SF Sketchfest 2018

SF Sketchfest is proud to present a series of shows with some of the best emerging sketch, improv, solo and musical comedy acts from throughout the country and North America! $15
This show is SOLD OUT. Tickets may be available at the door night-of.

Join comics Emma Willmann and Matteo Lane on "Inside The Closet" as they share their experiences of being gay comics in mainstream culture. Listen in as these two wild up-and-comers discuss navigating the choppy waters of a modern dating/sex scene as well as current hot topics such as who Trump’s most attractive kid is.
$20

It's time for Animaniacs! The beloved show turns 25, and SF Sketchfest is proud to celebrate it with an evening of stories, songs and general tomfoolery with three of the massive talents behind the show -- Rob Paulson (Yakko, Pinky, Dr. Scratchansniff), Maurice LaMarche (The Brain) and the man responsible for the amazing wordplay and music in the show, Randy Rogel. $30 
Co-Presented by the Cartoon Art Museum
This show is SOLD OUT. Tickets may be available at the door night-of.

TED Talks are influential videos from expert speakers on education, business, science, tech, and creativity. Fake TED Talks are simply hilarious. With all of the bullet points and none of the facts, Jonathan Coulton, Jean Grae, Travis McElroy, Paul and Storm, Mike Phirman, and Kirsten Vangsness, will present a well-rehearsed presentation, live, in the present. With a performance by Picture Show. $25
This show is SOLD OUT. Tickets may be available at the door night-of.

SF Sketchfest is thrilled to pay tribute to entertainment icon Dick Cavett on the 50th anniversary of his debut program, "The Dick Cavett Show." Cavett will sit down with friends John Hodgman, Lance Bangs and Dave Hill for an evening of conversation and never-before-seen footage.

Three-time Emmy Award winner Dick Cavett has been nominated for the award eleven times - most recently in 2012 for the HBO special, Mel Brooks and Dick Cavett Together Again. Spanning five decades, Cavett’s television career has defined excellence in the interview format. He started at ABC in 1968, and also enjoyed success on CBS, PBS, USA and CNBC. His most recent television successes were the PBS specials, Dick Cavett’s Watergate (2014), and Dick Cavett’s Vietnam (2015). He has hosted numerous other shows as well, including Faces of Japan for PBS, and HBO specials on magic (a special passion of his), and three HBO series: Time Was, Yesteryear, and Remember When. With guest appearances on numerous television programs, including Cheers, The Simpsons and The Odd Couple, Cavett has also appeared in a dozen feature films including Beetlejuice and Forrest Gump. Cavett has hosted Saturday Night Live twice, and occasionally sat in for fellow Nebraskan Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show, where he started as a writer for Jack Paar and Carson.

After many radio and stage productions at Yale University, and later at summer theatre festivals including Williamstown, Cavett made his Broadway debut in 1977 as the lead in Otherwise Engaged. He returned to Broadway in 1988 as the narrator in Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods, and also played the narrator, often ad lib, in the Broadway production of The Rocky Horror Show (2000-2002.) He recently starred in an off-Broadway production of Hellman v. McCarthy in 2014 and reprised the role at Theatre 40 in Los Angeles in 2015.

Cavett has published four books beginning with Cavett (1974) and Eye on Cavett (1983), co-authored with Christopher Porterfield. His two recent books—Talk Show: Confrontations, Pointed Commentary, and Off- Screen Secrets (2010) and Brief Encounters: Conversations, Magic Moments, and Assorted Hijinks (2014)—are both collections of his online opinion column, written for The New York Times since 2007. Additionally, he has written for numerous publications including The New Yorker, TV Guide, and Vanity Fair. $35

Brent is a winner and recipient of the Andy Kaufman Award, which is given out once a year to recognize innovation in stand-up comedy. He is also responsible for various internet video sensations such as Gangster Party Line, Mind Jack,and Ultimate Drumming Technique, as well as the cult web series, Pound House. Brent has appeared on "Conan," "Lopez Tonight," Comedy Central ("The Meltdown," "@midnight," "Kroll Show," "Another Period"), IFC, ABC, and Adult Swim, and also toured with the Comedians of Comedy. $22

