Creating A Comedy Show Is A Lot Like Making A Spotify Playlist

US comedy sensation Comedy Bang! Bang! began its life as a podcast before morphing into a hit TV show, with both formats finding funnyman/creator Scott Aukerman hosting some of today's funniest comedians in faux talk show scenarios (augmented by sketches and regular segments). Now on its way down to Australia for its debut run of live shows in the country, Aukerman explains how the whole Comedy Bang! Bang! premise actually has its foundation in the live realms.

"I was producing a live comedy show here in LA — I did it for ten years — but it wasn't really the format of what the podcast turned out to be. It was really just a stand-up and character and sketch showcase show that I didn't really always perform on," he tells. "I just produced it and got to know a tonne of comedians and built up a lot of friendships and a lot of relationships.

"So when I first started doing the podcast it was just supposed to be a radio show or a podcast to advertise the live show where I would interview comedians about how they started in comedy. Then that got a little boring so I started having comedians as characters on, and that's really where it all clicked. For me it was then I realised, 'Oh, this is the show — me speaking to improvisers in a talk show format.'

"I remember the show that it clicked on was [when] I had Andy Daly on and he was doing a character who was talking about how be bought a heavy coat because he wanted to walk into the ocean to commit suicide — and I'd seen him doing this character on stage a lot so I sorta knew the beats of it — so I started asking him a lot of questions about where he bought the coat, just because he's a great improviser and I thought, 'Oh, let's see where this goes'. And it turned into, in my opinion, the funniest part of the show, him getting frustrated by having to answer so many questions about this coat. I remember leaving the studio that day going, 'Oh wow, that was what I think the show could be', and that's what it turned out to be."

Inherently, the laughs are often reliant on the chemistry between Aukerman and his guests.

"It's sort of like putting together a mix tape, or a mix CD or Spotify playlist or whatever it is these days: what I mean to say is that it's a lot like putting together a Spotify playlist," he laughs. "Sometimes you want people who will vibe really well together, like when we're doing the tour we're coming to Australia with Paul F Tompkins and Lauren Lapkus, and there's something about the three of us when we get in a room that's so much fun.

"But I also like producing shows where I'll have someone that I've never met on with two people who have never worked together before. I'm always trying to find a new way of doing the show — I don't want to just get into a comfortable rut."