Tag: Ken Marino

A Nerd’s Guide To SF Sketchfest 2024

Whoa! This is my 12th Nerd’s Guide to SF Sketchfest! And after 14 long years (including two really, really long years not too long ago) of writing these, I can declare that SF Sketchfest has finally done it! They’ve booked the holy trinity of surreal sketch comedy! Eric Idle (of Monty Python fame), Kids In The Hall, and The State are all appearing! These three are the unifying forces that brought together both the stoners and the kids afraid of weed. AND I AM HERE FOR IT!  Honestly, this year’s SF Sketchfest, which I believe is the 21st edition of the event, is probably the most bonkers year yet. I have barely started to figure out what gigs I’m seeing… I need to write this almost for myself as much as for you, my loyal reader. 

A complete schedule and links to tickets can be found here! 

Thursday, January 18th Continue reading “A Nerd’s Guide To SF Sketchfest 2024”

SF Sketchfest Review: “Viva Variety” 25th Anniversary Tribute: A Very Special Evening at The Great Star Theater, 1/21/23

All Photos by Jakub Mosur

The last three years have been awful. Like, pure misery. SF Sketchfest, alongside Noise Pop, was kind of the “last” festival before things went to hell. In late 2020, when SF Sketchfest graced us with their calendar, I was excited, not just about the shows, but because it meant to me that there might have been a path out of this madness. But, instead of enjoying an early 2021 reprieve from the darkness, cases got worse. Vaccines were starting to make their way into our arms, but not anywhere nearly fast enough to change the trajectory of the pandemic. So the whole thing was moved to 2022. The same January 2022 gifted us with Omicron, decimating the Bay Area and locking down several counties. So, yeah, it got pushed again to 2023. And based on November 2022, I wasn’t expecting 2023 to be any better, and I was expecting to lose another year. BUT- something strange happened… People were actually careful this Christmas and NYE. We didn’t get a January surge like we had the last two years. Regular readers will know that I am EXTREMELY COVID pessimistic, and I was expecting, even if the festival happened, that I wouldn’t take part. But luckily, much of California is doing very well with COVID. (Lord help us that we finally get to the point where we don’t have any more increases in case rates!) Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: “Viva Variety” 25th Anniversary Tribute: A Very Special Evening at The Great Star Theater, 1/21/23″

SF Sketchfest 2023: Line Up Additions!

Oh, man! Remember how excited we were about Sketchfest 2021? And then Sketchfest 2022? And remember how upset we all were when BOTH of them were sidelined due to that plague that still ravages our world? And then Jean Grae and I tried to develop a machine that would suck all the virus out of the air? Well, the good news is (provided BQ 1.1 doesn’t screw everything up), everything is a go for Sketchfest 2023, and they decided to add a few more shows to the lineup that go on sale Wednesday, 11/15 at 10 am PST: Continue reading “SF Sketchfest 2023: Line Up Additions!”