San Francisco’s Sketchfest, which is currently celebrating its 16th year, is truly one of the great comedy events of the year. It offers two full weeks of the best comedians in a barrage of different scenarios, from regular stand-up shows to workshops to panels to random special events such as one that happened Saturday called, “Soundtracks Live: Scenes and Songs from 80s Movies,” featuring some of my favorite people. Those familiar with my love of music on film will understand why it still hurts that I missed that one.
Beyond all the live and often theatrical comedy on display this month, there are rich events aplenty for us screen-fiends to salivate over. So many, in fact, that the FOMO is absolutely breaking my heart. At a glance, here are some past events that made me feel like I was on GLEEmonex and, more importantly for those in the vicinity, here are several unmissable upcoming highlights to demonstrate that the best is absolutely yet to come.
Check out the incredible schedule and grab tickets here!
Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy Live Staged Reading
When I discovered the lineup for this incredible festival, I immediately incorporated it into my Sundance travels, considering the proximity. I flew in Saturday and went straight to one of the last great one-screen movie houses in North America, The Castro Theater, where my hometown boys, The Kids in the Hall would be reenacting one of the best comedies of the 90s; the criminally underseen, Brain Candy.
Though I was far from home, it did not feel like it with all the Toronto love permeating the building. When the Q&A began after the show, a person who asked about the Gord Downie-penned track, Butts Wigglin, which repeats the Brain Candy line, “In my opinion the drug is ready” like a mantra, may have been the first time I heard the words, “The Tragically Hip” uttered in America and it was a strange feeling. The question, which has been on my mind for 20 years, was finally answered: the track, which appears off of their Trouble at the Henhouse record, was in fact, intended for the Brain Candy soundtrack.
The film itself is brilliant. In an age (1995) when antidepressants were just beginning to be unleashed upon the world, The Kids, some of whom battled with depression, wrote a story about a new pill called GLEEmonex that locks you into your happiest memory and keeps you in its state of mind. Under tremendous pressure from the pharmaceutical fat cats upstairs, the scientists expedite their testing phase and prematurely unleash the happy pill onto the world.
It isn’t enough for the company that their new pill has topped the charts, gloriously beating penicillin, the greedy execs, unsatisfied with profits from the grosses from their prescription drug, fight to make the pill available to everyone who’s ever felt sad, over the counter. This, of course, proves detrimental, especially considering the surfacing of coma-inducing side effects that trap the patient into their memories for good.
On top of being hilarious, watching the (far from) KIds perform and improv off of their screenplay offered some revelatory tidbits about the film’s production and disastrous release. For example, I did not know that they had Cancer Boy, played by Bruce McCulloch, to thank for Paramount squelching their marketing budget, resulting in the downgrading of Brain Candy’s intended 2000 screens to a mere 400.
My personal highlight of the reenactment was every time Bruce took to the mic (backed by guitar) to sing downer songs at a bar called the Suicide Club. The evening also featured guest star Bobcat Goldthwait to help with some of the minor characters. I wonder if Bobcat regretted saying yes, considering he mostly acted as the butt of a solid ten Police Academy jokes.
But in a night of pricelessly tickling moments, maybe the most fascinating turn came in the form of the more tumultuous than necessary Q&A, which actually contained a fair bit of animosity. There was the Trump supporter, who used the platform to vent his opinions on the state of the pharmaceutical landscape, but far more fascinating was the woman who said she was a huge Kids in the Hall fan before Brain Candy broke her heart with its condescendingly satirical look at antidepressants.
The film, however, is far from an indictment on very real mental health issues, the Kids (many of whom shared their histories of depression) explained, rather the film is actually a criticism of the idea of quick fixes. There’s depression and then there’s ordinary human sadness and it’s very dangerous to confuse the two.
The night ended with a rare glimpse of the film’s alternate ending, which apparently depressed test screening audiences, but not in a good way. As for Saturday night at the Castro, the faces leaving the theater were plastered with smiles.
Kentucky Fried Movie 40th Anniversary
Remember when I mentioned the FOMO that accompanies lineups this strong? Well, this is by far my biggest casualty. The spoof film, especially those entirely comprised of sketches, was a very tough sell back in 1976/77. But rejection from every studio in town did not stop Jim Abrahams and the Zucker brothers (Jerry & David) from self-financing a section of their film and vigorously shopping it until it attracted the attention of director, John Landis.
