus writes Mr. Robot
Hello friends. Are you ready to take back control of your lives? Oh, we know what you're thinking. "You're mistaken, ShamFiction guys. I'm in control of my life." WRONG! You are not! We see that Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte in your hand and your eyes glued to that iPhone screen. You've lost control, friends. The corporations own you. Luckily, we've met the guy who's going to change everything. We'd like you to meet him, too, so you'd better listen to this week's episode. His name is Mr. Robot.
35: Andrew writes Twilight
This week we're packing up the U-Haul and moving to Washington - state, that is - to a sleepy, little town called Forks. We've heard the scenery is beautiful, and so - it turns out - is this one particular guy in our class. He seemed to be sickened at the sight of us at first, but he's coming around. He's super dreamy, and - get this - he sparkles in the daylight! Because he's a vampire! But how is he going to be our boyfriend if he wants to drink our blood all the time? Listen as Andrew attempts to make this relationship work in his sham of the ultimate in young adult romance, Twilight.
34: Eric writes Sharknado
Do you hear that? A faint sound of thunder and chomping in the distance? And the wind is picking up now, blowing in the horrible, fishy odor of death. These signs can't point to anything else... In this episode, Eric puts on his hero hat, grabs his favorite chainsaw (her name is "Betty"), and sets out to save the world from the most blood-thirsty of all natural disasters: Sharknado!
33: Marcus writes Brick
Cover for us in homeroom! We have some sleuthing to do! Well, Marcus does at least. This week, he's raiding lockers, turning over tables in the cafeteria, and knocking heads together under the bleachers - anything to solve the mystery at the heart of Rian "Star Wars Episode VIII" Johnson's high school film noir breakout, Brick! He just better watch out for any of those long-haired lugs! Especially if they're named Chuck Burns!
32: Andrew writes A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
Did you know that A Song of Ice and Fire, the hit series that HBO's Game of Thrones is based upon, is not the only tale from Westeros that George R. R. Martin hasn't finished? This week Andrew spends a couple hours in the world of dragons and white walkers as he writes A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, and we find out why it takes Martin much longer to write his (objectively more amazing) version!
31: Eric writes The West Wing
On this week's show, Mr. Carlson goes to Washington! Ready or not, Eric's been assigned an immense challenge: to sham-write a piece based on the most prestigious of all prestige dramas, Aaron Sorkin's The West Wing! Will people walk and talk at the same time? (They'd better!) Will President Bartlet tell a folksy story of great significance? (Most likely!) Will all our nation's most pressing issues be solved? (We're counting on it!) If there's an Emmy for podcasting, this is our chance to bring it home! No pressure, right?
30: Eric and Andrew write Ex Machina
In this final week of Dueling ShamFiction, Marcus asks Eric and Andrew to wrap up their days as crime-fighting heroes and make some real change - in politics! Yes, indeed, we're following in Mayor Mitchell "The Great Machine" Hundred's steps, heading to New York City Hall with dreams of machines dancing like sugar plums in our heads (or something)! But only one sham-writer can call himself the hero-mayor of New York! And there's only one way to determine the victor: a head-to-head sham-writing battle royale of writer Brian K. Vaughan's comic series, Ex Machina!
From the Vault: Marcus writes There Will Be Blood
The Dueling ShamFiction finale proved too big a beast to tame in only a week's time! In its stead, we've pulled an episode out of the vault! This is a complete test cast from back in 2015 when we were sussing out the show's structure and getting comfortable in front of the mics. We believe you'll find the quality of the content and the audio to be more than sufficient for your listening pleasure! Can Marcus drill deep enough to strike black gold? Find out in his attempt to break into the oil business with this sham of Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood!
29: Marcus and Eric write The Leftovers
It's week two of our Dueling ShamFiction series! In this installment, Eric and Marcus go head-to-head to see who can make Andrew cry harder! It's the saddest episode of ShamFiction yet, as we battle grief and confusion in the wake of the sudden disappearance of 2% of the world's population. Smoke 'em if you got 'em, because we're shamming HBO's The Leftovers!
28: Andrew and Marcus write Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood
In the first of our three-part Dueling ShamFiction special, Andrew and Marcus tune up their automail limbs and go transmutation-circle to transmutation-circle to find out which of them is full-metal! It's a competition the likes of which you haven't seen on ShamFiction, so strap yourselves in for two full takes on Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood!
27: Marcus writes Cowboy Bebop
Three, two, one, let's jam! This week, we're jazzing things up by getting down with the coolest crew of bounty hunters this side of the solar system. It's Cowboy Bebop! Marcus is writing, and he had better keep the beat because these thugs know how to swing. One mis-step and we'll be saying, "See you, Space Cowboy!"
26: Andrew writes My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Hey everypony, canter right up and fill your favorite feed-bag for Andrew's version of one of the biggest fandoms in the history of fanfiction! That's right, it's My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic! We'll make a brony of you yet!
25: Eric writes The 100
The hormones are flowing on this week’s episode of ShamFiction! We’re sending Eric down to Earth to observe and report on the angsty/horny/teenaged settlers of The CW’s The 100! Turns out they’re all criminals! And criminals - as John Turturro taught us in that Transformer movie - are HOT! Enjoy!