About NerdMelt
The NerdMelt Story, short form:
You won’t find a marquee for the NerdMelt Showroom on Sunset Boulevard, or any signage, for that matter. When you walk in to the verifiable comic book Mecca that is Meltdown Comics and head to the back, a Nerdist logo greets your entrance to one of the most unique performance spaces in Los Angeles. It isn’t your typical showroom with plush chairs, dark walls and a far off green room marking the divide between performer and audience. This is NerdMelt Showroom.
If NerdMelt’s vitality is partially drawn from it’s unique aesthetics and surroundings, perhaps the rest is thanks to the community that has found itself drawn to Chris Hardwick’s vision- a vision of bringing the best, most unique, nerd-centric entertainment to you. It’s a place for Dan Harmon to hold court among a hundred or so adoring fans. It’s a place to see your favorite podcasts recorded live, in the flesh. It’s a place to spend your Sunday afternoons listening to Ben Blacker host the best television writers in the industry discussing their craft. It’s a place where every Wednesday night any standup comedian you’ve ever wished to see could be at The Meltdown with Jonah Ray and Kumail Nanjiani, from Louis C.K. to Jim Gaffigan to Robin Williams. It’s The Nerdist Showroom at Meltdown Comics and it’s the D.I.Y. beating heart of Los Angeles’s comedy community.
NerdMelt Logo (zip)
Check out the press for some of our monthly shows- Harmontown, Captured Aural Phantasy, Justin Willman’s Magic Meltdown (part two!), Keith Apicary, The Imaginary Radio Program, Carnyville, Dork Forest, Two Thumbs Way Down, and Sex Nerd Sandra!
LA Weekly called us the Best Place to Get Your Geek On in their 2011 “Best of LA” issue, and SplitSider named us one of the best comedy venues in LA! Come see why!
The NerdMelt Story, long form:
After years of establishing their own brands separately, Meltdown Comics, Chris Hardwick, and Geek Chic Daily have combined forces to serve all of Los Angeles’ entertainment needs at Nerdist Showroom at Meltdown- affectionately called NerdMelt.
Meltdown Comics has been in their current location for 18 years, and over that period, this 9000 square foot space and its ever-shifting stock continues to hold new discoveries for everyone, from the six-year old beginner to the obsessive fan. Meltdown was named Best Comic Store in LA by Los Angeles magazine as well as LA Weekly, and was honored with the Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award last century. Perhaps most notably, Meltdown Comics was immortalized by becoming a part of the Simpsons universe in the episode “Husbands & Knives” where the store’s design and layout was the example of how great a comic book store can be. Since 2004, when Meltdown Comics opened Gallery Meltdown in their space, all kinds of fans have been coming to art shows and concerts and comedy shows too.
Enter Chris Hardwick.
Chris Hardwick has been a popular LA-based comedian for over ten years, and even though he’s had success in TV and in movies, he yearned for something more. That’s when he started Nerdist Industries. Nerdist Industries is the nerdy empire that encompasses everything Chris Hardwick is doing in his career, whether it be hosting G4s Web Soup, hosting BBC’s Ministry of Laughs, writing about technology for Wired magazine, or blogging at Nerdist.com. He started a podcast, The Nerdist, in 2010 that has gone on to consistently be one of the top ten comedy podcasts on iTunes, earning him a spot in Rolling Stone’s list of Ten Best Comedy Podcasts.
Since joining forces to make Nerdist Showroom at Meltdown, which opened officially in April 2011, we’ve been showcasing what LA Weekly called “an ambitious slate of live comedy, comic book–related panel discussions, writers’ workshops and more.” Some of the “more” includes a Yo Gabba Gabba-themed art show, a Halo-centric talk show, sex experts explaining the g-spot to intrigued audiences, and concerts by bands that use video game music in their songs- and we’re just getting started. We are on our way to being the epicenter of nerd culture in Los Angeles, helped by Hardwick’s recent partnership with the mega-popular pop culture newsletter Geek Chic Daily.
Geek Chic Daily, with their ocean of daily subscribers and deep and obsessive knowledge of all things pop culture and geek, delivers insight, factoids and perspective about games, tech, toys, apps, comics, gear and more to make sure your inner geek is always fed. In 2012, Geek Chic Daily became Nerdist Industries, so now all your nerdy needs can be met in one place!
Together, these three tastemakers in the nerd community will keep you occupied almost every night of the week at Nerdist Showroom at Meltdown.