The 21st annual comedy festival SF Sketchfest is back starting Thursday, featuring everything from a freshly crowned Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actor to a puppet dog that mostly just makes poop jokes.

As of last year, we are back to doing SF Sketchfest in person, and Thursday kicks off 16 days of the 21st SF Sketchfest Comedy Festival. This year's festival will feature a Porchlight show with our old friends Beth Lisick and Arlinne Klatt, with featured storytellers Paul Giamatti — who’s fresh off winning the Best Actor Critics' Choice Movie Award for The Holdovers — and Bob Odenkirk, who’s fresh off winning precisely zero Emmy Awards whatsoever for Better Call Saul, which was nominated 53 times.

The nonsense begins Thursday night with Eric Idle in Eric Idle but Jeff B. Davis. The former Monty Python member Idle recently claimed, “It may be the last show I ever do.” Is he just saying that to drive up ticket sales? Tune in Thursday to find out!

There are also four Kids in the Hall shows scheduled, and at this point, only one of them is sold out (though that performance will be available via streaming).

“It’s just a very great festival,” Kids in the Hall’s Scott Thompson tells the Bay Area News Group. “They take really good care of you, and there’s all kinds of comedy, improv, clown shows, standup. It’s probably the biggest, most diverse comedy [festival] I’ve ever been involved in. Comedians are so often on the road, and we have such itinerant lives. We’re all over the place, and these festivals are really good when you get to connect with people that you haven’t seen in a long time.”

A few standout movie parodies also highlight the schedule, including "Exorcistic" (Saturday, January 20 at Club Fugazi), "The Fast and the Furious: A Musical Parody" (Thursday, February 1 at the Great Star Theatre), and "The Real Housewives: The Unauthorized Musical Parody" (Sunday, February 4 at The Marsh).

A couple are of these shows will be available for streaming, including next Wednesday's sold-out Kids in the Hall show at the Great Star Theater, and this Sunday night’s Triumph the Insult Comic Dog’s ‘Let’s Make a Poop’ at the Castro that will also feature “Weird Al" Yankovic.

SF Sketchfest runs Thursday, January 20 through Sunday, February 4. Schedule and tickets here.

Related: SF Sketchfest Returns In-Person Friday, Will Finally Celebrate Twice-Delayed 20th Anniversary [SFist]

Image: Tommy Lau via SF Sketchfest

There’s nothing funny about a comedy festival canceling in-person shows for two years in a row, but there will be plenty of funny happening when SF Sketchfest finally returns in person Friday, with Fred Armisen, Maria Bamford, Janeane Garofalo, John Hodgman, and lots more.

The San Francisco born-and-bred comedy festival SF Sketchfest would have celebrated its 20th anniversary in January 2021. But coming off the disaster film that was the year 2020, Sketchfest had to cancel and just do that year’s show as a livestream. We had higher hopes for 2022, but the Omicron variant postponed those performances, and that year’s festival too was fully scrapped. But that twice-delayed 20th anniversary SF Sketchfest is now less than two days away, and SFist can say with reasonable confidence that SF Sketchfest 2023 will be happening, running from Friday, January 20 to Sunday, February 5 at venues all across San Francisco.

The original SF Sketchfest 2023 announcement dropped in the Chronicle in early December, and at that point the confirmed lineup included a three-night “Comedy for Bass Players” show with Fred Armisen, a Mighty Wind cast reunion (currently sold out, sorry), and a Celebrity Roast of Bruce Campbell with Peaches Christ and Elvira Mistress of the Dark scheduled to do some of the roasting.

Lots of other big shows have been announced since! Blockbuster stars added to the bill include Maria Bamford and David Cross, plus tribute shows featuring Cheech and Chong, Laraine Newman, David Alan Grier, and Elliott Gould.

A whole mess of local favorite SF comics are scheduled too. Just to name a few: Our beloved SF expat Kate Willett returns for three shows, cult-hit local comics like Nato Green and Irene Tu have shows, and sketch comedy troupe Killing My Lobster will be joined by some improv acts.

And some shows will have a livestream component, like the Viva Variety Reunion, John Hodgman, and the previously mentioned Bruce Campbell roast.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Sketchfest without Janeane Garofalo, who has performed at this festival more times than she could count in a recent Bay Area News Group interview. Per the News Group, “Garofalo will be headlining a standup show and participating in events including ‘The 6 Year Anniversary of the 10 Year Anniversary of the Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival’ (alongside Bobcat Goldthwait, Sarah Vowell, Reggie Watts and others); ‘Stop Joking for 100 Years and Other Requests from My Kid (Stories of Parenting and Childhood)’; ‘Tinder Live with Lane Moore’; and ‘Hound Tall with Moshe Kasher Farewell Show.’”

Garofolo admitted to the News Group that she was just learning in the interview that she’d been added to the “Stop Joking for 100 Years and Other Requests from My Kid” show.  “Oh, am I doing that?” she told the News Group. “I don’t have children! I haven’t parented.”

SF Sketchfest runs Friday, January 20 through Sunday, February 5. Schedule and tickets here.

Related: Sketchfest Cancels 2022 Entirely, Postpones the Whole Deal to 2023 [SFist]

Image: Tommy Lau, SF Sketchfest

Just two weeks after postponing Sketchfest 2022 indefinitely, the two-week comedy festival announced Friday morning that they’re not trying this again until next year, and waiting it out for 2023.

SFist did not want to be writing posts like this in 2022, but 14 days into the new year, here we are. The popular annual comedy show Sketchfest announced Friday morning that they’re canceling the 2022 edition of the festival, the Chronicle reports. This comes almost two weeks to the day after the event postponed Sketchfest 2022 indefinitely, and raises the specter that this will be yet another year of cancellations and postponements.

“SF Sketchfest has been rescheduled for Jan. 20 - Feb. 5, 2023!,” organizers said in a Friday morning tweet. “The vast majority of existing shows will still be presented at the festival. All ticket holders will be contacted directly as soon as possible with new dates, details and options.”

This is obviously an Omicron wave concern, but an additional organizer statement indicates that securing venues was also a difficult for a show that could not yet not commit to dates.

“Due to venue availability, 2023 is the earliest we can present the festival as planned, but we can’t wait to safely laugh along with you then,” SF Sketchfest co-founders David Owen, Cole Stratton, and Janet Varney said in an online update. “While we’re disappointed to spend another year apart, the health and safety of our audience, performers, and staff comes first.”

Last year would have been the 20th SF Sketchfest, and they kind of held it in the form of a one-night livestream. Now the 20th iteration of the event is effectively delayed another year. Moreover, we would already be a week into the originally planned 20th SF Sketchfest, and the event page is sadly displaying all the postponed events that would be in progress.

Related: Taylor Mac's 'Joy and Pandemic' Premiere Postponed at Magic Theatre [SFist]

Image: SF Sketchfest, Pat Mazzara via Facebook

The delayed 20th anniversary of the comedy festival Sketchfest is delayed yet again, but organizers insist “Hang on to your tickets!” for a future rescheduling.

