Last Night: Sketchfest's Game Show Explosion!

Jimmy Pardo

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Show Explosion!
Featuring: Scott Aukerman, Doug Benson, Michael Ian Black, Dave Foley, Aimee Mann, Andy Richter, Paul F. Thompkins, and host Jimmy Pardo
Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010
Cobb's Comedy Club

Better than: Re-watching 70's episodes of The Match Game.

Saturday night's Game Show Explosion! was a revival of 70's show Match Game, which has been resurrected in the LA comedy scene by host Jimmy Pardo and Scott Aukerman. For those unfamiliar with the game, celebrity panelists have to guess a word that finishes a given sentence, while the contestants guess the panelists' answers. Simple, right?

Before introducing himself, Pardo limped painfully on stage only to ask the audience for copious amounts of vicodin--though he turned down the person in front who actually offered some. Panelists were then introduced, with Dave Foley and Andy Richter stealing most of the audience's love. Aukerman, unhappy with the low-level of applause, decided he could play more effectively with a partner - Aimee Mann. The two, dubbed "Auker-Mann" by Pardo, split tasks. Aukerman would write out the answers, while Mann's job (apparently she is somewhat of an artist) would draw all of Scott's answers.

Upon entering Cobb's, audience members were asked to put their names in a jar to be randomly chosen as a contestant, with the opportunity of winning up to $100. We failed to be informed that public humiliation by a panel of surly, drunken comedians would also be the prize. Such was the fate of contestant #1, Ellen Park. Park, who looked as if she wanted to be any place but on stage, took to answering Pardo's questions in a very vague manner. She was immediately ripped to shreds by the comedians. Ms. Park clearly had enough by the time Foley quipped that she was running late for her Margaret Cho impersonators meeting.