SF Sketchfest


SF Sketchfest, or The San Francisco Comedy Festival, is an American comedy festival founded in 2002 by Bay Area actor-comedians David Owen, Janet Varney and Cole Stratton. It takes place every January and February in a variety of Bay Area venues and features sketch comedy, improv comedy, film and television tributes and reunions, solo performers, podcasts and stand-up comedy performers.

History

2002

In its first year, SF Sketchfest presented six Bay Area sketch groups in the intimate 80-seat Shelton Theatre: The Fresh Robots, Kasper Hauser, The Meehan Brothers, Please Leave The Bronx, Totally False People and White Noise Radio Theatre.

2003

The Second Annual SF Sketchfest featured Fred Willard and his Hollywood Players, the Upright Citizens Brigade, The Sklar Brothers, The Vestibules and The Tenderloins performing at the 200-seat Eureka Theatre.

2004

The Third Annual SF Sketchfest featured a tribute to Amy Sedaris; a panel discussion with Bill Corbett, Kevin Murphy and Michael J. Nelson from Mystery Science Theater 3000; and performances by Totally Looped featuring Dan Castellaneta and Rick Overton; Slovin & Allen; The Naked Trucker and T-Bones Show featuring David Koechner from Saturday Night Live; Girl's Guitar Club featuring Karen Kilgariff and Mary Lynn Rajskub; and Saturday Night Live castmember Fred Armisen. Improvisational comedy was added to the festival with Beer Shark Mice featuring David Koechner and Neil Flynn. Film was added with the Bay Area premiere of Martin & Orloff. The 400-seat Cobb's Comedy Club was added as a larger venue.

2005

The Fourth Annual SF Sketchfest featured a tribute to Dana Carvey; a panel discussion with writers and editors from The Onion moderated by author Dave Eggers and performances by Bruce McCulloch from The Kids in the Hall; comedian Demetri Martin; Bizarro creator Dan Piraro; Hard 'n Phirm with Chris Hardwick and Mike Phirman; Olde English; and Elephant Larry.

2006

The Fifth Annual SF Sketchfest featured a tribute to Bob Odenkirk and David Cross from Mr. Show; a lecture by Michael Showalter and David Wain; and performances by Dave Foley from The Kids in the Hall; Tinkle, featuring David Cross, Todd Barry and H. Jon Benjamin with guests Bob Odenkirk, Brian Posehn, Paul F. Tompkins, Eugene Mirman and musical act Rogue Wave; The Paul F. Tompkins Show with guests Paget Brewster, Paul Gilmartin, Samm Levine and Colin Hay; The featuring Amy Poehler, Matt Besser, Rachel Dratch and Horatio Sanz with guest monologist Will Arnett; Naked Babies featuring Rob Corddry; Doug Stanhope, Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players; Fred Armisen; Aziz Ansari; Will Franken and a surprise appearance by Dana Carvey.

2007

The Sixth Annual SF Sketchfest featured the SF Sketchfest Tribute to Paul Reubens and performers including Stella, RiffTrax Live featuring Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett from Mystery Science Theater 3000, The Upright Citizens Brigade with Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh, Sean Conroy, Andy Daly and guest monologist Bob Odenkirk, Comedy Death-Ray, Match Game Live, David Cross, Bruce McCulloch, Eugene Mirman, Naked Babies, Todd Barry, H. Jon Benjamin, Morgan Murphy, Doug Benson, Todd Glass, Hard 'n Phirm, A.D. Miles, Jimmy Pardo, Paul F. Tompkins, Maria Bamford, Dragon Boy Suede, Tony Hale and Will Durst.

