So, yeah, we want to go to every single SF Sketchfest show. Why? Oh, we'll tell you why: Amy Poehler, Paul Rudd, Molly Shannon, Rachel Dratch, Michael Ian Black, Eddie Izzard, Elliott Gould and Sally Kellerman (!), The Dark Crystal's 30th anniversary celebration more ›

Bowie in spandex, uncensored puppets, fake docents, and celebrity riffers are all things you can expect from SF Sketchfest's Summer Nights series, happening now through August 27. The series started last night with two sold-out Reggie Watts shows at the Independent, and advance tickets to the rest of the shows are sure to sell out, too. So act now! Here are a few highlights: more ›

FunCheapSF, the site that's always got your back in terms of monetary concerns, is hooking you up with a handy list of sweet half-price ticket deals for a variety of SF Sketchfest shows via Goldstar. Some of the shows on the list are already sold out, but tickets are still available for two Dr. God Improv shows tonight. Tomorrow is Billy the Mime and Brett Gelman’s Human Garbage and Bob’s Burgers Preunion. Plus, more on Sunday and in the coming weeks. Check out Goldstar's full list of deals for yourself. [Via FunCheapSF] more ›

The biggest comedy festival of the year kicks off tonight with The Upright Citizens Brigade's ASSSSCAT, based on the troupe's popular weekly long-form improv show. Tonight's show will feature founders Matt Besser, Matt Walsh and Ian Roberts, who will be joined by guest improvisers Tim Meadows (Saturday Night Live), Andrew Daly (Eastbound and Down), Danielle Schneider (Players) and guest monologist Joshua Malina (Sports Night, The West Wing). more ›

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. more ›

After checking out SF Sketchfest's Celebrity Autobiography at Cobb's on Saturday night -- a glorious evening of comedians reading bizarre autobiographies of equally bizarre celebrities -- it's easy to see how Rachel Dratch held her own with Tina Fey, Will Farrell and Amy Poehler for years on Saturday Night Live. The former 30 Rock actress is hysterically funny. Not to mention mesmerizing on stage. Even while performing with the a taller and testosterone-rich trio of Steve Schirripa, Fred Willard and Jason Segel (replacing Neil Patrick Harris, who canceled) during a ho-hum Jonas Brothers autobiography reading, Dratch killed it as the "bonus Jonas." more ›

First Michael Cera cancels (which is just fine), then Conan O'Brien pulls out (understandable given his current situation), and now Neil Patrick Harris has nixed performing at SF Sketchfest. Sad. See, he was supposed to have taken the stage at next Saturday's "Celebrity Autobiography," a show where famous funny types read autobiographies of well-known personalities. (Take, for example, Kristen Wiig reading Suzanne Somers.) more ›

Slated to appear at tonight's SF Sketchfest Tribute to Conan O'Brien, the ginger talkshow host has postponed his SF gig: more ›

Holy smokes. more ›

OK. Put on your tinfoil thinking caps for this one, kids. more ›

The closing act of 2008's SF Sketchfest brought the prize of two nights with The Kids In The Hall. This legendary Canadian sketch troupe whose deranged, ribald, brilliant humor has scarred the minds of a generation through stage and screen came to Sketchfest as revered elders. more ›

• Beatropolis: Oh joy! Beatropolis has returned! (Not that they really went anywhere, but it always feels like forever when they're not around.) Anyway, Beatropolis' special brand of dance rock, live drum 'n' bass, and futuristic space pop will have you up until the wee hours of the morning. The Toy Soldiers (a heady nu-electrorawk mix of Flaming Lips, Justin Timberlake, and Hot Chip) and the Buttercream Gang (a local indie/post-punk/afro-beat band) also perform starting at 8 p.m. at Rickshaw Stop; $8.
• The Geek System: Starring Hard 'n Phirm , Reggie Watts, and " We have no idea what that last thing means--okay, some of that other stuff, too--but anything Kraftwerk-y is simply smashing by us. Starts at 10 p.m. at the Knockout; free.

As noted on Friday, we were super stoked to check out SF Sketchfest's "Fresh Faces of Comedy" show at the Mezzanine on Sunday night, hosted by Jon Benjamin and Eugene Mirman, with performances by Mike Birbiglia, John Lehr, Bob Odenkirk, Michael Showalter, Tim and Eric, and musical guest Zach Rogue of Rogue Wave. more ›

We love us some Mary Lynn Rajskub. To the point of rushed-to-the-hospital exhaustion, really. If you know her work, you see that it's hard not to. Popular from her role as CTU techie geek Chloe O'Brien on 24, Rajskub is also known for playing one of Adam Sandler's sisters in Punch Drunk Love and part of the indie elite ensemble in . But we love her best from our initial introduction to her from Gilmore Girls as both a troubadour and Kirk's girlfriend. (The movie they made together was goddamn hysterical. Also: shut up. Save for the final season, Gilmore Girls had many, many fine moments.) more ›

SF Sketchfest presented two sold-out nights of "An Evening of Dr. Jonathan Katz Professional Therapist and Patients" this weekend at Eureka Theatre. We went on Friday night, when the “patients” were Maria Bamford, Brian Posehn, Bob Odenkirk, and “more,” which ended up being surprise guest, Robin Williams. The patients were delightfully quirky, and, as usual, Dr. Katz was the perfect springboard for their jokes. Those of you who went to Saturday night's show, let us know how it was and who the surprise guest was for the night! more ›

The hilarious Eugene Mirman and Jon Benjamin are hosting SF Sketchfest's "Fresh Faces of Comedy" show on Sunday night at Mezzanine that we can't wait to check out. There will also be a short film contest with Jon Lehr of TBS's 10 Items or Less (he was also Geico's Caveman, whom he looks nothing like, BTW), which had us chuckling aloud the other night. "Five finalists will have their grocery-store themed films showcased and the winner, as determined by the SF Sketchfest founders and Sony Television executives, will receive a cash prize." more ›