Last year would have been the 20th annual Sketchfest, the January laugh-in that, in a normal year, gets us out of the house and away from football and whatever new Boba Fett and Baby Yoda series is streaming. But last year's Sketchfest was whittled to a mere one-night livestream, as those were some of the darkest days of COVID-19. The glorious in-person return of Sketchfest was scheduled for January 7-23, 2022, at various venues across town. But, stop me if you’ve heard this one before….

“Due to the rising number of Omicron cases, we’re sorry to announce the postponement of the 2022 Sketchfest,” Sketchfest organizers said in a Thursday announcement. “Bringing people together to laugh and celebrate comedy is what SF Sketchfest does best. Until it is safe to do so, the festival will hit pause on the events planned for next month.”

This is absolutely the right call, and our hearts go out to festival staff. As their announcement notes, “We have also had some artists and staff members test positive for COVID.”

So… what if you already bought tickets to this festival that was supposed to be starting in just eight days? “We are asking all ticket holders to hold on to their tickets while dates are being rescheduled,” the announcement continues. “All ticket holders will be contacted directly in the coming weeks with new dates, details, and options.”

It had been a hell of a lineup, and we’ll see how much of it emerges intact upon rescheduling.  The lineup featured Maria Bamford, David Cross, a celebrity roast of Bruce Campbell, a.k.a. the guy who made sounds with his mouth in the Police Academy movies, and a whole lot more.

We hope all of that is successfully rescheduled, but, more importantly, we hope that the artists and staff are all perfectly safe and healthy come whatever rescheduled Sketchfest may bring.

Related: SF Cancels New Year’s Eve Fireworks Display Amidst Skyrocketing COVID-19 Case Count [SFist]

Image: @SFSketchfest via Twitter

SF Sketchfest has been whittled down to just a one-night livestream this Saturday, but still has dozens of the biggest names in comedy.

Every Saturday night for approximately the last ten months has been a “[preferred streaming service] and chill” kind of affair, just without the implied sex part. A few beloved annual events have made a pretty good go at turning their weekend-long festivals into streaming affairs, and another these biggies looms to make this Saturday night suck substantially less than the last 45 or so Saturday nights, as KQED reports that SF Sketchfest will go on this year as a star-studded livestream called Festpocalypse!

The full line-up seen below has the same caliber of terrific nationally known names as in previous years, but the show will last just a few hours instead of its normal few weeks.

The price of admission is a mere $20, but there are premium, higher priced packages that offer enamel pins, beanies, or some sort of virtual afterparty at PianoFight. The show starts at 5 p.m. on Saturday, January 30 and festival organizers say it will go “for at least a few hours. Think longer than Godfather I, but probably not as long as Godfather II.”

It’s a totally new show, not canned or prerecorded stuff from previous years, and we are being promised “comedy sketches, improvised scenes, game shows, ridiculous debates, musical performances and chats with entertainment icons.” Headliners include a Mr. Show reunion of David Cross and Bob Odenkirk, Kids in the Hall, and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.

But there’s a whole mess of great acts scheduled on the undercard too, including locals like Peaches Christ, sort-of locals like Margaret Cho, and beloved old standbys like Patton Oswalt and “Weird Al” Yankovic.

A perusal of the SF Sketchfest Twitter feed shows they’re adding new acts on the daily, so there are some great acts not listed here that probably will be scheduled by Saturday.

SF Sketchfest Festpacolyse! is Saturday, January 30 at 5 p.m., Tickets here, show will be available on demand through Monday night February 1.

Related: Peaches Christ Brings Stars Of 'Rocky Horror Picture Show' To Castro For Sketchfest [SFist]

Images: Left: HBO , Right: Volcano Records

It is a telling sign of the times that this year’s SF Sketchfest lineup has more star power than the upcoming inauguration of the President of the United States. This year’s 16th annual SF Sketchfest, kicking off tonight at The Curran, offers 257 shows at 17 venues over 17 nights (and days on the weekends!), with a combination of big-name comedy celebrities and the finest locally sourced Bay Area funny people. We’ve sketched out a primer of the prime Sketchfest 2017 standup acts, storytelling events, drag shows, and live podcasts that still have tickets available and are not yet sold out. (Note: Every show with Jon Hamm is sold out. Here are your other available options.)

Thursday, January 12
StarTalk Live with Bill Nye the Science Guy
The StarTalk podcast, which begat the StarTalk TV show, begets StarTalk Live which tonight is nigh upon us with Bill Nye the Science Guy and Bob’s Burgers voice Eugene Mirman, plus Claudia O'Doherty, Ariel Waldman and others.
The Curran, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, January 14
Soundtracks Live: Scenes and Songs from a Classic 80s Movie
Bad 80s movies get a good send-up at this benefit for 826 Valencia, with live reenactments of movie scenes and songs featuring Viva Variety’s Michael Ian Black. Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Chelsea Peretti, and other formidably funny individuals.
Marines Memorial Theatre, 4 p.m.

Kids in the Hall: 'Brain Candy' Live Staged Reading
Original Kids Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson perform a live stage reading of their 1996 film that Roger Ebert hailed as “awful, terrible, dreadful, stupid, idiotic, unfunny, labored, forced, painful, bad.”
Castro Theatre, 7 p.m.

Jeff Goldblum and the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra
The 7:30 show is sold out, but you can still get tickets to the 10:30 late show to see Facebook meme Jeff Goldblum perform with his jazz band and engage in trivia contests.
Swedish American Hall, 10 p.m.

Images: AishaTaylor.com and Comedy Central

Sunday, January 15
Tribute to Aisha Tyler, In Conversation with John Hodgman
Archer voice and The Talk co-host Aisha Tyler gets talked up by human PC manifestation John Hodgman before both ultimately submit to an audience Q&A.
Marines Memorial Theatre, 4 p.m.

Wednesday, January 18
The Mission Position
A whole bunch of our favorite Bay Area comedians slip the surly bonds of the Alamo Drafthouse to do a glorified Sketchfest-edition Mission Position at the Punch Line with with Casey Ley, Adrian McNair, Abhay Nadkarni, Jessica Sele, Eddie Della Siepe, Irene Tu, Torio Van Grol and Kate Willett.
The Punch Line, 8 p.m.

Friday, January 20
Will Durst and Friends on Inauguration Day: What Now?
With Donald Trump now presumably sworn into office, anyone who has not yet been deported is highly encouraged to lick their wounds and laugh the pain away with Will Durst, Nato Green, Dhaya Lakshminarayanan and Brian Malow.
Cobb’s Comedy Club, 7:30 p.m.

The Grawlix Yacht Rock Party with Mustache Harbor
Mustache Harbor will perform the hits of Christopher Cross, Steely Dan and Kenny Loggins. If that’s not enough to keep you away, they’ll be joined by Talking [Insert Name of Television Show Here] host Chris Hardwick plus Jessica Kirson and Mike Phirman.
Swedish American Hall, 10 p.m.

Image: WeirdAl.com

Saturday, January 21
Rock Solid
People, this is the only “Weird Al” Yankovic show at Sketchfest that is not yet sold out. The wildly popular accordionist will be joined by Rock Solid podcast hosts Pat Francis and Kyle Dodson.
Swedish American Hall, 4 p.m.

