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Sketch Comedy in Philadelphia – May 16th through May 22nd

Few things make us happier than seeing (or hearing) all the love Philadelphia’s sketch comedy community has been getting from national comedy festivals and this past weekend at Montreal Sketchfest 2016 The Flat Earth added a few more accolades performing in the closing night “Best of Fest” show and winning “Best Newcomer” (a.k.a. The Bag of Beer). Philly Sketchfest congratulates Jacquie Baker, Vincent DiCostanzo, Rich Lee, Adam Siry, Matthew Schmid, Molly Silverman and director, Paul Triggiani of The Flat Earth on all their accomplishments this year (including runners-up for Producer’s Pick at Toronto Sketchfest) and thanks you for putting Philadelphia in the conversation when it comes to sketch comedy.

 

Adventure Friends Baby Steps and Tim Butterly LargeNow please enjoy this week’s listings, with special attention for the May 20th Philly Sketchfest Presents Showcase at The Adrienne Theater Playground!

First at 8:30pm, it’s Adventure Friends with Baby Steps hosted by Tim Butterly of Comedy Central’s Delco Proper.

A Galaxy Uncherished Logo WideThen at 10:15pm, it’s the triumphant, one-night only, encore presentation of House of Solitude’s, “A Galaxy Uncherished” with special guests One Idiot from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York City, performing in their critically acclaimed, lost play from Tennessee Williams, “What The Horse Saw”.

More details plus everything else sketch in Philadelphia below…

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2016 Philly Sketchfest News Sketch Comedy in Philadelphia

PHILLY SKETCHFEST 2016 – OPENING NIGHT AT RUBA CLUB

Tonight is OPENING NIGHT of Philly Sketchfest 2016! Please join us and hosts, comedians Rachel Fogletto (Comedy-Gasm) and Chip Chantry at The Ruba Club (416 Green St., Philadelphia, PA 19123) for all the sketch comedy you can fit into a single evening with performances from – it’s the new., Locked In Julia’s Basement, Wretched Hive, Youth Large, Dog Mountain, Peggylouloulouloulou by Amanda Xeller, Sweetish, House of Solitude, Bye Bye Liver, and for the first time in Philadelphia (we think? say maybe, 98% positive?) a PAY-WHAT-YOU-LIKE sketch comedy cover show called, ‘Old To Begin’ with performances from The Prince, High Dramma, Your Mom, it’s the new., and Uncle Robert. Check out the details below or at our festival calendar here

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Philly Sketchfest Opening Night Show #1
Philly Sketchfest 2016 – it’s the new. + Locked In Julia’s Basement + Wretched Hive
The Ruba Club 416 Green Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123
Thursday, March 31st – Doors at 6:45pm and Show at 7:00pm / Tickets – $10

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Philly Sketchfest Opening Night Show #2Philly Sketchfest 2016 – Youth Large + Dog Mountain + Peggylouloulouloulou by Amanda Xeller
The Ruba Club 416 Green Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123
Thursday, March 31st – Doors at 8:15pm and Show at 8:30pm / Tickets – $10

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Philly Sketchfest Opening Night Show #3Philly Sketchfest 2016 – Sweetish + House of Solitude + Bye Bye Liver
The Ruba Club 416 Green Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123
Thursday, March 31st – Doors at 9:45pm and Show at 10:00pm / Tickets – $10

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Old To BeginPhilly Sketchfest 2016 – ‘Old To Begin’ a Sketch Comedy Cover Show
The Ruba Club 416 Green Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123
Thursday, March 31st – Show at 11:00pm / Tickets – PAY WHAT YOU WILL/FREE

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Can’t wait to see everyone tonight. Don’t forget about all our shows and workshops! – Brian, Curt, and Ben!

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News Sketch Comedy in Philadelphia

Sketch Comedy in Philadelphia – February 15th through February 21st

A very exciting week for us here at Philly Sketchfest. We have our February showcase taking place this Friday, February 19th with sketch from Spirit Animal & The Flat Earth and stand-up from Alyssa Al-Dookhi at 8:30pm and then at 10:00pm it’s a brand new set of sketch from The Prince entitled, ‘Whole Human, Whole Horse’ directed by Maggy Keegan with stand-up from Joe Bell!

