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Scott Aukerman has proven himself a modern-day triple threat, mastering the stage show, podcast, and TV show with various incarnations of Comedy Bang! Bang! Begun more than a decade ago as an LA stand-up showcase called Comedy Death-Ray Radio, Aukerman’s project evolved into a unique opportunity for comedians (podcast regulars include Paul F. Tompkins, Jessica St. Clair, Harris Wittels, and Nick Kroll) to play with sketch, improv, stand-up, and character work in a long-form setting. Part of the joy of listening to the podcast every week is not knowing what to expect: interviews get interrupted, small improv bits explode into elaborate scenes—or the episode could have minutes of dead air as everyone in the studio gets caught up in a fit of silent laughter.
One of the funniest scenes in recent cinema (says me and maybe only me) takes place near the end of the 2001 cult favorite Wet Hot American Summer. In a flurry of mock drama, summer camp employees Beth and Neil—played by Janeane Garofalo and Joe Lo Truglio—search wildly through the camp infirmary for a phone, destroying the place in the process. Lo Truglio tips over metal cabinets and puts his elbow through a floor lamp. Garofalo moans helplessly as she smashes jars of cotton balls and tongue depressors on the floor. It’s ridiculous and ridiculously drawn out. Like the rest of the movie, it succeeds because the actors are so completely dedicated to making it as over-the-top as possible.
With this new tour, Cho is finally giving a whole act to the topic that’s made an appearance—through impressions—in almost every single one of her previous stand-up specials: her mother, Young-hie Cho. Though it veers at times into dragon-lady stereotypes, Cho’s version of her mom is still painfully funny. This ur-mother is disapproving, judgmental—even more unfiltered than her daughter. She’s also grown over the years, becoming more understanding of her expectation-defying daughter. Young-hie Cho appeared as her (much more reserved) self in Cho’s short-lived reality show, The Cho Show, sweetly telling the New York Times in 2008 that she did it only to spend more time with her daughter.
During sets, Stelling establishes a cozy, family-room type atmosphere—not just because she leans on the idiosyncrasies of her colorful, raccoon-loving father and overdramatic mother, but also because her delivery is never abrasive or in your face. Unafraid to note, tongue in cheek, how badly the audience probably wants to see her naked, she nonetheless serves self-deprecating humor with a warm mug of cocoa and wry smirk as she takes shots at her uncontrollable sweet tooth and tilted uterus (“So what you’re telling me is even my uterus is like, ‘Unh-unh”‘). Returning home for this string of dates likely means the performances will be even looser and more communal than usual. —Kevin Warwick