• RiffTrax Live at the Castro - . Eeee! Like, we could just die! (Part of SF Sketchfest.) Starts at 9 p.m. at the Castro Theatre.
• Your Macworld Expo Parties: It's winding down, kids. Partake in the Macworld festivities while you can.
• Ships in the Night: San Francisco's jankiest and most awesome bar--of the homosexual persuasion, anyway--is having one of the city's jankiest and most awesome! DJs L'il Manila, Durt, and Vroom pump out all of your favorite dance floor classics this evening. What's more, your admission fee goes to pro-abortion group, Bay Area Coalition for Our Reproductive Rights. Woo hoo! The drinking and dancing starts at 10 p.m. at the Gang Way; $3-5.

Moshe Kasher, Alex Koll, and Brent Weinbach. more ›

• The Sound of Young America Live: Live public radio featuring Jesse Thorn, Morgan Murphy, Merlin Mann, Danny Hoch, and Bucky Sinister perform le stand-up hot. Zach Rogue (of Rogue Wave) provides the music. It's indie rock and comedy all rolled into one. Ta-da! Oh, and it's part of SF Sketchfest, so you know it's good. Show starts at 8 p.m. at the Eureka Theatre; $10.
• BiFriendly Social: A bisexual coffee klatch for men and women who lean on both sides of the fence. (No, not for you alterafag Manhunter subscribers who claim bisexuality only in effort to entice seemingly straight men, but for authentic bi guys. Wherever they may be.) No set topic, just an old-fashion chat with strangers all juiced up on caffeine. Or whatever. Anyway, it goes from 7:30 p.m.- 10 p.m. at Church Street Cafe (formerly Muddy Waters); free.
• Tonight's Macworld Expo Afterparties: Leave the goatees in the bathroom sink. Please.

• Information Society: Remember these guys? No? How about now? They perform along with Tell Tale Heartbreakers, Spellbound (a Siouxsie tribute band), DJs Decay (Death Guild), Shindog (New Wave City), and Callum McGowan (Retrowerks). The energy goes from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. at DNA Lounge; $14-20.
• My Kid Could Paint That (2007): Amir Bar-Lev's documentary about artist Marla Olmstead (a four-year-old at the time this was shot) whose work has raked in loads of money while being compared to Kandinsky, Picasso, and Pollock. Lucky bitch, indeed. Screens at 7:15 p.m. and 9:15 at the Red Vic; $5-8.50.
• Get It?! Gameshow: Local comic Joe Klocek headlines tonight's knee-slappingness. Jason Wheeler, Arj Barker, Todd Barry, and Morgan Murphy also perform. Part of SF Sketchfest. Show starts at 8 p.m. at the Punchline; $15.

Before hitting the sundry of top-notch hilarity littering San Francisco during the 7th Annual SF Sketchfest - i.e., the sad clowns making funny - be sure to stop by tonight's opening party. No really, it's well worth the price of admission. And then some. They have Aimee Mann, Kristen Schaal (aka the girl from Flight of the Conchords), Paul F. Tompkins, Todd Barry, Rhys Darby, and DJs Skip & Shindog on-hand to perform. Plus, you'll have the chance to get wasted near other comedic types. And as we all know, alcoholism runs wild within the bloodstreams of stand-up comedians. Amateur night for substance abusers and comics this is not. more ›

All those folks who are still complaining about the cancellation of "Mystery Science Theater 3000"--and by "all those folks," we mean us--wake up! The MST3K guys are still at it--they just aren't trapped in space any more. In fact, Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett, and Kevin Murphy will be in San Francisco this weekend skewering a film in front of a live audience with RiffTrax Live. more ›

Tuesday night at the Eureka Theater, SF Sketchfest presented an up-tempo, mostly hysterical conglomeration of audio-visual entertainment. Interesting that this was Sketchfest's first-ever video night, when it's exactly the kind of evening you'd think would go by the wayside our YouTube world. (Hell, we've even got a video on YouTube, and we don't own a camera!) more ›

With the Yoga Journal conference going on at the same time as SF Sketchfest, SFist didn't know which way to turn. So, we spent the weekend in child's pose. Then, still feeling childish, we took our big sister to the Sketchfest tribute to Paul Reubens Monday night at the Palace of Fine Arts. more ›

As you might have noticed, we've been enjoying ourselves at Sketchfest. You've also might have noticed that we've partnered up with them. Which is why we're pretty excited about today's, last minute, giveaway. Because we're going to give away five (that's five!) pairs of tickets for tonight's SF Sketchfest to Paul Reubens. You know, Pee Wee Herman. more ›

Cole Stratton isn't just one of the founders of SF Sketchfest, which starts tomorrow. (Are you going? We are, and you should, too.) more ›

Okay, so you don't understand why the Dowd/Friedman double-bill Friday night is the most exciting thing ever. And the rest of your Friday night social calendar is about as slim pickings as the new coked out Lindsey Lohan. Well, then SF Sketchfest, Club Chuckles, and The Sound of Young America might just have the thing for you as they present "All Tommorow's Jokes" at the Hemlock Tavern tomorrow night. Yep, the Hemlock Tavern: it's not just for alt-country fan boys and smokers anymore. And the show happens not just once, but twice, as there's a show at 9 and 11:30. "All Tommorow's Jokes" features the comedy stylings of music duo Hard N Phirm, stand up comedian Jasper Redd, the sketch comedy group Prank the Dean, and stand up comedian Brent Weinbach. It’s hosted by another stand up comedian (go figure) Jordan Morris. Tickets are $7 at the door. more ›