They say to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best. And before we at Karl Show! set out to beat the best, we had to meet the best: the best in this case being the hosts of Portland’s best live talk show Late Night Action, Alex Falcone and Bri Pruett. Now in its fifth season, Late Night Action is a throwback to the heyday of Carson, Letterman and Conan, but with a focus on Portland celebrities, musicians and comedians. We were also joined by Late Night Action writing staff members Anthony Lopez and Christian Ricketts, two of our favorite comedians in town.

We talked with the Late Night Action gang about why they created such an earnest homage to the talk show format, how they blend their individual and distinct comedic voices to suit the show’s sensibilities and how jealousy can be fuel for their creative fire.

Also in this episode, Anthony shares some of his strong opinions, Bri shares her spot-on dolphin impression, Alex talks about his joke database and Christian comes clean about his recent dolmade obsession.

You can see Late Night Action live every month at Mississippi Studios. For tickets and more info, check out their website. Alex, Bri and Anthony also run the Earthquake Hurricane stand-up show, along with Curtis Cook, every Wednesday at Velo Cult. And you can follow all of these guys on Twitter: @lateaction, @alex_falcone, @bripruett, @anthonylopezpt2 and Christian is @aheavyboy.