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2.8 – Boston

Marc Abrahams is editor and co-founder of the science humor magazine Annals of Improbable Research (AIR) and its web site, www.improbable.com and Internet TV series. He writes about research that makes people LAUGH, and then THINK. Marc is the father and master of ceremonies of the Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony, honoring achievements that make people LAUGH, and then THINK. The Prizes are handed out by genuine Nobel Laureates at a gala ceremony held each October at Harvard University and broadcast on National Public Radio and on the Internet.

(Photo by David Kessler.)

2.2 – Chicago, IL; 2.9 – Austin, TX; 2.10 – Dallas, TX

Bill is the cartoonist behind the much-beloved strip FoxTrot, and was the National Caroonists Society’s Reuben Award-winner for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year in 2007. He’s also widely known as an avid World of Warcraft player, although his gamertag remains shrouded in mystery.

2.3 – Minneapolis, MN

Over the past 20 years Tim Bedore has spent thousands of hours entertaining audiences, first on the radio and then as a comedian, headlining comedy clubs across the country. One of the few young comics to have combined the disciplines of stand-up comedy and broadcasting, Tim knows the rigors of working within demanding parameters.

3.0 – San Diego

2.1 – Portland, OR

B. Frayn Masters is co-producer of Back Fence PDX productions and co-host of the Back Fence storytelling show. Samplers of her writing can be found in MonkeyBicycle 6, Hobart, and Mountain Man Dance Moves: The McSweeney’s Book of Lists. She also writes under a sexy moniker for GGW magazine — yes, GGW has a magazine (google it). Masters is also one half of the ridiculous and brainy sketch comedy duo Eastland Academy, and is a member of rapid-fire performance group Haiku Inferno.

2.2 – Chicago, IL; 2.3 – Minneapolis, MN

Trace Beaulieu was a founding writer/performer on “Mystery Science Theater 3000″ (MST3K), playing Dr. Forrester and Crow” for the show’s first seven seasons as well as the feature film version of MST. Trace continues to work as both a performer and writer. As an actor, he has appeared on “Freaks and Geeks” (6 eps), “The West Wing” and several independent features. He was also the host of “People Traps” on Animal Planet. Trace’s writing credits include ABC’s “America’s Funniest Home Videos”, “Fast Food Films” on FX, and authoring the popular comic book “Here Come the Big People!”. Trace is also a dedicated visual artist with pieces in many collections.

2.5 – San Francisco, CA

h#mce_temp_url# founder and author of the books: “Star Wars Craft Book,” “Draw Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” “Girls Against Girls: Why We Are Mean to Each Other,” “You Can Draw: Star Wars” and “Never Threaten To Eat Your Co-Workers: Best of Blogs.” As Senior Editor of Starwars.com for Lucasfilm, Bonnie head up the kids section and crafts everything from duct tape AT-ATs, Bossk Bean Art, Chewbacca Tissue Box Cozies, Mouse Droid Cat Nip Toys, and a Jabba the Hutt Body Pillows.

2.5.1 – San Francisco

1.1 – Los Angeles, CA

Josh A. Cagan (@joshacagan) enjoys his wife, his couch, and any movie with “Switchblade” in the title. His 2009 movie BANDSLAM didn’t have the word “Switchblade” but he, and 90% of the top critics on Rotten Tomatoes enjoyed it anyway. Perhaps you will as well: amzn.to/bvmxHr. He was the head writer and the voice of various nerds on MTV’s animated series “Undergrads,” and if you’re one of the 16 people that means anything to, that’s a pretty big deal, right? He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and their stuffed animals, all of whom have different voices and catchphrases. Nothing weird about that.

2.5 – San Diego, CA; 2.7 – New York, NY; 2.8 – Boston, MA

Marian Call is a trained composer and a spunky self-taught singer based out of Anchorage, Alaska. Her songs are eclectic and diverse, funny and light on their feet, powerfully honest, and grounded in the human experience. Call’s compositions are half study and calculation, half improvisational instinct, and always full of unexpected musical twists and turns. She has written pieces by commission for film projects and events, and she has been known to write songs on dares or to surprise devoted fans.

Her live shows have been loudly applauded nationwide in homes, quiet coffee shops, noisy bars, churches, radio stations, bookstores, and concert halls, in and out of Alaska. In only eight months she went from a relative unknown to playing the main stage at several of Alaska’s summer festivals. Marian released her first two albums plus fourteen singles in only fourteen months during 2007 and 2008. She is nearing completion on a new two-volume project titled Something Fierce.

