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Sketch Comedy in Philadelphia – May 2nd through May 8th

Yes, you came here to find out what the ‘happs’ are this week for sketch comedy in Philadelphia. But first, we have to take a moment to acknowledge some Philadelphia sketch groups who’ve been accepted into and will be performing in some incredible festivals over the next two weeks. Please join us in congratulating The Flat Earth (PHIT) and The Incredible Shrinking Matt & Jacquie on their acceptance into Montreal Sketchfest 2016 as well as it’s the new., Kathryn & Sarah, Sweetish, and Until Pluto on their acceptance into this week’s Charm City Comedy Festival in Baltimore, MD! If you’re from Philly and looking for an over-night adventure built around supporting sketch comedy from your city, you could make the trip to Baltimore in time to see Kathryn & Sarah (10:00pm) and Until Pluto (11:30pm) on Friday night, Sweetish (4:00pm) and it’s the new. (7:00pm) on Saturday, and then be back in Philly in time for Mother’s Day on Sunday. Or you could stay in Philadelphia and catch all the incredible sketch comedians that are performing this week. Who are they? See below for all the details…

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2016 Philly Sketchfest News Sketch Comedy in Philadelphia Uncategorized

The 2016 Philly Sketchfest – Performing Groups Announced!

Philly Sketchfest thanks everyone who submitted to the 2016 festival and congratulates the following sketch groups on their upcoming performances as part of Philly Sketchfest 2016!

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News Sketch Comedy in Philadelphia

Sketch Comedy in Philadelphia – January 4th through January 10th

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016! Yes, we are still celebrating because there is so much to be happy about. On New Year’s Day we opened up submissions and announced the dates of our upcoming 2016 Philly Sketchfest taking place from March 31st through April 3rd. You can submit here until we close out the submission process on January 31st. We’re also thankful to everyone who came out and enjoyed our January showcase featuring the American Breakfast Reunion Show with Your Mom and our 17 group sketch event, Sketch Hangover – The First Sketches of 2016. Our never-ending thanks to the performers who spent their New Year’s Day with us including, American Breakfast, Your Mom, Adventure Friends, Barbara Bush, Dog Mountain, High Dramma, HoagieFist, House of Solitude, ManiPedi, Mean Wendy Band, Patric Writes Sketches, The Burgundy Boys, The Flannel Chucks, The Flat Earth, The Incredible Shrinking Matt & Jacquie, The Prince, Until Pluto, and WGRA Radio Theatre. Let’s do it again next year! If you missed your first opportunity to see sketch comedy in 2016, you are in luck. There are no less than six sketch comedy shows occurring this week and we can’t wait to tell you about them…

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2015 Year In Review – Courtney Painter of Barbara Bush and Dog Mountain

This week Philly Sketchfest will be taking a look back at the year 2015 through the eyes of the writers, performers, directors and producers that make sketch comedy in Philadelphia a reality. Every single day of the week, you will find Courtney Painter living and breathing comedy in Philadelphia. She writes and performs with the ‘first ladies of comedy’ in Barbara Bush and this year, was asked to join PHIT Sketch House Team Dog Mountain as both a performer and writer. She’s the lead house manager at PHIT and wrote multiple shows for the Black Friday Comedy Marathon including a sketch show written with the children she takes care as a daytime Nanny along with writing partner, Jolie Darrow. And to think it all started just over a year ago, with a submission to sketch comedy game show, Iron Sketch offering to be in as many groups as we would allow her to work with. She’s that driven and it’s not just talk; Courtney simply does. You can see Courtney tomorrow night with Dog Mountain and the rest of the ‘first ladies of comedy’ in Barbara Bush, on New Year’s Day, as they perform their first sketches of 2016 at our Sketch Hangover! In the meantime, please enjoy Courtney’s look back at Philly sketch in 2015…

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News Sketch Comedy in Philadelphia Sketch Hangover

2015 Year In Review – Kathryn Amrhein of Barbara Bush

This week Philly Sketchfest will be taking a look back at the year 2015 through the eyes of the writers, performers, directors and producers that make sketch comedy in Philadelphia a reality. Kathryn Amrhein is a Philadelphia-based writer, performer and one of the ‘first ladies of comedy’ in sketch group, Barbara Bush. She is also the sole reason that this website exists in a functional and update-able manner. We’re not going to shy away from it. Prior to a few months ago, this website’s home page hadn’t been updated in almost three years. And the sub-pages? Just a mess. When our new production team came on board, this website was our number one priority moving forward. But how do you internet? That’s when Kathryn arrived. Kathryn’s passion for sketch and her talent in web design/coding enabled everything we wanted in this new website with plenty of room to grow. Kathryn’s given a lot, continuing to entertain us as a comedian and working hard in her free time to allow us to celebrate it here. So when you see her, you thank her and you tell her how much you appreciate her talent and hard work. In fact, you can do it tomorrow night when Kathryn and the rest of the ‘first ladies of comedy’ in Barbara Bush tomorrow night, on New Year’s Day, as they perform their first sketch of 2016 at our Sketch Hangover! In the meantime, please enjoy Kathryn’s look back at Philly sketch in 2015…