2008

The Seventh Annual SF Sketchfest presented The Kids in the Hall, in performance and in conversation for the annual Tribute. Other performers included Aimee Mann, Paul F. Tompkins, Todd Barry, Rhys Darby, Kristen Schaal, Naked Babies with Rob Corddry, The Sound of Young America Live with host Jesse Thorn and guests Danny Hoch, Merlin Mann, Morgan Murphy, Bucky Sinister and musical guest Zach Rogue; RiffTrax Live at the Castro Theatre with the film Plan 9 from Outer Space; Dr. Katz Professional Therapist Live with guest patients Bob Odenkirk, Maria Bamford, Brian Posehn, Robin Williams, H. Jon Benjamin, Eugene Mirman, Andy Kindler and B.J. Novak; Michael Showalter, John Vanderslice, Match Game Live, Comedy Death-Ray, a "Freaks and Geeks" reunion with Linda Cardellini, John Francis Daley, Samm Levine, Martin Starr, Busy Philipps, Dave Allen, Steve Bannos and Paul Feig; Patton Oswalt, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Bro'in Out with Seth Morris with special guest Adam McKay; Upright Citizens Brigade with Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh, Rachel Dratch, Rob Riggle, Kevin Dorff and guest monologist Neil Patrick Harris; The Whitest Kids U Know, and Tim and Eric.

2009

The Eighth Annual SF Sketchfest featured a reunion of the MTV sketch comedy group The State, marking the first time in twelve years that all eleven original members were together onstage. They presented a brand-new hour-long sketch show at the intimate 200-seat Eureka Theatre, and also sat down with moderator Janeane Garofalo for the annual Tribute award at the Herbst Theatre. Related programming included a cast-introduced screening of Wet Hot American Summer, and Stella: The Classic Nightclub Show, with guests Thomas Lennon, Tig Notaro, Nick Kroll, Zak Orth, Eugene Mirman, Seth Herzog and Janeane Garofalo. The festival introduced their first Comedy Writing Award, presented to Saturday Night Live and Late Night with Conan O'Brien scribe Robert Smigel, who was joined in conversation with Dana Carvey. Smigel also joined Dino Stamatopoulos, Doug Dale, the Anifriends and Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog for a live stage version of the Comedy Central television show TV Funhouse. Other notable programming included A Salute to Bud Cort, interviewed after a screening of Harold and Maude at The Castro Theatre; A Fernwood Reunion with Martin Mull and Fred Willard; Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!; Savage Steve Holland and Diane Franklin with a screening of Better Off Dead; The Hills: A Staged Reading with Janeane Garofalo, Rachael Harris, Tom Kenny, Rob Huebel, Rob Riggle, Dannah Feinglass, Danielle Schneider and Mike Phirman; Comedy Death-Ray with Zach Galifianakis, Bob Odenkirk, Andy Kindler, Chris Hardwick, Paul F. Tompkins, Mary Lynn Rajskub; Celebrity Autobiography with Michael McKean, Annette O'Toole, Scott Thompson, Rachel Dratch, Will Forte, Jason Sudeikis, and Laraine Newman; Sunday with Moral Orel with Dino Stamatopoulos and Scott Adsit; Upright Citizens Brigade ASSSSCAT Improv with Matt Besser, Matt Walsh, Tim Meadows, Andrew Daly, Danielle Schneider and monologist Andy Richter; Totally Looped movie dubbing show with Laraine Newman, Maria Bamford, Oscar Nunez, and Rick Overton; Invite Them Up with Eugene Mirman and Bobby Tisdale and guests including Todd Barry and Paul Scheer; Facebook Improv with Rob Corddry, Rob Riggle, Rob Huebel, Paul Scheer, Seth Morris, Chad Carter and Owen Burke; Theme Park Improv with Scott Adsit, Oscar Nunez, Kate Flannery, Jessica Makinson, Janet Varney and Cole Stratton; Scott Thompson’s solo show Scottastrophe!; Cartoon Dump with Frank Conniff; Never Not Funny Live with Jimmy Pardo, Jon Hamm and Pat Francis; The Sound of Young America Live with Jesse Thorn, Sean Cullen, Jello Biafra and Kasper Hauser; Monsters of Podcasting with Jordan, Jesse, Go and You Like Nice Today; and stand-up sets from Doug Benson, Aziz Ansari and Will Durst.

