Scott Aukerman bringing Comedy Bang! Bang! reside present to Aztec Theatre for evening of absurdist humor

Scott Aukerman, joined by longtime visitor Paul F. Tompkins and different comedians, will deliver his model of improvised humor to the Aztec Theatre this Thursday. Credit score: Liezl Estipona

When Scott Aukerman launched the reside radio present and podcast in 2009 that later turned Comedy Bang! Bang!, he was nonetheless trying to find his place within the business.

Aukerman had already been a performer within the Nineteen Nineties different comedy scene and as a author and actor for Mr. Present, however he spent a lot of the 2000s questioning what got here subsequent.

“I used to be making an attempt to determine, ‘Am I a film author? Am I a TV author? Can I be on a TV present?’” Aukerman, 56, instructed the Present throughout a current interview. “When Comedy Bang! Bang! got here round, it locked into place. It was like, ‘Oh, right here’s one thing I’m good at — lastly.”

The 17-year journey as a podcast host has led him to the Comedy Bang! Bang! Floor Beefing Tour, a reside, touring model of the Comedy Bang! Bang! podcast. On Thursday, Sept. 10, Aukerman, joined by longtime visitor Paul F. Tompkins and different comedians, will deliver his model of improvised humor to the Aztec Theatre for an evening of absurdity and laughs.

Throughout our interview, which occurred a few days after the deaths of octogenarians Dolly Parton and Tim Curry, Aukerman talked in regards to the want for extra silliness in our lives, the miracle of constructing an unscripted reside present work and the potential of dropping lifeless on stage in San Antonio.

Comedy Bang! Bang! has developed through the years. Why do you suppose the live-show tour format works so effectively?

That’s such an enormous query. I believe it boils all the way down to folks actually needing to see folks playing around and having time — or hear it, or watch it, or utilizing any of their 5 senses, or six senses, in the event you ask some folks. I simply suppose playing around is one thing we don’t see sufficient of as of late. So, I believe the format works rather well as a result of it’s me talking to a number of the greatest comedians round, who improvise foolish characters. At its core, it’s simply folks goofing round, and I believe that’s in brief provide as of late.

Do you’ve got that sixth sense?

Sure. I’m psychic within the sense of I do know what day I’m going to die. I could have scheduled [my death] on one of many tour dates [where] I’ll die on stage. It could be San Antonio. I don’t need to spoil it, but when anybody you realize is into that form of factor — watching somebody die in entrance of them — there you go.

Because the host of a reside present this unpredictable, at what level do it’s important to settle for that you don’t have any management over something?

I believe folks could be shocked to be taught that the performers and I’ve not talked about something we’re going to speak about on stage. So, the truth that it comes out in addition to it does is a minor miracle. I’m not saying that I’m like Jesus — making miracles on the market — however you realize, it’s not that far off. However yeah, I don’t have management over any of it. Generally I’ll be sitting on stage simply considering to myself, “That is loopy that we don’t have something deliberate.” I believe a part of the enjoyable is figuring out we’re all simply making it up as we go alongside.

Has something bizarre occurred on stage throughout a reside present the place you didn’t suppose you’d be capable of get well?

You recognize, we are able to at all times dig our manner out of any gap. There have been a few exhibits the place I obtained some issues incorrect early on the tour. I forgot what metropolis I used to be in on the third present, which is manner too early to be in a Spinal Faucet–kind haze. However there’s at all times a manner out of every thing. For me, it’s about discovering the most effective endpoint across the one hour, 45-minute mark. What’s the funniest line to exit on? That’s what I’m preoccupied with.

Do you consider your self as a author who performs, or as a performer who writes?

I really feel extra like a podcaster who dabbles in every thing. After I first began, I used to be like, “Oh, I’m a performer.” After which I obtained employed on Mr. Present as a author, not as a performer, initially. So, I used to be like, “Oh, I suppose I’m a author now.” What I really like about [my] profession is I get to do a complete bunch of issues. If I used to be specializing in writing 100% of the day, it wouldn’t actually seize my consideration and maintain it the best way that I needed it to.

Do you suppose it’s more durable to face out as a bizarre comedy podcast at the moment than it was once you began the present in 2009, given what number of podcasts there at the moment are?

Yeah, bizarre comedy is at all times on the market. It was late-night discuss exhibits. That was the one place you could possibly get it. With the proliferation of podcasts, it’s laborious for each podcast to make noise. You could have celebrities on the market stealing the eye away from regular folks like me who began out with nothing however a dream — and knowledgeable author’s wage and a Rolodex that includes the names and numbers of each skilled comic in Los Angeles. It was very laborious.

What’s one thing you continue to really feel you haven’t found out about comedy? Does it intimidate or frustrate you in any manner?

I really feel like I’ve gotten higher at every thing. I understand how to do my podcasting job higher, and I understand how to do these reside excursions rather well. It’s simply such a disgrace that it’s coming as I enter my 79th 12 months on this earth and am about to perish after I flip 80 subsequent week on stage in San Antonio.

Comedy Bang! Bang! Floor Beefing Tour 2026$53.00 -$196.50, 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10, Aztec Theatre, 104 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 812-4355, theaztectheatre.com.