We’re also hard at work behind the scenes sending emails and updating our site in effort to release the names of the groups from Philadelphia & North America who have submitted and been accepted into this year’s 2016 Philly Sketchfest! Once they’re all sent out, we’ll update here. We’ll also be updating to let you know about our festival revue shows that feature both festival performers and up-and-coming local sketch groups! There is simply so much to do and so little time, so let’s get started by telling you about our February showcase at the Adrienne Theater Playground as well as sketch shows taking place all over Philadelphia this week…

Philly Sketchfest Presents – Spirit Animal & The Flat Earth with stand-up from Alyssa Al-Dookhi
The Playground at Adrienne Theater – 2030 Sansom Street (1st Floor on left), Philadelphia, PA 19103
Friday, February 19th – Doors at 8pm and Show at 8:30pm / Tickets – $10
Template_11x17_vertPhilly Sketchfest is proud to host the two sketch groups who represented Philadelphia at this year’s Chicago Sketchfest, Spirit Animal & The Flat Earth. They’ll be performing their sets, in full from Chicago for this one-night only event! The entire block of comedy will be hosted by stand-up comedian, Alyssa Al-Dookhi who will also perfrom! Follow Alyssa on twitter @TheDookness and her website – thedookness.tumblr.com.

Spirit Animal is the quirky, reference-filled sketch comedy duo of Shannon DeVido & Kristin Finger!

The Flat Earth is a Philly Improv Theater (PHIT) Sketch House Team formed in 2012. They have been accepted into and performed at the Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival (2015 & 2016), San Francisco Sketchfest (2015), and Toronto Sketchfest (2015 & 2016). The Flat Earth is Jacquie Baker, Vincent P. DiCostanzo, Rich Lee, Matthew Schmid, Molly Silverman, and Adam Siry. They are directed by Paul Triggiani (Secret Pants).

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Philly Sketchfest Presents – The Prince’s ‘Whole Human, Whole Horse’ with stand-up from Joe Bell
The Playground at Adrienne Theater – 2030 Sansom Street (1st Floor on left), Philadelphia, PA 19103
Friday, February 19th – Doors at 9:45pm and Show at 10:00pm / Tickets – $10
The Prince Whole Human Whole HorsePhilly Sketchfest is equally proud to host, The Prince for a full-length show entitled, ‘Whole Man Whole Horse’ directed by Maggy Keegan! Comedian, Joe Bell will be hosting the show and performing stand-up!

The Prince is a sketch comedy duo featuring Frank Farrell and Jamie Glasheen. They were accepted into and performed at the 2014 Philly Sketchfest and have also performed at ‘Hey, We’re Cool‘ at L’etage, Philly Improv Theater (PHIT), and Good Good Comedy.

Joe Bell is a Philadelphia based comedian. He regularly performs stand-up and is the co-host of ‘Senior Pancakes Drunken Voyage,’ an audience-interactive, stand-up drinking game. He can also be seen performing live comedy as a part of various Good Good Comedy productions such as ‘Eat Your Beats’ and ‘Five Dollar Comedy Week.’ Joe is also an animator, producing shorts that can be seen monthly at ‘The Phone It In Film Festival‘ and his YouTube channel. Fore more, follow Joe on Twitter – @JoeBell.

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News Sketch Comedy in Philadelphia

Sketch Comedy in Philadelphia – February 8th through February 14th

In one week, we’ll be announcing the line-up of performers, workshops and panels taking place at Philly Sketchfest 2016! Also next week, it’s Philly Sketchfest Presents’ February showcase with two shows taking place at the Adrienne Theater Playground on Friday, February 19th. First at 8:30pm, we’re celebrating the Philadelphia groups that made it into this year’s Chicago Sketchfest with Spirit Animal & The Flat Earth performing sketch and stand-up from Alyssa Al-Dookhi! Then at 10:00pm it’s a brand new set of sketch from The Prince entitled, ‘Whole Human, Whole Horse’ directed by Maggy Keegan with stand-up from Joe Bell! Check back on Monday for our festival line-up and check out below all the great sketch happening in Philly this week…

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News Sketch Comedy in Philadelphia Sketch Hangover Uncategorized