From the producers of Never Not Funny, "Playing Games with Jimmy Pardo" is a funny and fast-paced pop culture trivia game show hosted by comedian and veteran game show host Jimmy Pardo (National Lampoon's Funny Money, Race to Escape). Joined by celebrity guest co-host Andy Richter for this SF Sketchfest show, Jimmy welcomes three contestants and puts them through their paces, testing their knowledge of movies, TV, music and headlines from the last five decades. The one who makes it to the final round will compete against our celebrity guest to win a fabulous grand prize, but the real prize is all the laughs delivered along the way! $25

Asian AF (Asian As F***) is the hit Asian American variety show held at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in both Los Angeles and New York. Asian AF spotlights the most talented Asian American comedians, actors, improvisers, musicians, dancers, and storytellers. A typical show features a stand-up comedian, a sketch portion, a musical element, sketch videos, and an improv team - with a new cast every month.Every show has sold out since its debut in November 2016, some selling out in only a few hours. Due to the immense popularity in Los Angeles, Asian AF was brought to New York in June 2017 and met with the same excitement. The show has been featured on news sites such as NBC News, ABC News, LA Times, Splitsider, ATTN, and many more. Previous guests include Margaret Cho, Aparna Nancherla, Eugene Cordero, Kulap Vilaysack, Sheng Wang, Joel Kim Booster, Keiko Agena, Suzy Nakamura, Manny Jacinto, Hudson Yang, and Ronny Chieng. $18
This show is SOLD OUT. Tickets may be available at the door night-of.

Maniac Bowl is the show that features the best comics in San Francisco discuss the worst people in the universe. In Maniac Bowl, a panel of standup comics and the audience come together to answer one question: Who’s the biggest maniac of all time? To answer this question, the panel and the audience enter history’s most infamous dictators, serial killers, child actors and weirdos into a winner-take-all, all-maniac tournament bracket from which only one maniac will emerge with the title of Maniac Bowl Champion. The comics argue, riff, advocate and work the crowd to move maniacs through the bracket; but the audience makes all the important decisions. It’s the only comedy show that combines the edge-of-your-seat excitement of the NCAA tournament with the macabre thrills of discussing your favorite psychos, perverts and elected officials from reliably Republican districts. Maniac Bowl is the light, silly comedy show for our dark, twisted times. Maniac Bowl was created in 2012 and performed at private parties and house shows until May 2016. From May 2016 on it has been regularly occurring at venues throughout the Bay Area including Doc's Lab, PianoFight, and the 142 Throckmorton Theater. $15

The SF Sketchfest Dozen: The Next Wave of Stand-Up Comedy StarsSF Sketchfest presents a pairing from a dozen hand-picked stand-up comedians on the rise: names you might not know now, but will be hearing a lot from soon. JOSH FADEM may currently be seen recurring on Showtime’s TWIN PEAKS for David Lynch and recurs on AMC’s BETTER CALL SAUL. Josh also appeared on HBO’s ANIMALS and was one of the leads in Sony’s feature FREAKS OF NATURE. His previous credits include THE MASTER, a recurring role on 30 ROCK as Liz Lemon’s agent, SUPERSTORE, EAGLEHEART with Chris Elliott, ANOTHER PERIOD, TRIPTANK, JEFF AND SOME ALIENS, AMERICAN DAD and KEY AND PEELE. Josh has been named a “Comic to Watch” by Variety, Nylon Magazine, Comedy Central, and the New York Comedy Festival.RAMON RIVAS is a standup comedian and eminent Latino from Cleveland, OH now residing in Los Angeles. Resonating a low-fi swag with a fine taste in jokes, juices, and dope sandwiches, Ramon made a name for himself by spending time in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles while building up the independent comedy scene in Cleveland through his ACCIDENTAL COMEDY productions, performing as often as possible for a gently employed stoner. In 2016, he recorded his television debut, an episode on the 2016 season of THE HALF HOUR with COMEDY CENTRAL. Ramon has since appeared on @MIDNIGHT (winning July 21), MTV Decoded, VICELAND, and made his acting debut on Season 4 of BROAD CITY. He will also appear in the upcoming season of HBO’s CRASHING. $24
This show is SOLD OUT. Tickets may be available at the door night-of.

SF Sketchfest is proud to present a series of shows with some of the best emerging sketch, improv, solo and musical comedy acts from throughout the country and North America! $15
This show is SOLD OUT. Tickets may be available at the door night-of.

