Dallas, Meet Austin Comedy. Now, Let’s Do Shots.

Down in our neighborly city Austin, the comedians have taken over. Local radio programs, movie theaters and start-up venues blast the stuff out nightly, nurturing an increasingly rich talent pool that you should know about. Friday at Texas Theatre’s Behind the Screen Comedy series (231 W. Jefferson Blvd.), where folks go backstage to enter a makeshift comedy club, you’ll see two of those rising stars. Ralphie Hardesty is known around the capital for co-creating and hosting a fiction-rich storytelling series called The Encyclopedia Show, which you should immediately Google. Here he’ll step away from the fact-checkers and academic persona to deliver his humor straight, sans performative coupling. Mac Blake first hit ears through KOOP radio program-turned-podcast The Mascot Wedding Show, then with the popular STAG! and Hot Property sketch troupes along with a steady stream of cinematic mockery via Master Pancake Theater. Recently, Blake was recognized for all those yucks and named Funniest Person in Austin. Don’t miss this show: These guys are great and it’s only $5. Local comics Barry Whitewater and Dan Jenniches round out the stand-up sausage party. Visit thetexastheatre.com.

Fri., Sept. 27, 2013