Tenacious D celebrated more than 20 years of existence at The Castro Theatre last night as part of the opening night of Sketchfest. Due to start at 9:30, the Napoleon Dynamite screening went on a little long, and there was some trouble with the ticketing that caused an additional delay. So we’re on rock n’ roll time here, which seems appropriate for the greatest band in history. Or at least for a tribute. Continue reading “SF Skecthfest Review: Tribute to Tenacious D — An Evening of Conversation, Clips and Songs on 1/23/2014”
Tag: SF Sketchfest
Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 1/23/14-1/29/14
The thirteenth annual SF Sketchfest is upon us, littering San Francisco with night after night of too many good things at once.
To help with these sorts of problems, please consult “A Nerd’s Guide To Sketchfest 2014.” Yes, Dakin’s full-on once-over of this year’s fest is just the right guide to help you make those wrenching nerd decisions about which one-of-a-kind Sketchfest show to choose from on each jam-packed night. Too much good stuff is a good/ANNOYING problem to have. You are fortunate. We are fortunate.
This week! We have Canadiens! Sleepwalkers! Metal! Tim! Punk rock benefit shows! And science! O you lucky person, you — to have all of these awesome things to choose from.
Here’s what’s coming up this week.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 1/23/14-1/29/14”
Spinning Platters Interview: OJ Patterson on OJ Patterson
SF Sketchfest will soon breach our atmosphere: bending sky, burning oxygen and causing birds to scramble for safety. In one week it will land in the San Francisco Bay. A torrential wave will surge through the Financial District, down Mission St, and swallow Twin Peaks in salt water. At least, that’s how it’s going to feel when the biggest celebration of comedy’s many forms comes to town.
There’s always commensal collateral to the lights and glitz, big crowds and big parties. The air feels different, the gravity heavier, especially for a few locals rocking the coveted “Artist” lanyard. Some are turning their hard work, talent, or streetwise into a high profile credit. Some are the new flavor, showcased as the emergent outliers. Some are “over it”, half distracted by growth, having fun before moving on. Some are returning with the Bay in their heart and another city on their mailing address. Some are debuting, honored and humbled, finally on the inside looking… around. Like me. After years of reporting, volunteering, (pining), I’m performing for my first SF Sketchfest @ Lost Weekend Video on 1/31. Spinning Platters’ top brass (a/k/a Dakin) requested an interview… from me, about me. Double the work, way less validation but I shall oblige on weirdness alone. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: OJ Patterson on OJ Patterson”
SF Sketchfest Review: Billy Eichner and Friends at Cobb’s, 2/2/2013
Confrontation comic Billy Eichner, the screamingest queen to ever brandish a microphone in a bewildered stranger’s face, curated a comedy showcase called Billy Eichner and Friends at Cobb’s on Saturday night as part of SF Sketchfest 2013. Eichner has been a rising star on the New York comedy scene for several years, building his uniquely abrasive brand through popular YouTube clips that gradually led to getting his own show, the Funny or Die production Billy on the Street, currently airing its second season on Fuse. The vast majority of the show’s content features Eichner and a cameraman running up to strangers on the streets of New York and screaming at them; sometimes it’s pop culture opinion/trivia, and occasionally it’s something absurdly basic that somehow proves challenging given the intense nature of the situation (he once famously stymied Rachel Dratch by asking her to name 20 white people; a clip he showed on Saturday showed a young woman failing to meet Eichner’s command to “name any woman”). He has become a talk show staple, and is turning into a regular on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live, on which his gay-leaning cultural obsessions seem to find the most receptive audience. So given all this, what kind of performance did Eichner have in mind for Sketchfest?
Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: Billy Eichner and Friends at Cobb’s, 2/2/2013”
Sketchfest Review: 7-Man Sweater (2/5/2012)
Bob Odenkirk: a cult legend credited with championing and evolving a subversive, acclaimed comedy sentiment. Birthday Boys: a hyped collection of vastly witty, silly sods. Together they formed a rousing precession of jubilant, sophisticated sketches, closing Sketchfest with a bang — bang, scream, yell, “He’s got a gun!”, “My baby!”. You know, comedy. Continue reading “Sketchfest Review: 7-Man Sweater (2/5/2012)”
Sketchfest Review: Will Franken/Drennon Davis (2/4/2012)
San Francisco has a cloudy yet storied history of nurturing eclectic, eccentric geniuses. The tradition spans from Irwin Corey to Ron Lynch to Brent Weinbach and every sideways side-splitter in between. Many are unsung, underexposed and uncompromised: the inspiration for peers with wider appeal and fans with sharp hearts and heads. Festivals, artistic hodepodge, are optimal for such comedians, an extended focus for latest convolutions and tinkerings in front of fertile or familiar audiences. Will Franken and Drennon Davis, two locally brewed humorists of the aforementioned ilk, evoked the spirit of a sentient armchair: alarmingly absurd, wonderfully witty, warm and comfortable. Continue reading “Sketchfest Review: Will Franken/Drennon Davis (2/4/2012)”
Sketchfest Review: Killing My Lobster (2/1/2012)
In the fast-paced, cutthroat, Wild West of Bay Area sketch, few are in league with enterprising comedy tycoon, Killing My Lobster. Barons and Baronesses of the Neo Internetdustrial Revolution, the troupe has made appealing regional satire a booming forte. Powered by live action and recorded skits, and coupled to A.J. Schroder Esq. and the duchess, Jill Bourque, the KML Express set across the Eureka prairie. Continue reading “Sketchfest Review: Killing My Lobster (2/1/2012)”
Sketchfest Review: Mahan/Leon/Vermeire @ Eureka (1/25/2012)
SF Sketchfest has a brilliant ability to capture the Bay Area’s attention and imagination. Benefactors of this allotted spotlight are local artists, made bolder and louder by proper production value. In the case of Scott Vermeire, Harmon Leon and Colin Mahan, the added bells and whistles enhanced their rustic independence, demystifying each artist’s vision. Continue reading “Sketchfest Review: Mahan/Leon/Vermeire @ Eureka (1/25/2012)”
Sketchfest Review: The Groundlings “The Black Version” (1/22/2012)
Fact: The Eureka Theater hosts some of the best comedy in the in the world. Fact: The Groundlings are a legendary Los Angeles improv company with alumni including Will Ferrell, Kristen Wigg and more. Fact: “The Black Version” is not a racially specific interpretation of Beverly Winwood Presents: The Actor’s Showcase. Fact: San Francisco’s black population was 6.1% in 2010. Fact: The black population of The Black Version’s cast was 100%. Fact: Comedy is proven to be simultaneously colorful and colorblind. Continue reading “Sketchfest Review: The Groundlings “The Black Version” (1/22/2012)”
Sketchfest Review: Beverly Winwood’s “The Actors Showcase” 1/22/2012
Dripping late from a brisk sprint through San Francisco’s saturated cloudiness, I stepped into an alternate reality. Everything looked copasetic: the expansive and brimming Eureka Theater with Phil LaMarr and Jordan Black beginning a scene. Not quite, the truth: the expansive and brimming Eureka Theater with Lewis J. Poole and Danger beginning a scene.
Polle and Danger are two African American actors separated by age but bonded by prior convictions and thespian rehabilitation. They were bad, objectively horrible, nightmarishly stiff and unflinchingly unaware. It was brilliant. Continue reading “Sketchfest Review: Beverly Winwood’s “The Actors Showcase” 1/22/2012″