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 Uncategorized Until Pluto

2015 Year In Review – Patric Ciervo of Patric Writes Sketches and Until Pluto

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. Patric Ciervo is making it known that he writes sketch comedy. No, not just because the name of his group is Patric Writes Sketches, although that does help. Rather, Patric is carrying the weight of writing material for two distinctly different sketch groups; the aforementioned Patric Writes Sketches and Until Pluto, a narrative-driven, sketch comedy collaboration with writer/performer Peter Gerbron. It’s also proving quite successful for Patric. This year, Patric Writes Sketches was accepted and performed at NYC Sketchfest at The People’s Improv Theater (The PIT) and Until Pluto performed two new shows of brand new material; a sketch murder-mystery-who-done-it entitled, ‘Bill Melchior Is Dead’ at PHIT and a rewriting of history in ‘Still Not A Better World’ as part of Philly Sketchfest Presents. Patric’s dedication to the craft of sketch comedy is seen not only in his work ethic and output, but also in his support of the entire Philadelphia comedy community. His commitment is admired by his peers and his comedy is being enjoyed by audiences both in and outside of Philadelphia. Don’t miss your opportunity to see both of Patric’s sketch groups this Friday night, on New Year’s Day, when they perform their first sketches of 2016 at our Sketch Hangover! Please enjoy Patric’s 2015 sketch year in review…

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2015 Year In Review – Joe Moore of Dog Mountain & Guilty Pleasures

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. Joe Moore is the head writer of PHIT Sketch House Team, Dog Mountain, the host of the ‘Best of Philadelphia‘ award winning Guilty Pleasures, best friends with Regional Child Star, Chucky McMelonmeyer, and one our favorite human beings on Earth. Joe is looked forward to. On-stage, he pairs quick wit with earnest portrayals of a characters motivations or decisions, adding so much more to the words on the page and translating all of it through performance in a matter of seconds. In the writer’s room, he has an innate ability to both ask and answer the questions needed to break mediocre sketches and build them to something memorably unique and special. In total, Joe appreciates both high brow and low brow comedy, is devoid of hubris, brings people together and we are forever thankful for that. Whether he’s working on his own ideas or helping out everyone else, amazing things result from his involvement. You can see Joe and Dog Mountain this Friday night, on New Year’s Day, when they perform their first sketch of 2016 at our Sketch Hangover! Until then, please enjoy Joe Moore’s 2015 sketch year in review…

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Q & A – Patric Ciervo & Peter Gerbron of Until Pluto

Fresh from their performance of their sketch-who-dunnit-murder-mystery, ‘Bill Melchior is Dead’, Until Pluto’s Patric Ciervo (Patric Writes Sketches) and Peter Gerbron have put together a new inter-connected set of sketches for your enjoyment entitled, ‘…Still Not A Better World’ which premieres tonight as part of Philly Sketchfest Presents’ December showcase featuring Cynthia Marie and host stand-up comedian, Alex Pearlman. Philly Sketchfest had the opportunity to chat with Patric & Peter before their show tonight at 10:00pm to talk about journeys through time, how they piece together their shows, and what’s next for them in 2016…

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House of Solitude News Sketch Comedy in Philadelphia Until Pluto

Sketch Comedy in Philadelphia – December 14th through December 20th

This week is so full of sketch comedy shows in Philadelphia that it’s almost as if – Christmas came early/Hanukkah was extended/the Krampus didn’t bite off the appendages of your misbehaving child – this year. But before you get upset that I only noted the Christian, Jewish and Pagen gift giving holidays as metaphors… What’s that? It’s too late and you’re already upset? Okay, then we’ll just get to this week’s listings of sketch comedy in Philadelphia which features our own monthly Philly Sketchfest Presents showcases at The Adrienne Theater Playground including House of Solitude’s ‘Home for the Holidays’ featuring The Wire Mothers and host Jake Mattera at 8:30pm as well as Until Pluto’s “…Still Not A Better World” featuring Cynthia Marie’s Farewell Show and host Alex Pearlman at 10:00pm.
House of Solitude Until Pluto Combo

Before we get started though, don’t forget to congratulate PHIT Sketch House Team, Dog Mountain who have been accepted into the 2016 North Carolina Comedy Arts Festival!