Comedians Matt Mira and Jonah Ray make their way to Phoenix to bring their fans a new show -- sort of. The guys will bring the alternately titled The Matt and Jonah show or The Jonah and Matt show depending on whom you ask, to Phoenix for a first-of-its-kind event. The pair makes up two-thirds of the very popular Nerdist Podcast and goes Chris Hardwick-less for a one-night-only show at Stand Up Live on Thursday June, 5.
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Nerdist has garnered quite the loyal following since the nerd culture-themed podcast network and website launched in 2008. But that is not all the pair is known for. Both Mira and Ray have an array of other projects.
Aside from being well regarded stand-up comedians, they also have other successful podcasts. Mira hosts the acclaimed James Bonding podcast where he and his partner Matt Gourley talk about 007 films and Ray has his show, Jonah Raydio, in which he talks about and plays music with various guests. Mira also is a writer on Comedy Central's @Midnight, and Ray has his show, The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail, which he worked on with Kumail Nanjiani and will debut on the network later this year.
"The name's not 100 percent settled on," Mira says. He says that idea for the show came from an episode of Nerdist when the pair was forced to try and fill some time without Hardwick and decided to have some fun. The segment was jokingly titled The Matt and Jonah Show at the time. "I think it should be called The Jonah and Matt Show," Ray says.
They expressed how much they enjoy doing live Nerdist Podcast shows. However, Hardwick has been very busy lately between hosting @Midnight and Talking Dead, among many other things. That is why they decided to venture out and do this new show. Though they feel that there will be some elements fans will recognize.
"I think it'll be familiar yet totally different," Mira says. The pair has not said exactly what the show will consist of, but they know it's going to be funny and that they want everyone to laugh and have a good time. The Stand Up Live show will be the inaugural episode.
"We're really good friends and we kind of know each other's strengths," Ray says. "We're both antagonistic towards each other." Aside from antagonizing one another and making plenty of jokes about Hardwick's absence from the show, they say that the audience should be prepared for a lot of interaction. "Work on your Chris Hardwick impressions," Mira says.
Both Ray and Mira expressed their interest in making the show a regular thing, assuming that the Phoenix show goes over well with fans. They will be recording the show and releasing it as a special podcast which will be available on iTunes for a small fee, the cheapest you can sell an album for on iTunes according to Mira, though the price is not set in stone yet.
Ray and Mira will be at Stand Up Live on Thursday, June 5, at 8 p.m. Tickets for this 18-and-over show are $20 with a two-drink minimum. For more information, visit www.standuplive.com or call 480-719-6100.
