diff --git a/channels/asgi.py b/channels/asgi.py
index 7e1629e..d11d0bf 100644
--- a/channels/asgi.py
+++ b/channels/asgi.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ from django.conf import settings
 from django.utils.module_loading import import_string
 
 from .consumer_registry import ConsumerRegistry
+from .utils import name_that_thing
 
 
 class InvalidChannelLayerError(ValueError):
@@ -71,6 +72,9 @@ class ChannelLayerWrapper(object):
     def __getattr__(self, name):
         return getattr(self.channel_layer, name)
 
+    def __str__(self):
+        return "%s (%s)" % (self.alias, name_that_thing(self.channel_layer))
+
 
 def get_channel_layer(alias="default"):
     """
diff --git a/channels/management/commands/runserver.py b/channels/management/commands/runserver.py
index d78b899..b5e6bdd 100644
--- a/channels/management/commands/runserver.py
+++ b/channels/management/commands/runserver.py
@@ -16,6 +16,11 @@ from channels.worker import Worker
 
 class Command(RunserverCommand):
 
+    def add_arguments(self, parser):
+        super(Command, self).add_arguments(parser)
+        parser.add_argument('--noworker', action='store_false', dest='run_worker', default=True,
+            help='Tells Django not to run a worker thread; you\'ll need to run one separately.')
+
     def handle(self, *args, **options):
         self.verbosity = options.get("verbosity", 1)
         self.logger = setup_logger('django.channels', self.verbosity)
@@ -38,6 +43,7 @@ class Command(RunserverCommand):
         self.stdout.write((
             "Django version %(version)s, using settings %(settings)r\n"
             "Starting Channels development server at http://%(addr)s:%(port)s/\n"
+            "Channel layer %(layer)s\n"
             "Quit the server with %(quit_command)s.\n"
         ) % {
             "version": self.get_version(),
@@ -45,12 +51,14 @@ class Command(RunserverCommand):
             "addr": '[%s]' % self.addr if self._raw_ipv6 else self.addr,
             "port": self.port,
             "quit_command": quit_command,
+            "layer": self.channel_layer,
         })
 
         # Launch worker as subthread
-        worker = WorkerThread(self.channel_layer, self.logger)
-        worker.daemon = True
-        worker.start()
+        if options.get("run_worker", True):
+            worker = WorkerThread(self.channel_layer, self.logger)
+            worker.daemon = True
+            worker.start()
         # Launch server in 'main' thread. Signals are disabled as it's still
         # actually a subthread under the autoreloader.
         self.logger.debug("Daphne running, listening on %s:%s", self.addr, self.port)
@@ -60,9 +68,10 @@ class Command(RunserverCommand):
                 channel_layer=self.channel_layer,
                 host=self.addr,
                 port=int(self.port),
-                signal_handlers=False,
+                signal_handlers=not options['use_reloader'],
                 action_logger=self.log_action,
             ).run()
+            self.logger.debug("Daphne exited")
         except KeyboardInterrupt:
             shutdown_message = options.get('shutdown_message', '')
             if shutdown_message:
@@ -118,3 +127,4 @@ class WorkerThread(threading.Thread):
         self.logger.debug("Worker thread running")
         worker = Worker(channel_layer=self.channel_layer)
         worker.run()
+        self.logger.debug("Worker thread exited")
diff --git a/channels/management/commands/runworker.py b/channels/management/commands/runworker.py
index 82ddace..40993d8 100644
--- a/channels/management/commands/runworker.py
+++ b/channels/management/commands/runworker.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ class Command(BaseCommand):
         # Check a handler is registered for http reqs
         self.channel_layer.registry.check_default()
         # Launch a worker
-        self.logger.info("Running worker against backend %s", self.channel_layer.alias)
+        self.logger.info("Running worker against backend %s", self.channel_layer)
         # Optionally provide an output callback
         callback = None
         if self.verbosity > 1:
diff --git a/channels/utils.py b/channels/utils.py
index 2cddb58..770f23e 100644
--- a/channels/utils.py
+++ b/channels/utils.py
@@ -11,4 +11,6 @@ def name_that_thing(thing):
                 return name_that_thing(thing.__class__)
         if hasattr(thing, "__module__"):
             return "%s.%s" % (thing.__module__, thing.__name__)
+    if hasattr(thing, "__class__"):
+        return name_that_thing(thing.__class__)
     return repr(thing)
diff --git a/channels/worker.py b/channels/worker.py
index 5195271..c9567dd 100644
--- a/channels/worker.py
+++ b/channels/worker.py
@@ -25,7 +25,9 @@ class Worker(object):
         """
         channels = self.channel_layer.registry.all_channel_names()
         while True:
+            logger.debug("Worker waiting for message")
             channel, content = self.channel_layer.receive_many(channels, block=True)
+            logger.debug("Worker got message on %s: repl %s", channel, content.get("reply_channel", "none"))
             # If no message, stall a little to avoid busy-looping then continue
             if channel is None:
                 time.sleep(0.01)