SketchFest Seattle, the world’s original sketch comedy festival, comes roaring back with a brand new festival for 2015.
Every year SketchFest brings the best sketch comedians from around the world and pairs them with local favorites. This year the festival sports groups touring from New York, Austin, and even Edmonton!
And if that weren’t enough, SketchFest presents the return of the Comedy Film Challenge: 12 short films, three celebrity guest judges, two cash prizes, one incredibly funny evening. So buy your tickets today!
Schedule
Sunday, September 13 | 7:00 pm
The Pocket Theater | 8312 Greenwood Ave. N
$10 Online | $14 at the door
Featuring:
• Specific NW
• Opening Night Party
Thursday, September 17 | 7:30 pm
The Pocket Theater | 8312 Greenwood Ave. N
$10 Online | $14 at the door
Featuring:
• 5 Stars
• Stronger Than Love
• Super Famous
Friday, September 18 | 7:00 pm
The Pocket Theater | 8312 Greenwood Ave. N
$10 Online | $14 at the door
Featuring:
• Deep Lez
• Mighty Mighty Mixed Nuts
• Lake Party
Friday, September 18 | 8:30 pm
The Pocket Theater | 8312 Greenwood Ave. N
$10 Online | $14 at the door
Featuring:
• Ballard Boyz
• Getting Naked With Friends
• Babyfin
Friday, September 18 | 10:00 pm
The Pocket Theater | 8312 Greenwood Ave. N
$10 Online | $14 at the door
Featuring:
• The Red Sun
• Really Entertaining Show
• Ian Schuelke Wants A TV Show
Saturday, September 19 | 7:00 pm
Central Cinema | 1411 21st Avenue
$15 General Admission
The SketchFest Seattle Comedy Film Challenge returns for its 8th year to crown the winner of 2015’s funniest film. Join SketchFest and judges Jennifer Jasper, Clayton Weller, and Jade Justad for an evening of food, booze, and hilarity! Featuring a live set by Seattle favorites Tomato Tomato!
Sunday, September 20 | 7:00 pm
The Pocket Theater | 8312 Greenwood Ave. N
$10 Online | $14 at the door
Featuring:
• Approximate PHD
• Philip Schallberger
• Part Plant
Thursday, September 24 | 7:30 pm
The Pocket Theater | 8312 Greenwood Ave. N
$10 Online | $14 at the door
Featuring:
• Sober Virgin
• Tomato Tomato
• Liz & Joel
Friday, September 25 | 7:00 pm
Annex Theatre | 1100 E. Pike St.
$15 General Admission | $10 Students
Featuring:
• Christan Leonard
• Drop the Root Beer and Run
• Charles
Friday, September 25 | 9:30 pm
Annex Theatre | 1100 E. Pike St.
$15 General Admission | $10 Students
Featuring:
• Mona Concepcion
• Princess
• Girls With Brown Hair
Saturday, September 26 | 7:00 pm
Annex Theatre | 1100 E. Pike St.
$15 General Admission | $10 Students
Hosted by Ron Reid
Featuring:
• Caitlin Weierhouser
• Day Job
• Vanessa Gonzalez
Saturday, September 26 | 9:30 pm
Annex Theatre | 1100 E. Pike St.
$15 General Admission | $10 Students
Hosted by Ron Reid
Featuring:
• Emmett Montgomery
• Ubiquitous They
• Gossamer Obsessions
Performer Bios
5 Stars (Seattle)
Thursday, 9/17 | 7:30 pm
Approximate Ph.D (Seattle)
Sunday, 9/20 | 7:00 pm
“Approximate Ph.D” was founded by Austin Olson in 2014 after performing at The Pocket Theater in Iron Sketch. We are made up of Seattle homeschool teens, and believe we are the youngest sketch group in the city. We have performed at the Pocket Theater and participated in SketchFest Fund Night at the Annex Theater. Most members have been taking classes together at Jet City Improv since 2013.
Babyfin (Seattle)
Friday, 9/18 | 8:30 pm
Zak is part of the comedy group, Drop the Root Beer & Run. Randall is part of the comedy group Princess. Together they form the tiny, cute and monstrous Babyfin. Their interests are science fiction, comedy, and making you laugh. Specifically you. Have you ever wondered how history comes together so smoothly? It’s no coincidence. For in the year 3535, Interdimensional Time Wardens Zak and Randall are charged with traveling through time and space to ensure historic events happen just as they’re supposed to. The only problem is they don’t really like their jobs. Oh and the other problem is they’re not really good at them, either.