2010

The Ninth Annual festival included Conan O'Brien, recipient of the annual Tribute Award, who was scheduled to appear on January 17, but had to be postponed due to the late night fiasco at NBC. The tribute was done later that summer on July 17 at the Herbst Theater, where O'Brien was joined by Andy Richter and moderator Patton Oswalt for an incredible, candid, three-hour conversation. The Comedy Writing Award was presented to author and humorist John Hodgman, who was joined in conversation with Dave Eggers. The festival presented their first Monty Python member in Terry Jones, who appeared in conversation at a screening of Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Monty Python’s Life of Brian at the Castro Theatre. Other film related programming included Cinematic Titanic ; Waiting For Guffman with Fred Willard; with Dave Foley; Animal Crackers with Bill Marx and Dick Cavett; and UHF with "Weird Al" Yankovic. Yankovic also joined Chris Hardwick in conversation. Other notable events and performers included Tim and Eric; an Evening with the Reno 911! Sheriff’s Department; The Greg Proops Chat Show with Robin Williams, Linda Cardellini and musical guest Michael Penn; The Dave Hill Explosion with Dick Cavett and The Violent Femmes’ Gordon Gano; Celebrity Autobiography with Jason Segel, Rachel Dratch, Laura Kightlinger, Steve Schirripa, and Fred Willard; Upright Citizens Brigade ASSSSCAT with Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh, David Koechner, Tim Meadows, Chad Carter and monologist Moon Zappa; The Paul F. Tompkins Show featuring Dave Foley, Illeana Douglas and musical guest Grant-Lee Phillips; Comedy Death-Ray with Michael Ian Black, Dana Gould, Doug Benson, Natasha Leggero, James Adomian, musical guest Aimee Mann and host Scott Aukerman; the return of Facebook Improv; Game Show Explosion with Jimmy Pardo; The Red Wine Boys with Todd Barry and H. Jon Benjamin and guests Larry Murphy, Brendon Small and musical guests Mates of State; Invite Them Up with Eugene Mirman and Bobby Tisdale; The Whitest Kids U’ Know; Greg Behrendt’s Bring the Rock featuring Matt Nathanson; The Jill and Julia Show with Jill Sobule and Julia Sweeney; Ask A Ninja Live; The Big Gay Sketch Show; Theme Park Improv with Edie McClurg, Danny Pudi, Scott Adsit, Rachel Dratch, Jessica Makinson, Janet Varney and Cole Stratton; Never Not Funny Live with Jimmy Pardo and guest Dave Foley; The Benson Interruption with Doug Benson, Steve Agee, Graham Elwood and more; Doug Loves Movies and Comedy Death Ray Radio Live; The Shit Show with Rob Huebel; Dr. God Improv with Matthew Lillard; My Monster with Bill Corbett from Mystery Science Theater 3000; Reggie Watts; Kasper Hauser; Killing My Lobster; and stand-up sets from Nick Kroll, Jon Dore, Brent Weinbach, Matt Braunger, Kyle Kinane, and Jamie Kilstein.

