Marie Carney – Page 2 – Spinning Platters

SF Sketchfest Review: Hound Tall with Moshe Kasher at Stage Werx, 1/23/16

hound tall

Hound Tall is one of my favorite podcasts, even if it can be hit or miss, I listen excitedly to every episode. The idea is an expert is there to discuss a topic and Moshe Kasher interviews them while three comedian guests do everything they can to get attention and create laughs. At its best it is an entertaining show where you learn a little and get a lot of laughs. At its worst it is a bunch of comedians completely derailing an otherwise intelligent conversation with dick jokes. When I found out the topic for this episode was the rise of electronic music and Rave culture I was pretty worried. Seemed like there might be a lot of opportunity for dick jokes there. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: Hound Tall with Moshe Kasher at Stage Werx, 1/23/16”

SF Sketchfest Review: The Dork Forest at the Punchline, 1/23/16

Dork_Forest

Reviewing Podcasts is weird, especially when it’s one you’ve been listening to off and on for six years and have never seen live. There’s just a certain amount of fandom that keeps you from doing an impartial review, so I’m mostly going to tell you want happened. Obviously I loved it. The host of The Dork Forest, Jackie Kashian, is my favorite person in comedy and her enthusiasm to hear and learn about other people’s dorkdoms is often catching. In person it is even stronger and funnier because there is so much more going on with the expressions and gestures of the guests. It’s that special something that always makes it worth it to pay to see a free podcast live. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: The Dork Forest at the Punchline, 1/23/16”

SF Sketchfest Review: Porchlight, a Storytelling Series at Swedish American Hall, 1/22/16

Arline Klatte and Beth Lisick, your Porch Light hosts

I decided to attend Porch Light Storytelling Series on a whim, as often happens with me and Sketchfest. If I see more than one comedian I really like, in this case Moshe Kasher and Jackie Kashian, I’m pretty happy to try it out. I was also curious about Beth Lisick who wrote a couple of her short story collections I’ve read. The format also seemed like it would be generally likeable – two hosts and six people telling true life stories, what’s not to like about that? Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: Porchlight, a Storytelling Series at Swedish American Hall, 1/22/16”

SF Sketchfest Review: Fresh Out with Emily Heller and Adam Conover at The Eureka Theater, 1/16/16

fresh out

Now we are two thirds of the way through SF Sketchfest and so far, I’m going to say this is the year of the stand up showcase. At least, that’s what won my weekend last week, and now Fresh Out won this weekend by a landslide. It was funny, diverse, and even had some serious moments. Usually it’s a good panel that leaves me with all the feels as I head home, but this time it was the comedians performing at Fresh Out. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: Fresh Out with Emily Heller and Adam Conover at The Eureka Theater, 1/16/16”

SF Sketchfest Review: Spotlight on “Drunk History” at Castro Theater, 1/9/16

Drunk_History

As completely expected Spotlight on “Drunk History” was a big drunken funny mess. Well, maybe it was a little drunker and a little messier than I expected, but that’s how the narrators often are on the show, so it all worked out. The simple explanation of the show is there was a panel with show creator Derek Waters and a moderator (Henri Mazza from Alamo Drafthouse) showing clips from the show then discussing them with the drunken narrator of that story. To make it more complicated, or more non-sensical, all these people had quite a bit to drink before they came on stage. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: Spotlight on “Drunk History” at Castro Theater, 1/9/16″

SF Sketchfest Review: Put Your Hands Together at Cobb’s, 1/8/16

Put Your Hands Together turned out to be the perfect start to my 2016 Sketchfest experience. It was a room full of friendly people and a lot of great stand up comedy. I had become a fan of the hosts, Cameron Esposito and Rhea Butcher after seeing them at You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes last year and was excited to get the chance to see them again. Now I am so happy I did. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: Put Your Hands Together at Cobb’s, 1/8/16”

Countdown to SXSW: The Velvet Teen

Josh Staples, Judah Nagler and Casey Deitz of The Velvet Teen

Maybe it’s weird to be excited to stalk your favorite local band to Texas, but what can I say? I’m pretty weird and I have a long history of practically stalking The Velvet Teen. So what if it’s been almost 5 years since they’ve released any music? Unfortunately, that has kind of been their pattern since I discovered them in 2001, so why would I lose my faith now? The real question is, how do I convince you to have the same faith that this is where you should spend your precious SXSW time? I think the only way is to take you through, step by step, of how this band has changed, and been great every part of the way. Continue reading “Countdown to SXSW: The Velvet Teen”

Sketchfest Review: Iron Comic with Nato Green and Moshe Kasher at Cobb’s Comedy Club, 2/8/15

Iron_Comic_289x300

The last night of SF Sketchfest is so bittersweet. This year I attended 9 shows in three weeks and they were all great, but a girl with a day job can get quite tired. But I powered through, hurrying from one event to another to end my Sketchfest experience with an excellent stand up show thanks to Iron Comic. This is my third time watching this show, and this year was the most enticing with some of my favorite comedians competing: Eddie Pepitone, Todd Barry, Emily Heller, Rory Scovel and Chris Garcia. It was going to be quite a competition. Continue reading “Sketchfest Review: Iron Comic with Nato Green and Moshe Kasher at Cobb’s Comedy Club, 2/8/15”

Sketchfest Review: An Afternoon with Animaniacs at Marines Memorial Theater, 1/25/15

Sometimes these reviews just flow out of my fingers like some kind of magic, and sometimes writing them is like pulling teeth, a sentence here, a sentence there, delete, delete, delete, and try again. For some reason, the most painful ones to write are almost always the best shows to watch. That couldn’t be more true than for this one. An Afternoon with Animaniacs was so good I have been staring at sentences I hate for days, unable to move forward. How do you put an experience like this in words? How do you explain the transcendent feeling I felt watching these amazing performers not only show off their talent, but to doing it with such joy? I’ve never seen anything like it. Voice actors really are a special breed, something much purer and glowing than the comedian or actor I normally watch at Sketchfest. Maybe what I really want to say is sorry if you weren’t at Marines Memorial Theater Sunday afternoon. Continue reading “Sketchfest Review: An Afternoon with Animaniacs at Marines Memorial Theater, 1/25/15”

Sketchfest Review: Julie Brown’s “The Homecoming Queen’s Got a Musical” at The Brava Theater, 1/24/15

The cast of Homecoming Queen's Got a Musical, courtesy of SF Sketchfest's Instagram (@sf_sketchfest) — The cast of Homecoming Queen’s Got a Musical, courtesy of SF Sketchfest’s Instagram (@sf_sketchfest)

Every year when the SF Sketchfest schedule comes out I spend a long time going through, making a list of everything that has someone I like in it, or is a show/concept I like, then painstakingly narrow it down to one show per time slot per day. At least, that’s the goal. These are the best two and a half weeks in San Francisco and I’m not going to waste them! So in this process, when I saw the name Julie Brown, the late 80’s kid in me had a fangirl spaz and decided this was the show that deserved my attention for the first Saturday night of Sketchfest. Did I know anything Julie Brown did since “Just Say Julie” on MTV and Earth Girls are Easy? No. Of course not! (Well, other than her small role as the Gym Teacher in Clueless) But this is what Sketchfest is about, seeing that great thing you might have lost track of. So off I trekked into the wilds of the Mission District, to the Brava Theater, with no idea what I was in for. Continue reading “Sketchfest Review: Julie Brown’s “The Homecoming Queen’s Got a Musical” at The Brava Theater, 1/24/15″