SketchFest: The Seattle Comedy Festival Announces Special Events For Fall

The SketchFest Seattle Opening Night Kick-Off Gala
Monday, Sept. 21 @ 7:30
The 11th annual SketchFest lifts off with an action-packed night featuring the 2009 SketchFest Video Contest, teasers from SketchFest groups, and a set from the one-and-only Cody Rivers Show.

The SketchFest Forum on Professional Comedy: How to Make a Living in Comedy
Saturday, Sept. 26, Noon - 2:00pm
A panel discussion by local, national, and international comedy professionals on the ins-and-outs of creating and developing careers in comedy, facilitated by SketchFest's Artistic Director, Andrew Connor. This is a free event that is open to the public. Panel participants will discuss a range of topics on making it happen in the comedy business, and will participate in a Q&A with the audience at the end of the program.

The SketchFest Mash-Up
Saturday, Sept. 26, 11:00pm
It's like an All-Star game, a foreign exchange program, a triathalon, a mix-tape, and a quilting bee, all rolled into one. At the beginning of the festival we select a raft of courageous performers from among the participating groups and crush them into one megagroup that spends the whole week in lockdown, writing and rehearsing a brand new show of all original material that will be performed once, and once only. Witness this rare and electric collaboration between comedy luminaries from across the continent. Magic guaranteed.

The Women Only Sketch Comedy Intensive
Sept. 21 -26, 4:00 - 6:30
Hello ladies, sick of always playing the bitchy girlfriend, stupid mom, or dead hooker? Perhaps you'd like to write for yourself and others but haven't had the excuse? Well, here ya go...

Write and perform your own material with other funny women at Sketchfest Seattle's Women Only Sketch Comedy Intensive, a six-day series of two and a half-hour workshops held during SketchFest Seattle (Sept. 21-26), which will culminate in an informal showing on the final Saturday of the fest (Sept. 26). All women are welcome, regardless of experience level in theater or comedy.

Throughout the workshop participants will write, direct, and act in their own sketches - short, funny, rehearsed pieces in which you craft interesting, entertaining and (hopefully) humorous stories. Feel free to bring in previous writing to work with.

This is not necessarily about making "women's comedy", it is about women making comedy. Who knows, maybe you'll meet your own sketch group and save the state of sketch from the Whitest Kids U Know?! Or at least have a new sketch in which you do not play Cheerleader with Dildo...unless of course that's what you want.

This workshop is facilitated by sketch comedian and performing artist, Becky Poole, who has toured internationally with critically acclaimed all female sketch comedy groups MEAT (NYC) and Becky & Noelle (Seattle/NYC).

Women Only Sketch Comedy Intensive Details:

* Classes will be daily during the festival (Mon. - Sat., Sept. 21-26), 4:00-6:30 on Mon.-Fri., Informal performance of work from 5:00-6:30 on Sat.
* All classes held at the festival site, Theatre Off Jackson 409 7th Ave. South
* The six-day session will culminate with an informal performance of participants' work on the final night of class: Saturday
* Workshop fee is $160 per participant (minimum of five participants, maximum of ten). Payment is due to secure a spot in the workshop. Each participant is also given two free tickets to SketchFest Seattle.

If you are interested in participating in the Women Only Sketch Comedy Intensive please send an email to: info@sketchfest.org

For more details visit www.sketchfest.org. For tickets visit www.brownpapertickets.com, or call 800.838.3006.

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