Jimmy Pardo has long been labelled a “comic’s comic” — that delightful backhanded compliment referring to stand-ups respected by their peers even though they aren’t huge names with the public.

Thankfully, the recent comedy-podcast explosion has been a boon for such cult figures. The new audience relationship Pardo fostered through his podcast Never Not Funny is ideal for the comedian who favours free-wheeling improv over carefully written sets because, as he puts it, “in a perfect world no one has to hear any of my act.”

Speaking to the Star in advance of his headlining shows at The Comedy Bar on Friday and Saturday, Pardo admits that conversational comedy was always his strength, even if it was difficult to find appropriate venues early on. “Let’s just say that I worked very hard to be an average white guy telling jokes for a few years,” joked Pardo, a professional comedian since the 1980s.

“I wasn’t very good and then eventually it clicked that, ‘Hey, you should go back to what you did in the open mic days and be the guy who you are off stage.’ In the mid-’90s there were growing pains because the shows were so experimental and I would bomb, but I was lucky enough that a few people believed in me and kept sending me out to some clubs against their wishes, and I’m forever grateful.”

“I had heard a lot about Jimmy Pardo, but I didn’t really take notice of him until I watched a taping of Conan,” said Pat Thornton of the TV series Comedy Bar andHotbox.

“Jimmy is the warm-up guy and Conan should be scared to have to follow him. Warm-up is not necessarily the most respected position in show business, but Jimmy Pardo is the greatest at it. . . .

“There’s something magic and old school about Jimmy. It’s not that he belongs in another time, he’s just timeless. You could imagine him killing it on an old episode ofCarson.”

Pardo’s reputation grew steadily and his career really took off after L.A. comedy blogger Matt Belknap suggested they try translating his improvisational style to a podcast back in the pioneer podcasting days of 2006. Featuring guest appearances from friends like Rob Corddry, Patton Oswalt and Andy Richter, Never Not Funny became such a success that Pardo started charging for subscribers before iTunes was overflowing with free competitors. Now he is one of the few comedians able to make money directly from podcasting.

“By charging, we’re battling something that no one else is, but quite frankly it’s worth it,” Pardo says, having seen a dramatic change in that world in a few short years. “When I used to ask people to be a guest on my podcast they had no idea what that was. Now there are so many that I’m almost embarrassed to ask people to come on my show.”

As for many comedians, podcasting has opened up new vistas for Pardo both in the industry — as Conan O’Brien’s warm-up act, for instance — and even at his live shows where he says, “People who have never gone to comedy clubs before are starting to come out.”

Pardo might not suddenly be living in a perfect world, but thanks to this new audience he doesn’t have to revert to his act much anymore . . . well, for the most part.

“Sometimes people will still get impatient and say, ‘Why isn’t this guy talking about his dick?’ and you’ve got to give ’em some jokes,” he quips. “But that’s really on the audience.”