Upright Citizens Brigade: A.S.S.S.S.C.A.T.
The Upright Citizens Brigade gets downright hilarious at an improv show featuring UCB bigwigs Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh, Jon Gabrus and Jessica McKenna.
The Curran, 7 p.m.

Porchlight at The Oasis
There are actually two Porchlight storytelling events at the Oasis for Sketchfest 2017 (the other being Friday, January 20), but at this one your hosts Beth Lisick and Arline Klatte welcome extremely famous people Tara Jepsen (Transparent), Kevin Pollak (The Usual Suspects), and others.
The Oasis, 7:30 p.m.

Image: Universal Studios

Nerdist Podcast with Chris Hardwick
Widely adored speechless GIF Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Serenity, Guardians of the Galaxy) joins Nerdist founder Chris Hardwick to wax hilariously on their runaway blockbuster careers along with fellow nerds Matt Mira and Jonah Ray.
The Curran, 10 p.m.

Sunday, January 22
A Conversation with Daniel Handler: Inside 'A Series of Unfortunate Events,' moderated by Charlie Jane Anders
Hey, the Lemony Snicket Netflix show A Series of Unfortunate Events premieres Friday, January 13! Local literary titans Daniel “Lemony Snicket” Handler and Charlie Jane Anders will discuss this and other fortunate events in a rollicking 90-minute conversation.
Swedish American Hall, 2 p.m.

SF Sketchfest Tribute to Ricky Jay
Magician, character actor, and author Ricky Jay will engage in highly intellectual, NPR-caliber conversation with musical arranger Van Dyke Parks.
Marines Memorial Theatre, 2 p.m.

SF Sketchfest Tribute to Fred Willard
Fred Willard has delighted audiences by playing the exact same character for 40 years, and his decades of hilarious feigned ignorance will be celebrated by special guests Christopher Guest, Robert Klein, and Laraine Newman.
Marines Memorial Theatre, 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, January 26
Above And Beyond The Valley Of The Ultra Showgirls
SFist was tickled pink by this glam-rock musical stage show last year, and it has Thursday, Friday, and Saturday performances in a Sketchfest closing weekend run this year.
The Oasis, 8 p.m. Thursday and 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Image: Latino Comedy Project

Friday, January 27
The Latino Comedy Project: Gentrif*cked
You’ve got four chances to see the Latino Comedy Project’s hilarious skewering of gentrification of Latino neighborhoods, with twice-nightly Friday and Saturday shows this weekend.
Brava Theater, 8 p.m. and 10:15 p.m

Saturday, January 28
Story Pirates, with Patton Oswalt and Sasheer Zamata
Humongously popular comedian Patton Oswalt only has one show at Sketchfest this year. It’s a children’s show. Would really take your kids to see Patton Oswalt? Here’s your chance.
Marines Memorial Theatre, 11 a.m.

Sunday, January 29
I Seem Fun: The Diary of Jen Kirkman Podcast
Chelsea Lately regular Jen Kirkman will do a live version of her stream-of-consciousness Diary of Jen Kirkman podcast for the Closing Night of Sketchfest 2017 that certainly…. seems fun.
Swedish American Hall, 7:30 p.m.

Related: Comedian W. Kamau Bell On SF Gentrification: 'You Know It's Bad When Even White People Are Angry'

Ta-da! SF Sketchfest 2017, the event's 16th annual incarnation, has revealed its gigantic lineup for shows from January 12-29. It's a who's who of comedy in all its forms, from film to stand-up to improv podcast or whatever is cool now. 200 shows at 20 venues over 17 days — it will be good to laugh again.

Fans of HBO's Silicon Valley can catch star Thomas Middleditch in "Teen Witch The Musical" and creator Mike Judge in a King of the Hill 20th anniversary tribute. A highlight is sure to be The Kids in the Hall’s “Brain Candy,” a live reading with Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson. There are many happy returners including personal favorite Jeff Goldblum and his jazz band, the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra. Oh, speaking of jazz, get ready for Bill Irwin with Bill Frisell doing vaudeville numbers. Meanwhile, podcast addicts can catch the Nerdist and Judge John Hodgman live, and local sketch comedy troupes and stand up comedians will be there to rep the Bay. Tickets go on sale this Sunday at 10 a.m. and range from $15 to $75 for performances and the full lineup, some of which is below, goes live today.

Coincidentally, there's more big news in the local comedy world: Deadline is reporting that Comedy Central is getting in on the festival game by partnering with Superfly, an organizer of Bonnaroo and Outside Lands. Their festival is going to be here in San Francisco for three days next summer. “The other festivals were more industry driven," Comedy Central president Kent Alterma told Deadline. "This is a totally fan-driven event for the comedy super fans."

As with Outside Lands, the "festival will bring together top comedy, amazing music and culinary lineup for a dynamic cultural experience,” Chad Issaq of Superfly told Deadline. We'll have more details on the Comedy Central festival when they're made available — for now, I'm just wondering where they're going to put this thing. Maybe some of it will be in the park, perhaps at the site of the annual Comedy Day, at Sharon Meadow: That, after all, is being renamed for its frequent highlight and secret benefactor Robin Williams.

Anyway, stay focused: Here's Sketchfest:

Sketchfest Big Nights, Tributes & Spotlights
The Kids in the Hall: “Brain Candy” Live Staged Reading with Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney and Scott Thompson
Double Bill: Bill Irwin & Bill Frisell Perform Songs and Scenes from Vaudeville, with guests Geoff Hoyle and Kenny Wollesen
Tribute to Robert Townsend and Keenen Ivory Wayans: “Hollywood Shuffle” 30th Anniversary
Tribute to Fred Willard, with special guests Christopher Guest, Robert Klein, Laraine Newman and moderator Kevin Pollak
Tribute to Tim and Eric: Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim in conversation
Tribute to Ricky Jay, in conversation
“King of the Hill” 20th Anniversary Reunion and Live Episode Read with Mike Judge, Pamela Adlon, David Herman, Toby Huss, Kathy Najimy, and Stephen Root
Salute to Peter Bogdanovich: “What’s Up, Doc?” 45th Anniversary and “Noises Off!” 25th Anniversary, co-presented by MiDNITES FOR MANiACS
“The Kentucky Fried Movie” 40th Anniversary with John Landis, Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker
“Grease 2” The Peaches Christ Experience with special guest Maxwell Caulfield
“True Stories” 30th Anniversary with The Tobolowsky Files with Stephen Tobolowsky
“Kung Pow: Enter The Fist” 15th Anniversary with Steve Oedekerk
Soundtracks Live: Scenes & Songs from a Classic 80s Movie - A Benefit for 826 Valencia with Matt Ballard, Michael Ian Black, Beth Dover, Joe Lo Truglio, Chelsea Peretti, Marisa Ryan, Michael Showalter, Bobby Tisdale, David Wain and music by Amy Miles

