Jan. 31, 2012 – You’ve heard this before: “Laughter is the best medicine.” “Laugh and the world laughs with you; weep and you weep alone.” Could your funny bone use a little tickling? San Francisco has just the tonic for the doldrums with a year leavened by everything from A.C.T.’s current production “Humor Abuse” to December’s Kung Pao Kosher Comedy. And if you need a few more chuckles, check out the Comedy category in the Events section of www.sanfrancisco.travel.
Anyone who grew up in San Francisco will remember with great fondness the Pickle Family Circus. “Humor Abuse” is Lorenzo Pisoni’s acclaimed one-man show about growing up as the youngest member of the Pickles, and the tricks of the trade he learned from his father, Pickle co-founder Larry Pisoni. Performing through Feb. 5, 2012 at the American Conservatory Theater, 415 Geary St., Pisoni has the “split-second timing and aplomb of a Buster Keaton,” according to “The New York Times.” Pisoni made his onstage debut at two and he became his father’s clown partner not long after. His 90-minute moving and hilarious portrait of a very complex father-son relationship is laced with physically demanding tricks and extremely funny moments.
SF Sketchfest also wraps up in February. Billed as “the San Francisco Comedy Festival,” Sketchfest is in its 11th year. Offering more than three weeks of comedy, improve, skits and films, Sketchfest continues until Feb. 4 with the “Sketchbook Dozen,” a dozen hand-picked standup comedians on the rise at Punch Line Comedy Club; Greg Behrendt, “New York Times” best selling co-author of “He’s Just Not That Into You” at Cobb’s Comedy Club, and the RoofTop Comedy showcase of some of the best young stand-ups at the Purple Onion (San Francisco Comedy College presents weekly talent shows here Tuesday-Thursday) are among the events slated for the final Saturday.
Laughter has exceeded the legal limit for more than three decades at Steve Silver’s “Beach Blanket Babylon,” 678 Beach Blanket Babylon Blvd. (Green). With more than 12,000 performances in San Francisco, the longest running musical review in theater history. The internationally acclaimed San Francisco institution parodies current events and is always as fresh as today’s headline. Extravagant costumes and huge hats add to the show’s zany appeal. “The New York Times” calls it “no less a part of San Francisco than the Golden Gate Bridge and Coit Tower.
Three other long runs “Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding,” “Shopping! The Musical” and “Party of 2 – Mating Musical, (www.bobrowproductions.com), look at the lighter aspects of marriage, mercantilism and mating.
The largest and longest-running improv theater and school in Northern California, BATS performs new shows every weekend at its Bayfront Theater in Fort Mason and classes are offered year-round for students at all levels. In March BATS Improv pokes some fun at William Shakespeare in its annual “Improvised Shakespeare” series. Starting with a play title chosen by the audience, BATS actors spin a completely improvised tale filled with Bard-isms. The group is also widely known for its Theatresports format in which two teams of improvisers compete against each other for points. Performances are every Friday and Saturday.
From a simple gift of 93 volumes of jest books in 1947 and named after its donor, Nat Schmulowitz, the San Francisco Public Library’s wit and humor collection has grown over the years to become the largest of its kind in a public institution. The Schmulowitz Collection of Wit & Humor now contains more than 22,000 books and 250 periodical titles, electronic media and ephemera. An avid traveler, Schmulowitz also donated his personal travel journals and archives. Each year the library pays tribute to him with an exhibition that opens, of course, on April Fool’s Day. This year “Innocents Abroad: Travels with the Schmulowitz Collection of Wit & Humor” will draw on rich collections of materials that represent the book hunting activities of a fervent bibliophile. The journey unfolds April 1-May 31 in the Main Library, 100 Larkin St., Skylight Gallery, Sixth Floor.
“Spamalot,” the “funniest show on earth” gallops into San Francisco (can you hear those hoof beats now?) April 10-22 at the Orpheum Theatre. Winner of the 2005 Tony Award for Best Musical, Monty Python’s “Spamalot” returns to spread cheer and laughter throughout the kingdom as King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table hunt for the Holy Grail.
Located at 655 Mission St., the Cartoon Art Museum is home to more than 6,000 pieces of original cartoon and animation art, a research library and five galleries of exhibition space. Originally a “museum without walls” fostered by a group of cartoon enthusiasts, the museum was able to establish residence in the heart of the Yerba Buena Gardens cultural district in 1987 with an endowment from Charles M. Schulz, the creator of “Peanuts.” The exhibitions are often topical and provocative. This summer the following shows are on deck: “Avengers Assemble!” featuring original artwork celebrating nearly 50 years of the Marvel Comics superhero team; Exposición de los Cómic del Latino/Latino Comics Exhibition featuring over a dozen top Latino cartoonists, and “Stark Raving MAD,” celebrating the 60th anniversary of America’s favorite humor magazine.
