Scott Aukerman

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Scott Aukerman
Born (1970-07-02) July 2, 1970
Savannah, Georgia
Occupation Film, television, radio actor, writer, and host
Years active 1995-present
Spouse(s) Kulap Vilaysack[1]
Website
http://www.scottaukerman.tumblr.com/

Scott Aukerman is an American writer, actor, comedian, raconteur, television personality, director, producer, and podcast host. In the mid-1990s, Aukerman was a writer and performer on Mr. Show with Bob and David. He currently hosts the weekly comedy podcast Comedy Bang Bang as well as the IFC original television series Comedy Bang! Bang!. Aukerman is also the co-creator of Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis & co-founder of the Earwolf podcast network.

Early life

Aukerman was born in Savannah, Georgia and grew up in Orange County, California, attending Cypress High School and the Orange County High School of the Arts, studying acting and musical theater and writing plays in his spare time. He also started a short lived band, "The Naked Postmen", with Adrian Young, who went on to be the drummer for No Doubt.[2] While attending Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, he and fellow student B.J. Porter began writing together when they were both scripting and performing in a radio show called Lutz Radio.

Career

After a brief period studying at The Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts and touring the country as a musical theater actor, in 1995, at the request of their friends, Aukerman and Porter started performing at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles under the moniker "The Fun Bunch," a name meant to parody improvisation groups at the time.

Mr. Show co-creator Bob Odenkirk was in the audience for the second performance, and soon tapped the duo to write and occasionally perform on the HBO series in its fourth season. This led to an Emmy nomination in 1999 for Aukerman and the rest of the staff. Aukerman appeared sporadically on the show, most notably as the model Theo Brixton in the Taint Magazine sketch.

After the demise of the sketch comedy series, Aukerman, along with Porter, segued into writing film and television scripts, most notably Run Ronnie Run, the Mr. Show movie from New Line Cinema, and the first draft of the Tenacious D movie. In 2004, he and Porter received an "Additional Dialogue" credit on DreamWorks Animation's animated feature Shark Tale. They went on to write an unproduced script for the sequel, as well as an unproduced Shrek spin-off film for the character Puss In Boots. In 2007, a script he wrote with B.J. Porter and Bob Odenkirk (Kanan Rhodes: Unkillable Servant of Justice) was purchased by MTV Films with the intent of starring Rainn Wilson. It currently remains unproduced.[3]

In 2009, Aukerman and Porter wrote a pilot script for NBC, Privates. The network ultimately passed on the show.[4] That year, Aukerman also took on the role as host Andy Samberg's head writer for the 2009 MTV Movie Awards and executive produced and co-wrote a pilot for Comedy Central, The New Andy Dick Show. The network ultimately passed on ordering it to series.

In 2010 Aukerman wrote a feature script for friend Zach Galifianakis for Fox, and he and Ratatouille star Patton Oswalt co-wrote a television pilot for Fox, which the network ultimately passed on. Later that year, Aukerman joined a "writers lab," writing film scripts for Imagine Entertainment.[5]

Comedy Death-Ray/Comedy Bang Bang

In 2002, Aukerman and Porter started the hugely successful alternative comedy showcase Comedy Death-Ray, which ran every Tuesday night at the M Bar in Los Angeles. Porter had friends in common with M Bar owner Joe Reynolds, and visited the bar a few times shortly after its opening. Upon seeing how empty M Bar was night after night, Porter convinced Reynolds to let him start a comedy show to help drum up business. The show eventually moved to the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in 2005 in an attempt to gain more creative freedom.[6] A Comedy Death Ray CD taped partially in San Francisco at the SF Sketchfest and partially at their fourth anniversary all night show in LA was released on Comedy Central Records on September 11, 2007. The CD featured Aukerman, as well as comedians David Cross, Patton Oswalt, Paul F. Tompkins, and other CDR regulars.

In 2007, Aukerman and Porter produced several internet shorts with Comedy Death-Ray comedians for the internet site Super Deluxe. These included three episodes of The Brody Stevens Interview Challenge, and two episodes of Lake Charles Lake, in which he also co-starred. They made more shorts in 2008, but the site was shut down and folded into Adult Swim before they could air.[7]

Additionally in 2007, Aukerman and B.J. Porter created and produced a sketch pilot, titled The Right Now! Show, based on their show for Fox.[8] However, the network passed on ordering it to series in late 2007. Cast member Casey Wilson was immediately hired as a featured cast member of Saturday Night Live after the news. A short film made for the show, Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis, eventually moved to internet site Funny Or Die, becoming one of its most successful series.

Starting January 3, 2011, Aukerman became the host of a series of interview interstitials, titled Comedy Death-Ray, airing three nights a week on the IFC network, where he interviews stars and creators of shows that the network runs, including The Ben Stiller Show, The Larry Sanders Show, Mr. Show, Freaks & Geeks, Undeclared, and Arrested Development.