Podcasts, Radio Shows & Talk Shows
StarTalk Live with Bill Nye the Science Guy and Eugene Mirman
Judge John Hodgman
Nerdist Podcast with Chris Hardwick, Matt Mira, and Jonah Ray
Jen Kirkman: I Seem Fun
The JV Club with Janet Varney and special guest Jon Hamm
Stuff You Should Know with Josh and Chuck
Crybabies with Susan Orlean and Sarah Thyre and guests Dave Hill, Mary Roach, and Adam Savage
How To Be Amazing with Michael Ian Black and special guest Grace Helbig
Harmontown with Dan Harmon and Jeff B. Davis
Spontaneanation with Paul F. Tompkins and guests Eugene Cordero, Tawny Newsome, Eban Schletter, Janet Varney, and more
“Hold On with Eugene Mirman” with Andy Richter and more
Come To Papa with Tom Papa, with guests Matt Besser, Natasha Leggero, and more
Comedy Film Nerds with Graham Elwood and Chris Mancini
Doughboys Podcast with Mike Mitchell and Nick Wiger
Guys We F@#ked: The Experience
Hello From the Magic Tavern Podcast
Hound Tall with Moshe Kasher
Illogical Contraption
improv4humans with Matt Besser, Jon Gabrus, Mike Hanford, Jessica McKenna, Ian Roberts, and more
International Waters with Dave Holmes
John Hodgman and Adam Savage: A Spin-A-Wheel Conversation
Jordan, Jesse, Go!
Kevin McDonald’s Kevin McDonald Show
Kill Tony Podcast with Tony Hinchcliffe and Brian Redban
Pop My Culture: The Final Episode with Cole Stratton and Vanessa Ragland and guests Paul F. Tompkins, Samm Levine, and Rhett Miller
Rock Solid with Pat Francis
Roderick on the Line with John Roderick and Merlin Mann
Ronna & Beverly
Skull Juice Podcast: “TRENT” Live with Dino Stamatopoulos, Scott Adsit, Brian McCann, and musical guest Britta Phillips (Luna/Dean & Britta)
Superego
The Wahlberg Solution with Daniel Van Kirk
We Got This with Mark Gagliardi and Hal Lublin
Who Charted? with Howard Kremer and Kulap Vilaysack

Film & Video Events
The Benson Movie Interruption with Doug Benson: “Fifty Shades of Grey”
Everything is Terrible! The Live Experience!
Everything is Terrible: “2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift”
THE MADS ARE BACK! Live Movie Riffing with Trace Beaulieu and Frank Conniff
Shouting at the Screen with Wyatt Cenac and Donwill

Television Events
truTV presents Adam Ruins Panel Discussions: Inside “Adam Ruins Everything” with Adam Conover
Picture This: The “BoJack Horseman” Edition with creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg and guest animators and comedians
A Conversation with Daniel Handler: Inside “A Series of Unfortunate Events”
“Dr. Katz Professional Therapist” Live, with Jonathan Katz and guest patients Natasha Leggero, Tom Papa, Kevin Pollak, and more
“Futurama”: Why Are We Still Doing This? with David X. Cohen, John DiMaggio, David Herman, Maurice LaMarche, Phil LaMarr, Lee Supercinski, and Billy West
Outtake-o-Rama: Famous Celebrity Outtakes featuring the voice talents of "Futurama"
An Afternoon with “The Venture Bros.” with Paul Boocock, Michael Sinterniklaas, Dana Snyder, and James Urbaniak

Music & Comedy
Jeff Goldblum and the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra
The Grawlix Yacht Rock Party with Mustache Harbor and Chris Hardwick, Jessica Kirson, Mike Phirman, and more
The Imaginary Radio Program with Drennon Davis
Jonathan Coulton and Paul & Storm
McQueen with DJ Real and JR De Guzman
Nancy & Beth with Megan Mullally and Stephanie Hunt
Susanna Hoffs & Friends, with Petra Haden and Tamara Yajia
Turnt Up with Eliza Skinner
Wheels Off with Rhett Miller

Improv Comedy
Upright Citizens Brigade ASSSSCAT with Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh, and more
BATS: Improvised Game of Thrones
The Black Version with Jordan Black, Nyima Funk, Daniele Gaither, Phil LaMarr, Karen Murayama, Gary Anthony Williams, and Cedric Yarbrough
Dr. God with special guest Matthew Lillard
Gravid Water with Tony Hale, Kevin Pollak, Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh, and more
The Groundlings: Crazy Uncle Joe Show with Stephanie Courtney, Jim Rash, and more
The Groundlings: Personals with Drew Droege, Brian Palermo, and more
The Groundlings: Teen Witch The Musical with Artemis Pebdani, Colleen Smith, and more
Improvised Shakespeare Company with Joey Bland, Ross Bryant, Greg Hess, Thomas Middleditch, and Blaine Swen
Prompter
Shitty Jobs with Sean Clements, Dominic Dierkes, DC Pierson and Ben Rodgers
Speechless
Theme Park Improv with Ian Brennan, Rachel Dratch, John Michael Higgins, Michael Hitchcock, Jessica Makinson, Oscar Nunez, Cole Stratton, Janet Varney, and special guest monologist Jon Hamm
Wild Horses with Stephanie Allynne, Mary Holland and Erin Whitehead
WorkJuice Players Improv with Craig Cackowski, Mark Gagliardi, Marc Evan Jackson, Hal Lublin, Annie Savage, Paul F. Tompkins, Janet Varney, and guest monologist Jean Grae

Sketch Comedy
The Birthday Boys
Charles: Moby Alpha
Dead Kevin
Good Neighbor with Beck Bennett, Kyle Mooney, Nick Rutherford, and Dave McCary
Kasper Hauser in “ZooDangle for Kidz!*” *Not For Kids
Killing My Lobster
Matt Barats & John Reynolds
Mission CTRL
Trump Dump with Anthony Atamanuik

Theatrical/Storytelling/Magic
Above and Beyond the Valley of the Ultra Showgirls
Bawdy Storytelling with Dixie De La Tour
Celebrity Autobiography with Tony Hale, Wendie Malick, Laraine Newman, Eugene Pack, Dayle Reyfel, Fred Willard, and more
Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction with Bryan Cook
Dead Pilots Society with Steve Agee, and more
Fake TED Talks
Kirsten Vangsness: MESS
KISS and Tell with Wayne Federman, Pat Francis, Dave Holmes, and more
Laraine Newman: The Audition
The Latino Comedy Project: Gentrif*cked
Audible presents “Timothy McSweeney’s Internet Tendency” hosted by Caitlin Gill
Mortified
“Plan 9 From Outer Space” Live Staged Reading with Matt Braunger, Bill Corbett, Dana Gould, Kevin Murphy, and more
Porchlight at the Oasis with Beth Lisick and Arline Klatte
Reunited with Josh Androsky and Bryan Cook
RISK! with Kevin Allison
Robert Townsend: Living The Shuffle, a work-in-progress
Turning Tricks - the magic of Eric Buss, Robert Strong and Christian Cagigal