2011

In 2011, the festival celebrated its 10th Anniversary, now regularly utilizing nearly a dozen venues, including The Castro Theatre, Yoshi’s San Francisco, The Purple Onion and Marines’ Memorial Theatre. The annual Tribute award was split into a new Great Collaborator Series, showcasing fantastic comedy teams. The first was a 25th Anniversary Tribute to “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show” with Garry Shandling and Alan Zweibel appearing with moderator Zach Braff; second was an Airplane! Tribute to Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker, moderated by Chris Hardwick; and the third was a Tribute to Murphy Brown with Candice Bergen and Diane English. The third Comedy Writing Award was presented by James L. Brooks, who candidly chatted with Danny DeVito before a screening of Brooks’ classic Broadcast News. The festival teamed with local drag superstar Peaches Christ for an evening with Cloris Leachman and a screening of High Anxiety, and presented a 25th Anniversary screening of True Stories with Talking Heads’ frontman David Byrne.
Other great events included a Saturday Night Live: The Originals panel with Dan Aykroyd, Tom Davis, Laraine Newman, Don Novello and moderator Carl Arnheiter; Brian Henson in conversation with Neil Patrick Harris featuring a live puppet demonstration; The Thrilling Adventure Hour with a star-studded cast including Neil Patrick Harris, Colin Hanks, Alison Brie, John DiMaggio, Donal Logue, Danny Pudi, James Urbaniak, Busy Philipps, Samm Levine, John Ennis and Paul F. Tompkins; a four show preview of Mike Birbiglia’s new solo show, My Girlfriend's Boyfriend; Celebrity Autobiography with Will Forte, Rachael Harris, Joe Pantoliano, Jonathan Silverman and Linda Cardellini; Whose Live Anyway? improv show with Ryan Stiles, Greg Proops, Chip Esten and Jeff Davis; a Viva Variety Reunion show with Thomas Lennon, Michael Ian Black, Kerri Kenney-Silver and Robert Ben Garant; Gentlemen’s Club with Bob Odenkirk; The Paul F. Tompkins Show with Gillian Jacobs, Neil Patrick Harris and musical guest Tom Brosseau; The Dave Hill Explosion with Moby, Thao Nguyen and Will Franken; Delocated Witness Protection Program Variety Show with Jon Benjamin and guests Todd Barry, Andrew Daly, Kristen Schaal, Eugene Mirman, Will Forte and musical guest A.C. Newman; The Benson Interruption with Doug Benson and guests Zach Galifianakis and more; The Kevin Pollak Chat Show with guest Adam Savage; Greg Behrendt’s Maximum Volume with Matt Nathanson and Brendon Small; Music Night with Garfunkel and Oates, David Koechner, and more; Tig Has Friends with Tig Notaro; Billy The Mime; Charlyne Yi; Paul Brittain; Rich Fulcher; Killing My Lobster; Solo shows by Rob Delaney, Brett Gelman, Joe Sibb and Lauren Weedman; Storytelling shows Porchlight, This is Not Happening and Risk! with Kevin Allison and The Friday Forty with Dave Holmes.
Podcasts also made up a major component of the festival, and included live tapings of WTF with Marc Maron and guests Bobcat Goldthwait, Will Franken, Maria Bamford, Baron Vaughn and W. Kamau Bell; Never Not Funny with Jimmy Pardo and guest David Koechner; Nerdist with Chris Hardwick, Jonah Ray and Matt Mira with guest Zach Galifianakis; Pop My Culture Podcast with Cole Stratton and Vanessa Ragland and guest Bob Odenkirk; Sklarbro Country with the Sklar Brothers and guests Michael Ian Black, Har Mar Superstar and Bill Romanowski; Citizen Radio with Jamie Kilstein and Allison Kilkenny and guest Markos Moulitsas; The Sound of Young America with Jesse Thorn and guests John Vanderslice and Steve Dildarian; and Monsters of Podcasting.
The festival also introduced a new program called The Dozen, spotlighting the next wave of stand-up comedy stars, featuring Dan Mintz, Dan Telfer, Chris Fairbanks, Chelsea Peretti, Matt Braunger, Jamie Kilstein, Jen Kirkman, Baron Vaughn, Mary Mack, Kumail Nanjiani, Deon Cole and Harris Wittels. There was also a reunion and performance from the original six groups from the first Sketchfest.

