![]() Stewart talked about the Golden State Warriors and not being able to take down Trump with comedy in an hour-long discussion, drawing large amounts of applause from the always-eager audience.Īfter their improv show, Middleditch and Schwartz’s second performance at Clusterfest - a live reading of John Hughes’ classic comedy “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” - also featured SNL alum Sasheer Zamata and “Arrested Development” star David Cross. In addition, Jon Stewart’s return to stand-up after a 15 year hiatus was accompanied by a talkback with San Francisco Chronicle pop culture critic Peter Hartlaub. Two other sets looked promising: Thomas Middleditch and Ben Schwartz’s two-person longform improv show packed the auditorium, as did Michael Che’s headlining set with Joe Mande, Mark Normand, Dulce Sloan and Tim Dillon. Nikki Glaser, Bridget Everett, Rachel Feinstein, Mia Jackson and Schumer drew big laughs with routines on Trump, dating and sex. The larger comedy acts, like Amy Schumer and Friends, drew a massive crowd, but similar to a festival like Coachella, the mosh pit of people made it nearly impossible to get close enough to see anything besides the massive screens. Many attendees sported apparel from their favorite pop culture shows or comedians. There were also other meticulously recreated sets of popular comedies - Paddy’s Pub from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” offered $12 pints, the Bluth frozen banana stand sold hand-dipped chocolate bananas next to the stair car from “Arrested Development,” and visitors could play ring toss and darts at the South Park themed fairground. Other not to be missed highlights: The Presidential Library of Tweets from The Daily Show with Trevor Noah featured interactive exhibits such as a Trump Nickname Generator, an opportunity to choose the perfect Tweet for a simulated international crisis (whilst sitting on a golden toilet), and a golden memorial for deleted Tweets. His pantomiming of the incident brought a needed dose of reality and consciousness to the situations that Asian Americans can face, despite eliciting uncomfortable chuckles from some audience members. The set, which started off with her playing a ditzy awkward character, garnered confused giggles but ended with uproarious laughter as her jokes, delivered with an Aubrey Plaza deadpan, became increasingly ludicrous.ĭaily Show correspondent Ronnie Chiang was also unafraid to get political, touching on the United incident in which a Chinese American doctor was assaulted. Each performer brought their own flavor of comedy, with Patti Harrison standing out with her avant-garde, absurdist routine. Especially as SF enters Pride Month, it was exhilarating to see a set dominated by queer Asian American comedians: Booster, Irene Tu, Bowen Yang and Patti Harrison. The biggest name, Awkwafina, only came out for a short Q&A with Booster, much to the disappointment of attendees, but the rest of the lineup shone brightly.īooster started off the night by “pandering” to the Asian American audience - although, as he pointed out, much of the front rows were non-Asian. Set up with folding chairs like a stand-up club, the event, hosted by Joel Kim Booster, featured a series of short routines by top Asian comedians. Held in the intimate environment of Room 415, it was a strong contrast to the giant Coachella-esque outdoor stage in the plaza. One of the highlights of the festival was discovering lesser-known acts, such as the Asian Pacific Islander headlining set, The Joy F*ck Club. Amy Schumer’s set ended half an hour earlier than expected to the dismay of the audience and sex workers protested outside of the auditorium. The smaller shows required a tricky dual ticket process in which attendees had to line up in a queue an hour before the show to get a paper ticket, and then queue again to get into the room. Another logistical challenge involved shows in smaller rooms of Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, such as the Room 415 Comedy Club and the Larkin Comedy Club. Logistical issues dominated day one of the festival according to disgruntled ticketholders on social media, who lined up for hours to get through security and ended up missing opening acts. The popular event also featured talkbacks with comedians and entertainment artists, musical acts and screenings, spanning the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium and an outdoor stage to smaller comedy clubs in the area. Comedy Central’s Clusterfest, a three-day comedy and music festival, returned to San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza for the second year in a row, bringing headlining big names including Trevor Noah, The Lonely Island, Tiffany Haddish, John Mulaney, Amy Schumer and Jon Stewart.
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