Ballard Boyz (Seattle)
Friday, 9/18 | 8:30 pm
The Ballard Boyz (Josh Chambers and Tim Mattonen) are hilarious, which they proved by placing second in (the preliminary round of) a prestigious comedy competition last year. Their combination of storytelling, music, improv, and sketch seems to delight people. They are entering production of a web series inspired by their live show, which will be out later this year.
Charles (Los Angeles, CA)
Friday, 9/25 | 7:00 pm
“Charles” has performed throughout the US and Canada including annual appearances at the Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, and Toronto SketchFests. They won “Best Writing” and “Best Sketch Comedy” at the 2012 Los Angeles Comedy Festival. Their play, Moby Alpha, was nominated for best comedy and named a “Pick of the Fringe” at the 2014 Hollywood Fringe Festival. Their short films More Rock, Less Talk and Jaguar won the Grand Prize and Audience Choice awards at the 2013 and 2014 Seattle Comedy Film Challenges.
Mona Concepcion (Stand-up)
Friday, 9/25 | 9:30 pm
Mona Concepcion is the only female Chamorro comedian in the world, which makes her more unicorn than Pacific Islander. She is the host and co-producer of comedy showcases at the Feedback Lounge in West Seattle and the Columbia City Theater. Mona’s comedy cuts through the underbelly of life as a mom to two boys, wife of a much older white man, and Pacific transplant who learned about America through bad 90s TV.
Day Job (Seattle)
Saturday, 9/26 | 7:00 pm
Day Job has been making audiences pee a tiny bit in their pants from uncontrollable laughter since the summer of 2014. They are known for their use of physical comedy, heartwarmingly bizarre interactions, and pigeons. They’ve graced the stage as salmon, bros, Waldo, eligible murderers, QFC employees, mimes, and embarrassing dads. They have performed across this great nation at venues such as The Ballard Underground, Arts Crush, The Comedy Womb, The Pocket Theatre, and SketchFest Seattle. Come take a delightfully weird journey with Seattle’s only all female sketch comedy group as they tickle your funniest bone. “You do not want to miss this!” -said Everyone Ever. Day Job features the talents of Caitie Auld, Kara O’ Connor, Nicole Santora, and Molly Tellers.
Deep Lez (Seattle)
Friday, 9/18 | 7:00 pm
Val Nigro, Kathleen Nacozy, and Dawn Trouvé, borne of the deepest underground crystal caverns of New Jersey, Texas, and Wisconsin respectively, granddaughters of the witches who escaped being burned, joined forces in a psychodramatic therapy group held in a one-room, mother-in-law backhouse in North Seattle, unlocking one another’s comedic powers and trooping often to the Comedy Womb, where they realized one fateful night that they bore a striking resemblance to the dyke rock bands of yesteryear, which inspired their name, DEEP LEZ. Long may she reign!
Drop The Root Beer And Run (Seattle)
Friday, 9/25 | 7:00 pm
Drop The Root Beer And Run was created in 2011 by alumni from the Generation Friends Comedy Arts Coalition at The Evergreen State College. We have performed in SketchFest Seattle, SFIT, Bumbershoot, The LA Improv Comedy Festival, The Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival, Idaho Laugh Fest, The Vancouver Sketch Comedy Festival, and Improlympia. DTRBAR has gained a reputation for indulging in the weird and surreal, with an emphasis on language and word games, as well as high-energy heightening. We make a point of staying away from vulgar material, and enjoy keeping the audience off guard by swinging back and forth from material that is fun and whimsical to material that is very dark.