After some further financing misadventures, Kentucky Fried Movie was born and the rest is some of my favorite comedic history. Specifically, it launched the careers of the film’s screenwriters who would go on to create works like the beloved Airplane, the TV series Police Squad, and its filmic adaptations, The Naked Gun trilogy, which I will go to my grave referring to as the funniest movies of all time. Spoofing may seem easy, but as the Scary Movie sequels and subsequent films in their lineage prove, there’s nothing easy about. Is Kentucky Fried Movie and its many follow ups stupid? Sometimes. Are they brilliant? You better believe it.
Sunday night Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker, David Zucker, and John Landis took to the Castro Theater stage to speak for their career and I cannot believe I was not there. Whatever kept me must’ve been pretty damn special…
Stella: 20th Anniversary
For my money, Stella (2005) is the single greatest standalone season of television, perhaps of all time. I know that's not necessarily the compliment I'm intending it to be, considering I'm not sure how many amazing seasons of television were rejected for a second season - Freaks and Geeks is on this list - but to put it another way, few comedies are as funny, if not funnier the tenth time around.
It's a marvel that the show even got to air in the first place, considering its madness, but thank god it did, even if just for a moment in time. Here's how it came to be: after bonding together as a little pocket of the MTV show, The State, Michael, Michael, and David (who gets made fun of for not also being named Michael), took their vision of three special best friends in suits to the stages of clubs like New York's Fez club. The first ever show was on January 15th, 1997. The three pals (that The Hollywood Reporter once referred to as the Marx Brothers on acid) would riff, argue over silly things, boogie, and present short films on a pull down screen that today are referred to as The Stella Shorts - they would act as a prototype for their future shot at television.
There's nothing funny about describing comedy so I won't bother attempting to explain their brand of meta-lame absurdism. I will vehemently urge you to discover it on your own, should this comes as news to you. If you are already familiar with the troop, allow me to share some highlights from Sunday night's 20th anniversary show, to the day.
It's a rare occasion to see the boys wearing suits these days, so this alone was a major treat. Then, to the surprise of no one, Stella effortlessly fell into their chemistry of bickering and silly practical jokes. Take The San Francisco Clog Stomp, a dance that David Wain and Michael Ian Black made up to exclude Michael Showalter from being in the know. "It's not real!", they laughingly told Show after taking him for a ride. "But it is real!", cried Showalter "because we made it real. Because we did it (we did it together! Yaaaaay!!!).
The evening had many highlights, such as its many guest stars including Eugene Mirman and Robyn Hitchcock, but few were as great as seeing a brand new Stella short to commemorate 20 years. What a pleasure it was to see the fellas on a screen after all this time.
As wonderful as it was, my personal favorite moments of the night surrounded their rare bouts of sincerity: first, when they described at length their first gig playing to a commuter college cafeteria, and finally, when David unironically thanked the Michaels for 20 wonderful years of laughs. The sincerity was something I thought I'd never see and, as brief as it was, it was enough to bring a tear to my eye. If there is a comedy god, please, give us another 20 years of Stella.
Still ahead: Peter Bogdanovich the Screwball.
Bogdanovich 101: The man has a fixation with classic Hollywood and always has. Be it in The Last Picture Show, which is a distinctly modern film, but harkens back to the classic age, or At Long Last Love, which attempted to capture the magic of Gene Kelly/Ginger Rogers musicals, or in Nickelodeon, which takes place in the silent era, Peter Bogdanovich has always saluted his heroes, many of whom he was able to befriend even prior to his breakout success. But for all his genre nods, I’d say my favourite is his love for classic screwball comedy.
I really love Sketchfest for including a Peter Bogdanovich screwball double bill in its lineup, with a Q&A with the man in between. First on the roster is his (confusing to some) 1972 follow up to The Last Picture Show, What’s Up Doc?, a screwball that marries films like Howard Hawks’ Bringing Up Baby with Bugs Bunny. It’s also famous for its Babs Streisand role that she really didn’t get or like. Lucky for history, she’s wrong. What’s Up, Doc? is absolutely funny, beaten in laughs only by the second film of the evening, 1992’s Noises Off.
