We know both of their work, and Emo's one generation of oddball and Mirman another - each endearing/annoying, depending upon your view on abstract musings. It will mark Phillips' first Boston area performance in many years. "It has been a long time since I played Boston, and I know there would be a lot of pent-up demand from the Emo-philiacs of the region!," he says. Okey-dokey ...    

     “This will be an alternative festival in every sense,” says AltCom director (and Somerville native) Brian Joyce. “These are amazing comedians who bring bold, original ideas to the stage. And the Somerville Theater is the ultimate alternative theater – locally owned and independently operated. It features some of the best original programming around." Aside from Phillips and Mirman, you'll hear from Patton Oswalt, Todd Barry, Morgan Murphy, Jim Jeffries, doktor cocacolamcdonalds, and Boston’s own Walsh Brothers. Friday, it's Emo, whom Jay Leno once called “the best joke writer in America.” Joining Emo on stage will be cult favorite Todd Barry from New York, Boston native Eugene Mirman, and the bizarre Brit doktor cocacolamcdonalds, who brings his one-man rock opera to the United States for the first time! Closing the festival on  Saturday, May 10th Patton Oswalt, of "Ratatouille" fame, a fella who has firmly established himself as a national favorite. Joining Pattonwill be AltCom’s lone female comedian, the hilarious Morgan Murphy from Los Angeles; Boston’s very own Walsh Brothers; and the hard-hitting Australian comedian Jim Jeffries, whose one man show The Second Coming was the smash hit at the 2007 Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal. Both shows are at 8. Tickets: $32.

64 Davis Square, Somerville, 617-931-2000 www.ticketmaster.com www.altcomfestival.com