who to watch
FFF6 Artists Exposed: Discover hilarious (and hilariously weird) acts on theYellow Stage
Sure, we know that M83's going to chill everyone out on FFF’s Orange Stage, Danzig Legacy’s going to make a crowd of thousands nostalgic for high school on the Black Stage and the Del / Flying Lotus / Diplo / Odd Future block on the Blue Stage Sunday night is going to be the craziest dance party possibly ever—but what do you know about the Yellow Stage lineup this year? You know, the comedy stage, the one that features a healthy dose of local performers alongside touring improv, sketch, video and musical comedy acts?
With the recent news that SXSW will be expanding their comedy programming from six to eight nights, it’s clear that comedy is becoming a huge part of traditionally band-focused festivals (not just here in Austin—the Pitckfork Festival added a comedy stage last year, Bonnaroo’s got a comedy tent, even Coachella’s been steadily adding comics to the last few lineups).
FFF is especially applying its hometown hero-friendly philosophy to the Yellow Stage this year, featuring Austin-based stand ups Maggie Maye, Jake Flores, JT Habersaat + the Altercation Punk Comedy Tour, Michael Priest, Cameron Buchholtz, Cody Hustak and two former “Funniest Person in Austin” winners, Doug Mellard and Matt Bearden. You can also check out Anarchy Championship Wrestling all three days of the fest, several sets from The New Movement Theater and a special edition of Master Pancake’s Video Jukebox.
If you want to check out some hilarious, weird and wonderful new acts, but don’t want to take chances with your carefully planned schedule, here are a few of our don’t-miss comedy picks.
Friday
There’s a lot of musical comedy on the Friday lineup. We’re excited to see Texan electro-nerd-punk duo Best Fwends (12:50 p.m.); Adira Amram (1:45 p.m.), a chanteuse whose one-woman show “Adira Amram is: An American Idol” earned award noms and encore performances in NYC; and Reggie Watts (7:15 p.m.), whose eclectic beatboxing is as catchy as it is comical.
Don’t miss:
The Upright Citizens Brigade Tourco (5 p.m.)
Fact: the UCB is responsible for some of the best improv out there. This is your chance to see four of their top performers: Joe Wengert (The Smokes), Joel Spence (Sentimental Lady), Amanda Sitko (Elroy) and Alan McLeod (Arts & Athletics, A Kiss From Daddy), all from the UCBLA theater. If you’ve never seen improv before, a festival’s an interesting place for an introduction; so how about you check out the video below, an episode of the UCB’s signature show, ASSSSCAT, that aired on Bravo in 2005? The show features monologues from guests (below, see Tina Fey talk about ham), with improvised scenes based on the stories, and it’ll get you all amped up for UCB’s early evening set.
Brett Gelman (6:55 p.m.)
Part comic, part performance artist, Brett Gelman’s completely blown my mind about ten times over with pieces like the deliciously disgusting spoken word piece iBrain. He’s also responsible for one of my favorite absurdist bits of all time, a one-man musical called “1000 Cats” that’s basically a frenetic, abridged version of the musical Cats (if the entire cast was replaced by one guy who’s possibly on crack). Ignore the poor quality of the video, and enjoy. (Part Two is right here.)
Saturday
Mixing stand ups like Ali Wong (1:05 p.m.) and Johnny Pemberton (5:20 p.m.) with rap / electro acts Captured by Robots (1:50 p.m.) and Turquoise Jeep (4:45 p.m.), and mixing in a little bit of Air Sex (3:30 p.m.), the Saturday stage offers something for every comedy fan. (Psst…if you can’t make it to FFF, catch some of the fest’s featured comics on Friday night at The New Movement’s Hashtag Comedy show, 10:30 p.m., featuring Neal Brennan and Louis Katz alongside Austin stand ups including Kat Ramzinski, Chris Cubas and John Tole.)
Don’t miss:
Donald Glover (4:10 p.m.)
Whether you love him on Community, can’t stop rocking his rap albums or know all his stand up bits by heart, chances are you’re at least a little into Donald Glover, who will be performing on both the Yellow Stage (we’re presuming stand up) and the Blue Stage (as alter-ego Childish Gambino). Here’s what we’re hoping happens this weekend, since Glover and Watts are both on the bill:
Wham City Comedy Tour (6:15 p.m.)
A comedy collective from Baltimore, the city that practically invented fearlessly weird alterna-acts (and the Baltimore Round Robin!), this sketch (?) group features another performer who’s doing double duty on two stages this year, Dan Deacon.
Sunday
As the third day of the festival dawns, hangovers reaching a fever pitch all over Austin, things usually start to get weird—especially on the Yellow Stage. Sunday features the What the Hell: Magic Stunt Show (12:45 p.m.), Rap Battle Royal (1:05 p.m.), Page & Stephen’s Fun Wedding (3:35 p.m.) and ilovemikelitt’s annual Veggie Hot Dog Eating Contest (5:25 p.m.), plus stand up from Nick Flanagan (1:40 p.m.), Chris Trew (2 p.m.), Doug Mellard (4:15 p.m.) and Brody Stevens (5 p.m.). Oh yeah, and Henry Rollins will be doing his thing for a whole hour, starting at 7 p.m.
Don’t miss:
The Kenny K Strass Strasser Yo Yo Exstravaganza (4:35 p.m.)
Remember when that guy got on a bunch of Midwestern news shows by pretending to be an expert yo yo-ist? It was Kenny K Strass, and he’ll be bringing his “is this guy for real?” act to FFF.
Master Pancake’s Video Jukebox (6:15 p.m.)
Some of Austin’s funniest comics (including performers from Stag Comedy and ColdTowne Theater) rip apart music videos for your viewing pleasure. Maybe Rollins, who’s up directly after, will join in the roasting?
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Check out the full FFF lineup and plan your schedule online now.