|
San Francisco Comedy Competition
The San Francisco Comedy Competition (sometimes referred to as the San Francisco International Comedy Competition or The San Francisco International Stand-Up Comedy Competition) is a stand-up comedy contest held each September in San Francisco, California, and neighboring areas of Northern California. History The SFICC was originally conceived by Bay Area comedian Frank Kidder. However, it has been produced since its inception by Jon and Anne Fox, who now retain complete ownership after purchasing Kidder's share. The competition has evolved from two nights of 20 comics performing, to its current multi-week format. The Competition Hundreds of comedians each year submit applications to enter the contest. Of these, 32 are chosen to perform in one of two week-long preliminary rounds. In these prelims, comedians perform sets of 5 to 7 minutes in length and the top five from each preliminary round move on to the semi-finals. The semi-final round is another week of shows, with the 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term originated in ancient Greece: in Athenian democracy, the public opinion of voters was influenced by political satire performed by comic poets in theaters. The theatrical genre of Greek comedy can be described as a dramatic performance pitting two groups, ages, genders, or societies against each other in an amusing '' agon'' or conflict. Northrop Frye depicted these two opposing sides as a "Society of Youth" and a "Society of the Old". A revised view characterizes the essential agon of comedy as a struggle between a relatively powerless youth and the societal conventions posing obstacles to his hopes. In this struggle, the youth then becomes constrained by his lack of social authority, and is left with little choice but to resort to ruses w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barry Sobel
Barry Sobel (born July 11, 1959) is an American actor and comedian. Life and career Sobel was raised in Brooklyn, New York, a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York. During the 1980s, he toured the comedy circuit heavily. In 1987, he appeared in Rodney Dangerfield's Young Comedians special. Sobel played a part in ''Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise''. He also appeared in the 1987 film Blind Date (1987 film), Blind Date. He adopted his hip-hop comedy rap in 1987 when he was featured on HBO's Uptown Comedy Express. Sobel was a guest on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'', in the episode July 24, 1987. In his guest-starring appearance, he provided a comedy act while sitting at the desk next to Johnny on one side & actor Mark Harmon on the other. In the 1988 film, ''Punchline (film), Punchline'', he had a small part, but played a more prominent off screen role as comedic advisor to Tom Hanks. According to Sobel, Hanks caught his act which stylistically was considered ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Kenny
Thomas James Kenny (born July 13, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for voicing the titular character in ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and associated media. Kenny has voiced many other characters, including Heffer Wolfe in ''Rocko's Modern Life'', the Ice King in ''Adventure Time'', the Narrator and Mayor in ''The Powerpuff Girls'', Carl Chryniszzswics in ''Johnny Bravo'', Dog in ''CatDog'', Hank and Jeremy in ''Talking Tom and Friends'', and Spyro from the ''Spyro'' video game series. His live-action work includes the comedy variety shows ''The Edge'' and ''Mr. Show''. Kenny has won two Daytime Emmy Awards and two Annie Awards for his voice work as SpongeBob SquarePants and the Ice King. He often collaborates with his wife and fellow voice artist Jill Talley, who plays Karen on ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. Biography Early life and stand-up comedy Kenny was born and raised in Syracuse, New York, to Theresa Bridget (Donigan) and Paul Austin Kenny. As a young child ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rick Reynolds
Rick Reynolds (born December 13, 1951) is an American comedian known for his one-man shows ''Only the Truth Is Funny'' and ''All Grown Up...and No Place to Go.'' ''Only the Truth Is Funny'' began as a theatrical show and was eventually broadcast on Showtime and nominated for a 1993 Emmy Award for writing. Early life and education Reynolds was born in Wood Village, Oregon, a suburb of in Portland. His father drowned when Rick was six months old. His manic depressive mother brought in several stepfathers, who were abusive. He graduated from Portland State University in 1976 with a Bachelor of Science in philosophy. Career In 1997, Reynolds starred in the short-lived sitcom '' Life... and Stuff'', which he also co-created. Prior to the release of ''Life... and Stuff'' Reynolds was quoted at a press conference saying, "If this is canceled, and my whole career has worked toward this point . . .," Reynolds said, letting the thought hang. "Who am I kidding? Is it going to happen aga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Warren Thomas
Warren Thomas (June 5, 1958 – September 2, 2005) was an American comedian. His greatest fame came during the late 1980s and early 1990s when he was a major figure in the San Francisco comedy scene and began appearing on HBO comedy specials. He had the nick name 'Warranty'. He won the San Francisco International Comedy Competition in 1987. Thomas was cited as the funniest comedian alive by Greg Proops. Because of its speed, rhythm and flow, his comedy was often compared to jazz music. Warren mentored Jamie Foxx and worked with Dave Chappelle. His television appearances included Comedy Central's ''Comics Come Home'' special, ''The Dennis Miller Show'', and ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' and Premium Blend. He was a writer on ''In Living Color'' and Air America Radio, and he was a frequent guest on Rocky Sullivan's "Satire for Sanity" show. He also was working on a project with Jamie Foxx. Upon Thomas's death, memorials were held in his honor in New York City, where he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dana Gould
Dana Gould (born August 24, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer and voice artist who has been featured on HBO, Showtime, and Comedy Central. He voiced Hi Larious in the TV series ''Father of the Pride'' (2004–2005) and the titular character in the '' Gex'' franchise. Early life Gould was born in Hopedale, Massachusetts on August 24, 1964, the fifth of six children. He was raised Roman Catholic, and served as an altar boy in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester. Career Gould began performing comedy onstage at age 17. After high school, he studied communications and theatre at Framingham State College, but after a year moved to San Francisco to pursue a career in comedy. It was there he, along with fellow comedian Alex Reid, founded the San Francisco Comedy Condo in 1986. Gould wrote and performed on ''The Ben Stiller Show''; one such sketch features Gould as Otto, Cupid's twisted brother, whose arrows convince a young man to fall madly in love with an el ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jake Johannsen