Marian was born into a family of musicians and artists, and she was raised on a steady diet of Bach, Beethoven, Joni Mitchell, Tower of Power, and Ogden Nash in her hometown, Gig Harbor, Washington. Over twenty-odd years she has performed with chamber choirs, jazz combos, early music groups, rock bands, a gospel choir, and experimental music ensembles, and all of these influences (and more) meet and mingle in her own writing. She completed her bachelor’s degree in composition and vocal performance at Stanford University in 2004. After graduation, she spent two years pouring coffee, waiting tables, and listening to good music in Anchorage coffee shops, slowly learning about the craft of songwriting through osmosis and eventually through practice. Marian plans to travel and tour as much as possible, including the upcoming 49>50 fan-coordinated tour of the entire United States, but she remains committed to the development of a great arts scene in Anchorage. Marian looks forward to collaborating with friendly musicians, writers, visual artists, and filmmakers from all backgrounds.

2.5 – San Francisco, CA

Selected by Foreign Policy magazine as one of their Top 100 Global Thinkers, Jamais Cascio explores the intersection of emerging technologies, environmental challenges, and cultural transformation. Cascio currently serves as Research Fellow at the Institute for the Future, and writes regularly for numerous print and web outlets. He speaks around the world about the importance of long-term thinking in a changing world, and has been featured in multiple television documentaries about futures thinking and the environment. In 2009, Cascio published HACKING THE EARTH, looking at the ethics of radical environmental intervention. Cascio co-founded the award-winning eco-website WorldChanging.com, and now blogs at OpenTheFuture.com.

2.2 – Chicago, IL

An accomplished comedian, Tim’s funny songs have always got him a lot of attention. His song, “I Wanna Kiss Her (But She Won’t Let Me),” was the first of Tim’s pieces to receive national radio exposure, on the legendary “Dr. Demento” show. Other songs followed, including “99 Dead Baboons,” “Get Drunk with Dignity,” and “Really Safe Sex.” His funny music has been heard on radio stations everywhere, as well as on XM Satellite and even the BBC.

By 1997 he was well-established and a regular guest on the Bob & Tom Radio Show, syndicated in 150 U.S. markets. He’s also appeared on Comedy Central, ABC-TV, Showtime, WGN, and Comcast, and his book “Chicken Soup for the Vegetarian Soul” just went through its sixth printing.

3.0 – San Diego

2.2 – Chicago, IL; 2.3 – Minneapolis, MN; 2.4 – San Diego, CA (with Mike Nelson); 2.8 – Boston, MA

They don’t make movies–they make movies funny.

Bill Corbett is a former writer for Mystery Science Theater 3000 on the Sci-Fi Channel, and previously on Comedy Central. He was also a performer on the show, providing the voice of the robot Crow (version 2.0) and embarrassing himself by playing various other strange characters — including the all-powerful but clueless alien The Observer (a.k.a. “Brain Guy”). He has been a contributing writer to National Public Radio’s PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION and ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, and is co-creator of the animated web series POKER NIGHT on Icebox.com.

Kevin Murphy has cultivated the act of talking back to the movies into an art form and a career. For ten years on the Peabody Award-winning series Mystery Science Theater 3000, Kevin wrote, directed, and starred as the plucky red robot Tom Servo. Classic episodes of MST3K, as its legion of fans call it, continue to be one of Rhino Home Video’s top-selling DVD series. His book “A Year at the Movies: One Man’s Filmgoing Odyssey” became a top 100 seller on Amazon and won national critical praise, retelling Kevin’s movie-watching adventures in over a hundred cities in ten countries on three continents. Kevin is also a regular NPR contributor.

2.7 – New York, NY; Founder’s Night SFSF – San Francisco

Drew Curtis started comedy-slanted news aggregator Fark.com way back in 1999, which is something like one billion years old in Internet years. Through the course of reading nearly ever news article in Legacy Media over the past 11 years, Drew has noticed several patterns of crap news which he likes to talk endlessly about. He has appeared on every major news network at one time or another and damn near every major radio station, and occasionally manages not to embarass himself (or others). He has gone almost 6 months without dropping an f-bomb during a live broadcast. He lives in Kentucky, which is pretty much the last place you’d expect.

1.1 – Los Angeles (with The Guild), CA, 3.0 – San Diego, CA (with Amy Berg)

Felicia Day is the creator, writer and star of the hit web series “The Guild“, and is well-known from her role as Penny in “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog“, and from her numerous appearances on shows such as Joss Whedon’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Dollhouse”.