Getting Naked With Friends(Seattle)
Friday, 9/18 | 8:30 pm
Getting Naked with Friends is a crew of funny folks from different social circles thrown together when one fearless man arrived in the Pacific Northwest via Chicago looking for some people to put on a show with. That man was Evan McCarty, and in teaming up with Ezra Parter, Elena Martinez, Anthony Householder, Kayla Teel, and musical guest Travis Frank, he changed the world of sketch comedy forever. And by changed the world of sketch comedy, I mean added a group to the world of sketch comedy. A damn good group, who doesn’t actually get naked on stage, but doesn’t have a problem implying that they might. And they very well might
Vanessa Gonzalez (Austin, TX)
Saturday, 9/26 | 7:00 pm
Vanessa Gonzalez is an actress, improviser, and sketch comedy writer based out of Austin, TX. She teaches and is a regular performer at The New Movement. Vanessa has toured the country with her first solo show “I Don’t Know Words.” She has been featured at comedy festivals such as, Austin Sketch Fest, Fun Fun Fun Fest, Hell Yes Fest, Chicago Sketch Fest, Moontower Comedy Fest, and was in the headlining sketch slot at the Women in Comedy Festival ’14. In January 2015, “I Don’t Know Words” was showcased at San Francisco Sketch Fest and was picked as a favorite by festival co-founder David Owen. Vanessa is currently touring with her second solo show “I Don’t Know Dating.” When she’s not touring, she helps write and produce the weekly sketch show Bad Example.
Gossamer Obsessions (Edmonton, Alberta)
Saturday, 9/26 | 9:30 pm
An unusual sketch duo from Canada, Gossamer Obsessions has been called “the 19th-century equivalent of stoner humour” (Vue Weekly, 4 stars) and “loud, fun, charming” (Edmonton Sun, 4 stars). They also recently headlined the 2015 Vancouver International Sketch Festival after debuting there in 2014, where their weirdo blend of mirth and melancholy played to great acclaim. Amy Shostak and Paul Blinov are comedic staples in the Edmonton arts scene.
Girls With Brown Hair (New York City)
Friday, 9/25 | 9:30 pm
In the #1 smash hit kid’s* show Through the Back Door, Kellan and Juth talk to the neighborhood kids about their everyday struggles as kids, in the neighborhood! Come inside the back door to talk, play and have your mind BLOWN as you learn valuable life lessons about friendship, expressing your individuality, fucking the family members you love the most, and much much more! Remember, if you’re older than 10, Kellan and Juth don’t want you anywhere near their back door. KiDz* OnLy *No, but seriously, don’t actually bring kids please.
Ian Schuelke Wants A TV Show (Seattle)
Friday, 9/18 | 10:00 pm
Ian Schuelke Wants a TV Show is a sketch/variety show with a nod to the variety shows of yesteryear. Each episode includes sketches, music, vaudeville acts, and a new, usually dangerous product from Upward Thrust, our sponsor.>
Lake Party (Seattle)
Friday, 9/18 | 7:00 pm
We start with an idea, improvise it over and over, and then take only the best bits for our original sketches. You may laugh, cry, be shocked, or walk away asking yourself: What just happened at that Lake Party? One’s thing’s for sure: Lake Party will show you a good time. So mark your calendars cause YOU’RE INVITED TO LAKE PARTY!!
Christan Leonard (Stand-up)
Friday, 9/25 | 7:00 pm
Christan Leonard is a stand up, sketch and improv comedian from Seattle, WA. She has performed at the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival, the Redwood Comedy Festival, and the Midnight Parade at the Second City in Chicago. Her humor is a little dark, not as smart as she thinks it is, and always self-deprecating.
Liz & Joel (Seattle)
Friday, 9/24 | 7:30 pm
“Liz & Joel” is a Seattle-based sketch comedy duo, made up of Elizabeth Brammer and Joel Osborne. They bring to the stage a combined 20 years of comedy experience. Elizabeth Brammer is an ensemble member of Unexpected Productions, and a member of Pocket Theater’s house Harold team, Whattabout. She has studied sketch and improv at The Groundlings, Second City, and ColdTowne Theater, and was previously a member of Austin’s ColdTowne Theater’s MainStage sketch group. Joel Osborne was previously a member of award-winning Austin-based sketch groups Your Terrific Neighbors and The Plurals. In a Liz & Joel show, you will meet enthusiastic characters trying desperately to share the things they love, going to absurd lengths in their frenzy to spread happiness in this technological world. You will laugh, cry, think, reflect – possibly even experience wonder. You will feel smart about feeling silly.
The Mighty Mighty Mixed Nuts (Seattle)
Friday, 9/18 | 7:00 pm
The MMMN’s are a Seattle-based sketch comedy group, performing up and down the West Coast and the Internet, whom came together in 2014 under the direction of Leroy Chin and produced by the Seattle Actors Collective. We are a diverse group with different styles of humor and different backgrounds. But we all love the craziness that makes people snicker, snort, and even guffawWith Mixed Nuts, you get a little bit of everything! Our sketches run from the naughty to the nice, from the absurd to the slapstick, to musical numbers. After this show, your friends ’round the water cooler will be totally stunned as you tell them about ladeez playing dudes, dudes playing ladeez, and basic b’s being basic b’s.
