(LAist)
Twenty-five years ago, Jesse Thorn was a UC Santa Cruz student hosting a radio show called “The Sound of Young America.” Today, the San Francisco Mission District native runs Maximum Fun, a worker-owned podcast cooperative distributing more than 40 shows.
The October 16 anniversary celebration at The Crawford Family Forum in Pasadena features comedy powerhouses spanning generations. Marin, 79, won a 1973 Grammy with Cheech & Chong and now owns the world’s largest private Chicano art collection. Mantzoukas, known for “The League” and the podcast “How Did This Get Made?,” recently competed on “Taskmaster.” Wood hosts CNN’s Have I Got News for You after nine years on The Daily Show. Nancherla recently spoke with NPR about how anxiety shapes her comedy.
In 2007, Public Radio International made Thorn the youngest national public radio host at 26. The show was renamed Bullseye in 2012 and has been distributed by NPR since 2013. McSweeney’s called it “the kind of show people listen to in a more perfect world.”
On June 30, Thorn converted Maximum Fun to 100 percent worker ownership rather than selling to a tech company. “I didn’t get into this to be a capitalist,” he told TechCrunch. “I sort of found myself coming to terms with the likelihood that if I sold Max Fun, it would mean costing people their jobs, and costing smaller shows in our network their incomes.”
The Pasadena show is the second stop on a three-city tour, following Santa Cruz and concluding in New York City.
Bullseye LIVE with Jesse Thorn will run on Thursday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. The Crawford Family Forum, 474 S. Raymond Ave., in Pasadena. For more call (626) 583-5100 or visit https://laist.com/events/bullseye-live. Tickets: $35
