You Need to Watch 'The Meltdown'

Nestled in the back of a comic book shop on Sunset Blvd. is a really poorly kept secret: the best live comedy show in Los Angeles. And now they're gonna ruin it by putting it on Comedy Central for anyone to see. I'm a little bitter about it because it's probably going to make it harder for me to get a seat at the shows. Still, I have to admit, you should all watch The Meltdown With Jonah and Kumail . It's for your own good.

According to LA Weekly, The Meltdown, hosted at the NerdMelt Showroom in the back of Meltdown Comics and featuring an impressive lineup of stand-up comedians doing their thing, "quickly [became] the best event at the coolest alternative room in the city: Rising talent appears alongside such alt-comedy superstars as Patton Oswalt, Aziz Ansari and Louis C.K., and admission costs only eight bucks."

Starting July 23, the TV version of The Meltdown will premiere on Comedy Central. After The Daily Show, after The Colbert Report, after @Midnight. And admission will be free (if you have basic cable).

So here's why you should at the very least DVR the show:

Great Guests

Adam Scott shows up in the first episode. The lineup for the first season also includes Jenny Slate, Marc Maron, Amy Schumer, Todd Glass, T.J. Miller, Reggie Watts, Nick Offerman, and about a thousand more people who are very much worth your time.

Great Hosts

The show is hosted by Jonah Ray and Kumail Nanjiani, who are great. You might know Ray as that guy from the Bing commercial (don't worry, he'll mock Bing with you), or as one of the hosts of the Nerdist podcast. Kumail Nanjiani is a member of the cast of Silicon Valley, and you might also know him from Portlandia, Franklin & Bash, or Burning Love. He's also about to be in a movie with Sally Field, so he's kind of a big deal.

Really, though, everyone involved with this show is someone you should learn the name of. Ray and Nanjiani's rapport is great, especially when you add in producer (and Nanjiani's wife) Emily V. Gordon.

The conversation is great

This goes hand-in-hand with what I talked about above, but believe me — the banter here is just as great as it is at the live show. You get to hear, for example, about how Kumail Nanjiani's first crush was on Disney villain Maleficent, because you could "have sex, then go on a dragon ride." That's pretty legit.

It's One Of the Best Comedy Shows In LA

It's already got credentials: The Hollywood Reporter called it "the epicenter of LA's comedy scene." LA Weekly and Splitsider have both named it one of the top live comedy shows in LA — and as someone who lives in LA and loves comedy I'd have to agree. It's great. And now you can enjoy it without the smog and the heroin addicts of actual Hollywood.

It's Hilarious

This should go for all the rest, but really, it's extremely funny. It's also extremely smart, even when it's wallowing in the lowest of the "low" culture, like at the live show this Wednesday when Nanjiani forced the audience to listen to R. Kelly's "Ignition" on repeat all night because he loved the irony of the lyrics including the line "usually I don't do this."

Ugh, just watch it, okay?

Images: Comedy Central; Getty Images