COMEDYBANGBANG

     Comedy Bang! Bang! is a tv show on IFC featuring some of the most well known comedians of tv. The show is a parody of a talk show, the set obviously not completed and the host is consistently a poor interviewer. The show focuses on surreal and outlandish humor, often altering reality. In many episodes the furniture talks to the host openly. The characters are over the top, the celebrity guests are caricatures of themselves, and the whole show is a whacky 22 minute ride.

     Comedy Bang! Bang! is the brainchild of former Mr. Show writer Scott Aukerman. The road to the show was a long one, Aukerman started running the show live in 2002 as Comedy Death Ray. A Comedy Death Ray podcast was started in 2009 and in 2011 the name was changed to Comedy Bang! Bang! 

The television show on IFC was spun off from the podcast in 2012, Aukerman bringing on comedian and one man band Reggie Watts to cohost. The show features a similar brand of comedy as the podcast but with a television twist.

The podcast is a celebrity playing themselves and a comedian playing a character. The entire show is improvised on the spot and Aukerman releases everything recorded.

Comedy Bang! Bang! works so well because it's so original. There's nothing before like this, the most similar thing is Mr. Show which was purely a sketch show. The combination of improv and sketch creates something that comedy has never done before. The sketch's are weird, the guests are weird, but that's what they need to surprise the audience. It's also incredibly impressive, that we see these comedians develop these characters on the spot.

     It should be noted, for those looking at the television business, that many comedians featured on the show and podcast are getting series of their own. The Kroll Show, Review, No You Shut Up!, The Birthday Boys, and even Parks and Recreation feature Bang! Bang! regulars and continue to be reviewed highly by critics. 

     Each episode promises something new and original. If you're bored with comedy today you shouldn't be, the comedy revival started at improv and is moving up to tv. Networks have figured out how to package these weird and niche markets and thus create incredibly creative content.

    Scoot Fluxerman is gathering a bunch of his funny friends in a tv studio and making something truly unseen on tv before.