After ten years, Scott Aukerman announced via Twitter he’s ending his influential Los Angeles standup show Comedy Bang! Bang! next month. Aukerman started the standup showcase under the name Comedy Death-Ray at M Bar in Hollywood in 2002 before moving it to the then-new Los Angeles branch of the UCB Theatre in 2005. The Tuesday night show has been a linchpin of the local standup scene since it began and helped define “alternative comedy†in an era in which that term actually meant something, giving an early boost to a whole generation of now-famous standups. The live show spawned a popular podcast and IFC TV series of the name (both called Comedy Bang! Bang!), which have been keeping Aukerman so busy it’s amazing he’s had time to book a weekly standup show this whole time in addition to TV projects and his podcast empire Earwolf.
The last Comedy Bang! Bang! show at UCB will be Tuesday, November 27th, while the last Comedy Bang! Bang! show ever will be the annual star-studded Comedy Bang! Bang! Nativity Pageant at the Ricardo Montalban Theater in L.A., featuring Zach Galifianakis, Aziz Ansari, Patton Oswalt, David Cross, Bob Odenkirk, Brian Posehn, Kristen Schaal, Chris Hardwick, Thomas Lennon, Nick Kroll, Paul Scheer, Tim Heidecker, Doug Benson, Paul F. Tompkins, Anthony Jeselnik, Chelsea Peretti, Neil Hamburger, Garfunkel & Oates, Matt Besser, Todd Glass, Jimmy Pardo, Kurt Braunohler, and pretty much everybody in comedy. Tickets are available now. It’s a fitting ending to one of the longest-running and renowned live comedy shows in L.A. history.