SketchFest Seattle Presents 14th Annual Comedy Festival, 9/28-10/6
By: BWW News Desk Aug. 22, 2012
SketchFest Seattle is the world's original sketch comedy festival and has established a reputation for presenting the best and most original comedy from around the globe. Currently in our 14th year, SketchFest has announced its 2012 line-up and festival dates to share with the city of Seattle.
Beginning at the end of September and spanning two weekends, this iconic comedy festival brings some of Seattle's most amazing sketch comedy talent together with other creative performers from around the country to provide one of the most exciting, provocative, hilarious and downright uproarious good sketch, video and stand-up comedy to Seattle audiences.
DATES
Friday 09/28/12 LOCAL SHOWCASE 7:00 PM – Annex Theatre
Saturday 09/29/15 FILM CHALLENGE 7:00 PM – Central Cinema
Thursday 10/04/12 7:00 PM – Theatre Off Jackson
Friday 10/05/12 7:00 PM – Theatre Off Jackson
Friday 10/05/12 9:00 PM – Theatre Off Jackson
Saturday 10/06/12 7:00 PM – Theatre Off Jackson
Saturday 10/06/12 9:00 PM – Theatre Off Jackson
VENUES
Theatre Off Jackson
409 7th Avenue South
Theatre Off Jackson exists to advance Seattle's vibrant artistic community. It is a 140-seat venue appropriate for performance, music, film, readings, fundraisers and special events. The Theatre Off Jackson Upstairs Gallery is a large, open room suitable for multiple purposes and features a gallery.
Annex Theatre
1100 E. Pike St.
Annex Theatre is a democratic collective of theatre artists dedicated to creating bold new work in an environment of improbability, resourcefulness, and risk. It seats 99, the stage is approximately 24' by 24' and includes a fully operable bar for intermission.
Central Cinema
1411 21st Avenue, Seattle, WA
Central Cinema is a movie-dinner-theater. The lobby is also set up as a restaurant. The waiters deliver food and beverages to your table in the theater. It is a full evening out all in one place.
TICKETS
Tickets are purchased differently for each venue. For more information and links for purchase please visit the Tickets section at: http://www.sketchfest.org/sketchfest-2012
TALENT
LOCAL
The Entertainment Show
www.entertainmentshow.tumblr.com
The Entertainment Show is Kevin Clarke and Travis Vogt--Stranger Genius Award-Nominated filmmakers/sketch comedians, and creators of the epic sci-fi feature film Steel Of Fire Warriors: 2010 AD, the six-part mini-series Adventure Buddies and countless laugh-inducing short films and mind-bending live sketches.
Andy and Barbara
http://barbaraholm.com, https://twitter.com/AndiPalmur
Andy and Barbara are a funny, smart, idiosyncratic Seattle based sketch duo. They are nice people. Follow them on twitter @barbara_holm and @andipalmur.
Generation Friends
https://www.facebook.com/groups/88426121533/
Generation Friends is a student group at The Evergreen State College that controls the comedy market on campus. They are a SUPER-GROUP comprised, much like the US Government, of three branches - Sketch, Improv, and Stand-Up. Together, all three branches combine into a wildly uneven tree that bears only the fruit of love.
Pork-Filled Players
The Pork Filled Players is the longest running sketch comedy group in Seattle, featuring an awesome majority of female writers and performers and reinventing Asian-American comedy with their unique brand of nerdish humor, maximum tongue-in-cheekiness, and an Amazing Kung-Fu Grip™!
Dog Watson's Hoot Suppository
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/6325804f3a/dog-watson-s-hoot-suppository
Dog Watson's Hoot Suppository is a one hour collage of stand up, sketch comedy, art, music, and comedic crafting. Hosted by Birdie (Jessica Strauss), and Heathcliff (Devin Badoo), along with contributing special guests, this show serves as an adult outreach program for at-risk inner-city adults like you, where the ails of adulthood are cured through comedy and craft.
Drop the Root Beer and Run
http://droptherootbeerandrun.tumblr.com/
Drop The Root Beer and Run was formed in 2011 in Olympia, WA, by alumni from The Generation Friends Comedy Arts Coalition at The Evergreen State College. Since performing in SketchFest Seattle in the fall of 2011, DTRBAR began working on a new show for July 2012 called Big Baby Husband. It's a whopping 31 sketches long, most of which go by extremely quickly, all of which you would hate if you hate laughing.
Worst Case Scenario
https://www.facebook.com/worstcase.scenariowest
Worst Case Scenario performs its fast-paced, action-packed comedy in Seattle, Washington. Our promise to our audience is to consistently perform the most challenging and hilarious comedy that our bodies and minds will allow. We will dive head first into themes and formats that should, by all rights, be very difficult, if not impossible.
Sweet Pea
Sweetpea is quite possibly the best monster taming sketch act in the Pacific Northwest, comedian Emmett Montgomery and animator Mark Allender pay tribute to animation pioneer Winsor Mckay's Gertie the Dinosaur by bringing a hideous cartoon beast to life on stage. Sometimes it gets gross…
Charles
https://www.facebook.com/charlescomedy
Charles has performed throughout the US and Canada, including the San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, and Toronto Sketchfests; the Los Angeles Comedy Festival; the People's Improv Theater New York; and the Toronto and Victoria Fringe Festivals. Winners of "Best Writing" and "Best Sketch Comedy" at the 2012 LA Comedy Festival, the Stranger dubbed Charles as "One of the most inspired and inspiring chunks of comedy produced all year."
Le French Word
The Seattle-based absurdist trio Le Frenchword was most recently seen at Annex Theatre, Re-bar and Erickson Theatre Off Broadway in Seattle. Dive into a rabbit hole of its original show "Fancy Mud" to experience black holes, California Cute Cult, The Three-Legged-Dying-Cow of All Creation and uncover the origin of the universe.
