Reviewing w00stock is a silly concept. I’ve done it once before. Because the event is performed under the Creative Commons non-commercial, attribution, share alike license (as is this website), the entirety of the thing is online in video form for your viewing pleasure. But which videos are the best? That’s the hard part. So rather than a standard review, I’ll instead give you a guided tour to The Best of w00stock Founders’ Night, as found on the Internet. Continue reading “Sketchfest Review: w00tstock Founders’ Night at Marines Memorial Theater, 1/29/12”
Tag: Sketchfest
Sketchfest Review: Reggidency: A Reggie Watts Series
Comedy, as a method of entertainment, works best when we can relate to the entertainer, and the exaggeratedly hilarious (yet quite often true) stories that they tell. Most standup artists use this science as the core of their act, pointing out the sometimes terribly obvious, but far more often insignificant, details that we all have experienced, barely speak about, and yet go through on a regular basis. That excess blast of thought over such inane minutiae succeeds at hitting our funny bones hard, not only because of the presentation, but because we can, in fact, relate. If this is a regular formula for comedic success, then anyone willing to break the mold and give those common trivialities a winning partner with absurdity, disconnection, and whimsical rambling has the potential to turn heads, and in the case of Reggie Watts, he succeeds spectacularly, and leaves you wondering what the hell just bowled you over with laughter.
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Sketchfest Review: Reggie Watts, Garfunkel & Oates at Mezzanine, 2/1/12
Some of the most talented people on earth hail from right here in the San Francisco Bay Area. In fact, we have so many uber-talented musicians, writers, comics, speakers, artists, chefs, and so on, that it’s easy to take them for granted. Reggie Watts is one of those performers. He seems to be performing all the time, and everyone in the bay area seems to swoon over him. Yet, I have yet to see him. It could be due to the fact that every show sells out, no matter what the venue. Which is also how Sketchfest was able to book him four nights in a row, also giving him the ability to indulge in whatever he pleases.
Continue reading “Sketchfest Review: Reggie Watts, Garfunkel & Oates at Mezzanine, 2/1/12”
Sketchfest Review: Eddie Izzard: In Conversation with Greg Proops at the Palace Of Fine Arts, 1/25/2012
We’ve all had that experience of longing to see our favorite superstars in an up-close-and-personal format, possibly away from the bombast and glamour that comes with huge live shows or blockbuster movie performances. The real question, however, is whether we really ARE prepared to approach them in such an intimate setting, especially where most of the gusto and persona is shelved, or at least tuned downward, to reveal the human being that exists behind the fame and glory. We might find ourselves rather disarmed, or hopefully plenty intrigued, when our heros — be they musical, comedic, or of the silver screen — come and tell the tales of times less fortunate, the struggles they experienced, or their hopes and dreams that may be in an entirely unexpected avenue.
Also, when you’re Eddie Izzard, and you show up to San Francisco NOT in full transvestite regalia, you’ll probably throw some people off — but the crowd at this sold-out show at the Palace Of Fine Arts seemed to love every minute of this special opportunity to see the Yemen-born, English-raised, world-celebrated comedian in some of his most personal and self-expressive moments.
Sketchfest Review: Stella at Mezzanine, 1/21/12
Spinning Platters’ writers Christopher Rogers and Dakin Hardwick both got to enjoy a performance by Stella: Michael Ian Black, David Wain, and Michael Showalter‘s nightclub show.
Instead of boring you with a typical “review” of the show, Spinning Platters is opening the fourth wall, and allowing you into the personal lives of these two legendary journalists. This is a transcript of a private chat between the two, discussing the show on Google Chat.
After the jump, you will learn how a writer thinks.
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Sketchfest Review: The Meltdown with Kumail Nanjiani, Jonah Ray and many more at Cobb’s Comedy Club, 1/28/2012
On Wednesdays, in Los Angeles, you can go to Meltdown Comics and see comedy in the back of a comic book store. On Saturday night in San Francisco, hosts Kumail Nanjiani and Jonah Ray brought the comics but left the store behind. What this meant is that we were treated to a long and varied night of stand-up from a number of Meltdown regulars without a single back issue in sight. A small group of Spinning Platters writers were there, and Marie Carney and I are going to take on the task of telling you as much as possible about each comedian while saying as little as possible, and of course not burning material. That’s right: capsule reviews! Continue reading “Sketchfest Review: The Meltdown with Kumail Nanjiani, Jonah Ray and many more at Cobb’s Comedy Club, 1/28/2012”
Sketchfest Review: An Evening With Ann Magnuson at Yoshi’s – Oakland, 1/24/12
Sketchfest brought made it’s way to Oakland for the first time. The performer that brought the fest across the incredibly long bridge was legendary performance artist Ann Magnuson, debuting her new show, A Salon des Beaux Arts for the Fin du Monde 2012. SpinningPlatters were lucky to be able to enjoy this intimate show at Oakland’s legendary jazz club/Japanese restaurant Yoshi’s.
Continue reading “Sketchfest Review: An Evening With Ann Magnuson at Yoshi’s — Oakland, 1/24/12”
Sketchfest Review: The Thrilling Adventure Hour at Marines’ Memorial Theatre, 1/21/2012
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.
10 Quick Questions with Ann Magnuson
Ann Magnuson is a cult hero that has been involved in nearly every artistic movement of the last 30 years. She has been a part of the punk world, the rave movement, starred in network sitcoms, and has done pretty much everything. She is debuting her latest show, The Drawing Room Apocalypse at Yoshi’s in Oakland on Tuesday, January 24th and Wednesday, January 25th as part of San Francisco’s Sketchfest. Tickets are available here! Spinning Platters had a chance to talk to talk to her about her many projects.
Spinning Platters Interview: David Owen, Janet Varney, and Cole Stratton: Founders of SF Sketchfest
In 2002, three Bay Area comics organized a festival featuring some of their favorite local sketch groups. They dubbed it Sketchfest, and it was a success. The next year, comedy legend Fred Willard joined the event, and every year subsequent year, the event became bigger and bigger. This year’s festival has grown to 2 1/2 weeks long, and features the biggest line up yet, featuring the likes of Eddie Izzard, Amy Poehler, Wil Wheaton, Barry Bostwick, and scores of other people so famous that even your grandparents know who they are. (You may need to ask your grandparents who Barry Bostwick is)
SpinningPlatters had the opportunity to chat with founders David Owen, Janet Varney, and Cole Stratton about the evolution of the festival, the struggles of putting it on every year, where to grab a burrito, and a whole ton of hypothetical situations that were good fun to ask. Be sure to go to SFSketchfest.com to check out the line-up and purchase tickets.