Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
Delocated is a show on Adult Swim about a family in the witness protection program that is moved to New York to appear on a reality show where they have their faces covered the entire time. Simple premise, but a difficult one to transfer to the stage. Also, the Sketchfest version of the show, which has been dubbed Delocated Witness Protection Program Variety Hour we are missing, well, most of the cast. So, the real question is, what happened on that stage?
To the uninitiated, San Francisco’s Sketchfest is probably the most overwhelming 2 1/2 weeks out of the entire year, in terms of live entertainment booking. Its closest cousin is probably Austin’s SXSW festival, where you have a wide array of up-and-coming talent mixed with veterans, all playing some very intimate spots.
As a person that considers himself to be an expert of sorts on taste, I am going to sift through this year’s line-up, and let you know what you should be going to at this year’s Sketchfest. I will guide you through which Emmy winners or CSI corpses (both of which are well represented by this event), in my humble opinion, is most worthy of your hard earned dollar.
Continue reading “A Music Nerd’s Guide To SF Sketchfest 2011″
Spinning Platters is, according to the banner, is a “Community Of Bay Area Music Nerds.” So when I learned of this show at Cobb’s, I got very excited. The premise is comedians telling stories about music, and singing a song relevant to the story with a live band. Of course, this event causes my music nerd soul to glow.
Continue reading “Show Review: Greg Behrendt’s “Bring The Rock””
This is our last report from the 2010 edition of San Francisco’s Sketchfest festival, and this one might be the most impressive show of the festival. I showed up before the doors opened, only to find the longest line that I have ever seen at Mezzanine before a show. I made my way to the front, only to glimpse that Dave Eggers was on the guest list.
According to the song that opened their winning 90-minute set, comedian Julia Sweeney (best known for her 1990-1994 run on Saturday Night Live) and musician Jill Sobule (best known for singing “I Kissed A Girl” first and so much better) met randomly at the Monterey Bay Aquarium one lucky day not long ago. Sobule cautiously approached Sweeney to express her admiration, but then Sweeney spotted Sobule and pounced her. Their mutual admiration society has led to an ongoing story-song collaboration called “The Jill and Julia Show,” which made its first Bay Area stop last night as part of the 2010 SF Sketchfest.
Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: The Jill and Julia Show at Yoshi’s San Francisco, 1/27/10”
Many reviewers, when they attend a show, tend to do a lot of research about the performers. They watch videos, read biographical information, and so forth. I don’t believe in this. I like to be surprised. I had no idea as to who Dave Hill was before tonight. I am not so oblivious as to not know who Dick Cavett is, nor Gordon Gano, but I didn’t know who the headliner was. Judging by the size of the crowd, neither did many of the attendees of Sketchfest. In fact, the balcony was closed and the main floor was only about half full. I went in (relatively) blindly. It was a good decision.
The last time “Weird Al” Yankovic made a public appearance in San Francisco was a performance at The Fillmore in 1996. That’s 13 years of eagerly awaiting a return. He’s toured plenty in that time. In fact, he’s played Santa Cruz and Sacramento on numerous occasions, which I did, indeed make the road trip for on one glorious, rainy day. (There were moments on the trip, especially while driving through the rougher parts, where rain was coming from every direction and visibility was none that I thought only by the grace of God did we make it to the show alive.)
So, this is an appearance that has been greatly anticipated by the Al fans from the Bay. I was excited, at first, to read that “Weird Al” was booked to play Cobb’s Comedy Club! I was saddened when I found out that it was a conversation, not a performance of music. I didn’t quite know what to expect of this. He doesn’t have a reputation for being media shy. In fact, before this afternoon, I thought that I knew everything there was to know about Al. I was wrong. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: A Conversation With “Weird Al” Yankovic at Cobb’s Comedy Club 1/23/09″
I had heard rumors of the renowned aging sasquatch riding around the damp streets of San Francisco in unforgiving bike shorts, but a confirmed sighting still eluded me… until…
On a dark stormy night, in a tiny Fillmore club, Robin Williams bedazzled a lucky audience with a one-on-one chat with Greg Proops. Well, it wasn’t much of a chat, more like a never-ending barrage of witty banter between the two comics that had no real direction or ending for that matter. Fueled exclusively by H2O, and lots of it, we enjoyed close to two hours of fast-paced ADHD ramblings from Mr. Williams that made the rest of the world seem distant. Good entertainment is rated by how easily you can escape from your own surroundings, and with Robin onstage, I was whisked away to a land of sodomy, various accents, and career revaluations. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: The Greg Proops Chat Show with Special Guest Robin Williams at Yoshi’s, 1/20/10”
I have always considered music and comedy to be kindred spirits. Both art forms require a mastery of rhythm and delivery to pull off well, and much of music and comedy seems to be inspired by the same general subjects: relationships, politics, and religion. This may be why some of the funniest people on earth are musicians, and most of the great comedians are also very talented musicians.
SF Sketchfest has been working at blurring those lines for nine years now, but last night’s Paul F Tompkins performance was the one of the best fusions of the two that I have ever experienced. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: The Paul F Tompkins Show w/ Grant Lee Phillips, Dave Foley, Illeana Douglas, Dave Gruber Allen, and Picnicface”
As San Franciscans, we love festivals. We also love music and laughs, and it seems that line is blurring between the two worlds more & more everyday. And, although our music festivals have been littered with comedians quite a bit lately, especially with Tenacious D functioning as headliner at least year’s Outside Lands Festival, the music leaking in to the comedy festivals has been a bit subtler. That’s why we’re here to guide you through the music of San Francisco’s Sketchfest. There is lot going on, and a lot of very special things that will pique the interest of any music nerd.
Continue reading “A Music Nerd’s Guide To SF Sketchfest 2010”