Variety and Stand-Up
7 Minutes in Purgatory with Ian Abramson
Andy Kindler’s Particular Show
Audible presents “Fresh Voices of Stand-Up”
Audible presents “The Guest List” with Emmy Blotnick, Byron Bowers, Chris Cubas, Joe DeVito, Mike Drucker, Jesse Joyce, Jackie Kashian, Mark Normand, Henry Phillips, Giulia Rozzi, Derek Sheen, Ryan Singer, Brody Stevens, Jim Tews, and more
Boast Rattle with Kyle Ayers
Chad Daniels
Crabapples with Bobcat Goldthwait and Caitlin Gill
Derrick Brown
Dulcé Sloan
Flula Borg
Friday Forty with Dave Holmes
The Grawlix with Adam Cayton-Holland, Andrew Orvedahl and Ben Roy
Guy Branum
I’m New Here -- Can You Show Me Around? With Jon Ronson and Maeve Higgins, with Roman Mars and more
International Spotlight: Aisling Bea and James Acaster
Invite Them Up with Eugene Mirman & Bobby Tisdale, with musical guest Robyn Hitchcock
Jessica Kirson
Jimmy O. Yang
Josie Long: Something Better
Joyelle Nicole Johnson
Neil Campbell & Mike Hanford
Night Train with Wyatt Cenac
Phoebe Robinson’s Sooo Many White Guys
RoastSF Presents
Seaton Smith
Set List with Andy Kindler and more
SF Sketchfest Comedy NightLife at the California Academy of Sciences
The SF Sketchfest Dozen, the Next Wave of Stand-Up Comedy Stars: Ahmed Bharoocha, Joel Kim Booster, Gina Brillon, Rhea Butcher, Marina Franklin, Solomon Georgio, Josh Gondelman, Tony Hinchcliffe, Annie Lederman, Carmen Lynch, Hampton Yount and Jenny Zigrino
Sirof/Bentley
Stella: The Classic Nightclub Show with Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter, David Wain, musical guest Robyn Hitchcock and surprise comedians
The Tomorrow Show with Ron Lynch
Will Durst and Friends on Inauguration Day: What Now?
Womanhood Live with Aparna Nancherla and Jo Firestone

Game Shows & Interactive Events
Brew HaHa: The Comedy Drinking Game Show
Iron Comic with Nato Green and Moshe Kasher
Jo Firestone’s “Friends of Single People”
Quiz-o-Tron with Rebecca Watson
Stardumb! with Bil Dwyer and Erica Rhodes
Uncalled Four

Debates
The Great Debate with Matt Price and IIyse Mimoun
Uptown Showdown Debate: Childhood vs. Adulthood with Michael Ian Black, Jo Firestone, Dave Hill, Aparna Nancherla, Michael Showalter, and more

Kids Events
The Groundlings Children’s Show with Regan Burns, Stephanie Courtney, Brian Palermo and more
Story Pirates, with special guest Patton Oswalt, and more

Related: Golden Gate Park Meadow To Be Named For Robin Williams, Secret Benefactor Of Park Comedy Day

The highlight of 2016's SF Sketchfest, running January 7th to 24th in its 15th year, could be a salute to Waiting For Guffman on the 20th anniversary of that genre- inventing mockumentary. In the film's honor, the festival has arranged a live cast reunion of Christopher Guest, Bob Balaban, Parker Posey and Fred Willard. But naturally there's also more current fare: “Bob’s Burgers” fans will thrill to conversations with creator Loren Bouchard and cast members Dan Mintz, Eugene Mirman, Larry Murphy, John Roberts, and Kristen Schaal.

And all the stars align for in-person tributes to living legends. Take Sally Field in conversation with Michael Showalter leading up to a screening of their new film, Hello, My Name is Doris. Or there's Jeff Goldblum in conversation and musical performance with his Mildred Snitzer Orchestra. The Bay Area's own Boots Riley will even be chatting with Patton Oswalt.

Then expect comedic author Dave Barry, film spotlights including Hot Shots, 25th Anniversary with Jim Abrahams and Pat Proft; Teen Witch: The Peaches Christ Experience; and Hook 25th Anniversary;

TV spotlights, in addition to "Bob's Burgers," will be “Fishing with John” 25th Anniversary with John Lurie in conversation with Parker Posey; “Drunk History” with Derek Waters and friends; “The Adventures of Pete & Pete” live; “Galavant” with creators and cast, and “Sledge Hammer!;” celebrations of animated comedies “BoJack Horseman,” “Futurama” and “Dr. Katz Professional Therapist”;

Radio, too, will be represented in shows from StarTalk Live with Bill Nye the Science Guy and Eugene Mirman and NPR’s Ask Me Another.

The list of talent goes on and on, and here's some of it: Pamela Adlon, Scott Adsit, Maria Bamford, Todd Barry, Guy Branum, Stephanie Courtney, Cameron Esposito, Noel Fielding, Dave Foley, Judah Friedlander, Ron Funches, Jeff Garlin, Janeane Garofalo, Chris Gethard, Bobcat Goldthwait, Dana Gould, Dan Harmon, John Hodgman doing his podcast with Jon Hamm as a guest, Moshe Kasher, Andy Kindler, Nick Kroll, Natasha Leggero, Beth Littleford, Jason Mantzoukas, Kevin McDonald, Thomas Middleditch, Laraine Newman, Tom Papa, Jimmy Pardo, Eddie Pepitone, Chelsea Peretti, Jim Rash, Paul Scheer, The Sklar Brothers, Martin Starr, Eric Stonestreet, Scott Thompson, Paul F. Tompkins, Michael Urie, Baron Vaughn, and Jessica Williams.

Also expect Upright Citizens Brigade and The Groundlings performances, not to mention my personal favorite, music by female Prince cover band Princess featuring Maya Rudolph and Gretchen Lieberum.

SF Sketchfest is the three-way comedy baby of David Owen, Cole Stratton and Janet Varney and comprises over 200 shows across 19 venues in 16 days. The lineup will go live on the Sketchfest 2016 site today, and tickets on sale this Sunday, November 22nd, at 10 am.

Previously: SFist Interviews: Jeff Goldblum On Jazz, Amy Winehouse, And Visits From Aliens

"I don't know why I'm so invested in women cumming," said sex advice columnist Dan Savage last night at San Francisco's Castro Theatre. "There's nothing in it for me!" But Dan did have "magic/silver bullet" advice for women who might arrive at partnered sex without the, as he puts it, expertise in their own bodies that young men might have.

As for getting past such inhibitions, Savage recommends — conservatives will love this — marijuana. "I have a pro-pot bias," says Savage, who currently hails from Washington State where recreational pot use is legal and frequently prescribes a little pot to his callers with hang-ups.

To top it off, this was all at a taping of NPR's Ask Me Another quiz show, hosted by the charming Ophira Eisenberg, as part of the ongoing Sketchfest festivities. Next thing you know Paula Poundstone will be toking up (and getting off?) on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me.

Not joking: SF Sketchfest starts today. If you haven't made any plans, we're here to do you a solid. Here's a roundup of some excellent comedy, from tributes to standup to screenings. There's way, way more over at the 14th Annual SF Sketchfest site, this is just some of the big time stuff that looks great and isn't already sold out. The festival runs through February 8th, so dip in and out of the action whenever you need a laugh.

