For those of you that have been following Spinning Platters since it’s inception (Hi, Mom!), you may recognize one of the two names sharing authorship of the book Bay Area Stand Up Comedy: A Humorous History. Yup! Our one-time comedy editor, OJ Patterson, has graduated from the world of volunteer blogging to become an actual published author! I’m so very proud!!! (I’m actually weeping a little. Don’t mind me!) I’m also very sad that, within his bio within the book, there is no mention of our little pocket of the internet. I won’t hold that against him, however. Because he, along with fellow Bay Area stand-up comic Nina G, has gifted the world with something that we’ve desperately needed: a written history of the highly influential Bay Area stand-up comedy scene.
Category: Comedy
SF Sketchfest Moved to 2023
I hate making these posts. But, at this point, I think I’d hate NOT making these posts more… The hypertransmissibility of the Omnicron variant has forced SF Sketchfest to move the whole shebang to next year. The good news? They’ve managed to rebook nearly every single show to January 20th – February 5th, 2023. This means that you still get to see Viva Variety!, David Alan Grier, and freaking Perfect Strangers reunion, and even see me faint at the sight of the great D’Arcy Carden doing an improvised musical!
An updated schedule can be found here. Hold onto your tickets, because they will be good for the new date. If you can’t make it, the individual ticketing companies will be reaching out to handle refunds shortly. (Just please give them some time, as everyone is drowning right now)… Until then, why don’t you listen to my interview with 2023 SF Sketchfest performer Jean Grae while waiting in line for your booster. Also, GET YOUR BOOSTER!! GET YOURSELF SOME N95s. CAN’T FIND THEM? DOUBLE UP YOUR MASKS AND MAKE SURE THEY ARE ON TIGHT.
Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” Season 3, Episode 3 with Jean Grae
It’s been a loooong time, hasn’t it? Fear not- I will try not to leave you, my loyal listeners, hanging for this long again. And it was worth the wait… This might be the only episode that is- ENTIRELY UNEDITED. I got to speak with noted polymath Jean Grae about, well, pretty much everything. We talked about being highly ambitious from a young age, we talked about her career in music, her jump into stand-up, writing a book, composing score, and pretty much everything else you can imagine. We even discussed the Lisa Lisa in great detail. And for those that stop listening halfway through, we do ACTUALLY solve COVID in the last five minutes, so you will definitely want to hang on for that.
SF Sketchfest 20th Anniversary Initial Line Up Has Been Announced!
The first-ever SF Sketchfest happened in 2001. It was a year that would live in infamy for kicking off the greatest comedy festival in the United States and for absolutely nothing else newsworthy happening that year. <insert laugh> Sadly, the 2021 event was not able to happen as planned due to everything being awful. However, we’ve reached a place of things being slightly less awful, so the 20th SF Sketchfest will be happening on the 21st birthday of the event. This is also helpful because that means the festival can drink.
The batshit crazy lineup is pasted below. And I say “pasted” because it’s so big that I haven’t finished reading it yet. I’ll make sure you get my annual “Nerd’s Guide” once I’ve taken the time out take it all in. Tickets for EVERYTHING are on sale Sunday, November 21st at 10 am PST at SFSketchfest.com. Please note that all attendees, performers, and venue staff *must* show proof of COVID vaccination as per SF Law. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest 20th Anniversary Initial Line Up Has Been Announced!”
SF Sketchfest 20th Anniversary Dates Announced!
GOOD NEWS! Our good friends at SF Sketchfest decided NOT to try to squeeze yet another festival into the hyper-crowded Fall 2021 space. Instead, they are coming back next year for their usual “just after the frenzy of the holidays are over and just before work gets busy again” slot in mid-January. Specifically, January 7th – 23rd. This is extra exciting because it’s their 20th installment of the event, and one can assume that it will be a little apeshit.
If you are a comic / sketch troupe / audacious soul, they are accepting submissions here. However, it appears Scott Baio and Ricky Schroeder probably shouldn’t apply because SF requires all attendees, performers, and staff to show proof of vaccination. So if you want to enjoy the 20th SF Sketchfest, please, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, GET VACCINATED!!! It’s free. They are effective. And I’m so sick of me having to put COVID disclaimers on EVERYTHING.
