SF Sketchfest's parade of comedy stars continues for second weekend
The 22nd annual SF Sketchfest rolls into its second weekend with an array of comedy shows at venues across San Francisco including appearances by such luminaries as Paul Reiser, Phil Rosenthal, Dulcé Sloan and more.
Plenty of national names will be making appearances this year as SF Sketchfest presents such television and film legends as "Saturday Night Live" veteran and comic acting great Bill Murray performing with his cover band Blood Brothers, iconic pop music parodist "Weird" Al Yankovic, the entire cast of groundbreaking sketch comedy shows "The Kids in the Hall" and "The State" -- who appear collectively and in a variety of combinations -- and actor and singer Tim Curry (The Rocky Horror Picture Show, It, Legend) for a conversation with legendary local drag queen Peaches Christ. There will also be tributes to such talents as actors Kathryn Hahn and Richard Kind, salutes to the television shows "Futurama" and "Childrens Hospital," a wide array of staged podcasts and talk shows, appearances by stand-up talents Aparna Nancherla, Dana Gould (in his Dr. Z guise), Maria Bamford and Brendan Scannell, and celebrated improv troupes The Upright Citizens Brigade, The Groundlings and SF favorites Killing My Lobster.
Friday's schedule features several nationally known comedy talents with former correspondent on "The Daily Show" (and occasional host since the departure of Trevor Noah) Dulcé Sloan headlining a sold-out stand-up show at Cobb's Comedy Club and Fire Island and "Loot" star Joel Kim Booster bringing his "Rude Little Pig" show to the Great American Music Hall. Cobb's will also host Tinder Live! With Lane Moore, the comic's critically acclaimed cult hit where Moore projects her dating app onto a screen, scrolls through profiles live on stage, taking an audience vote on whether to swipe right or left with guests Busy Philipps and Paul F. Tompkins. Meanwhile, the Gateway Theatre presents Riffapalooza with original "Mystery Science Theater 3000" and "RiffTrax" writers and actors Bill Corbett, Kevin Murphy, Frank Conniff and Mary Jo Pehl making fun of a full-length b-movie alongside regular participants and SF Sketchfest co-founders Cole Stratton, and Janet Varney. The Eclectic Box in the Mission District and the Lost Church in North Beach will showcase a mix of stand-up and sketch improv and Club Fugazi hosts a pair of comedy gameshows.
Saturday's entertainment begins early with a 1 p.m. staging of Comedian Clash: A Gameshow Experience where host Jacquis Neal he invites comic friends Tone Bell, Marie Faustin, Josh Gondelman, Pallavi Gunalan, Lane Moore, Amy Schneider, Dulcé Sloan and Matt Walsh to face off at Cobb's (the show returns Sunday afternoon with a slightly different line-up that includes Aparna Nancherla, Tori Piskin, Leonard Smith, Jr., and Paul F. Tompkins). Later in the afternoon, the club features Joel Kim Booster guest hosting Bad Dates, a storytelling show where participants Peaches Christ, Spike Einbinder, and Dave Mizzoni look back on their most mortifying swims in the dating pool. At the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, the popular food-focused podcast Doughboys presents co-hosts Mike Mitchell and Nick Wiger arguing about chain restaurants and anything else they can think of, while old-time radio show style podcast The Thrilling Adventure Hour holds the first of two sold-out performances at Club Fugazi with writers/co-creaters Ben Acker and Ben Blacker and all-star players include Tompkins, Philipps, Marc Evan Jackson, Mark Gagliardi, Craig Cackowski, Autumn Reeser, Annie Savage, Hal Lublin, and Varney with special guests David Dastmalchian, Vella Lovell and Kevin McDonald.
Saturday will also include the return of the "Upright Citizen Brigade" long-form improv show ASSSSCAT with a pair of performances at the Marines' Memorial Theatre. The early sold-out show includes UCB founder Walsh, Ali Ghandour, Echo Kellum, Hillary Anne Matthews, Oscar Montoya, Rekha Shankar and special guest monologist Dana Gould. Back at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, Phil Rosenthal -- the "Everybody Loves Raymond" creator, comedy writer, author and star of the Netflix food and travel show "Everybody Feed Phil" -- presents his podcast Naked Lunch with co-host David Wild and special guest, actor and comedian Paul Reiser ("Mad About You," "Stranger Things," Aliens).
The Sunday afternoon schedule holds such left field delights as The London Cycling Man, a character comedy/drag king show at the Eclectic Box created by Kathy Maniura, a 2023 finalist in the European drag king competition Man Up!, the improvised Powerpoint presentation/competition Speechless Live with Craig Cackowski, David Dastmalchian, Jacquis Neal, and Cole Stratton, and guest judges Samm Levine and Sloan at Club Fugazi and The Neighborhood Listen at the Gateway Theatre with Paul F. Tompkins, Nicole Parker, Brett Morris and guest Ali Ghandour exploring their hometown of Dignity Falls via posts from a certain neighborhood social networking app. Sunday evening highlights include Hangin' with Dr. Z, comic Gould's portrayal of eccentric, 1970s era talk-show host (convincingly made up as Doctor Zaius from the Planet of the Apes franchise) for interviews with David Dastmalchian, Jackie Harris Greenberg, Paul Greenberg, McDonald and Varney at Cobb's and the Gateway's staging of Wrong Answers Only, host Chris Duffy's science focused interactive show that will feature Bay Area biologist Natalie Reeder and guests Levine, Nancherla and Sloan. For more information on the SF Sketchfest including the full schedule and tickets, visit the festival's website.