The podcast, “We Got This With Mark and Hal,” has a very simple concept. Mark Gagliardi (Drunk History, Thrilling Adventure Hour) and Hal Lublin (Welcome to Night Vale, Thrilling Adventure Hour) get on the microphone and settle the most important disputes of our times, and some other ones. Episodes include “Sweet or Sour pickles,” “Worst Christmas Song” and most importantly, “Socks: Fold or Roll?” While I hardly ever agree with their conclusions, listening is always a pleasure, and I wouldn’t miss the chance to see them settle a VERY important debate, live at SF Sketchfest: “Star Wars or Star Trek?” Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: We Got This With Mark and Hal”
The Dead Pilots Society is a podcast hosted by Ben Blacker and Andrew Reich. The premise is simple: there are hundreds of scripts for pilots out there that never get filmed. Many of them are fine pieces of writing, but the tv networks simply didn’t have use for them. So, they bring in actors and do them “Reader’s Theater” style. Toady at the Eureka, we were treated to two sitcom pilots that were both optioned by networks, but never made it to production. Today was their first time doing it with an audience. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: Dead Pilot’s Society at Eureka Theater, 1/10/16”
The Thrilling Adventure Hour reincarnated = Workjuice Theater. (Photo cred: thanks to Tommy Lau photography!)
This year would have been my fifth consecutive year watching The Thrilling Adventure Hour at SF Sketchfest. Sadly, it seems I must finally admit that I’m a terrible podcast fan. I adore this show, but I’m a little behind. Ok, a lot behind: what I mean is, I never listen to podcasts. Like, ever. So that’s how far behind I am. It’s always been enough for me to keep up with this show whenever I could catch it live (which, as it happened, was once annually here in the city at Sketchfest). So okay, I didn’t know that there were ashes from which something new could be reborn, but mercifully, I needn’t waste too many tears: Workjuice Theatre definitely scratches the itch withdrawals from TAH might have given me. (Am I making any sense? Translation: I didn’t know that one of my favorite shows had ended, but a similar show with even same bits and characters has taken its place, so yay! Anyway, the show may have a new name, but I was just as happy as always to find myself back in my usual seat at Brava Theater Center last Saturday night to watch Craig, Hal, Marc, Mark, Paget, Paul and the gang! Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: Workjuice Theatre with Paget Brewster, Craig Cackowski, Mark Gagliardi, Marc Evan Jackson, Hal Lublin, Busy Philipps, Paul F. Tompkins and more, 1/9/2016 at Brava Theater Center”
Thrilling Adventure Hour lives up to its name, yet again.
One of the best things about SF Sketchfest every year is getting to watch all the fantastic talent of The Thrilling Adventure Hour. For any unfamiliar with this show, it’s a live, staged version of an old time radio show, and it’s never failed to entertain me for all the years I’ve been there to witness it. Thankfully, this year proved to be far less hectic than last year’s performance, for me at least. Last weekend (Saturday, to be exact), thanks to an earlier show, I was already in the city and had no trouble getting to Brava Theater Center with plenty of time before the lights dimmed. Continue reading “Sketchfest Review: The Thrilling Adventure Hour, 2/8/15”
Every year, Thrilling Adventure Hour is one of the events I most look forward to at SF Sketchfest. While this year was no exception, I did hit a most unfortunate snag that nearly ruined the event for me: Bay Area traffic. The early performance of the show started promptly at 7:00pm Saturday night at Marines’ Memorial Theatre, and usually it runs for about ninety minutes. Sadly, while I left with plenty of time to spare, an accident on I-80 backed up traffic from Berkeley all the way across the Bay Bridge, so by the time I parked, schlepped to the theatre, got my ticket and found my seat, I was a whopping forty-five minutes late. The first note I made: “I missed half!” Even worse, I was wrong. This year, for whatever reason, the show was shorter than normal. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Reviews: Thrilling Adventure Hour with the Workjuice Players and very special guests on 1/25/2014”
No photography allowed! Thanks to thrillingadventurehour.com for this pic of some of the players!
I admit it. When I took my seat in the Marines’ Memorial Theatre last night, I didn’t really know what to expect. I requested this show because I wanted to be a part of SF Sketchfest (last year I saw Maximum Volume with Greg Behrendt and Matt Nathanson with a friend, and there met Gordon Elgart, which eventually led to my writing for Spinning Platters). Furthermore, I was excited to see Colin Hanks, Busy Philipps, and Paget Brewster (to name a few). Though the title probably should’ve tipped me off, I didn’t know I would be seeing a staged production like an old-school radio show, nor that it would be chock-full of familiar (and abundantly funny) faces.
The Thrilling Adventure Hour is a monthly live performance podcast done at Largo in Los Angeles written by Ben Acker and Ben Blacker. For SF Sketchfest we were treated to two performances featuring many great actors of varying degrees of famous-ness. The 10:30 show featuring Neil Patrick Harris sold out, as everything he has done at Sketchfest has, so my ticket was for the early NPH-less show. But the show didn’t need Neil Patrick Harris to be great. It was an hour of fun witty writing and excellent acting, so good in fact I came home and subscribed to the podcast. Continue reading “Sketchfest Review: The Thrilling Adventure Hour at Marine’s Memorial Theater, 1/22/11”
