Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
I will fully admit to the fact that I had never seen Wainy Days prior to this evening at Marines’ Memorial Theater. The reason I went to this performance was because the cast bridged my favorite TV show when I was 12, The State, and my favorite TV show now, at the age of 35, Parks & Recreation. It’s silly that I’ve never seen it, as I think David Wain is one of the greatest comic minds of our generation. So, I knew I was in for a surprise or two.
One of the best things about SF Sketchfest is that it brings fantastic comedic talent we might not otherwise have a lot of opportunity to see right here to the Bay Area. For example, Megan Mullally. The woman is equal parts brilliantly funny and beautiful. I’ve been a fan of hers since Will & Grace, though admittedly haven’t followed her career as closely as perhaps I should have. That’s why I’d never heard of her musical act (a duo with funny girl Stephanie Hunt, who I know from How to Live with Your Parents…, Californication, and Friday Night Lights), Nancy and Beth.Anyway, thanks to Sketchfest’s awesome musical offerings, I was able to catch their set last Friday night at SF’s JCC with the utterly wonderful and hilarious opener The Lampshades, and one night was all it took to make a fan out of me! Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: Megan Mullally in Concert with her band Nancy and Beth on 1/31/2014”
Stardumb! is a fake game show hosted by Bill Dwyer where actors and comedians are asked to answer varying levels of personal questions for points. When I read the description on the SF Sketchfest site I knew I had to see what this was all about. That and two of my celebrity crushes were scheduled to be there. How could I resist that? I’m so glad I didn’t. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: Stardumb! on 2/1/2014”
A lot of people have a hard time with the notion of “feminist comedy.” A lot of people assume that it’s nothing more than a lot of jokes about men, and, well, not very funny. This double header at The Eureka Theater proves that entire notion to be wrong. This show featured two of the finest feminist comedians working the circuit today, and this set presented the genre in a way that would open the mind of the most prejudiced comedy fan. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: Sara Benincasa & Kate Berlant at The Eureka Theater, 2/1/14”
You’d be forgiven for assuming that The Girls is a vanity project. Fronted by Julianna Guill (Underemployed, Glory Daze), Cyrina Fiallo (The Sopranos, Good Luck Charlie) and Alison Brie (Mad Men, Community) and backed by members of the Jones Street station (Danny Erker, Walt Wells and the drummer who’s name I’m afraid I didn’t catch. It may be Paul Apelgren but I can’t say that with full certainty), the project has all the trappings of a hastily thrown together cover band for three actresses who can maybe sing a little.
You’d be forgiven, but you’d be wrong.
The Girls are phenomenal.
Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: The Girls on 2/01/2014”
It would be impossible to fill out a standard account of the events of The Greatest Event in Festival History, a panel for the shockingly popular Adult Swim series where Adam Scott (Party Down, Parks and Recreation) painstakingly recreates the opening sequences of 80’s tv shows. The panel featured star/creator/co-director Scott, co-director Lance Bangs (acclaimed music video director for acts such as Green Day, Belle and Sebastian and The Shins) and co-star/professional Ted Knight impersonator Jon Glaser (Parks and Recreation, Late Night with Conan O’Brien) and was moderated by Kumail Nanjiani (Franklin & Bash, The Meltdown With Jonah and Kumail).
However, what happened during the 90 minutes that these stars were on stage defies all sense of narrative cause and effect. So, in order to give you an idea of what occurred that day, I present to you a list of real actual things that for real happened during The Greatest Event in Festival History.
Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: The Greatest Event in Festival History on 2/01/2014”
Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction with Bryan Cook is the funniest, dirtiest, podcast I’ve ever seen live. Five comedians are asked to write a fan fiction piece on anything they want before the show and present it while five other comedians get suggestions from the audience and have to write a fan fiction piece on the spot. Each group has a winner crowned by the audience and everyone leaves, amused, maybe slightly disturbed, and possibly sore from laughing. At least that’s how I felt last night. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction on 1/31/2014”
Real talk everyone: I was only at the Brava Theater to see You’re Whole. While I’m a fan of storytelling in general, and while I’d heard of State alum Kevin Allison’s well regarded podcast, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Even though the big draw for the night was Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter’s pitch-perfect late-night informercial parody, I was delighted by the raw looks into the real lives of some talented comedians.
Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: RISK! with Kevin Allison/You’re Whole on 1/31/2014”
The coincidently nautical showcase of BOAT and BriTANick (rhymes with Titanic) capsized before the show even started. Eureka Theater’s projector mutinied, died at a time most inopportune. It left behind a lobby drowned with humanity—a sold out show. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: BriTANick on 1/29/2014”
David Gborie is one of the funniest men in San Francisco today. Spinning Platters had a chance to chat with him ahead of his sets at Sketchfest, performing tonight at The California Academy of Sciences, and Friday, January 31st bringing his popular stand up showcase Get Yucked Up to Cinecave in the Mission. He’s also going to be live commentating on the Super Bowl this Sunday at The Roxie, as part of SF Indiefest’s 4th Annual Super Bowl: Men In Tights. He’s a pretty fascinating guy with a lot to say. In fact, too much to say, so I’ve uploaded audio of the entire interview, but after the jump, I’ll pass you a few highlights.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Comedian David Gborie”