Remember The Alamo -- and the time that you saw SF Sketchfest take over House 5 for a series of stand-up comedy showcases with some of the best emerging joke tellers in the nation! And a few from Canada, too. $15
This show is SOLD OUT. Tickets may be available at the door night-of.

Spontaneanation with Paul F. Tompkins is a completely improvised show, from monologue to interview to narrative sketch. Join Paul, his special interview guest Tony Hale, his incredibly talented improviser friends Eugene Cordero, Tawny Newsome, and Janet Varney, and amazing accompanist Eban Schletter for an hour of comedy that none of them ever see coming. $30
This show is SOLD OUT. Tickets may be available at the door night-of.

The Allusionist is an award-winning podcast about language and how and why we humans use it the way we do. It's fun. It's informative. It's...funformative? Steady on there with the portmanteaus, please. $25
 

SF Sketchfest is proud to present a series of shows with some of the best emerging sketch, improv, solo and musical comedy acts from throughout the country and North America! $15
This show is SOLD OUT. Tickets may be available at the door night-of.

MATTEO LANE is a New York-based comedian, originally from Chicago.  Matteo is in the new Comedy Central series THE COMEDY JAM, and also recently performed on THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT, LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS and Comedy Central’s ADAM DEVINE’S HOUSE PARTY.  He can also be seen on MTV’s GIRL CODE and MTV2’s GUY CODE, and the IFC holiday special AT JOE’S PUB alongside Tony Hale and the Dap Kings.
Matteo also recently co-created an IFC digital series called JANICE & JEFFREY that he stars in, and is developing an animated project with Titmouse.  In 2014, Matteo was selected to be a New Face at the Just For Laughs festival Montreal.  Before starting stand up, Matteo lived in Italy as an oil painter and opera singer.




Maine native and Comedy Cellar regular, Emma Willmann is one of the top comedians in New York City.  Emma made her late night debut on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2016 and has also  performed standup on Fuse’s Uproarious, Seeso’s Night Train with Wyatt Cenac, and The Guest  List and AXS TV’s Gotham Comedy Live. In 2017, Emma had the opportunity to record a set for the CNN series The History of Comedy. Later this year you can catch Emma on the MTV International talking head series Vidiots and the web series Gay Girl Straight Girl.
In addition to television, Emma has her own comedy show The Check Spot on SiriusXM, is a regular on Wake Up with Taylor, and is currently the host of the First Time podcast.  In 2015, Emma was selected as a New Face at the prestigious Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal. She’s also appeared at The Glasgow International Comedy Festival, Houston’s Whatever Fest, San Francisco Sketchfest, the SiriusXM South Beach Comedy Festival, the Bridgetown Comedy Festival, the Mardi Gras Comedy Festival in Australia, and the New York Comedy Festival. Emma has also performed at colleges all clubs all over the country.
In addition to touring as a headliner, Emma has opened for distinguished acts such as Louie Anderson, Louis CK, and Carly Aquilino. Emma beat out hundreds of comedians to be named one of the 10 Funniest comics as part of Caroline’s New York’s Funniest competition in 2014. She’s also been named one of the 10  Funniest Woman in NYC by Time Out NY and one of the 100 Woman We Love by GO  Magazine. In 2016, Emma was featured in Elle Magazine’s Women in Comedy issue.
This show is SOLD OUT. Tickets may be available at the door night-of.

A Todd Barry show consists of two things: amazing jokes and amazing crowd work. On this 30th anniversary tour, he's not doing the amazing jokes. That's right, an entire show of riffing and bantering with the audience. Could be good! $25
This show is SOLD OUT. Tickets may be available at the door night-of.

The SF Sketchfest Dozen: The Next Wave of Stand-Up Comedy StarsSF Sketchfest presents a pairing from a dozen hand-picked stand-up comedians on the rise: names you might not know now, but will be hearing a lot from soon. JOSH FADEM may currently be seen recurring on Showtime’s TWIN PEAKS for David Lynch and recurs on AMC’s BETTER CALL SAUL. Josh also appeared on HBO’s ANIMALS and was one of the leads in Sony’s feature FREAKS OF NATURE. His previous credits include THE MASTER, a recurring role on 30 ROCK as Liz Lemon’s agent, SUPERSTORE, EAGLEHEART with Chris Elliott, ANOTHER PERIOD, TRIPTANK, JEFF AND SOME ALIENS, AMERICAN DAD and KEY AND PEELE. Josh has been named a “Comic to Watch” by Variety, Nylon Magazine, Comedy Central, and the New York Comedy Festival.RAMON RIVAS is a standup comedian and eminent Latino from Cleveland, OH now residing in Los Angeles. Resonating a low-fi swag with a fine taste in jokes, juices, and dope sandwiches, Ramon made a name for himself by spending time in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles while building up the independent comedy scene in Cleveland through his ACCIDENTAL COMEDY productions, performing as often as possible for a gently employed stoner. In 2016, he recorded his television debut, an episode on the 2016 season of THE HALF HOUR with COMEDY CENTRAL. Ramon has since appeared on @MIDNIGHT (winning July 21), MTV Decoded, VICELAND, and made his acting debut on Season 4 of BROAD CITY. He will also appear in the upcoming season of HBO’s CRASHING. $24

