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.
Fresh Out is a bi-coastal stand-up showcase performed at the UCB in New York and LA. This show was the LA iteration, hosted by Emily Heller and Adam Conover. I chose this show because of my love for Emily Heller ever since the first time I saw her at Sketchfest 2011, then I found out Conover is the Adam from “Adam Ruins Everything” and I knew this show would be a treat for sure. The intro of the show with our hosts was fun and included a contest for who could tell the most San Francisco story. The winner of which was a story about two mothers trying to one-up each other on who’s kids love eating seaweed more, of which our hosts did an excellent impression. Later on in the evening each host did their individual set but they were much too short. I need to see each of them do a full set soon.
The first comic up was Jim Tews, a comic from Brooklyn who pretty much won me over by constantly mentioning his cat blog. I mean, who doesn’t love a cat blog? Overall he had a nice rhythm and good jokes. Next up was Caitlin Gill who I have seen before and enjoyed, but she has gotten much more polished in the year or so it’s been since the last time I saw her. She did the best feminist bit I’ve ever seen that ended with her laying on the stage in the fetal position. Which is my kind of comedy of course.
Next was Solomon Georgio who was also really funny but sadly I feel like anything I could say about his set would spoil it, so I don’t really know where to go from there. He’s funny. Check him out. I did write in my notes that he was wearing awesome black leather/pleather converse and that Caitlin Gill had been wearing bright yellow ones and I hoped the theme would continue, but Liza Treyger was next, and she was wearing short boots, so there went that dream (the boots worked better with her outfit than cons would have though). I really enjoyed her set mostly centering around how unfair it is that women are judged solely on their looks. I can relate to that frustration and also would also rather be Miranda than Charlotte.
Then there was a surprise appearance by Michelle Buteau who definitely had the stage presence of someone hugely famous, even if I didn’t know who she was. Apparently the person giving people their signal to wrap it up didn’t think she was famous enough to take up a lot of time, so five minutes in he gave her the light and she gave him one of the dirtiest looks I’ve ever seen and kept going for fifteen more minutes. She told a fun story about her college relationship, but it did seem like something she was still working out. At least until the end punchline. That was super strong.
The closer of the night, and who everyone seemed to be there for, was Bobcat Goldthwait, who did not disappoint. When he came out though it was already after midnight (the scheduled end time) and the person watching everyone’s time gave him the wrap it up light after about five minutes. Luckily he ignored that and went on with his set doing at least 20 minutes. He did a couple greatest hits jokes with a lot of fun asides in the middle, so that made it more exciting even if I had heard the jokes before. At the end he told us something that was true and not easy, as he had promised in the beginning, and talked to us about his friend Robin Williams’ death and a quick personal story about a show he was at with him in Fairfield. It was really a beautiful ending to the evening and I am so glad I was there to see it. Thanks Bobcat Goldthwait for being honest with us for a bit.
