Having been a little disappointed with SanFranLand earlier this year, I approached a new satirical web series about SF's tech boom with a little trepidation. It's called Tech Boom! And I'll just say that it's moderately funny and less likely to disappoint than some web series for the simple reason that the episodes are only 1 to 2 minutes long.
Salon just did an interview with co-creator Loren Risker who talks about how he and partners Jack Birmingham and Hector Escarramán were shooting for something "truly absurd," and not really just satirizing the tech industry itself. "Silicon Valley did a terrific job of capturing the start-up experience," says Risker. "'Tech Boom!' aims to show the broader scope of tech culture and the people affected by it."
The trio just dropped the first batch of five brief episodes here. The most dry-witted and funny of the bunch is probably "Pop-Up Restaurant," which is a Portlandia-style take on SF foodie ubiquity, taken to an even more absurd place.
Also pretty amusing is "Google Bus Stop," wherein one tech guy tries to out-nerd a Glasshole with his "Google Lasik."
Risker, Birmingham, and Escarramán have succeeded in mocking some of SF's lowest hanging fruit, including over-doting dog lovers, and so far the series is fun without trying too incredibly hard. While short on the kind of giddy, laugh-out-loud hilarity of the best of Portlandia, Tech Boom! still manages to bring some of the same edge and wit to our easily mocked epoch, and the acting is all pretty solid.
Risker says they'll be gauging the reaction to the first five episodes before going back into production for more in the new year, and he says he hopes to tackle topics like eviction, gentrification, and the loss of iconic longtime businesses too.
