SF Sketchfest Review: Everything’s Great! at Cafe du Nord, 1/25/2020

Winding down my time at this year’s SF Sketchfest, I wanted to make sure to catch one more stand up variety show. Everything’s Great!, hosted by Demi Adejuyigbe, Nick Kocher, and Addie Weyrich, has been on my list as a must-see in Los Angeles. Past guests on their line-up have included Sasheer Zamata, Joel Kim Booster, Kyle Kinane and Rachel Bloom, amongst other big talents. Plus the hosts themselves are ridiculously entertaining; each of them has their own extensive and cool list of projects in comedy. Catching their SF Sketchfest show was exactly how I wanted to wrap up this year’s festival.

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SF Sketchfest Review: UCB East (Highwater) vs. UCB West (Leroy): The Harold Competition at PianoFight, 1/24/2020

I’ve studied improv throughout the last 15 years, but nothing has been more simultaneously challenging and rewarding than studying the Harold, a longform improv style that became popular back in Chicago, thanks to legendary improvisation teachers Del Close and Charna Halpern. This particular style of improv is taught at the Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) Training Centers in New York and Los Angeles, where house Harold teams perform weekly to packed houses. It is a genuine treat to see UCB’s Harold Night, and I was delighted to catch two teams from New York and Los Angeles come together to compete for SF Sketchfest.

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SF Sketchfest Review: BriTANick and Friends at the Gateway Theater, 1/23/2020

Years ago, one of my closest friends introduced me to BriTANick’s videos. I was instantly hooked. I’ve always loved sketch comedy, but BriTANick was the first sketch comedy group of my generation that seems to truly understand and master absurdity in their work. So when I learned that Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher were bringing BriTANick back to SF Sketchfest, I lost my goddamn mind—I had to go to this show. I wasn’t in town during their previous Sketchfest appearances and was over the moon to finally see them performing live. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: BriTANick and Friends at the Gateway Theater, 1/23/2020”

SF Sketchfest Review: Donde Esta Mi Comedy? at Cafe du Nord, 1/17/2020

I know that one of the big draws for SF Sketchfest is having big names perform throughout the festival, but I’m always pumped to see local acts getting to cut their teeth across town. That’s what really makes SF Sketchfest for me: ensuring that genuine San Francisco and Bay Area voices are heard. This year, I got my fix at Donde Esta Mi Comedy?, a stand-up show featuring Latino comedians from all over the state. Truthfully, I’ve been meaning to catch this show for a while; this is the second year Donde Esta Mi Comedy? has been part of SF Sketchfest. They also play shows around the Bay throughout the year.

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SF Sketchfest Review: Tribute to Tony Shalhoub in Conversation with Kevin Pollak + 20th Anniversary Screening of “Galaxy Quest” at the Castro Theater, 1/11/2020

All photos by Jakub Mosur.

I remember seeing Galaxy Quest in theaters with my folks. We were more of a Star Wars family than a Star Trek family, but despite Galaxy Quest’s clear parallel to the Star Trek universe and fandom, we latched on. It became an instant family favorite. We ended up buying the VHS when it came out — which we still have, and which I just replaced as a Christmas gift for my dad this past Christmas with a DVD (We are a low-tech family.) Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: Tribute to Tony Shalhoub in Conversation with Kevin Pollak + 20th Anniversary Screening of “Galaxy Quest” at the Castro Theater, 1/11/2020″

Film Review: Eddie the Eagle

Eddie the Eagle soars to near fallible emotional heights.

I can fly as high, as an EAGLE!
I can fly as high, as an EAGLE!

The beauty of watching athleticism en masse is that, in theory, everyone is brought together. The Olympics are the ultimate testament to this; it seems the whole world turns whatever devices possible to follow the games and share victory­ or cringe in defeat­ with fellow fans. I have never been a sports person and have therefore never really followed any athletic event, but I do enjoy physical comedy and a good underdog tale. Eddie the Eagle simultaneously fulfills the need for mass athletic fandom with (seemingly painful) pratfalls and unstoppable optimism.

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