Based on the 1982 play of the same name, Noises Off captures the overwhelming confusion and misunderstanding of screwball comedy like few other modern comedies. It’s about an ensemble cast attempting to put across a play called Nothing On. They could do it too, if not for the building tension of the outfit’s personal lives, which seems to always manifest itself onstage, before a live audience. Featuring a wonderfully on-point cast including Carol Burnett, Michael Caine, John Ritter, and Julie Hagerty, Noises Off is my preferred comedy of this hysterical double bill.
You don't need to be in San Francisco for this one. Watch both films today! But if you are, the screenings go down at The Mission Alamo Drafthouse on Wednesday night.
Animated TV Live Reads
Fans of TV's finest animated works rejoice! Later in the week, beginning Thursday, Sketchfest is offering some incredible live reads. The almost unbelievably good fun begins with the King of the Hill 20th Anniversary Reunion Live Read with Mike Judge, Pamela Adlon, Johnny Hardwick, David Herman, Toby Huss, Kathy Najimy and Stephen Root.
I’m almost scared to witness real humans offering their beloved voices to an audience, as I’m unclear what effect it will have hearing catchphrases like “BWAAAA!”, coming from a face that isn’t Hank Hill’s. It will also be fascinating to hear of the genesis of this brilliantly subtle show, which I know borrowed the straight-edged conservative voice of Beavis and Butthead’s Mr. Anderson, but little else.
In a time before Futurama followed The Simpsons, I can still remember the first time I set my eyes on King of the Hill 20 years ago. It certainly made me laugh countless times throughout its first season and I quickly grew to love Boomhauer (just imagine hearing that character read live), but it wasn’t until the show made its way into syndication that I tapped into its brilliance. I know many people were turned off by their first reactions, but if you’ve never corrected your initial impression, if you take anything from this article it’s that you MUST revisit Mike Judge’s masterpiece with fresh eyes.
Speaking of Futurama, good news everyone! (in the voice of Professor Farnsworth), the Matt Groening creation (developed with David X. Cohen) that also followed The Simpsons three years after KOTH, will also be hosting live reads from some of the show’s most loved scenes in addition to a Q&A. There to represent Futurama will be John DiMaggio (Bender), Billy West (Fry, Zoidberg, Professor Farnsworth, Zapp Brannigan), Maurice LaMarche (Kif, Morbo, Lrrr), Phil LaMarr (Hermes Conrad), David Herman (Scruffy, Larry), executive producer and co-creator David X. Cohen, producer Lee Supercinski and special guest Laraine Newman.
Be still my heart, the final live read to froth my mouth for this week is Dr. Katz. Sketchfest writes: “Dr. Katz Live is a stage variation of the animated show, Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist, created by Jonathan Katz and Tom Snyder for Comedy Central. It premiered in 1995, earning the network its first Emmy and Peabody awards and introducing the term “squigglevision” to the English language. The show has rightfully gone on to become a cult classic.”
Fans of Dr. Katz and Jonathan Benjamin, who continued to squiggle vision in Home Movies, before going straight with Bob’s Burgers, will remember that the best part of watching Dr. Katz was seeing which guest comedians would act as the therapist’s patients. So which guest comedians will be joining Jonathan Katz on stage? Kevin Pollak Moshe Kasher, Natasha Leggero, Scott Aukerman, and Tom Papa!!!
And That’s Not All!
I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out a handful of more incredible events still to come (albeit in less detail).
1) More live reads! Perhaps the coolest being a staging of Ed Wood’s Plan Nine From Outer Space
2) A Tribute to Comedy Bang Bang! Featuring Weird Al Yankovic. During Al TV, Yankovic was asked why they call him ‘Weird Al”. His response: “I think people are just cruel.”
3) More Animated TV! I’m not sure if they’re live reads, but there's an event for The Venture Brothers, as there is one for Bojack Horseman, which just had one of the best seasons of the year. Browse the schedule to catch them all.
4) A Tribute to Fred Willard, featuring Christopher Guest! Find out Wah’ Happened??
5) A Tribute to Tim & Eric! Spread those wings!
6) Hollywood Shuffle' 30th Anniversary: Tribute to Robert Townsend and Keenen Ivory Wayans! Batty, batty, batty!!
7) How great is this event’s title? The Great Debate presents 'Revenge of the Nerds: An Enlightening Morality Tale or a Terrifying Prophecy of the Collapse of Our Nation?'
Enjoy!!