First look: IFC sets October debut for The Birthday Boys, sends them on national tour with Comedy Bang! Bang!’s Scott Aukerman, Paul F. Tompkins

It’s going to be a busy fall for The Birthday Boys.

The L.A.-based sketch comedy troupe will earn their TV debut all together now on IFC, debuting the first of 10 half-hour episodes at 10:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18, 2013. The Birthday Boys will be paired with Comedy Bang! Bang!, not just on the late-night TV schedule, but also for a series of live shows on tour across North America. Touring with Scott Aukerman, and also Paul F. Tompkins, they’ll be delighting and promoting. Promotion through attraction!

The “boys” — Jefferson Dutton, Dave Ferguson, Mike Hanford, Tim Kalpakis, Matt Kowalick, Mike Mitchell and Chris VanArtsdalen — will be joined by Bob Odenkirk for the ride on IFC. Odenkirk isn’t merely executive producing their series along with Ben Stiller, Stiller’s Red Hour and the Abso Lutely gang; Odenkirk also is co-directing and co-starring in all 10 half-hours this fall.

Here he was with the gang announcing their acceptance of IFC’s series greenlight. Roll it.

Fun fact: The Birthday Boys have been based in Los Angeles for several years, but made their first big splash (outside of online video sharing) with performances at Montreal’s Just For Laughs Festival in 2009. Performances which I wrote about…for IFC.

Back to 2013.

The series has wrapped its first season. Here’s another clip in which Odenkirk takes us inside their writers room for some meta inside baseball.

And here’s a flashback to 2010 and one of the more popular videos pre-IFC, a trailer for a fake movie called Pooljumpers.

Now back to 2013.

TOUR

Comedy Bang! Bang! LIVE! kicks off in late September in Los Angeles, featuring host Scott Aukerman, Paul F. Tompkins, and special guests doing a mix of live performance pieces, audience interaction, character drop-ins, and improvisational games, along with sneak peek clips from the series. The Birthday Boys will open each date on the tour.

Comedy Bang! Bang! LIVE! Dates and Venues- Tickets are on sale now.

Sept. 28                    Los Angeles, CA                                        Largo at the Coronet
Sept. 29                    San Francisco, CA                                    Palace of Fine Arts
Oct. 1                            Portland, OR                                             Aladdin Theater
Oct. 2                            Seattle, WA                                                Neptune Theatre
Oct. 7                            Milwaukee, WI                                        Turner Hall
Oct, 8                            Chicago, IL                                                 Vic Theatre
Oct. 9                            Pontiac, MI                                                Crofoot Ballroom
Oct. 10                          Toronto, Canada                                    Danforth Music Hall
Oct. 12                          New York, NY                                         Skirball Center for the Performing Arts
Oct. 13                          Boston, MA                                               Royale
Oct. 14                          Philadelphia, PA                                     Trocadero Theatre
Oct. 15                          Washington D.C.                                     9:30 Club

For more ticket information, visit: https://www.ifc.com/shows/comedy-bang-bang/tour 

The Birthday Boys debuts Oct. 18, 2013, on IFC.