{"id":8715924,"date":"2023-01-13T12:34:59","date_gmt":"2023-01-13T20:34:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/?p=8715924&preview=true&preview_id=8715924"},"modified":"2023-01-15T11:01:36","modified_gmt":"2023-01-15T19:01:36","slug":"sf-sketchfest-is-back-and-janeane-garofalo-wishes-she-could-perform-every-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/2023\/01\/13\/sf-sketchfest-is-back-and-janeane-garofalo-wishes-she-could-perform-every-night\/","title":{"rendered":"SF Sketchfest is back, and Janeane Garofalo wishes she could perform every night"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every January, SF Sketchfest gathers a star-studded assemblage of comedians doing sketch, improv, standup, games, tributes, cast reunions, live podcasts, screenplay readings, old-time radio shows and just about any other type of comedic hijinks you can imagine in venues all over San Francisco. It\u2019s come a long way from its beginning as a showcase for a few local sketch comedy groups.<\/p>\n

It started in 2002 when then-San Francisco State University students David Owen, Cole Stratton and Janet Varney brought six Bay Area troupes \u2014 including their own, Totally False People \u2014 for a sketch comedy festival at San Francisco\u2019s Shelton Theatre.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe sold out every show,\u201d Varney recalls. \u201cAnd it\u2019s really grown grassroots from there. We added more performers from other places and all different kinds of comedy and reunions and music, essentially things that we are all fans of, that we can sort of nestle into the comedy subheading.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year Sketchfest celebrates its belated 20th anniversary and its return to live shows, after a modest virtual event in 2021 and a canceled 2022 fest largely carried over to this year. For the first time, a handful of events will be livestreamed as well.<\/p>\n

Events for the festival running Jan. 20-Feb. 5 include a screening of the 1973 satirical film \u201cThe Long Goodbye\u201d with star Elliott Gould; a \u201cA Mighty Wind\u201d cast reunion; a roast of \u201cEvil Dead\u201d star Bruce Campbell; and tributes honoring Cheech & Chong, David Alan Grier and original \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d cast member Laraine Newman.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first year, we didn\u2019t even know there would be a second year,\u201d Owen says. \u201cAnd then the second year we somehow managed to talk Fred Willard and the Upright Citizens Brigade into coming. That felt like such a big deal to us, that we actually got some known comedians from outside of San Francisco to come and play at the festival. I think the third or fourth year we managed to get one of the Kids in the Hall. The next year it was another Kid in the Hall, and a couple years later it was all of the Kids in the Hall. Every year there\u2019s a pinch-ourselves moment of, oh my God, we never thought we\u2019d get this person or this act.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re so sore from pinching ourselves and each other,\u201d Varney quips.<\/p>\n

Many comedy stars quickly get hooked and return to Sketchfest over and over again.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe look at it as like a playground for them to do whatever they want to do,\u201d says Stratton. \u201cIf they want to try some new stuff out or do different kinds of shows that they wouldn\u2019t want to take on the road for a tour.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of these performers know each other, but they\u2019re not often in the same city together, and to have them populate each other\u2019s shows and hang out in an amazing city together, I think that\u2019s been a big reason why this thing has kept going,\u201d Stratton adds. \u201cAnd they tell their friends, and we just keep growing out what we consider to be a giant comedy family at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the frequent returnees is comedian Janeane Garofalo, star of many a \u201990s film (\u201cReality Bites,\u201d \u201cMystery Men,\u201d \u201cThe Truth About Cats and Dogs\u201d). Garofalo has kept coming back since her first Sketchfest in 2009.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure how many Sketchfests I\u2019ve been to, but I always hope to be invited,\u201d\u00a0she says.\u00a0\u201cI think I annoy Janet Varney by getting in touch with her and prodding her to please invite me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garofalo will be headlining a standup show and participating in events including \u201cThe 6 Year Anniversary of the 10 Year Anniversary of the Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival\u201d (alongside Bobcat Goldthwait, Sarah Vowell, Reggie Watts and others); \u201cStop Joking for 100 Years and Other Requests from My Kid (Stories of Parenting and Childhood)\u201d; \u201cTinder Live with Lane Moore\u201d; and \u201cHound Tall with Moshe Kasher Farewell Show.\u201d<\/p>\n

During an interview, she admits the \u201cStop Joking\u201d parenting-themed show is news to her. \u201cOh, am I doing that?\u201d she says. \u201cI don\u2019t have children! I haven\u2019t parented.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unsurprising, because Garofalo loves the serendipity of doing whatever oddball Sketchfest event she\u2019s invited to participate in.<\/p>\n