Night Train with Wyatt Cenac

Wyatt Cenac (The Daily Show, King of the Hill) transplants his weekly Brooklyn-based stand-up show to San Francisco's Cobb's Club. You'll catch Sean Donnelly, Ron Funches, Jonathan Katz, and Morgan Murphy on the lineup. $38

Friday, January 23rd, 8:00 p.m.
Cobb's Comedy Club, 915 Columbus Ave between Chestnut and Lombard Streets

NPR's Ask Me Another with Ophira Eisenberg and Jonathan Coulton and guests Brad Bird, Alex Borstein, and Dan Savage

This isn't your parents NPR quiz show... not to blaspheme Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. With Ophira Eisenberg and hilarious house musician Jonathan Coulton, this installment of Ask Me Another includes some really excellent panelists and is to be missed at your own risk. $35

Monday, January 26th, 8 p.m.
Castro Theatre, 429 Castro St. between 17th and 18th Streets.

"But I'm A Cheerleader:" The Peaches Christ Experience with Natasha Lyonne

The marvelous Natasha Lyonne (most recently of Orange Is The New Black) joins Peaches Christ, who directed her in the horror comedy All About Evil, for a conversation about this campy 1999 send-up of gay conversion therapy. This movie was probably supposed to be enjoyed in the company of drag queens at the Castro Theatre. $25

Tuesday, January 27th, 7:30 p.m.
Castro Theatre, 429 Castro St. between 17th and 18th Streets.

Bawdy Storytelling

A fine, upstanding literary event in which naughty stories are told. With the Mission Position's wonderful Kate Willett, the Nerdist's sexuality podcaster Sex Nerd Sandra, and music by charming songstress Rachel Lark, it's sure to be a highlight. $24.50

Saturday, January 31, 7:30 p.m.
Verdi Club, 2424 Mariposa St. between Hampshire St. and Potrero Ave.

SF Sketchfest Tribute to Christopher Guest, Michael McKean & Harry Shearer, in conversation with Adam Savage

A tip of the hat to the trio behind This Is Spinal Tap, Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman, and A Mighty Wind as hosted by local Mythbuster Adam Savage. These folks invented an incredible style and you probably already love them for it, so just go and applaud the whole time. $35.

Saturday, January 31, 7:30 p.m.
Nourse Theater, 275 Hayes Street between Franklin St. and Van Ness Ave.

SF Sketchfest Tribute: "Weird Al" Yankovic with Chris Hardwick - SF Sketchfest Tribute to "Weird Al" Yankovic in conversation with Chris Hardwick, with guests Garfunkel and Oates, Hard 'n Phirm and Jonah Ray

Prolific and strange, "Weird Al" has interrogated "cool" in pop-music for decades with his on-point, off-the-rocker parodies. My prayer with this one is that he performs something with Garfunkel and Oates, the excellent LA-based musical comedy duo. $30

Friday February 6th 7 p.m.
Castro Theatre, 429 Castro St. between 17th and 18th Streets

SF Sketchfest Tribute to Christopher Lloyd and 30th Anniversary screening of “Back to the Future”

From "Taxi" to "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" Christopher Lloyd is comedic magic in a bottle. What better way to watch his classic performance as Doc than with the man himself in the room, as interviewed by Scott Adsit (30 Rock). $25

Friday, February 6th, 9:30 p.m.
Castro Theatre, 429 Castro St. between 17th and 18th Streets

SF Sketchfest Tribute to “VEEP” with the cast

Her majesty Julia Louis-Dreyfus and other Veep stars such as Tony Hale (Buster on Arrested Development will be in the house. This event was a last minute addition and tickets will likely be gone quick, so get on it Veep fans! $45.50

Saturday, February 7th, 7:30 p.m,
Castro Theatre, 429 Castro St. between 17th and 18th Streets

PRINCESS PLAYS PURPLE RAIN: Maya Rudolph and Gretchen Lieberum in an Evening of the Music of Prince

SNL great Maya Rudolph and LA singer-songwriter Gretchen Lieberum are become PRINCESS. Yes, this is the premier female Prince cover band, so party like it's 1999 with them. $40

Sunday, February 8th, 7:00 p.m.
Mezzanine, 444 Jessie St. off 6th Street.

It's already felt like a long, hard winter here in San Francisco, with temps hovering at cruel lows for over a week (a week!). But let's not forget that there are months of vaguely winterish weather ahead of us, including January: the dreaded Boringest Month.

With that in mind, you'll want to peruse the newly-announced lineup for SF Sketchfest's 13th annual festival, coming to town just in time to alleviate any SAD symptoms that crop up from January 23rd to February 9th.

Among the headlining events are in-person tributes to Alan Arkin (who'll also be teaching a an improv workshop), Tenacious D, Key & Peele and Coyle and Sharpe, as well as appearances from familiar mainstays like Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter and Megan Mullally. Special cast screenings of Napolean Dynamite, Revenge of the Nerds, and Super Troopers are in the works, plus The Benson Movie Interruption in which Doug Benson takes on “Twilight: New Moon" (and wins, we hope).

A panel on HBO's “Enlightened” will include Laura Dern, Luke Wilson and crew discussing the show, and a Farewell, “Futurama!” event will once again bring together John DiMaggio, Maurice LaMarche, Phil LaMarr, Lee Supercinski, Lauren Tom and Billy West. Upright Citizens Brigade, The Groundlings and Killing My Lobster are among the time-tested improv acts on offer, and look out for stand-up from the likes of Eric Andre, "An Evening of the Music of Prince" with Maya Rudolph and Gretchen Lieberum, and scads more showcases, interactive events, theater, live radio and comedy crossovers.

Sketchfest is known locally as the festival where that specific thing you really want to see got sold out immediately, so you'll want to keep an eye out for the schedule, which will be announced Friday, December 13. Tickets go on sale Sunday, December 15 at 10:00 am, so plan according. Check out the full lineup here to get started.

Julie Klausner is a woman of many talents. Trained in improv at the Upright Citizens Brigade in New York, she broke through as an author with 2010's I Don't Care About Your Band, a humorous memoir about her time in the NYC dating trenches. Her podcast, How Was Your Week, has been named one of the best comedy podcasts by New York Times, Rolling Stone, and GQ, and her guests have included everyone from Patton Oswalt and Joan Rivers to Ira Glass and Sharon Needles. She'll be performing in two SF Sketchfest shows this weekend: a live HWYW episode featuring Ted Leo, Eddie Pepitone, Billy Eichner, and Jon Hendren; and a show inspired by Eichner's Fuse show Billy on the Street, for which she works as a writer. We dialed her up to discuss the Golden Globes, dogs wearing headphones, and more.

Tell me about your plans for the Sketchfest show.

We have such great guests. They flew out these guys just to do the show—they're hand-picked guests. We have two yellers—Billy Eichner and Eddie Pepitone scream a lot, and it's really funny to have them both on the same show, because we're going to set the microphones for them and then when Jon Hendren, who's a blogger, comes out, you're not going to be able to hear him at all. Jon's pretty quiet, but he's really funny, so I'm planning to get, like, a bottle of wine in him. He drank a bottle of wine when he did my podcast, I think he was nervous.

