Our good friends at SF Sketchfest dropped a BUNCH of new shows in our laps for their 20th iteration! Some that I’m really, really excited about. Tickets are on sale now RIGHT HERE! Continue reading “MORE NEW 2023 SKETCHFEST EVENTS!!!!”
Tag: SF Sketchfest
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!”
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.
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.
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!
SF Sketchfest 2021 *UPDATE*
I’m going to start with the bad news. SF Sketchfest, also known as the most insane three weeks of live comedy programming in San Francisco, was due to celebrate it’s 20th year next January in an epic fashion. Well, you may have heard that at little thing called COVID-19 has ravaged the live entertainment world, due to the fact that having fun in large groups is about the fastest way to get it, alongside side church, gyms, and working in an office. So, it looks like we are going to have to wait a bit longer to enjoy whatever the good folks at SF Sketchfest will bring us. And, whenever that happens, we will DEFINITELY need to get together and laugh. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest 2021 *UPDATE*”
SF Sketchfest Review: Everything’s Great! at Cafe du Nord, 1/25/2020
Winding down my time at this year’s SF Sketchfest, I wanted to make sure to catch one more stand up variety show. Everything’s Great!, hosted by Demi Adejuyigbe, Nick Kocher, and Addie Weyrich, has been on my list as a must-see in Los Angeles. Past guests on their line-up have included Sasheer Zamata, Joel Kim Booster, Kyle Kinane and Rachel Bloom, amongst other big talents. Plus the hosts themselves are ridiculously entertaining; each of them has their own extensive and cool list of projects in comedy. Catching their SF Sketchfest show was exactly how I wanted to wrap up this year’s festival.
Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: Everything’s Great! at Cafe du Nord, 1/25/2020”
SF Sketchfest Review: UCB East (Highwater) vs. UCB West (Leroy): The Harold Competition at PianoFight, 1/24/2020
I’ve studied improv throughout the last 15 years, but nothing has been more simultaneously challenging and rewarding than studying the Harold, a longform improv style that became popular back in Chicago, thanks to legendary improvisation teachers Del Close and Charna Halpern. This particular style of improv is taught at the Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) Training Centers in New York and Los Angeles, where house Harold teams perform weekly to packed houses. It is a genuine treat to see UCB’s Harold Night, and I was delighted to catch two teams from New York and Los Angeles come together to compete for SF Sketchfest.
SF Sketchfest Review: Fred Armisen: Comedy for Guitar Players but Everyone is Welcome at The Chapel, 1/26/2020
Fred Armisen has come a long way since his days drumming for Trenchmouth. He’s been the bandleader for Late Night with Seth Meyers. He’s drummed for Devo. He had a sketch comedy series with Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein where he took every opportunity he could to show off his musical chops. He’s had success in multiple fake bands on his other show, Documentary Now!. Despite acclaim as an actor and comic, he always seemed most at home as a musician. It came as no surprise when I learned he was doing a stand up special called Stand Up For Drummers, in which he exclusively told drum related jokes. When SF Sketchfest announced that he was branching out to guitarists this year, I decided that it was necessary for my own survival that I attend one of these. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: Fred Armisen: Comedy for Guitar Players but Everyone is Welcome at The Chapel, 1/26/2020”
SF Sketchfest Review: BriTANick and Friends at the Gateway Theater, 1/23/2020
Years ago, one of my closest friends introduced me to BriTANick’s videos. I was instantly hooked. I’ve always loved sketch comedy, but BriTANick was the first sketch comedy group of my generation that seems to truly understand and master absurdity in their work. So when I learned that Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher were bringing BriTANick back to SF Sketchfest, I lost my goddamn mind—I had to go to this show. I wasn’t in town during their previous Sketchfest appearances and was over the moon to finally see them performing live. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: BriTANick and Friends at the Gateway Theater, 1/23/2020”