Hosts: Cory Sklar, Shelby Cobras
Co-Hosts: Aloysius Cummings, Erik Thybony, Sara Murphy, Aesop Dekker
House Band: Steve Peacock (Pale Chalice), Zack Farwell (Grayceon, Walken), Shelby Lermo (Vastum)
What would happen if Cannibal Corpse and Coast 2 Coast AM made sweet, sweet love? And what if the resulting fetus were nursed to maturity by a tag team comprised of Eric Andre and the bassline from 'Seinfeld'? The outcome, of course, would surely be a hideously-mangled shoggoth of comedic psychedelia resembling the entity known as ILLOGICAL CONTRAPTION. 
Beginning as a music blog in December 2008, IllCon has grown and mutated over the years, first morphing into a live radio show/podcast, but sprouting slippery tentacles into the realms of video, stage, merchandising, and street pranksterism as well. Eventually birthing two spin-off shows (IllCon: Nights After Dark and Death Metal Dads, respectively), hosts Cory, Shelby, Erik, Al, and Sara have seen a parade of diverse guests pass through their wriggling airwaves: comedians like Dave Attel, Gilbert Gottfried, Greg Proops, and Brian Posehn, musicians such as Oderus Urungus from GWAR and Genesis P. Orridge from Psychic TV--even fringe weirdos like Longmont Potion Castle, Peaches Christ, and... Alex Trebek? 
It's been a strange and ultimately goofy upbringing, but the Illcon Toddler keeps lumbering forward, leaving a tepid miasma of half-baked comedy, conspiracy theory, heavy metal, pop culture, and general stupidity in its wake. 2018 will mark Illogical Contraption third appearance at SF Sketchfest, and their first within the confines of the historic Cafe du Nord. Theirs is a show not to be missed, as to describe it with words would be an impossible task--even for a madman.
$15

Jordan, Jesse, Go! is a freewheeling comedy podcast about life in your twenties and everything else. Your hosts are Jesse Thorn, "America's Radio Sweetheart," and Jordan Morris, "Boy Detective." $25

Actress and comedian Janeane Garofalo has been an American institution since she burst on the scene in 1992.


Janeane has had many memorable and critically acclaimed roles in films such as “The Truth About Cats and Dogs,” “Wet Hot American Summer,” “Ratatouille,” “Steal This Movie,” “Reality Bites,” “Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion,” “Mystery Men,” “The Ten” and “The Cable Guy”. Janeane also co-authored the best seller “Feel This Book,” with Ben Stiller.


Janeane was a cast member of the Emmy Award-winning Ben Stiller Show and played the role of Paula, the acerbic talent booker, on “The Larry Sanders Show,” for which she received an Emmy nomination. During the fall of ’94 she joined the cast of “Saturday Night Live.” Some of Janeane’s other television work includes two specials for HBO, FOX’s “24,” “Mad About You,” and the final season of NBC’s “The West Wing,” where she played Democratic campaign strategist Louise Thornton.


In addition to acting in film and television, Janeane is an outspoken activist, spoken word performer and stand-up comedy entertainer known and respected around the world. She was instrumental in the successful launching of the first liberal radio network, Air America Radio, where she hosted her own talk show, “The Majority Report.” A lightning rod for controversy, Janeane’s well informed opinions and unflinching honesty have inspired laughs, as well as striking a chord with the left, right and everyone in between. $30
This show is SOLD OUT. Tickets may be available at the door night-of.

SF Sketchfest is proud to present a series of shows with some of the best emerging sketch, improv, solo and musical comedy acts from throughout the country and North America! $15