2012

The Eleventh Annual SF Sketchfest featured The SF Sketchfest Tribute to Eddie Izzard, in conversation with Greg Proops, and a tribute to festival favorite Upright Citizens Brigade, with founding members Amy Poehler, Matt Besser, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh in conversation with Andy Richter, and also performing their ASSSSCAT improv show. One of the most anticipated events of the fest was Wet Hot American Summer, the Live Radio Play, which brought stars of the original film and surprise guests reading the film script onstage with a band and live foley effects. Reprising their roles were Michael Ian Black, Samm Levine, Joe Lo Truglio, Ken Marino, Christopher Meloni, Marguerite Moreau, Amy Poehler, Paul Rudd, Molly Shannon, Michael Showalter, and David Wain. Surprise guests included Busy Philipps, David Cross, Joshua Malina, Colin Hanks, Marc Evan Jackson, Bruce McCulloch, Jessi Klein, Gillian Jacobs, John Hodgman, Craig Cackowski, Zandy Hartig, Andy Richter, Bobcat Goldthwait and Paul & Storm.
Film events included a celebration of Robert Altman and M*A*S*H* with guests Elliott Gould, Sally Kellerman and Kathryn Altman; RiffTrax presents Night of the Shorts III: The Search for Schlock with Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy and guest riffers David Cross, Bruce McCulloch, Paul F. Tompkins, Eugene Mirman, Cole Stratton and Janet Varney; The Rocky Horror Picture Show with host Peaches Christ and star Barry Bostwick; Best in Show with Michael Hitchcock and Fred Willard; a 30th Anniversary Celebration of The Dark Crystal with Dave Goelz; and Doug Benson interrupting the film Road House.
Reggie Watts performed a four show "Reggidency," in which he collaborated with Garfunkel & Oates and Robert Glasper, performed solo, and did a live improvisational score to the film Legend. w00tstock Founder's Night featured Adam Savage, Wil Wheaton and Paul & Storm. The Groundlings made their first appearance at the festival with their Beverly Winwood Presents The Actors Showcase show featuring Jennifer Coolidge, Jim Rash, Nat Faxon and more, and The Black Version improv with Phil LaMarr, Keegan-Michael Key and Cedric Yarbrough. Other events and performers included Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza with Drew Carey, Chip Esten, Greg Proops and Ryan Stiles; Celebrity Autobiography: The Next Chapter with Rachel Dratch, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Florence Henderson, Laraine Newman, Luke Perry and Fred Willard; The Thrilling Adventure Hour with Paget Brewster, John DiMaggio, Colin Hanks, John Hodgman, Gillian Jacobs, Bruce McCulloch, Christopher Meloni, Busy Philipps, Kevin Pollak, Andy Richter and Paul F. Tompkins; A table read of the unproduced script "They Came Together" by David Wain and Michael Showalter with an all-star cast including Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler; the return of Theme Park Improv with guest monologist Bob Odenkirk; Stella, the Classic Nightclub Show with house band Release The Sunbird; The Paul F. Tompkins Show with Judy Greer, John Hodgman and musical guest Ted Leo; Delocated Witness Protection Program Variety Show with Jon Glaser and guests including Brett Gelman, David Cross, Paul Rudd and Ben Gibbard; Set List: Comedy Without a Net with Matt Braunger, Jon Dore, Rick Overton, Eddie Pepitone, Chelsea Peretti, Greg Proops, Steve Agee and surprise guest Robin Williams; John Hodgman - An Evening of My Expertise, featuring Dana Gould and Lance Bangs; Bruce McCulloch's solo show The Pink Dot Stories; Harmontown with Dan Harmon; An Afternoon with Eagleheart with Chris Elliott; Pretty Good Friends with Eugene Mirman; Jon Benjamin Has a Van Live with H. Jon Benjamin; Bring The Rock with Greg Behrendt and guests including Marc Maron, Mary Lynn Rajskub and Jesse Tyler Ferguson; The Meltdown with Jonah Ray and Kumail Nanjiani; Mapping the Heavens with Rob Delaney and Dave Holmes; Bob Odenkirk and The Birthday Boys in "Seven-Man Sweater;" The Whitest Kids U' Know; and stand-up from Brent Weinbach, Drennon Davis, W. Kamau Bell and Will Franken.
Live podcasts at the festival included Smodcast with Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier; WTF with Marc Maron, Nerdist with Chris Hardwick, Jonah Ray and Matt Mira and guest Dan Harmon; Never Not Funny with Jimmy Pardo and guest Florence Henderson; Doug Loves Movies; Kevin Pollak's Chat Show with guest Rachael Harris; Walking the Room with guests Patton Oswalt and Dave Holmes; Greg Proops The Smartest Man in the World; Superego with Paul F. Tompkins and Erinn Hayes; Pop My Culture with Cole Stratton and Vanessa Ragland and guest Drew Carey; and RISK! with Kevin Allison.
The SF Sketchfest Dozen featured Ron Funches, Nick Thune, Moshe Kasher, Jessi Klein, Nikki Glaser, Brendon Walsh, Myq Kaplan, Sheng Wang, Rachel Feinstein, Pete Holmes, Kyle Kinane and Morgan Murphy.