SF Sketchfest Review: Festpocalypse at Everywhere On Earth, 1/30/21
If this were a typical 2020, by now, you would have read my 10,000-word “Nerd’s Guide to the 20th SF Sketchfest,” half a dozen interviews of performers, and a few dozen reviews of shows. I would also be exhausted laughing and taking in 2-3 shows a night for three weeks. Instead, I’m exhausted because my days are spent chasing a child that’s nearly two around the apartment, as well as being emotionally spent from the pressures of life during a pandemic. I also got to enjoy SF Sketchfest on my couch and took in as many performers as they usually book over three weeks in a single 3 ½ hour block. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: Festpocalypse at Everywhere On Earth, 1/30/21”
Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” Episode 10 with David Owen, Co-Founder of Sketchfest
Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” is available most everywhere you enjoy podcasts. You can find us and subscribe here!
In this installment, I got to speak to SF Sketchfest co-founder David Owen about, well, how to put on an underground comedy festival, and what do you do when it’s no longer underground. We talked about his first production, his first festival, how he met Cole Stratton and Janet Varney, the other two founders of the festival (SPOILER: It’s Talking Heads related, just like the name of this podcast), and how they are handling things when it’s entirely unknown when the festival will be safe to play out again.
SF Sketchfest is doing a virtual live read of Plan 9 From Outer Space just in time for Halloween with Kat Aagesen, Maria Bamford, Bobcat Goldthwait, Dana Gould, Jean Grae, David Koechner, Tim Meadows, Laraine Newman, Oscar Nunez, Bob Odenkirk, Jonah Ray, Paul F. Tompkins, Janet Varney, Baron Vaughn, plus musical accompaniment by Eban Schletter. Well, just before Halloween. October 29th to be precise. Tickets can be purchased here!
SF Sketchfest’s archives have also been opened up for rental, and those shows can be found here!
If you have any feedback about this episode, feel free to email me at dakin@spinningplatters.com. If you like what you heard and want to help support this thing, feel free to Venmo me whatever tip you feel is adequate @Dakin-Hardwick. And, most importantly, please go to SaveOurStages.com to find out what you can do to help independent promoters and venues weather this COVID crisis so we have shows to go back to when this pandemic is over. Thanks for listening!
Spinning Platters Presents: “How Did I Get Here?” Episode 6 with Carlos Alazraqui
This is an exciting episode… For the first time in the five episode run of this show, our guest is someone that I have never met before! It’s Carlos Alazraqui! He’s probably most famous for voicing the Taco Bell Chihuahua. Or Rocko, of Rocko’s Modern Life. Or as Deputy Garcia on Reno 911. We had a great chat about the Bay Area stand up comedy scene of the late 80’s / early 90’s. We also talked about moving from stand up to voice over to live action acting, and a bit about what it’s like to work in TV during COVID.
Carlos can be found in Twitter and Instagram! You can also check out the season 7 of Reno 911 on Quibi, and his latest film, Witness Infection (costarring the great Erinn Hayes), is coming out soon!
If you have any feedback about this episode, feel free to email me at dakin@spinningplatters.com. If you like what you heard and want to help support this thing, feel free to Venmo me whatever tip you feel is adequate @Dakin-Hardwick. And, most importantly, please go to SaveOurStages.com to find out what you can do to help independent promoters and venues weather this COVID crisis so we have shows to go back to when this pandemic is over. Thanks for listening!
Spinning Platters Presents: “How Did I Get Here?” Episode 5 with Clare O’Kane
Clare O’Kane is one of the finest stand up comics to come out of the 2010’s SF stand up scene. She’s been featured in Viceland’s show Flop House, and is a writer on Hulu’s Shrill. She’s also one of my favorite people in the world to talk with. We had an excellent chat about her decade in stand up comedy, how she programmed her career, and how she fell into TV writing.
You can keep an eye on everything she’s doing on her website, clareokane.com, and you can also find her as @babysfirstgun on Twitter and @clareisokane on Instagram.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Presents: “How Did I Get Here?” Episode 5 with Clare O’Kane”
Keep Live Alive: SF Sketchfest & Noise Pop Open Their Archives
Before the COVID Virus decided to destroy life as we know it in the Bay Area, we were lucky enough to get to enjoy two of the best festivals the Bay has to offer: SF Sketchfest and Noise Pop. Both fests had banner years, and as a thank you to the venues that helped make them happen year after year, both SF Sketchfest and Noise Pop are opening up their rich archives of great shows. This gives you the opportunity to either relive these shows, or if you couldn’t make it, actually get to enjoy shows you missed, and all to raise money for these venues so they can reopen once the pandemic is contained, as well as other local charities!
Continue reading “Keep Live Alive: SF Sketchfest & Noise Pop Open Their Archives”