The headline act for the opening night of SF Sketchfest, which began on January 15 and continues through January 31, 2009 at various venues in San Francisco and Marin, was a live version of the Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! which begins its fourth season at Adult Swim on February 8. Writers/performers Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim kicked things off with a crowd-pleasing little ditty about diarrhea called “Diarrhea,” whose lyrics consisted of the repetition of the word diarrhea over and over and over again for perhaps five minutes. This was followed by a parody ad for a product called D-Pants, whose waterproof design and catch basins at the cuffs allow diarrhea sufferers to relieve themselves without having to take off their trousers. A short film about a misguided road trip came next, then the guys treated the hooting and hollering audience of mostly 20-something males to a duet between two elementary-school-age boys who are hanging out in the school bathroom and rapping about how much they enjoy kissing their sisters on the lips and not wiping themselves after they take a crap.
Tim and Eric are obviously extraordinarily gifted artists. Just as Robert Rauschenberg strove to create an art that was post-retinal (i.e., not necessarily appealing to the eye), Heidecker and Wareheim have perfected a form of comedy that is not funny. The material itself is purposefully awful and the spare production values accompanying the delivery of said content is proudly cheesy. It’s not supposed to be humorous, or even good. That’s what’s so funny, which is very meta, and meta is so baller, yo.
Fortunately Tim and Eric are not the only attraction on SF Sketchfest’s crammed calendar. This Thursday night, January 22, the Castro Theatre hosts A Salute to Bud Cort. The evening begins with a screening of the ’70s cult classic Harold and Maude, then shifts gears for an on-stage interview with the actor immediately thereafter. Facebook Improv happens the next night at the Eureka Theatre, with Rob Corddry and Rob Riggle of The Daily Show among the comedians who will riff on the actual Facebook pages of audience members. Saturday’s can’t miss event takes place at Cobb’s Comedy Club, where Janeane Garofalo, Tom Kenny (the voice of Spongebob Squarepants) and others present a staged reading of the MTV soap The Hills. It promises to be very, very important. That same night, January 24, the legendary comedy troupe The State does two shows at the Eureka, followed the next day by an ensemble on-stage interview with busy Janeane Garofalo at the Herbst Theatre.
Highlights of the festival’s final week include a Fernwood Reunion at Cobb’s on January 28 with Fernwood 2Night stars Martin Mull and Fred Willard. The Upright Citizens Brigade with Tim Meadows (Saturday Night Live) and Andy Richter (Late Night with Conan O’Brien) performs twice on January 30 at the Eureka, while political satirist Will Durst holds fort at the Purple Onion on January 30 and 31.
SF Sketchfest runs through January 31, 2009 at various San Francisco locations. For tickets and information,visit sksketchfest.com.