Emmett Montgomery (Seattle)
Saturday, 9/26 | 9:30 pm
Emmett Montgomery is a comedian/storyteller who was made in Utah but has lived in Seattle for most of the 21st century and been failing beautifully on and off the stage for over a decade. When he is not wandering the country telling jokes and falling in love with America, he produces local shows that focus on building community, pushing the limits of what it means to be a performer and celebrating the unique beauty of the city he lives in (Weird and Awesome with Emmett Montgomery, The Magic Hat) Emmett performs at festivals across the country including the Bridgetown Comedy Festival, Sasquatch Music Festival and the Women In Comedy Festival and can be heard on podcasts like Risk!, Put Your Hands Together and Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction and has worked with famouses and brilliants like Maria Bamford, Dave Chappelle and TJ Miller. Mr. Montgomery has a lot of hope in his heart, he also has a lot of nightmares, he writes and tells jokes about both those things.
Part Plant (Seattle)
Sunday, 9/20 | 7:00 pm
Part Plant formed through the Summit at the Pocket Theater. We draw on a variety of influences, as our members come from an array of backgrounds, including theater, dance, improv, stand up, and radio. Our writing and production is collaborative and draws highly on experimenting with nature-inspired movement and group choreography. We perform all ages sketch comedy with strong dance and clowning elements. We specialize in uncovering deep, universal truths while remaining quintessentially adorable. Our show utilizes cohesive transitions and spans topics from surrealist March Madness enthusiasm to the difficulties of plant puberty. Part Plant strives to be a visually satisfying, well-choreographed, and absolutely memorable performance.
Princess (Seattle)
Friday, 9/25 | 9:30 pm
Delightfully twee and deliciously tawdry, Princess aims to please with a fast-paced and frenetic blend of whimsy, sarcasm, parody and pastiche. You’ll laugh. You’ll wince. You’ll be amazed at how much sweat four guys in pink shirts can generate while yelling at each other and dancing around stage.
Really Entertaining Show (Seattle)
Friday, 9/18 | 10:00 pm
The Really Entertaining Show is an hour long comedy show featuring a variety of different segments at each performance. Segments include: improvised comedy, sketch comedy, live and prerecorded video, games between the performers and the audience and more. The show is hosted by stand up comedians Nam L. Huynh (The Doppelganger Show Bumbershoot 2014) and Dwayne Paul Cullen (San Diego Comedy Fest) both having six years of stand up experience each. There’s a DJ (DJ Cash Money Gold Teeth) on stage at all times to add music and sound effects whenever possible. Other comics are invited to share the stage whenever possible and necessary. The feeling of the show is fast paced, intense, goofy with a feeling of mystery since the hosts like to keep the audience guessing at what might happen next.
Ron Reid (Host)
Saturday, 9/26
Ron Reid performed stand-up comedy for more than 15 years, touring the country and appearing on national television. He is currently the Producer of the Seattle International Comedy Competition, and a partner in the comedy talent agency Artists West Entertainment LLC. Ron has been on Board of SketchFest Seattle since 2012.
Philip Schallberger (Portland)
Sunday, 9/20 | 7:00 pm
Philip Schallberger is Portland’s premier (only?) solo sketch-stand-up-whatever performer, He’s also a writer. Heck, he even wrote his own bio! He is a wondrous comedian and sketch performer as well as a liar and a dragon. He has attained many accolades from his town of Portland, Oregon, including being a recurring guest in the Bridgetown comedy festival and a frequent subject of praise for their various local periodicals and other hipster-hate-magnets. Phil has been doing live comedy performance since 2007, and has only given up a bunch of times since then. He is also the head writer for “Dr. Proof’s Whizbang Science Superhour”, a position that many have claimed is “invented”. You know what else was invented? The light bulb. Go to hell. See Phil Schallberger.