In 2011, Aukerman and Porter parted ways, and Comedy Death-Ray was renamed Comedy Bang Bang.

Comedy Bang Bang: The Podcast

On May 1, 2009, Aukerman started to host Comedy Death-Ray Radio, a comedy-themed broadcast based upon the live show, on Los Angeles radio station Indie 103.1. The show continued to air on Fridays at 12 noon Pacific, but moved to being distributed by the Earwolf podcasting network in 2010.[9] The podcast of each show is available weekly on iTunes and the Earwolf website, and has been downloaded several million times.

Aukerman hosts, with frequent guest collaborators Harris Wittels, Paul F. Tompkins, James Adomian, Nick Kroll, Andy Daly, among others, serving as guests and characters. Entertainment Weekly called the show "often strange, consistently hilarious, always unpredictable,"[10] and The AV Club named it one of 2010's "Best Podcasts."[11]

In May 2011, Aukerman renamed the show Comedy Bang Bang.

On June 8, 2012 IFC premiered the television series Comedy Bang! Bang!.

On December 4, 2013, A.V. Club named Comedy Bang Bang the Best Podcast of 2013.

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis

Main article: Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis

One sketch from Aukerman and Porter's sketch show "The Right Now! Show," Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis, was put up on internet site Funny Or Die and received several hundreds of thousands of hits in just a few days.[12]

This was followed by Ferns interviews with talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel, Mad Men star Jon Hamm, Natalie Portman, Bradley Cooper, Charlize Theron, Conan O'Brien, Ben Stiller, Steve Carell, Sean Penn, Bruce Willis, Jennifer Aniston, and Will Ferrell.[13] Aukerman directed the Theron, O'Brien, Penn, Willis, Ferrell, & "Oscar Buzz" episodes. Each episode has been viewed over a million times, and the Natalie Portman and Michael Cera episodes have become two of Funny Or Die's most popular videos ever, both in the top 15 viewed of all time.

Earwolf

Main article: Earwolf

In 2010, based upon the success of his podcast, Aukerman, along with Jeff Ullrich, started the Earwolf Network, eventually producing and releasing several podcasts. In 2011, they announced a partnership with Funny Or Die.[14]

Personal life

Scott is a known fan of musical theatre. His favorite song is Batdance by the popular R&B artist Prince. Aukerman is married to fellow comedian Kulap Vilaysack.

Filmography

Host (Radio/Podcast/TV)

  • Comedy Death-Ray (2011), host of interstitials for IFC

Actor (TV)

Actor (Film)

Actor (Internet)

Writer (officially released)

Director

Discography

Albums

Studio
  • 2007: Scott Aukerman's Koo Koo Roo's Greatest Hits
  • 2008: Never Not Christmas - A Holiday E.P. (with Jimmy Pardo)
Compilation
  • 2007: Comedy Death-Ray
  • 2009: Comedy By The Numbers
  • 2009: Comedy Death-Ray Xmas CD 2009 (also Executive Producer)
  • 2010: Comedy Death-Ray Xmas CD 2010 (also Executive Producer)
Other
Background Vocals

References

  1. ↑ Staff report (February 24, 2010). Kulap Vilaysack blooms in Hollywood. Lao American Magazine
  2. ↑ Never Not funny Podcast-Episode 4.11
  3. ↑ "Rainn Wilson IS Kanan Rhodes". Retrieved 2007-01-05. 
  4. ↑ Schneider, Michael (2009-03-19). "Writers Pact With Universal TV". Variety. Retrieved 2009-03-19. 
  5. ↑ "Imagine And Reliance Writers Lab". Deadline Hollywood. 2011-112-13. Retrieved 2011-12-13. 
  6. ↑ "Fun Bunch Interview with ASpecialThing.com". Retrieved 2007-03-18. 
  7. ↑ "Super Deluxe Sinks Into Adult Swim". Retrieved 2008-05-08. 
  8. ↑ "Dead Frog Interview: Scott Aukerman & BJ Porter". Retrieved 2007-09-12. 
  9. ↑ "Comedy Death-Ray Radio". Retrieved 2009-04-30. 
  10. ↑ "Comedy podcasts are booming. What are some of your favorites?". Retrieved 2011-06-23. 
  11. ↑ "The best podcasts of 2010". Retrieved 2010-12-29. 
  12. ↑ "Between Two Ferns: Michael Cera". Retrieved 2008-01-18. 
  13. ↑ "Comedy Death-Ray's Videos on Funny Or Die". Retrieved 2008-01-18. 
  14. ↑ Luippold, Ross (2011-07-20). "Funny Or Die And Earwolf To Team Up, Expose Comedy Podcasts To Wider Audience". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2011-07-20. 

External links

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