Just 54 miles north of San Francisco in Santa Rosa, the Charles M. Schulz Museum provides a permanent home at 2301 Hardies Lane, to the “Peanuts” gang and preserves, displays and interprets the art of Schulz. Among the changing exhibitions on view right now are “Hit the Road, Snoopy!” and “Leveling the Playing Field.” From now through April 2, 2012, 56 original “Peanuts” strips revisit Snoopy’s most famous road trips. June 23, 2012 marks the 40th anniversary of the passage of Title IX; “Leveling the Playing Field” features Schulz’s even-handed depiction of girls in sports. Lucy, Marcie, Peppermint Patty – they all take on everything from football to figure-skating in 86 memorable strips through Aug. 12, 2012. Opening on Feb. 1, “It’s a Fine Line” examines Schulz’s pen line and his tools of the trade through Sept. 30, 2012.
On July 4 the San Francisco Mime Troupe — that’s mime as in “the exaggeration of everyday life in story and song” — opens its 53rd season with a performance in Dolores Park. This group has a lot to say and they’ve been doing so since 1959. Winners of a special Tony Award in 1987 for Excellence in Regional Theater, the San Francisco Mime Troupe specializes in shows that “debunk the official story.” Most performances are free; however, donations are welcomed.
For more than 30 years Cobb’s Comedy Club, 915 Columbus Ave. has been one of San Francisco’s premier comedy venues. Upcoming shows include Dan Stanhope, Tom Papa and Arie Spears. Also under the Live Nation banner, Punch Line Comedy Club, 444 Battery St., is the city’s longest running comedy club. The intimate stage is a favorite of nationally acclaimed comics. Known for its Sunday SF Comedy Showcase, the Punch Line has booked Robert Hawkins, Bryan Callen and Jim Short in the next few weeks.
Since 1981 more than 600 of the world’s funniest comedians have performed free-of-charge for more than a half-million people at San Francisco’s annual Comedy Day. San Francisco’s professional comedy community unites each year to produce the five-hour show. Punch Line, Cobb’s Comedy Club, Sketchfest, Rooster T. Feathers and Comedy Day each contribute their favorite comedians. Legends such as Brian Copeland, Will Durst, Eddie Izzard, Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams, Pat Paulsen, Jose Simon, Noriyuki “Pat” Morita, Janeane Garofalo, Frank Kidder, Margaret Cho, Don Novello, Ronnie Schell, Paula Poundstone and Michael Pritchard have all performed here. This year on Sept. 16, 40 comedians unleash a million laughs beginning at noon in Sharon Meadow, Golden Gate Park.
There’s always a comedic thread to San Francisco’s annual literary festival, Litquake, Oct. 5-13, 2012. Founded by Bay Area writers the festival has presented more than 3,650 author appearances in its lively and inclusive toast (with a touch of roast) to San Francisco’s thriving contemporary literary scene. Late night TV host, comedienne and best-selling author Chelsea Handler shared her funny (and sometimes withering) observations at a sold-out event last year.
Some people like to combine the giggles with a gambol. Foot! walking tours are just the ticket. Founded in 1999 by America’s 67th funniest comedian (according to a short, funny history in its website), Foot! tour guides are history buffs by day and seasoned comics, actors and improvisers by night. Using games, puzzles, fun facts and re-enactments they produce tours that are part game show, part history lesson and exceptionally fun. Check out “SF in a Nutshell: the Nuts and Bolts of the City” or “Flashback: Summer of Love, Winter of Disconnect” and discover why “SF Weekly” readers voted these the “most eccentric walks” in San Francisco.
San Jose-based ComedySportz has produced more than 5,000 different shows all over the Bay Area in the past 22 years. The award-winning interactive comedy show where two teams of “act-letes” compete for laughs and points as they improv scenes, games, operas and musicals based on suggestions from the audience. Audience members are always part of the show and will sometimes find themselves up on stage as well.
Now celebrating its 20th year Kung Pao Kosher Comedy™ has been answering the age-old question, “What are Jews supposed to do on Christmas?” since 1993. What started out as a joke by local standup comic, Lisa Geduldig, has become an institution in San Francisco, giving more than 2,000 comedy aficionados and those escaping “Christmas-mania” an annual reprieve from “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas.” Past headliners have included Elayne Boosler, David Brenner, Shelly Berman and Henny Youngman, “The King of the One Liners.”
The end of 2012 should also see the return of Teatro ZinZanni, temporarily shuttered as the city prepares for the America’s Cup. For more than 11 years “ZinZannity” poured forth from the fabled Palais Nostalgique Spiegeltent on Pier 29. On Dec. 6, 2011 Teatro ZinZanni announced that they will build a new permanent home; the new site is a triangular parcel, located where Broadway and Davis meet the Embarcadero.
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