Fresh Grounds
Fresh Grounds is a collective of the best artistic talent in Seattle. With a focus on bringing sketch comedy back to the forefront of Seattle entertainment, Fresh Grounds features the best in local music, film and performances unique to our culture & sensibility.
Ubiquitous They
https://www.facebook.com/UbiquitousThey
Ubiquitous They have performed at Bumbershoot, San Francisco Sketchfest, and Seattle SketchFest. Spike and Jason have performed at Emily's house! Do you know Emily? She has a waffle maker.
OUT OF TOWN
Cody Rivers Show
The much acclaimed comedy duo from Bellingham is making a triumphant return from their year-long hiatus following their successful 2010 international tour and is ready to take the Seattle sketch scene by storm once again. The Cody Rivers Show creates kinetic and unpredictable comedy theatre that has amazed audiences and defied description for the past five years. Pushing the envelopes of physical theatre, dance, music, and high-concept comedy, The Cody Rivers Show delivers unique shows unlike any other comedy act, past or present. Their completely new show will be premiering for the first time at SketchFest Seattle 2012.
Peter N' Chris
Peter n' Chris are physical, absurd, inventive, and hilarious. As well as being Seattle SketchFest alumni they have also performed at Chicago SketchFest, Toronto SketchFest, Vancouver Fringe, Victoria Fringe, Toronto Fringe, Second City Toronto and Montreal Fringe.
Super Kudzo
https://www.facebook.com/SuperKudzu
Super Kudzu consists of nine different people with unique sensibilities all pointed toward the same goal: smart dumb cerebral silly sketch comedy. They're a house sketch team at iO West, formed through the first generation of their house sketch team program. They have also performed several other venues around Los Angeles, most notably in the very first (and last) sketch comedy show at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood and the Los Angeles Improv Comedy Festival in early 2012.
Joe Wengert
Joe Does one man character monologues in the style of Bob Newhart that start off in a real place but aim to get weird. He has performed at UCB Theater (NY & LA), SXSW, Bridgetown Comedy Festival, Piccolo Spoleto Festival (Charleston, South Carolina). His one-man show Stages of Adulthood had a four month run at the UCB in Los Angeles and showcases Joe's superior character acting skills.
Missing Earl
Missing Earl uses everyday objects, like trash can lids and cardboard for breakdancing to create a sonic landscape and visual cornucopia that's pure, "stomp"-ing fun. In real life, they perform sketch comedy about unstoppably horny dads, Tiger thieves and everyday Bruce Springsteens, using tools like raps and jokes. Fiercely unique, occasionally dark, and unabashedly stupid, Missing Earl will make you laugh, ponder your existence and empathize with America's lost police officers and office workers.
Stag
Stag Comedy is a high-energy sketch group, bringing together their love of dumb people, dumb problems, and smart comedy. The Huffington Post described Stag as "One of Austin's most accomplished groups, Stag blends witty, weird sketch and video, with an aesthetic that's half Tim and Eric, half The State, and always awesome."
STAND-UPS
Mike Colletta
Mike Coletta is a Seattle based comedian originally from Alaska. He connects with audiences through his energetic delivery, quick wit and somewhat tweaky demeanor. Stories of his family life, growing up in Alaska, and love of nerd culture drive his stand-up. Coletta was a finalist in the Make Jack Laugh Comedy Competition, Portland Comedy Contest, and recently performed at Emerald City Comicon.
https://www.facebook.com/sean.murphy.12139
His name is Sean; he likes jokes and telling them to people. Come be one of those people!
Jen Seaman
Jen Seaman was raised in a small military island town in the Northwest. Seaman is a quirky, Velma/Daphne looking geek (not dork) from Seattle. She is a stand-up comedian who has performed at Bumbershoot, Bridgetown, Seattle Weekly's ReverbFest & Artopia. She recently made her television debut on Comedy Central's Atom TV alongside Kyle Cease in their viral hit video, "BP Apology: Outtakes." She was also a judge favorite on Season 6 of America's Got Talent.
http://www.ricktaylorcomedy.com
After 20+ years in the broadcast industry, Rick Taylor decided to take to the stand-up stage and hasn't been able to stop since. Rick performs, and is on the production/promotion teams at popular working comedy rooms like Punchline Fridays at Jai Thai. Rick has also had great success producing his own monthly comedy shows featuring Seattle's best local comedic talent including Candy Basket Comedy Showcase at The Capitol Club.
HOSTS
Local actor and comedian Ryan Schmidt is a member of Jet City Improv and local sketch comedy juggernaut Ubiquitous They. Right now you can catch him on the TV as the Seattle/Portland Correspondent for Ryan Seacrest Productions' new show AXS Live on Marc Cuban's AXS TV Network. Schmidt is a huge fan and supporter of local sketch comedy and is excited to be hosting Sketchfest Seattle 2012.
Clayton Weller
In the 4 years that Clayton Weller has lived in Seattle he has weaseled his way into the Seattle comedy scene with vigor. He's a member of Ubiquitous They Sketch Comedy, was in the successful late night Catholic Farce, Penguins, at Annex Theatre, created a monthly multi-media arts showcase called whizARTbang!, and for the last two years has been the artistic director at SketchFest. He was trained in arts marketing at ACT theatre, and for the past 8 months has been building a tech business, Freak'n Genius, with the mission of making it so anyone can animate. He loves Sketch Comedy more than he probably should.
Kate Jeager
Kate Jaeger is very active in the Seattle theatre community as an actor, director, emcee and educator. Kate splits her time between improv, musical theatre and scripted work as well as spending time both on stage and behind the scenes. She is a proud company member of Jet City Improv.
Videos