Aww, that's really charming.

He's adorable, I really like Jon. We're having him come in and show off some weird Internet stuff—none of which has been on the show before, it's all new, so that's exciting. Then [show composer/"musicman"] Ted Leo and I are going to sing something at the top of the show and the end of the show. We have a game planned, and Spoony [HWYW producer Chris Spooner] is going to be there. Spoony's really weird. It'll be good! We have some San Francisco-themed goodies afoot; a San Francisco-themed musical opening, and then Billy and I are going to discuss Mrs. Doubtfire, the most important movie set in San Francisco.

Then, for Billy's show, Billy and I are going to co-host a stand-up, variety kind of show...well, we don't really know what we're doing, to be completely honest. But we're both going to be there, and we're both delicious. We both like each other so much. Which is usually disgusting, but for some reason, people don't find it disgusting that we love each other. We'll be having a good time…we don't know what we're doing. But we'll both be onstage, and we'll show videos, and we'll discuss things of importance, such as Jodie Foster's Golden Globes dress.

What did you think of it?

People talked a lot about her speech from the Golden Globes, but nobody talked about how that dress is, like, clearly from Burlington Coat Factory. It's what a 50-year-old lesbian would think a glamorous dress would look like. That dress made me sadder than anything she said.

I'm not sure I can feel sad about anything she said, because I'm still not entirely sure what she said.

She said she was lonely. When anybody says they're lonely, it's sad. Nobody wants to hear that. I think towards the end, she kind of free-associated, but [the speech] was overwritten and overprepared. She over-rehearsed it…there were things she said that were not organic. When she was like, "I am NOT honey boo-boo child!" I thought, "You did not write that. You barely said it, you just performed it."

I know the 100th episode of your show is fast approaching. What are you planning?

I'm having [Bullseye host] Jesse Thorn interview me. It'll be interesting, because he's a good interviewer and people are curious about me in a way. I very much control how much of myself I let people in on when I do my show, which is part of why I like doing it, because I do have that control, and I can kind of decide how to disclose myself, how to be transparent, how not to be transparent. This is an opportunity to have somebody ask me questions that I wouldn't normally answer of my own volition. But that said, as I tell it to you out loud right now, I feel like I probably should have had a contest for a listener to be a guest on the show.

Maybe that'll be #200.

Yeah, or maybe that's a bad idea. Maybe I should save that for a fundraising thing. If we're going to raise funds, we could do it like an auction.

Yeah, but I mean, do you really want somebody to buy that?

Yes!

Some dot-com millionaire?

Yes, I want their money! Otherwise, why am I talking to someone who isn't famous? It doesn't make sense.

You put out a show every week this year, right?

I have not skipped a show. Ever. We have not skipped a show since the beginning of the show.

How do you keep up that pace?

Spoony. Spoony does this for free, he does this every week. He has the hard work—not that I don't work hard. But if I had to edit it every Thursday night, I wouldn't put it out.

How extensively is the podcast edited?

The interviews are polished. My ramble is generally not edited. Unless I call Spoony and tell him, "You have to take out that joke I made." That's happened, where I'll regret saying something, and he'll cut it out. But to be honest with you, I do this show as much for my own sanity as I do for people who like it. If I skipped a week, I'd feel like something was missing, and I'd feel less mentally stable. It's important for me, for whatever reason, to broadcast myself on a regular basis, and to masticate the experiences and feelings that I have in order for me to deal with them. In order to do that, it involves talking about them out loud to strangers, and make jokes about it as I go. It's just part of my mental-health process. It's important for me to do that with regularity.

Before you had a podcast, was that something you would do with your friends, or is it something that you would just keep bottled up?

I still do it with my friends, and I'm always self-conscious about being repetitive, as well as self-conscious about assuming they listen to the podcast. I tend to not assume that my friends listen, but at the same time, I don't want to make the same jokes that I already made on the podcast. That makes me look like an a-hole, like I'm someone who goes around writing jokes just to use on my friends. Which I am, and I think everybody is, but it's embarrassing when people show their process like that. I don't do stand-up, so the podcast really is an outlet for me to do precisely that, in a way that I've never had before, certainly not on a regular basis.

How pre-planned is the opening monologue? I assume you have a list of topics you want to talk about, but are the jokes pre-written, or do you just free-associate?

Both. Sometimes I'll have an item on my list that I have on the list because I have a joke for it, and sometimes I will find jokes as I talk about something that I know will be interesting, or funny, or both.

When and where do you usually record the monologue?

Thursday night. There have been times where if I'm traveling, I'll do it Thursday morning. There have been some times in the past when I've done it on Friday morning, but it always comes out on Fridays, and I generally record them on Thursday nights in my apartment.

Accompanied by bourbon?

Sometimes! I like bourbon a lot. In fact, I'm going to pour myself some bourbon. Thanks for giving me an excuse for bourbon. It's 5:00, I'm going to have a Maker's Mark. [Pours.] So, sometimes I drink when I do it, and sometimes I don't, and I think there are times for both. I'm getting too old to be reliant on the charm of tipsiness, so I try not to be drunk every week. If I'm drunk, that's fine too, but I shouldn't have to talk about it every week. "Ooh, I'm drinking bourbon, clink clink clink."

You ask your listeners to send in photos of their pets reading or listening to the podcast. Which has been your favorite?

I could never pick. How could I choose one of these animals…they're so cute. A lot of it just has to do with how good the photo is. They'll put headphones on them…I don't advocate putting headphones on your dog, but it's really funny when you do. There was one where they put a blanket on the dog, and they put his nose in my book. A lot of it just has to do with the positioning of it. That said, there are breeds that I am predisposed to be fond of. Basset hounds, big dogs, mutts. I like black-and-white cats…I like all kinds of cats, to be perfectly honest. One thing I'm not crazy about: we lifted the bird ban, and this woman sent photos of her chickens listening to the podcast. I will think about that until the day I die—that's something that haunts me. And I'm not saying that I didn't like it!

Were they meat chickens, or egg-laying chickens?

They were fancy chickens.

So they're going to survive, they're going to live a natural life.

Yeah, but it was weird. It's weird to see chickens in the same context as something that I did or made. It was weird—like someone sending you a photo of yourself in a place you've never been. Like someone sent you a photo, "Here you are at the Taj Mahal!" and you think, "I've never been to the Taj Mahal." That's my relationship with chickens.

Has anyone ever violated your prohibition against photos of pet lizards and snakes?

Not yet. But I feel like any day now, I'm going to get an e-mail, and there's going to be a snake with earbuds near his non-ears. Someone's going to be like, "Wouldn't it be funny to put earbuds where the snake would have ears, if he were evolved?" And I'll see my fat face on an iPod next to him, with the red hair, and the snake will be looking into the camera like snakes do, with this expression of pure dead evil. Like, "I'm evil, but I'm also dead in the eyes." And it will ruin my life. I did date a guy who had an iguana once.

Did you like the iguana?

