When Scott Aukerman launched the live radio show and podcast in 2009 that later became Comedy Bang! Bang!, he was still searching for his place in the industry.
Aukerman had already been a performer in the 1990s alternative comedy scene and as a writer and actor for Mr. Show, but he spent much of the 2000s wondering what came next.
“I was trying to figure out, ‘Am I a movie writer? Am I a TV writer? Can I be on a TV show?’” Aukerman, 56, told the Current during a recent interview. “When Comedy Bang! Bang! came around, it locked into place. It was like, ‘Oh, here’s something I’m good at — finally.”
The 17-year journey as a podcast host has led him to the Comedy Bang! Bang! Ground Beefing Tour, a live, touring version of the Comedy Bang! Bang! podcast. On Thursday, Sept. 10, Aukerman, joined by longtime guest Paul F. Tompkins and other comedians, will bring his brand of improvised humor to the Aztec Theatre for a night of absurdity and laughs.
During our interview, which happened a couple of days after the deaths of octogenarians Dolly Parton and Tim Curry, Aukerman talked about the need for more silliness in our lives, the miracle of making an unscripted live show work and the possibility of dropping dead on stage in San Antonio.
Comedy Bang! Bang! has evolved over the years. Why do you think the live-show tour format works so well?
That’s such a big question. I think it boils down to people really needing to see people being silly and having a good time — or hear it, or watch it, or using any of their five senses, or six senses, if you ask some people. I just think being silly is something we don’t see enough of these days. So, I think the format works really well because it’s me speaking to some of the best comedians around, who improvise silly characters. At its core, it’s just people goofing around, and I think that’s in short supply these days.
Do you have that sixth sense?
Yes. I am psychic in the sense of I know what day I’m going to die. I may have scheduled [my death] on one of the tour dates [where] I’ll die on stage. It might be San Antonio. I don’t want to spoil it, but if anyone you know is into that kind of thing — watching someone die in front of them — there you go.
As the host of a live show this unpredictable, at what point do you have to accept that you have no control over anything?
I think people would be surprised to learn that the performers and I have not talked about anything we’re going to talk about on stage. So, the fact that it comes out as well as it does is a minor miracle. I’m not saying that I’m like Jesus — making miracles out there — but you know, it’s not that far off. But yeah, I don’t have control over any of it. Sometimes I’ll be sitting on stage just thinking to myself, “This is crazy that we don’t have anything planned.” I think part of the fun is knowing we’re all just making it up as we go along.
Has anything weird happened on stage during a live show where you didn’t think you’d be able to recover?
You know, we can always dig our way out of any hole. There were a couple of shows where I got some things wrong early on the tour. I forgot what city I was in on the third show, which is way too early to be in a Spinal Tap–type haze. But there’s always a way out of everything. For me, it’s about finding the best endpoint around the one hour, 45-minute mark. What’s the funniest line to go out on? That’s what I’m preoccupied with.
Do you think of yourself as a writer who performs, or as a performer who writes?
I feel more like a podcaster who dabbles in everything. When I first started, I was like, “Oh, I’m a performer.” And then I got hired on Mr. Show as a writer, not as a performer, initially. So, I was like, “Oh, I guess I’m a writer now.” What I love about [my] career is I get to do a whole bunch of things. If I was focusing on writing 100% of the day, it wouldn’t really grab my attention and hold it the way that I wanted it to.
Do you think it’s harder to stand out as a weird comedy podcast today than it was when you started the show in 2009, given how many podcasts there are now?
Yeah, weird comedy is always out there. It used to be late-night talk shows. That was the only place you could get it. With the proliferation of podcasts, it’s hard for every podcast to make noise. You have celebrities out there stealing the attention away from normal people like me who started out with nothing but a dream — and a professional writer’s salary and a Rolodex featuring the names and numbers of every professional comedian in Los Angeles. It was very hard.
What’s something you still feel you haven’t figured out about comedy? Does it intimidate or frustrate you in any way?
I feel like I’ve gotten better at everything. I know how to do my podcasting job better, and I know how to do these live tours really well. It’s just such a shame that it’s coming as I enter my 79th year on this earth and am about to perish when I turn 80 next week on stage in San Antonio.
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Comedy Bang! Bang! Ground 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.
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