Scott Aukerman
Depending on your tastes and predilections, Comedy Bang! Bang! has until now existed as either an addictive podcast or a must-see TV show. Now they've expanded this comedic purview substantially by dragging the absurdist premise into the live realm.
As a predominantly cerebral exercise, it's an easy adaption, requiring just four stools and four microphones. But as soon as host and creator Scott Aukerman enters the fray and starts a brief warm-up, riffing on his Aussie experiences to date (which, with this being the first show in the country, isn't exactly extensive), it's clear that the live experience introduces even more nuance and silliness into the format (if that's even possible).
Taking a seat, he introduces his first guest, the well-known character of Aukerman's long-suffering nephew Tom, played by awesome comedienne Lauren Lapkus. Their rapport is obvious as they trade barbs and pull everything from their respective comedy kitbags in an attempt to make each other break character and corpse.
More such characters are introduced at regular intervals: Paul F Tompkins, reprises old chestnut, Cake Boss, while Mike Hanford (who warmed up the crowd earlier with a killer stand-up set of his own) brings out new character, "Little Bump" The One-Pump Chump. As an evening's entertainment, it's impudent, irreverent, eccentric and most importantly, piss funny.