The Guild 1.1 Los Angeles

Sandeep Parikh (Zaboo) and Jeff Lewis (Vork) joined Felicia to perform a live version of “Do You Want To Date My Avatar?” Many know Sandeep’s directorial efforts, which includes the popular web series “The Legend of Neil“, and he is the founder of Effinfunny.com. Jeff is a seasoned writer and comic actor whose credits include “The Drew Carey Show” and “Glee”. He is also an alumnus of ACME Comedy Theatre and a graduate of The Groundlings and The Second City.

2.0 – Seattle, WA; 2.1 – Portland, OR (video); 2.2 – Chicago, IL (video); 2.3 – Minneapolis (video)

Legendary game designers and professional jugglers joined forces in 2003 to create Lone Shark Games, and have now created a special puzzle for w00tstock.

James Ernest founded Cheapass Games in 1996, through which he has published more than 100 games, including Origins Award-winning title Kill Doctor Lucky, Give Me The Brain, Button Men, and BRAWL. In 2003 he was awarded the Academy’s first Vanguard Award for his groundbreaking design on the Diceland paper dice game. He’s also done freelance game design for Wizards of the Coast, Microsoft, GAMES Magazine, and many others.

Mike Selinker makes puzzles for people who like games and games for people who like puzzles. As a game inventor and creative director for Wizards of the Coast starting in 1995, he crafted games based on properties such as Harry Potter and Pokemon. He helped relaunch Dungeons & Dragons, Axis & Allies, and the Avalon Hill game line, and designed games such as Risk Godstorm, the Simpsons TCG, the Marvel Super Heros Adventure Game, and the word game AlphaBlitz. His puzzles and games appear regularly in GAMES Magazine, the New York Times, and the Chicago Tribune.

2.0 – Seattle, WA; 2.1 – Portland, OR; 2.2 – Chicago, IL; 2.3 – Minneapolis, MN; 2.4 – San Diego, CA; 2.5 – San Francisco, CA; 2.7 – New York, NY; 2.9 – Austin, TX; 2.10 – Dallas, TX

Drummer and singer for The Presidents of the United States of America and man-about-town. He was previously the drummer of Love Battery until 1995, and also played drums for the Seattle-based band Skin Yard as well as The Fastbacks, when he joined Chris Ballew and Dave Dederer to form The Presidents of the United States of America.

2.1 – Portland, OR; 2.4 – San Diego, CA

Eisner Award-winning American comic book writer, known for his work as the writer of The Invincible Iron Man, The Immortal Iron Fist and Uncanny X-Men for Marvel Comics and Casanova for Image Comics.

2.3 – Minneapolis, MN; 2.9 – Austin, TX

You don’t know who Neil Gaiman is? Really??

2.0 – Seattle, WA; 2.1 – Portland, OR

“Hi, I’m Hank. Turns out, I’ve thrown enough stuff at the big sticky wall that is the internet that some of it has gotten lodged in some of its more glorious crevices. These bits of internet stuff are what I do for a living and I’m working hard to help others join me. I do a lot of weird things that I think make the world and my life better. You can click on the logos above to see some of those projects, what they do and how they work. Of course, there’s more to what I do than that. If you want to keep up with me or get in touch, I have all of the usual social media things going on. YouTube is where most of it happens for me.”

1.1 – Los Angeles, CA; 2.6 – Los Angeles, CA

Chris HARDwick aNd Mike PHIRMan’s work has been downloaded millions of times over from the vast expanse of Earth’s Internet. They also regularly perform in front of people, sometimes at such highly-touted venues as the Improv, the Punch Line, the Aspen Comedy Festival, Seattle’s celebrated Bumbershoot Festival, SxSW and Coachella. They’ve also appeared inside your home via ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live, MTV, and VH1′s I Love the [insert Generation X Demographic Era].

2.7 – New York, 2.8 – Boston, ; Founder’s Night SFSF – San Francisco

1.0 – San Francisco, CA

Kasper Hauser, a San Francisco-based comedy group, is (L to R) Dan Klein, James Reichmuth, John Reichmuth, and Rob Baedeker. They perform and produce live shows, digital content, and books. The group’s members have written for HBO digital and appeared on “Comedy Central” and “This American Life.”

1.0 / 1.0.1 – San Francisco, CA

Kid Beyond is an electronic pop musician — singer, beatboxer, songwriter, producer — based in San Francisco. He has shared the stage with such artists as Keane, Imogen Heap, Lupe Fiasco, and many more. His voice and music have appeared on TV shows such as Gossip Girl, Life, Kyle XY, and VH1′sSupergroup; films such as Mission Impossible III; and games such as The Sims, Spore, NBA Live and the Guitar Hero series.

