This Friday, the stage at Largo on the Coronet will be taken over by a cast of sharply dressed men and women. Their sole props are three antiquated microphones. It’s a live performance but also a radio show.
It’s “The Thrilling Adventure Hour,” written by two men whose names are nearly identical. Performed monthly to sold-out crowds, Ben Acker and Ben Blacker’s “The Thrilling Adventure Hour” is a staged production done in the style of old-time radio.
Acker and Blacker’s “The Thrilling Adventure Hour” consists of what they call unserialized serials, three reoccurring segments that you can enjoy without having seen last month’s show. Each show opens with “Sparks Nevada, Marshal on Mars,” about an earth man trying to uphold the law on Mars and closes with “Beyond Belief,” a segment about an aristocratic, alcoholic couple that exorcises demons and chats with ghosts in their free time.
The middle act varies depending on the performance. Sometimes it’s “The Cross-Time Adventures of Colonel Tick Tock,” about a time-traveling army man, “The Adventures of Captain Laserbeam,” a superhero with laser beam eyes or a skit on the “true” story of Amelia Earhart, in which she faked her own death and got into a new field of employment. This month’s middle segment is “Moonshine Holler,” a hobo fairy tale.
“The Thrilling Adventure Hour” draws its cast from various improv and theatre troupes from around Los Angeles. Seen on “Last Comic Standing” and the Web series “The Carpet Brothers,” Marc Evan Jackson was a main stage actor with Second City in Detroit before moving to California, where he met Acker and Blacker.
“I’ve been with it since the very beginning, so about five and half years. Ben Acker approached me and said he was working on this thing,” Jackson said.
Jackson described his character, Sparks Nevada, as a dumb guy with a big ego. Sparks and his sidekick, Croach, constantly get distracted by petty arguments throughout their adventures in Mars’ wild west.
The idea of a radio show in this day and age ““ when radio is high-definition and streaming online ““ may seem antiquated, quaint or even a parody. Paul F. Tompkins, a cast member, stand-up comic and “Best Week Ever” veteran argued that “The Thrilling Adventure Hour” is neither quaint nor tacky.
“It’s not what some people would think. It’s not a broad parody of radio shows. It’s a really smart, funny thing in its own right,” Tompkins said.
For those familiar with “A Prairie Home Companion,” it could be argued that this is the substitute for people more interested in alternative comedy, which can best be described by the sort of guest stars the show attracts. These stars include Nathan Fillion, who fans fell in love with on “Firefly” well before “Castle,” and Wil Wheaton, of “Star Trek: Next Generation” and blogging fame.
“There’s … definitely a like-minded sensibility with those shows, the sort of Joss Whedon universe. There’s a kindred spirit between those kinds of shows and this show,” Tompkins said.
This geek street credibility has played a big part in bringing new talent to the show. Acker and Blacker said they get a number of people to be on the show when friends or friends of friends (as in friends of Fillion, or friends of friends of Wheaton) bring people to the performance.
“We’ve had good luck with other people seeing (the show) and wanting to be in the show,” Acker said.
Growing up, Acker and Blacker were into the adventure movies that were being produced at the time.
“We were into superheroes and “˜Raiders of the Lost Ark,'” Acker said. He also cited Star Wars as an influence in developing their genre-bending writing style.
“(As kids we would be) playing with action figures, making Spiderman fight Darth Vader,” Blacker said.
Blacker compared this to writing for “The Thrilling,” which allowed him the same genre-mixing experience, creating a world where cowboys battle Martians, and aristocrats fight demons.
The combination of “The Thrilling Adventure Hour’s” writing, acting and talent has created a sort of hub for sci-fi, adventure and comedy buffs in the L.A. area.
“Somehow we have a lot of credibility with people with great imaginations,” Jackson said.