by Sean Keane
Matt Kirshen already had an impressive reputation on the UK comedy circuit when Last Comic Standing brought his act to American audiences. He headlines this week at the Punchline Comedy Club (November 14th-17th), with Louis Katz and Sheng Wang.
Is this your first extended American tour right now?
Marc Maron (Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O’Brien) is headlining at the Punch Line Comedy Club in San Francisco November 8th-10th. Marc was kind enough to talk to SF Standup for not just one, but two interviews. (You can read the first one here.)
When did you first start doing comedy and what was the initial experience like?
by Chad Lehrman
Marc Maron can be seen in the film “Almost Famous” and has made many appearances on the “Late Show with David Letterman” and “Late Night with Conan O’Brien.” This week he is headlining at the Punch Line Comedy Club in San Francisco on November 8th-10th.
Why did you decide to move to San Francisco when you did, and what did being here do for you as a comedian?
by Chad Lehrman
Comedian Kevin Nealon is best known for his Saturday Night Live characters and his role as a pot-smoking accountant on Showtime’s hit series Weeds. Kevin is appearing at Cobb’s Comedy Club in North Beach on November 1st-4th.
I read that you have a new stand-up special in the works. Are you working on new material for that this week?
by Chad Lehrman
A recent finalist in the SF International Comedy Competition, fast-rising San Jose comedian Kellen Erskine has opened for big-name comics such as Norm MacDonald and John Heffron.
How was your experience in the San Francisco International Comedy Competition? (winning 5th place)
Dan Dion is the world’s foremost photographer of comedians. He is the house photographer at the Punch Line Comedy Club and Cobb’s Comedy Club, and his work has been exhibited at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Gotham Comedy Club, and the Hollywood Improv.
How did you decide to focus your photography on comedians?
by Chad Lehrman
San Francisco comedian Mo Mandel really really wants your vote. After a recent appearance on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and a 1st place finish in the San Jose Improv comedy competition, Mo is currently one of 3 finalists in Comedy Central’s Open Mic Fight. Go to comedycentral.com/openmicfight to watch clips of all 3 finalists and cast your vote.
At what point will you stop doing comedy competitions and give other comics a chance?
by Will Franken
Will Franken is a comedian that walks around his house naked and talks in tongues. Sometimes the tongues aren’t always nonsense. Sometimes the tongues ask legitimate questions. We caught up with Will Franken and his many tongues during one such time.
by Chad Lehrman
Gerald Nachman is the author of Seriously Funny: The Rebel Comedians of the 1950s and 1960s. He is also co-curator of a new exhibit about the hungry i, the legendary North Beach nightclub. The hungry i exhibit will be on display from March 28- August 27 at the San Francisco Performing Arts Library & Museum. (details at sfpalm.org/exhibits/HUNGRY/Hungry.htm)
Nachman calls the hungry i of the mid-1950s “the Comedy Central of its day.” The following description of the SF comedy scene is an excerpt from page nine of Seriously Funny:
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