San Francisco Comedy Blog

by Chad Lehrman

Rob Cantrell began his comedy career in San Francisco and quickly rose to national prominence as a top 10 finalist on the first season of NBC’s Last Comic Standing. Rob now lives in New York City and tours all over the country. He has headlined the High Times Comedy Festival, toured with the Marijuana-Logues, and has appeared on Comedy Central, the Late Late Show on CBS, and VH-1. On March 17th & 18th, Rob is very excited to record his first comedy album in the city where he got his start.

March 17th & 18th @ The Punchline
8pm, $15
444 Battery Street, San Francisco

What did you know about Last Comic Standing when you auditioned for the first season? Did you have any idea it could give you as much exposure as it did?

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Punchline Magazine and RooftopComedy have been producing a series of 5 minute interviews with stand-up comedians called “A Tight Five.”

These two most recent ones are probably my favorite that they have done…

You can also read SFstandup.com’s interviews with Marc Maron and Eugene Mirman by clicking here and here…

Larry Wilmore is the “senior black correspondent” on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He appeared as a diversity consultant on The Office, and has written for In Living Color, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and The Bernie Mac Show. Tonight at 7pm, Larry will be appearing at Book Passage in Corte Madera to discuss his new book I’d Rather We Got Casinos: And Other Black Thoughts.

Larry Wilmore @ Book Passage
Monday, February 9th at 7pm
51 Tamal Vista Blvd, Corte Madera

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Chris Hardwick hosted MTV’s Singled Out, is one-half of the comedy duo Hard ‘N Phirm, and writes for Wired Magazine as well as his own site nerdist.com.

Last week, Chris sat down for an interview with Chantel Williams of poprockcandymountain.com after his appearance at Cobb’s Comedy Club:

Comedy Death-Ray- Live From SF Sketchfest: Chris Hardwick

by Andrew Lowder

Barry Sobel first hit it big in the late 80s and went on to be nominated for an Emmy for his work on Saturday Night Live. His many TV and film appearances include the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Revenge of the Nerds II, Doc Hollywood, MTV’s Lip Service, as well as The Barry Sobel Show on Comedy Central. Barry started his comedy career in San Francisco and returns next week for an appearance at the Rickshaw Stop.

December 27th @ Rickshaw Stop
155 Fell Street, San Francisco

Hi Barry. Might as well jump right in. Appearing on Carson at such a young age must’ve been nerve-wracking. Were you petrified? How did that all come about and what was it like?

Barry Sobel: My appearance on Johnny Carson, currently being bootlegged on the web, was the second time I was ever on. In fact, it was just the opposite of nerve-wracking. When Johnny was intro-ing me, I yelled out from backstage. Not a lot of people do that. I just knew it was going to be one of the greatest moments of my life. I was so excited to get out there. It surprised Johnny, and Ed covered by going, “Voice from above sir…”

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by Sean Keane

Jim Breuer is an East Coast comedian best known for his three-year stint on Saturday Night Live and his role in the cult classic, Half Baked. He also hosts the Sirius satellite radio show Breuer Unleashed on Raw Dog 104. After an extended hiatus from stand-up comedy, he returned to comedy last year with his “Breuniversity” Tour of colleges across America. On November 20th, at 11 PM, Breuer will be performing at Caesar’s Palace as part of The Comedy Festival in Las Vegas.

Right off the bat, I want to ask about the upcoming TBS Comedy Festival, where you’re playing Caesar’s Palace. Have you done the festival before?

JB: I did it last year. Last year, I started going back into stand-up, and the Vegas Comedy Festival was the perfect place for me to launch it, because it’s very family-oriented. It’s not like, bring-your-lollipops, family-oriented, but I talk about my kids, my wife, being married, having a dad who craps himself, and taking care of the elderly. I did a midnight show with Chelsea Handler, and it was sick. Not that I was nervous, but I wasn’t too optimistic they were going to buy what I was talking about. And I left with a standing O, so I was happy.

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by Nato Green

Hari Kondabolu has appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live and Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham. He also performed at Seattle’s Bumbershoot Festival 2006 and HBO’s US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen in 2007. His short film Manoj about a rising Indian comedian has been a hit at film festivals across the country, and was screened at the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal. He’s been an immigrant rights activist as well, and took a hiatus from his rise in the Seattle comedy scene to get a Master’s degree in Human Rights at the London School of Economics. His experience as an organizer informs his comedy and appeals to a unique comedy audience. Hari will be appearing in the Laugh Out the Vote tour October 15-19 in Santa Rosa, San Francisco, and Redwood City.

Click a date for tickets and more details about the Laugh Out The Vote tour, a “pre-election political comedy throwdown” featuring Hari Kondabolu, Nato Green, Will Durst, W. Kamau Bell, Betsy Salkind and special guests:

10/15: Kids Street School Theater, Santa Rosa
10/16 & 10/17: The Purple Onion, San Francisco
10/18: The Clubhouse, San Francisco
10/19: Little Fox Theater, Redwood City

Were you into comedy growing up in Queens?

I got into comedy after I saw Margaret Cho in that leather body suit HBO special from 1994 that was on Comedy Central constantly in the early 90s. That was the first time I got really into stand-up. I saw her all the time and she was a big deal to me. “Wow, I think it might be possible for a South Asian person to do this.”

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Saturday October 11, Sammy Wegent and Justin Lamb begin a four weekend run at the Purple Onion of their shows Hell to the Chief and Hero Worship. In Hell To The Chief, Wegent hilariously points out why the American public has never been and will never be completely satisfied with the person running the country. Lamb’s Hero Worship is about super heroes and their effect on society. The two recently sat down to talk with each other about their shows for SFStandup.com.

@ The Purple Onion
140 Columbus Avenue, SF
Oct. 11th, 18th, 25th & Nov. 1st

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by Chad Lehrman

SFstandup favorite Todd Barry will be bringing his dry and wonderful “medium energy” style to the San Francisco Punchline October 9th-11th.

@ Punchline Comedy Club
444 Battery Street, SF
Oct. 9th, 10th, & 11th
$15-$21

Here Todd answers a few questions regarding rowdy audiences, politics, and where you should go for your pre-show meal.

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by Sean Keane

Best known for his “Sledge-o-Matic” sketch, Gallagher has been performing comedy for over 25 years. This weekend at Pepper Belly’s, Gallagher plans to shower the audience with social and political commentary, along with chunks of pulverized watermelon.

@ Pepper Belly’s
8/28-8/31

(Read Part One)

A few years ago you ran for governor of California [Gallagher placed 16th out of 135 candidates]. What would you have done if you’d won that election and become governor?

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