Jake Johannsen (born July 28, 1960) is an American comedian, writer, and actor. Early life Johannsen attended Iowa State University in the early 1980s, originally majoring in veterinary medicine, and then later changing to chemical engineering. He left after three years in college and relocated to San Francisco, California, in order to pursue a career in comedy. Johannsen made his debut at Cobb's Comedy Club in San Francisco, and by 1986 had won the 11th Annual San Francisco International Comedy Competition. Career During the 1990s, Johannsen starred in his own HBO comedy special, ''This'll Take About an Hour'', which was listed as one of the Ten Best Television Shows by ''People Magazine'' in 1992. In 1994, he was nominated as "Best Male Stand-Up Comedian" for the 1994 American Comedy Awards. According to Jerry Seinfeld, Johannsen was originally wanted for the role of George Costanza in '' Seinfeld'', but he refused the part. In 2010, Johannsen starred in his second Comedy S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer. She starred in the sitcom ''Ellen'' from 1994 to 1998, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for " The Puppy Episode". She also hosted the syndicated television talk show, ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' from 2003 to 2022, for which she received 33 Daytime Emmy Awards. Her stand-up career started in the early 1980s and included a 1986 appearance on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''. As a film actress, DeGeneres starred in ''Mr. Wrong'' (1996), ''EDtv'' (1999), and '' The Love Letter'' (1999), and provided the voice of Dory in the Disney/Pixar animated films ''Finding Nemo'' (2003) and '' Finding Dory'' (2016); for ''Finding Nemo'', she was awarded the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress, the first time an actress won a Saturn Award for a voice performance. In 2010, she served as a judge on the ninth season of ''American Idol''. She starred in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinbad (actor)
David Adkins (born November 10, 1956), better known by his stage name Sinbad, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He became known in the 1990s from being featured on his own HBO specials, appearing on several television series such as Coach Walter Oakes in ''A Different World'' (1987–1991) and as David Bryan on ''The Sinbad Show'' (1993–1994), and starring in the films '' Necessary Roughness'', ''Houseguest'', ''First Kid'', ''Jingle All the Way'', ''Good Burger'', and '' Planes''. Early life Sinbad was born November 10, 1956, in Benton Harbor, Michigan, the son of Louise and a Baptist minister, Dr. Donald Beckley Adkins Sr. He has five siblings: Donna, Dorothea, Mark, Michael, and Donald Jr. His paternal grandmother was of Irish descent. Sinbad attended Benton Harbor High School and graduated in 1974. He attended college from 1974 to 1978 at the University of Denver in Denver, Colorado, where he lettered two seasons for the basketball team. Military service Sinbad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doug Ferrari
Doug Ferrari (born December 25, 1956) is an American stand-up comedian and comedy writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is often called Dougzilla due to his large stature. Early life Ferrari was born in San Francisco on Christmas Day of 1956. He graduated from Cupertino High School at the age of sixteen and was offered a scholarship to Stanford University, which he turned down to pursue a career in comedy. Career Ferrari performed his first stand-up gig at The Comedy Store. Shortly thereafter, in 1975, he co-founded a musical comedy group called the High Wire Radio Choir. They released an album entitled ''Teenage Mutant Love'' in 1979 before disbanding in the early eighties. Ferrari won the San Francisco Comedy Competition in 1984. In the years following, he was performing up to 500 shows a year and sharing the stage with comedians such as Jerry Seinfeld, Drew Carey, Robin Williams and Bob Hope, and musical acts including John Lee Hooker, Ray Charles, Elvis Costello ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carrie Snow
Carrie Snow (born July 16, 1953) is an American stand-up comedian, writer, author, and host from Merced, California. She is best known for writing for the television series ''Roseanne'', and acting on the show. Snow was also featured in the documentaries '' The Aristocrats'' and ''Wisecracks''. Snow has performed at and headlined at such stand-up venues as ''Caroline's'', ''The Punch Line'', ''The Improv'' (various locations), ''The Comedy Store'', and ''Caesars Palace'' in Las Vegas. In addition to performing on the road, she has regularly been seen on television doing numerous stand-up ensemble shows from ''PBS' Comedy Tonight'' which she later hosted for two seasons, and ''An Evening at the Improv''; she has also appeared as a guest on ''Cristina & Friends'' and performed her routine on numerous talk shows, such as '' The Sally Jessy Raphael Show'', ''The Late Show With David Letterman'', ''Leeza'', as well as ''Comedy Central'', of which one performance was nominated for an Em ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Will Durst
Will Durst (born on March 18, 1952) is an American political satirist. He has been called a modern mix of Mort Sahl and Will Rogers. Early life Durst was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He went to 14 different schools before graduating from Waukesha South High School, in Waukesha, Wisconsin. He then attended Waukesha County Technical Institute, University of Wisconsin, Waukesha County Campus, Marquette University, and the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee, but never graduated. Career In 1974, he started performing stand-up comedy at a weekly open mic at a bar in downtown Milwaukee called the Rusty Nail. He also gained onstage experience sharing a stage with various sketch groups such as "Same Player Shoots Again," "Better Than a Sharp Stick in the Eye," and "Will Jon Rip Marian?" After studying with director Paul Sills in Milwaukee for two years at the Century Hall theater complex, Durst moved to San Francisco in 1979. In 1987, he unsuccessfully ran for mayor of San Francis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