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News Sketch Comedy in Philadelphia Sketch Hangover Uncategorized

2015 Year In Review – Frank Farrell of The Prince

This week Philly Sketchfest will be taking a look back at the year 2015 through the eyes of the writers, performers, directors and producers that make sketch comedy in Philadelphia a reality. Frank Farrell is one-half of the sketch duo, The Prince with fellow La Salle University graduate, Jamie Glasheen. In 2015, The Prince put up one of our favorite sketch sets of the year, a seemingly minimalist show set entirely in one location (the stage of a grade-school talent show) with barely any costume changes/props and no blackouts. The end result was quite complex. Frank & Jamie seamlessly alternated between characters (and on different nights, they would even trade roles) using single objects as totems/short-hand to communicate information to the audience that would be further revealed through their performance. They play students, teachers, parents, and at one point, Frank plays himself, translating the excitement and vulnerability that comes in attempting to define yourself while at the same time, being defined by others. You can and should enjoy The Prince this Friday night, on New Year’s Day, when they perform their first sketch of 2016 at our Sketch Hangover! Until then, please enjoy what Frank enjoyed in his 2015 sketch year in review…

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House of Solitude News Sketch Comedy in Philadelphia Sketch Hangover Sweetish Uncategorized

2015 Year In Review – Caitlin Weigel of House of Solitude, ManiPedi and Sketchier

This week Philly Sketchfest will be taking a look back at the year 2015 through the eyes of the writers, performers, directors and producers that make sketch comedy in Philadelphia a reality. Without a doubt, Caitlin Weigel is currently the hardest working sketch writer/performer in Philadelphia. Her contributions to the Philadelphia comedy community in 2015 were numerous, inspiring, and continuously raised the bar throughout the year. At the beginning of 2015 her work on ManiPedi’s, ‘Karen’s Dream’ with director, Maggy Keegan put audiences and her peers in a state of delightful awe, pushing the boundaries of what sketch can be and how it’s executed on stage. In May, she paired with her Triple Double partner, Dan Corkery (Goat Rodeo / Alley of Nightmares) creating the sketch duo House of Solitude with their debut show, ‘Together Forever’. Before year’s end, House of Solitude would perform two more shows of brand-new material – ‘Everything’s Fine* in Sicklerburg‘ and ‘Home For The Holidays.‘ Caitlin also wrote, filmed and edited at least one new sketch every month in 2015 as part of her YouTube channel,’Sketchier‘ which featured one of our favorite videos of the year, ‘The Milk & Cookies Show.’ Caitlin’s given us so much in 2015 and now, before House of Solitude and ManiPedi put up their first sketches of 2016 at Philly Sketchfest Presents, Sketch Hangover, she’s giving us her thoughts on all the beautiful and silly stuff she liked in Philadelphia sketch comedy during 2015…

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American Breakfast Reunion Show News Sketch Comedy in Philadelphia Sketch Hangover

Sketch Comedy in Philadelphia – December 28th through January 3rd

This week marks both the end of 2015 and the beginning of 2016. With that in mind we’ve decided to celebrate both the old and new with two shows on New Year’s Day, Friday, January 1st as part of our Philly Sketchfest Presents January showcase. First at 8:00pm, it’s the American Breakfast Reunion Show with special guests, Your Mom. Then at 9:30pm it’s Sketch Hangover, an outright cavalcade of Philadelphia sketch groups as 17 troupes perform their first sketches of the year to kick off 2016. While these are the only two sketch shows in town this week, a rumor we’re starting right here has it that there will be an announcement of substantially sized proportions happening right here at www.phillysketchfest.com regarding the dates of March 31st through April 3rd. Until then, join us Friday night and BYOB for the following sketch shows…

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News Sketch Comedy in Philadelphia

Sketch Comedy in Philadelphia – November 2nd through November 8th

Yes, Philadelphia, there is a laser comedy show and it’s going to be in town this week. Also, PHIT’s monthly tag-team show of comedic monologues and filmed sketches returns for it’s November edition.

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House of Solitude News Sketch Comedy in Philadelphia

Sketch Comedy in Philadelphia – October 26th through November 1st

A light week for sketch shows in Philadelphia means all your energy and resources should be focused on getting yourself to the one and only sketch show this week, Welcome to Sicklerburg presented by House of Solitude. You’ll have two chances to catch the show this week at Philly Improv Theater (PHIT), with a different opening act each night. Thursday’s show features stand-up from Jake Mattera (HoagieFist) and Friday’s show features the return of Chucky McMelonmeyer – Regional Child Star. Listings below and for more information, check out this wonderful article about the show from Geekadelphia writer, Neil Bardhan. Also don’t forget to get your tickets to House of Solitude’s upcoming show, Friday, December 18th as part of Philly Sketchfest Presents!