It's been just shy of two years since Chris Hardwick teamed up with pals Jonah Ray and Matt Mira and launched the Nerdist podcast. It almost immediately became an iTunes sensation and since then Hardwick's experiment in geeky comedy has expanded into a veritable nerd empire. Nerdist Industries' reach includes more than a dozen podcasts now, plus an extraordinary regular slate of live events at Meltdown Comics, a series of televised specials on BBC America (the last one featured Nathan Fillion, Wil Wheaton, Simon Pegg and David Tennant — holy crap!), an online community called The Node … the brand just keeps growing. How does Hardwick seemingly manage to be everywhere in the geekosphere at once? Ask him as he reads from his book The Nerdist Way this week at Meltdown, followed by a signing. NerdMelt Theater at Meltdown Comics, 7522 Sunset Blvd., Hlywd.; Mon., Jan. 23, 8 p.m.; free. (323) 851-7223, nerdmeltla.com.

Mon., Jan. 23, 8 p.m., 2012

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