Sex stories are almost always funny. But what if the sensual yarn involves characters from The Facts of Life, or Jeopardy — can that be funny? The brain behind Nerdist Theater’s Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction comedy show thinks so. “It’s just a good subject to make an audience uncomfortable,” says event organizer Bryan Cook, who brings this nationally celebrated show to Denver today. “If you can build up a good tension and then release with a punchline... that sounds sexual itself. The thing about the show is, there are a lot of shortcuts you can take that don’t always work. It’s easy to get a crowd to laugh at people fucking — but since this whole show is people fucking, there has to be something else to it.”

Heralded on the comedy-festival circuit, the program has featured big-name comics like Kyle Kinane and Bobcat Goldthwait — but the members of Denver’s Grawlix comedy team have also been busy. “Ben Roy is kind of the reigning Denver champ; he’s also won in Seattle, Portland and L.A.,” says Cook. “He’s won with Of Mice and Men, the children’s book Everyone Poops, and the TV show Life Goes On. I love the Denver comedy scene. For this show, I need a talent pool to pull from, and Denver has enough really great comics that I can do it there.”

Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction begins at 8 p.m. at the Bug Theatre, 3654 Navajo Street. Tickets for the 21-and-up show are $10. For more information, visit bugtheatre.com.
Thu., May 30, 8 p.m., 2013