Tag: SF Sketchfest

SF Sketchfest Review: River Butcher at Brava Theater Center, 1/24/23

My first SF Sketchfest show in 3 years! And it’s a double header of shows from my personal SF Sketchfest past at the wonderful Brava Theater Center! The festival has been rescheduled twice, and I am so happy to finally be doing it! The first one is this wonderful stand-up performance from River Butcher and opener Hayden Kristal. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: River Butcher at Brava Theater Center, 1/24/23”

Spinning Platters Interview: Lane Moore

Lane Moore can do pretty much anything. Comedian, journalist, writer, musician, and, although it didn’t come up, I’m pretty sure she can perform open heart surgery, too.  Moore is coming to town for SF Sketchfest for two shows: She’s doing a stand-up set as part of Studio Sets at Brava Studio on January 27th at 7 pm, and later that night, she’s headed to Cobb’s for a performance of Tinder Live. Tickets are available here. 

Lane Moore’s latest book, You Will Find Your People: How To Make Meaningful Friendships As An Adult is coming out on April 25th and can be preordered here. You can find her on Instagram, and her band, It Was Romance is on Bandcamp! (Interview has been lightly edited for clarity. Very lightly.)

Spinning Platters: I made a terrible mistake while researching questions. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Lane Moore”

A Nerd’s Guide to SF Sketchfest 2023

JESUS CHRIST! I first wrote this article in 2020. When I was just getting ready to push it live, BAM! Cases started spiking hard, and the 2021 SF Sketchfest was moved to 2022. In late 2021, I revised this AGAIN; luckily, most of the events stayed the same.  And right as I was about to post this for 2022… I got an email from SF Sketchfest’s publicist saying the whole thing was moved again… To 2023! 

I’m overjoyed that they managed to keep much of the same line-up and in approximately the same order! It saved me a lot of time and effort. They’ve even added a few new events to the mix that I’m pretty excited about, even though it meant I had to actually write more. Even better- they are live-streaming select events, which is great for folks that don’t like going places! So, without further ado, I present to you the 2021, I mean 2023, Nerd’s Guide To SF Sketchfest! Which is the 20th SF Sketchfest, I might add!  Continue reading “A Nerd’s Guide to SF Sketchfest 2023”

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”