An avid game and puzzle inventor since childhood, Kid B is a proud member of the National Puzzlers’ League, and has taught at Harvard and MIT on game design, and he recently published his first puzzle book, Crossdoku.

1.0 / 1.0.1 – San Francisco, CA; 1.1 – Los Angeles, CA; 2.0 – Seattle, WA; 2.1 – Portland, OR; 2.2 – Chicago, IL; 2.3 – Minneapolis, MN; 2.5/2.5.1 – San Francisco, CA; 2.6 – Los Angeles, CA; 2.9 – Austin, TX; 2.10 – Dallas, TX

As a direct result of her being funny, clever, and generally awesome, Molly has gathered a large following primarily through her videos, which she posts on her website and on YouTube under the name sweetafton23. Pairing her wit with a ukulele has yielded a number of original songs, available from her website and in one complete physical package titled “I Made You a CD, But I Eated It“.

2.0 – Seattle, WA; 2.1 – Portland, OR

Started as a creative outlet so co-creators Graham Stark and Paul Saunders could fulfill their desire to make funny videos, LRR has grown into an internet comedy destination.

Inspired in name and appearance by the Commodore 64 Home Computer System, LRR is a site run by-and for-geeks. You have to be at least a bit of a geek to think writing, shooting and producing a new, original short sketch every week is feasible. But you have to be a giant geek to actually do it. Since LoadingReadyRun’s start in 2003, it has consistently updated with a new video, every week. Often more!

LRR videos have been featured in film festivals such as the Comic Con International Film Festival in San Diego, and shown on major TV networks, including G4 TechTV, The CW, TruTV, NBC, and CNN.

2.0 – Seattle, WA; 2.7 – New York, NY

A longtime idolizer of rappers, MC Frontalot (nee Damian Hess) he has been committing his own esoteric hip-hop compositions to four-track tape since high school, revealing them to nobody. Suddenly! Multi-track desktop studios, cheap pro-grade recording hardware, skyrocketing bandwidth, semi-anonymous web publishing – these factors converge on Damian’s rap hobby like a flock of winged monkeys. He posts an MC Frontalot web page, dubbing his output “Nerdcore Hip-Hop” since his audience is composed of several Star Wars figurines who live on his desk (and also random internet people who click on his MP3s by mistake).

Now it is 2010. Nerdcore has metastasized into an internet phenomenon and underground touring powerhouse, with dozens of live acts and more than a hundred home-studio rhymers self-identifying within the subgenre. MC Frontalot, called alternately the movement’s godfather or grandfather (thanks, kids), leads the charge, performing for thousands around the country and at prominent geek gatherings such as the Penny Arcade Expo and BlizzCon. He has released four studio albums, Nerdcore Rising (Sept 2005), Secrets From The Future (Apr 2007), Final Boss (Nov 2008), and Zero Day (Apr 2010). The documentary feature, Nerdcore Rising: The Movie, which focuses on Front’s live band and the Nerdcore phenomenon general, debuted at the South By Southwest Film Festival, March 2008, and is currently distributed by Virgil films / B-Side.

2.2 – Chicago, IL; 2.3 – Minneapolis, MN; 2.4 – San Diego, CA

Len is an cartoonist/illustrator/podcaster who is behind other online viral art projects like Monster By Mail and FlipFace. He has illustrated several books including “There’s A Zombie In My Treehouse” by John “Widgett” Robinson and Ken Plume and “Very Grimm Fairy Tales” by Trevor Strong. He is currently working on a new book with Cinematic Titanic’s Trace Beaulieu, due out this summer.

2.5/2.5.1 – San Francisco, CA; 2.6 – Los Angeles, CA

Mike Phirman is incredibly uncomfortable writing about himself in the third person, so he is going to write his bio in the second person.

You attended UCLA where you received a degree in Philosophy. While at college, you met Chris Hardwick, a fellow stand-up comedy enthusiast with whom you began performing silly musical acts under the name “Hard ‘n Phirm” Together, you’ve made a record, performed at comedy clubs and colleges all over the country (you’ve driven past a lot of corn), and taped a “Comedy Central Presents” special that you feel went not-too-badly. In a few days, the two of you will be taping a show for HBO Canada as part of the 2010 Montreal Comedy Festival.

Aside from music, you’ve also worked as a visual effects artist for movies, music videos, and TV shows like “C.S.I.” and “C