No! He was one of those guys who had sideburns and listened to Zappa. It's such a stereotype. Those guys liked me at the time, because I smoked a lot of pot. But his iguana gave me the creeps.

You maintain a Redhead Hall of Fame. Who do people pester you most to put in who isn't in there yet?

Tori Amos! And Jessica Chastain.

Jessica Chastain's not in the Redhead Hall of Fame?

She was when I saw her in The Help, but since I saw Zero Dark Thirty, she's not. It doesn't help that she wore something that was clearly from Loehmann's to the Golden Globes. She wore a shower curtain that she got in the Loehmann's home section—maybe TJ Maxx—and she decided to tie it behind her neck. It was lousy. I don't want bad redheads representing us.

Who else? Carrot Top. That's just mean, that's just a mean joke. When someone's like, "What about Carrot Top?" It's not famous redheads, you asshole! It's redheads that are worthy of honor. And Carrot Top is a nothing for the community, he's an embarrassment.

Redhead Hall of Shame.

Yeah! He would be in it! A lot of people also write to me about people who don't have red hair. Like Jan Hooks? Jan Hooks is a brunette.

If you had asked me to guess, I would have guessed that you got a lot of e-mails about that girl from Doctor Who.

Yeah, but I don't know who that girl is, and I don't want to Google it. I've seen photos of her, and she's beautiful, but because I'm not familiar with her work, it's tough for me to say that she's worthy of being initiated. That means that I'd have to watch Doctor Who, and I can't do that. Spoony likes Doctor Who, but he doesn't have the key—he can't induct members. My friend Nate wants me to start a Critter Hall of Fame, but I just don't have time. Because if I started the Critter Hall of Fame, it would be for animals that have done noteworthy things, like if a bear broke into someone's house, ate all the butter, and fell asleep in the bathtub. He'd be in the Critter Hall of Fame.

Did you hear about the dog that ran the half-marathon?

Good for him. You know why? Because it wasn't different from what he was already doing. People who are good at dancing, they don't walk over to the dancefloor and just start dancing—they're already dancing, you know what I mean? Dogs are just like, "And now I'm running." They're already running, that's what they do. But I can't start a Critter Hall of Fame—I can barely manage the e-mails that I get. If I started that, I would get more animal e-mails than I already get, which is a lot of e-mails, and I wouldn't be able to keep track.

Do you feel like you hear about pretty much every noteworthy animal in the news cycle now?

There's no way that I could, but I have a pretty good cross-section of animal-related news items that come to me. Like I said, there's no way I can be on top of everything, which is why I subscribe to a lot of different dog-related Tumblrs. And there's a new cat I found on Instagram that is really remarkable. His eyes are two different colors. He's really handsome.

You love reality television shows. Are there any shows you've tried out but couldn't stand?

I didn't like Dance Moms, when I first saw it. The teacher's hilarious, she's great, but I couldn't get into it for some reason. I couldn't get into Extreme Couponing—I watched the special, I think I watched one other episode, and then I was like, "OK, I get it." I don't like network reality television; I don't watch The Bachelor, I don't watch Big Brother, or Survivor. I mean, I was into Survivor in the first season, but that was because it was the first reality show and everyone was into it.

What's coming up for you? I think I read that you're writing a young-adult novel.

I did! It's called Art Girls Are Easy, and it's coming out this spring. It's about a girl who goes to art camp, and it's very good.

Is that in the description?

No, but it should be, because it's true! [Laughs.] Amy Poehler gave it a blurb! She's awesome. Nobody ever says anything bad about Amy Poehler because Amy Poehler doesn't do anything bad.

You've mentioned on the podcast that the TV pilot season did not go the way you hoped.

Yeah, the Apocalipstick pilot didn't go forward last year, and this year, I pitched two different shows, and those didn't get bought. Therefore, those people are stupid. [Laughs.] I'm just going to keep writing and pitching until somebody buys something new. The good news is that one of those shows might go forward this year—I might take one of the others out again this year, and hopefully we'll sell it. But that's all network, and I work on pitches for cable, too. I just wrote another new pitch for cable, and hopefully that one will sell. You just have to keep writing. It's really hard right now to sell something, harder than it's been in the past.

Because networks don't want to produce scripted content as much?

Not necessarily. It's just harder to sell anything, even unscripted stuff. Even people who are way more famous than me, way more successful, have way more credits…it's just really tough to sell stuff right now in TV. People don't have as much money and they're not taking as many risks.

What about the proposed I Don't Care About Your Band pilot for HBO?

That's not going forward with the team that was originally assembled to develop it, which is fine, because I own the rights and it's still a property that's available to be licensed. I would love to see it find a home on television at some point.

Is there anybody you've been dying to get as a guest on the podcast who you haven't been able to have on yet?

John Waters, Fran Lebovitz, Kate Pierson: three gay people who are incredible. I would love to have them on. I'd love to have Stephen King come on, he would be an incredible person to have on. I found out David Sedaris is a fan of the podcast, so we're working on getting him on in the spring—I think he has a new book coming out then. I like talking to writers, directors, filmmakers. I love talking to people who make documentaries. You get to have your dream come true, where you see a movie and you're like, "That was great, I have a few questions." And then you actually get to ask them.

Julie Klausner will appear live at SF Sketchfest on Saturday, February 2nd, at Cobb’s Comedy Club (915 Columbus) at 8 pm and 10:30 pm.

SF Sketchfest, arguably the city's most anticipated and entertaining annual festival, promises to top last year's stellar selection of bladder squeezers. Most notably, Candice Bergen and Diane English will make a special appearance at the Castro Theatre on February 2 for "Tribute to Murphy Brown," part of SF Sketchfest's Great Collaborators Series.

Murphy Brown received sixty-two Emmy nominations, eighteen Emmy Awards (including two for Best Comedy Series), a Golden Globe for Best Comedy Series, and the George Foster Peabody Award for Significant and Meritorious Achievement. It was also a staple of the '90s and Monday night TV on CBS. The show used political humor and, most infamously, single motherhood to effectively flush the 1980s down the toilet.

In addition to Murphy Brown, the festival, which will run from Jan. 13 - Feb. 5, will feature such talent as Dan Aykroyd, James L. Brooks, David Byrne, Neil Patrick Harris, Cloris Leachman & Peaches Christ (yes!), Moby, Gary Shandling, Celebrity Autobiography, Upright Citizens Brigade, and more.

Check out SF Sketchfest's 2001 lineup.

SF Sketchfest's closing show at Cobb's on Saturday night was an interesting night of comedy and Bingo, topped off with comedian-donated prizes and hosted by Bobby Tisdale. The grand prize was a good back-cracking from Andy Richter, which was hilarious. The recipient was the large guy pictured at left, and apparently, his back actually did crack.

Zach Galifianakis stole the show, first with his nasally one-liner: "I'm Harvey Chocolate Milk, and I'm here to hydrate you." Then he awarded $100 out of his wallet to the lucky winner of the second round. The recipient's friend tried to take a picture, which is a strict no-no. We wonder if she got kicked out, like Cobb's management threatens.

Photos by Dan Dion

More after the jump...