Date: December 16th 2005

For Immediate Release
December 16, 2005
Media Contact: Jesse Thorn, 415-225-1665, splangy@splangy.com
Or David Owen, 415-254-1655, owenowen@earthlink.net
http://www.sfsketchfest.com

THE NATION’S TOP SKETCH COMEDY FESTIVAL TURNS FIVE

SF Sketchfest presents their biggest festival yet,

bringing comedy’s best and brightest to the Bay Area in January!

SF Sketchfest, the West Coast’s most popular and prestigious comedy festival, is celebrating its Fifth Anniversary January 12-29, 2006 with guests from television’s Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show, Mr. Show, The Kids in the Hall, Stella, The State, Arrested Development, and The Upright Citizens Brigade as well as hand-selected stage acts from the Bay Area and across the country.

Performances include:

• Mr. Show’s David Cross and Bob Odenkirk to receive the annual SF Sketchfest Tribute

• The Kids in the Hall’s Dave Foley hosts and presents a new musical comedy show

• Saturday Night Live’s Amy Poehler, Rachel Dratch and Horatio Sanz to join Matt Besser and Ian Roberts for live improv with the Upright Citizens Brigade: A.S.S.S.S.C.A.T. with monologues performed by Will Arnett from Arrested Development

• Michael Showalter and David Wain from MTV’s The State, Comedy Central’s Stella and the films Wet Hot American Summer and The Baxter to present a special lecture

• Tinkle, the popular NYC variety show with David Cross, Todd Barry and Jon Benjamin, comes to San Francisco with guests Bob Odenkirk, Brian Posehn and Paul F. Tompkins

• Rob Corddry from The Daily Show to perform improv with his acclaimed group The Naked Babies

• Indie-rock performance artists the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players return to the Bay Area

• Rising alternative comic Eugene Mirman makes SF Sketchfest debut

• Doug Stanhope, from The Aristocrats, The Man Show and The Howard Stern Show, brings his Adults Only Comedy to SF Sketchfest

• Saturday Night Live’s Fred Armisen returns to the festival

• The Paul F. Tompkins Show, hosted by the Mr. Show and The Sketch Show performer, fresh from sold-out runs at Los Angeles’s hip Largo, comes to San Francisco with Dave (Gruber) Allen, Paul Gilmartin and very special guests

• Aziz Ansari, voted “2005 Hot Stand Up” in Rolling Stone Magazine’s annual Hot List and one of New York Magazine’s “Top Ten Comedians You Have Never Heard Of, But Should,” makes San Francisco debut

• Rock ‘n Roll comedy duo Hard ‘n Phirm returns

• Kasper Hauser, the only group that has performed every year at SF Sketchfest, returns for the fifth time and Prank the Dean  and Olde English return for the second year in a row

• More local favorites make SF Sketchfest debuts, including the critically acclaimed Will Franken and a new super-group consisting of edgy young comics Brent Weinbach, Moshe Kasher and Alex Koll called Boom Time, formerly known as Bodies in Motion

• SF Sketchfest and Totally False People founders Cole Stratton, Janet Varney and Gabriel Diani to perform with the groups Pretty Pretty Pony, Fempyre and Diani & Devine

• SF Sketchfest to present a hilarious parody of the cult film with Showgirls: The Best Movie Ever Made! Ever!

• 12 new groups from around the nation to make SF Sketchfest debuts: The Cody Rivers Show; The Cupid Players; Fries on the Side; Karla; Let’s Go!; Meat; Oh, You and Your Bone Spurs; The Royal We; Somebody’s in the Doghouse; Summer of Tears; Ten West

• Third Annual Emerging Sketch Night to showcase Bay Area up-and-comers The Hot Bubbles; Something with Genitals; Sunshine Fortress; Tossing Alice; The Wooden Robot

• SF Sketchfest expands to the North Bay for the first time, with shows at Mill Valley’s 142 Throckmorton Theatre, including special Tuesday night shows called Mark Pitta & Friends meets SF Sketchfest

SF Sketchfest mixes national headliners, local favorites and the best up-and-coming groups from throughout North America for three weeks of sketch, improv, stand-up and alternative comedy. A favorite with audiences, critics, and performers alike, the festival has grown substantially to become a highly anticipated artistic showcase that delivers a wealth of laughter to thousands of attendees. Not bad for a trio of SFSU grads who are still in their twenties. David Owen, Cole Stratton and Janet Varney founded the SF Sketchfest straight out of college and never expected it to grow to the size it is today.

Dates: January 12-29, 2006.

Venues:
The Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson Street, San Francisco
Cobb's Comedy Club, 915 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco
The Punch Line, 444 Battery Street, San Francisco
The Purple Onion, 140 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco
142 Throckmorton Theatre, 142 Throckmorton Avenue, Mill Valley

Tickets: On sale Sunday, December 18 at 10:00am through http://www.sfsketchfest.com or by calling Ticketweb at 1-866-468-3399
Tickets for Punch Line shows available at 415-421-TIXS.
SF Sketchfest Information Line: 415-675-9707

For prices and schedule, download our full Festival Calendar (.PDF format) or visit sfsketchfest.com.