Our Show
Fake Radio is a long-running, live comedy troupe that reimagines classic old-time radio for a modern audience, turning beloved broadcasts from the 1940s and 50s into high-energy, laugh-out-loud theatre events. Each show plays like you’ve stepped back into a vintage radio studio—complete with actors at microphones, sound effects, and even the original “sponsored” commercials—only now everything is faster, sharper, and fueled by on-the-spot improvisation. The result is a mash-up of nostalgia and spontaneity where the bones of the original scripts remain, but the jokes explode in unexpected directions, making every performance unique.
At the heart of Fake Radio is an exceptionally talented ensemble drawn from some of the most competitive corners of entertainment. The cast includes professional SAG-AFTRA actors, stand-up comedians, polished local singers, and seasoned voice-over artists whose work audiences have likely heard in film, TV, games, and commercials. Layered into that is a core of top-tier improvisers from institutions like The Groundlings who gleefully throw curveballs in choice moments, keeping both their fellow performers and the audience on their toes. This mix of technical skill and improv fearlessness gives the shows a distinctive rhythm: tightly executed when it needs to be, and joyfully chaotic when it doesn’t.
For more than twenty years, Fake Radio has attracted an impressive roster of guest stars that make audiences do a double-take. The troupe has welcomed multiple Emmy Award winners, three cast members from The Kids in the Hall, and performers from both Saturday Night Live and MadTV, bringing sketch-comedy royalty directly onto their stage. These guest artists drop into classic radio roles, riff with the regular cast, and often push the show into delightful, unscripted territory—a big part of why fans return and newcomers quickly become converts.
The material they perform draws from legendary radio series like Lux Radio and Mercury Theatre, as well as a wide range of westerns, sci-fi adventures, crime dramas, and spy thrillers. Fake Radio keeps the original storylines and structures but heightens everything with playful anachronisms, modern references, and absurd character choices that make the shows accessible even if you’ve never heard the original broadcasts. They even perform the vintage commercials, which become fertile ground for improvisation—often some of the funniest, most memorable moments of the night.
Audiences in Los Angeles and Portland experience Fake Radio as more than just a show; it feels like a live event you get to help shape. The performers respond to the energy in the room, build running jokes in real time, and occasionally break just enough to let you see how much fun they’re having together. For fans of classic radio, it’s a loving tribute; for improv and comedy fans, it’s a playground of bold choices and quick turns; for everyone else, it’s one of those rare nights out where the format is familiar but the experience is completely fresh.
If you’re looking for a night of entertainment that combines the charm of golden-age radio with the immediacy of live improv, Fake Radio delivers a show that feels both finely crafted and utterly unpredictable. You don’t just watch them recreate a bygone era—you become part of a brand-new broadcast that could only happen once, in that room, with that audience.
There’s no better way to create new generations of radio fans and comedy.
