SF Sketchfest 2012 Guide: Everything You Need To See

When one thinks of the great comedy towns--New York, Los Angeles, Boston--San Francisco doesn't always make the list.

Which is a shame, because its two comedy clubs, Cobb's and The Punchline, are about as iconic and artist-friendly as anywhere in the country.

However, that reputation's been gradually changing in recent years. One of main reasons for that? SF Sketchfest.

Every January for over a decade, the international comedy community converges on San Francisco for two weeks of interviews with comedy legends, academic discussions on classic comedic works and fart jokes. So many fart jokes.

As always, this year's Sketchfest lineup is a a comedy nerd's wet dream, with appearances by David Cross, John Hodgman, Drew Carey, Amy Pohler and more alumni of MTV's The State than can fit in a whole racetrack full of porcupines.

The Thrilling Adventure Hour

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PLAY

FULLSCREEN

ZOOM

Jan 21st, Marines Memorial Theater, 8pm & Jan 22nd, Marines Memorial Theater, 2pm

The talented team of Bens Acker and Blacker are behind two of the hottest tickets at the festival--Wet Hot American Summer: The Live Radio Play and The Thrilling Adventure Hour. While the former couldn't be more sold out, there are still tickets available to both performances of the latter. Since 2005, Ben Acker and Ben Blacker (their real names, they swear) have gradually become the reigning kings of the art of the live radio play with their monthly, Los Angeles-based Thrilling Adventure Hour--a star-studded romp though the worlds of outer space lawman Sparks Nevada, Marshal on Mars and the always spunky, death-faking, Nazi-battling, time-traveling Ms. Amelia Earhart.

According to Blacker, who also hosts a podcast about writing for television on the Nerdist Network, the duo more-or-less stumbled onto the concept completely by accident. "It started because Ben [Acker] and I wrote a space western and the reading was so good that it really opened our eyes to the possibility of exploiting our friends and doing this in front of people," Blacker told the Huffington Post. "We went into it knowing very little about old-time radio. The Thrilling Adventure Hour is an idealized version of what we think of these shows should be."

Your move, Keillor.

Performing with the Thrilling Adventure Hour are John DiMaggio (Futurama), Colin Hanks (Orange County), John Hodgman (The Daily Show), Gillian Jacobs (Community), Bruce McCulloch (Kids in the Hall), Andy Richter (Late Night With Conan O'Brien), James Urbanick (Venture Brothers) and more.

SF Sketchfest 2012 Guide: Everything You Need To See

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