Sober Virgin (Seattle)
Thursday, 9/24 | 7:30 pm
Sober Virgin is the expression of joy that happened when Anthony Householder and Elena Martinez decided to create together. Anthony and Elena met in improv classes at Jet City Improv. After many nights of delightful scenes, they decided to work together on sketch, which they were both already doing with different groups, Tweed Racket for Elena and Part Plant for Anthony. Sober Virgin originally aimed at creating purely video content, but they just can’t seem to resist the call of live performance. To bring their dreams and musings to life, they bring in some of their best friends from the comedy community. Sober Virgin loves all kind of comedy, but most of all they love to be quick, witty, absurd, and strange.
Specific Northwest (Seattle)
Sunday, 9/13 | 7:00 pm
Featuring rotating cast and writers from the sketch groups “Day Job”, “Drop The Root Beer and Run”, “Now With Dames”, “Part Plant” and “Princess as well as local artist Amanda Woodard. Specific Northwest is a satire of local, topical northwest events and stereotypes through live sketches, pre-taped pieces, a news desk segment and more. Episodes also traditionally contain a musical guest and an in-show live edition of the former web series “Casting The News.” Locally grown. Topically fed. Specifically northwesty. It’s “Specific Northwest.”
Stronger Than Love (Seattle)
Thursday, 9/17 | 7:30 pm
Since 1997, Stronger Than Love (Pork Filled Players) have regaled the Pacific Northwest with their sharp sense of humor and acute geek sensibilities. They began as artists in residence at Seattle’s’ Northwest Asian American Theatre, presenting numerous late night shows after NWAAT shows and making regular appearances at the Seattle Fringe Festival. The Players were among the founding participants of Seattle SketchFest and have appeared, among other places, at the International District Summer Festival, the Seattle Filipino Festival, and Seattle Neighborhood Arts Celebration.
Super Famous (Seattle)
Thursday, 9/17 | 7:30 pm
Kenzie Kenzington and Chloe Bluntzer-Hurst are members of the University of Washington’s most exclusive sorority – it’s just the two of them, and Chloe barely made it in. Through their show, SUPER FAMOUS, they make the world a better place by helping every person achieve “maximum success.” The pair imparts their knowledge on such subjects as how to pet a cat, dating, and bully awareness. Their sisterly bond is constantly put to the test via dance contests with their nemesis, advice from their spirit animal, and wayward meteorites. Their friendship, however, always prevails over adversity, as they forever strive to be SUPER FAMOUS.
The Red Sun (Seattle)
Friday, 9/18 | 10:00 pm
He is called The Red Sun. He is a bitter ex-super hero. Since retiring, he has been reduced to doing public speaking gigs for money.
Tomato Tomato (Seattle)
Saturday, 9/19 | 7:00 pm & Thursdat, 9/24 | 7:30
What is Tomato Tomato? How do you pronounce it? Why isn’t it just tomato plural? Rhetoric aside, rest assured Tomato Tomato brings a unique brand of thought provoking, sometimes absurd sketch comedy. Members Connor, Jeremy and T.W. aim for the moon, but usually end up shooting beer cans in the back yard with a B.B. gun, reminiscing about the good old days. And you know what? That’s okay. Tomato Tomato has performed at various events in Seattle, including Sketch Comedy Month 2014 and 2015, Iron Sketch, and Seattle Comedy Group’s Open Mic.
Ubiquitous They (Seattle)
Saturday, 9/26 | 9:30 pm
Since moving to Seattle in 2007, Ubiquitous They have toured Vancouver, Portland, L.A., San Francisco, and New York with their innovative brand of comedy. Ubiquitous They:Half Time is the group’s tenth and most ambitious show to date. They have been a regular at Bumbershoot and Seattle SketchFest since 2008, and they have performed at: Annex Theatre, The Ballard Underground, Chop Suey, Theater Schmeater. Ubiquitous They is funny.
Caitlin Weierhauser (Stand-up)
Saturday, 9/26 | 7:00 pm
Caitlin Weierhauser spent her childhood in an Ewok tree fort with a rubber band cross-bow, her wolf, and a budding resentment of The Man. She grew up to be a feminist, atheist, and vegan liar that creates safer spaces for queer comedy.
Caitlin is a member of Lez Stand Up, has performed at All Jane Comedy Festival, Grrrl Front, Not Enough! Fest, and Bridgetown Comedy Festival. She recently opened for James Adomian, was included in the AfterEllen list of “40 Hot Queer Ladies in Comedy,” and plans to take down the patriarchy by Christmas.