2013

The Twelfth Annual SF Sketchfest featured the annual SF Sketchfest Tribute to two influential comedy shows currently on television -- Portlandia, with Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein and director Jonathan Krisel, in conversation with Adam Savage; and Adult Swim's Childrens Hospital, with cast members Lake Bell, Rob Corddry, Erinn Hayes, Rob Huebel, Ken Marino, David Wain and producer/co-creator Jonathan Stern.
The Nickelodeon show The Adventures of Pete and Pete had a 20th Anniversary reunion featuring Michael C. Maronna, Danny Tamberelli, Toby Huss, Rick Gomez, Mark Mulcahy and creators Chris Viscardi and Will McRobb. Party Down with Party Down reunited cast members Adam Scott, Lizzy Caplan, Martin Starr, Ryan Hansen and Ken Marino with moderator Paul Scheer. Web series sensation Burning Love assembled its extensive cast for an afternoon discussion, and the voice talents behind Futurama, including John DiMaggio, Billy West, Maurice LaMarche, Phil LaMarr, Lauren Tom and producer Lee Supercinski, did an episode table read and a Q&A. Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche reprised their beloved characters from Animaniacs for An Afternoon with Pinky and The Brain.
Film events included Hail to the King, Baby: An Evening with Bruce Campbell with Army of Darkness, in conversation with Patton Oswalt; RiffTrax Presents Night of the Shorts IV: Riffizens on Patrol with Michael J. Nelson, Bill Corbett, and Kevin Murphy, with guest riffers Kevin McDonald, Adam Savage, Kristen Schaal, Paul F. Tompkins, Cole Stratton and Janet Varney; Welcome to the Dollhouse with Peaches Christ and star Heather Matarazzo; The Naked Gun 25th Anniversary with David Zucker, Pat Proft and Priscilla Presley, moderated by Andy Richter; 35th Anniversary screening of National Lampoon's Animal House with director John Landis in conversation with Carl Arnheiter; 10th Anniversary screening of American Splendor with Judah Friedlander and Toby Radloff; An Evening with Pootie Tang with Lance Crouther; and The Benson Movie Interruptions of Catwoman, Anaconda, The Notebook, and Twilight with Doug Benson and surprise guests including Zach Galifianakis, Patton Oswalt, Michael Ian Black and Greg Behrendt.
Children's book author Mo Willems made his picture books into sketch comedy with "Don't Let the Comedians Do Storytime!," a show for kids with guest stars including Patton Oswalt, Maya Rudolph, Michael Ian Black, Laraine Newman and more. Reggie Watts returned for a second "Reggidency" series, this time collaborating with The Amy O'Neal Dance Crew, Michael Winslow, Robert Glasper and drummer Chris Dave. Maya Rudolph and Gretchen Lieberum appeared as Princess, doing an evening of Prince cover songs. Other events and performers included SEX a.k.a. Wieners and Boobs, a play written by and starring Joe Lo Truglio, Michael Showalter and David Wain; The Thrilling Adventure Hour with guests including Jonathan Coulton, Colin Hanks, John Hodgman, Gillian Jacobs, Keegan-Michael Key, Autumn Reeser, John Roderick, Rider Strong and James Urbaniak; Celebrity Autobiography with Maria Bamford, Roger Bart, Jennifer Coolidge, Rachel Dratch, Janeane Garafalo, Andy Kindler, Laraine Newman, Kevin Pollak, Maya Rudolph and Fred Willard; Uptown Showdown Debate with Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter and more; Upright Citizens Brigade ASSSSCAT improv with Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, Scott Adsit and monologist Lucy Davis; Drew Carey and The Midnight Show; Jeff Garlin's Combo Platter; Naked Human Giant Babies with John Ross Bowie, Rob Corddry, Seth Morris, Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer; The 313 Improv featuring Keegan-Michael Key and Marc Evan Jackson; Theme Park Improv with Rachel Dratch, Simon Helberg, Michael Hitchcock, Jessica Makinson, Oscar Nunez, Cole Stratton, Janet Varney and monologist Erinn Hayes; Gravid Water with Scott Adsit, Lucy Davis and more; the return of w00tstock Founders Night with Adam Savage, Wil Wheaton and Paul & Storm; Yacht Rock Heroes with Mustache Harbor and Friends; Garfunkel & Oates with Dragon Boy Suede; Billy Eichner and Friends with Julie Klausner, Retta and more; The Mortified Sessions Onstage; The Chris Gethard Show; Crash Test with Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer; Delocated Witness Protection Program Variety Show with Jon Glaser and musical guest Bob Mould; Kristen Schaal and Friends; The Meltdown with Jonah Ray and Kumail Nanjiani; Paul F. Tompkins and Friends Real & Fake; Stella The Classic Nightclub Show; Team Coco Live with Andy Richter; Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction; Iron Comic All-Stars; R. Kelly's Trapped in the Closet Sing-Along; Stardumb with Bil Dwyer; Write Now with Jimmy Pardo; and stand-up from Nick Kroll, Jeff Garlin, Judah Friedlander, Tim Heidecker, Neal Hamburger, Dr. Brown, Brent Weinbach, Drennon Davis, Wayne Federman, Ian Edwards, Brody Stevens, Rory Scovel, Andres du Bouchet, Moshe Kasher and Natasha Leggero.
Live podcasts included Before You Were Funny with guest Daniel Handler; Bullseye with Jesse Thorn; The Dead Authors Podcast with Paul F. Tompkins and John Hodgman; Harmontown with Dan Harmon; How Was Your Week with Julie Klausner and musical director Ted Leo; Judge John Hodgman Live; The JV Club with Janet Varney and guest Tig Notaro; The Nerdist Podcast with Chris Hardwick, Jonah Ray and Matt Mira and guest Pete Holmes; Never Not Funny with Jimmy Pardo; Plus One Podcast with Kevin Smith and Jennifer Schwalbach Smith; Pop My Culture with Cole Stratton and Vanessa Ragland and guest Rachel Dratch; Professor Blastoff with Tig Notaro; RISK! with Kevin Allison; Ronna & Beverly; The Smartest Man in the World with Greg Proops; The Tobolowsky Files with Stephen Tobolowsky; Superego; Talkin Walkin with Kevin Pollak and guest Simon Helberg; This Feels Terrible with Erin McGathy; Throwing Shade; Walking the Room; Who Charted? with Howard Kremer and Kulap Vilaysack; and You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes.
The SF Sketchfest Dozen featured Erin Foley, Dan St. Germain, Michelle Buteau, Joe Mande, Sara Benincasa, Jonah Ray, Glenn Wool, Chris Gethard, Jamie Lee, Hari Kondabolu, April Richardson and Duncan Trussell.

2020

The universally acknowledged high point of SF SketchFest 2020 was The Internet Read Aloud, hosted by Josh Fruhlinger and Conor Lastowka. Featuring Bill Corbett, Laser Malena-Webber, and Natasha Muse, the show was viewed not just as one of the best of the 2020 fest, but of the entire history of the festival.