The Hawaii Sketch Comedy Festival 2015

2015 Performers

Special Musical Guest

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Shoshana Bean (Los Angeles, CA)

is best known for her powerhouse vocals, impressive range and energetic and emotional performances. Her independent solo releases have topped the iTunes R&B and Blues charts in the US and UK in peak positions 5, 3 and now #1 with the release of her latest EP Shadows to Light. Shoshana is a veteran of the Broadway stage having debuted in the original cast of Hairspray and starring as the very first replacement for Elphaba, the green-skinned witch, in Wicked. She sang back up for Michael Jackson at his 30th anniversary concert at Madison Square Garden and arranged vocals for Jennifer Lopez’s American Idol performance of “I Luh Ya Papi.”

HISF Start Up Team

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Goof Troop Riot (Honolulu, HI)

is a lively mashup of various improv and sketch performers on Oahu and the first ever Hawaii Sketch Comedy Festival Start Up Team. The HISF Start Up Team is mentored by a professional sketch comedy writer in Los Angeles once a week via video or phone conferencing all the way up until it’s showtime for the festival. Main goals for the team are to produce 2 videos and 2 live sketches to be performed at the festival. Goof Troop Riot is: Trevor Danielson, Anthony Silano, Micheline McManus, Tom McManus, Sheldon Lo, Sean Koegel, Drew McCalmon, Marci McCalmon, John Cummings and Javier Gonzalez

Visiting Performers

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Benny And Griff (Brooklyn, NY)

are a musical comedy duo based out of Brooklyn. They have known each other since they were three and have been performing intentionally and unintentionally laughable material together since highschool. They often wear matching outfits or dress like sailors.

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Kevin Yee (Los Angeles, CA)

is a comedy songwriter whose original comedy songs can be found on itunes. His controversial viral youtube videos include JEREMY LIN: THE MUSICAL, GAY LOVE, and the SOCHI OLYMPICS (un) OFFICIAL THEME SONG. He won best music performance at the FRESH FRUIT FESTIVAL in NYC, and his musical AN ASIAN AMERICAN BASKETBALL MUSICAL was an official selection into the ASCAP NEW MUSICAL THEATER WORKSHOP with panelist Stephen Schwartz. He is a recovering Broadway chorus boy (MARY POPPINS, touring companies of WICKED and MAMMA MIA) and a former member of Quincy Jones’ boy band YOUTH ASYLUM. www.kevinyee.com

Special Guest Performers

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Ann Maddox (Los Angeles, CA)

has performed at the UCB Theater in Los Angeles since 2005, in several sketch shows such as Baby Hungry, Charlyne Yi Show, UCB presents, Other people’s stuff, Make That Sandwich! and most recently, the one act sketch play Talking Is Hard, which just finished it’s year long run at UCB.
She has also performed improv on the Harold team Lincoln’s Bedroom and wrote sketch comedy for Maude Teams Nice Kitchen and Hot Mess. In 2011 she was a cast member of the annual CBS Diversity Showcase, featured as a performer and writer. She has written and performed her own UCB shows Machu Picchu and Battle of the Funny Bands with her music/sketch band Machu Picchu. They have appeared in stand up and variety shows such as Comedy Death Ray, Tomorrow Show, Garage Comedy and the Las Vegas Comedy Festival.
Ann Maddox has been in several commercials playing either a weird coworker and/or a stoner type. You may have seen Ann in The Office as a pregnant telemarketer, an artsy hipster in Two Broke Girls, a bubbly game show host on Fuel TV’s Stupid Face,eating bird poo on Web Soup, and a Japanese panda suited criminal in Todd Rohal’s Catechism Cataclysm (currently on Netflix)! She also often appears in College Humor and Funny or Die videos.
You can catch her this fall on TBS in The Pete Holmes Show and on IFC with The Birthday Boys!

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Tim Neenan (Los Angeles, CA)

is a writer, actor, and director from Enterprise, Alabama. After graduating college, he moved Los Angeles to write and perform anything he was allowed to write and perform, and now he does that. He has studied at UCB since 2009, and is currently on New Money, the brilliant, game-changing sketch team that blows its audience’s mind every month at UCB LA. He also a director and host of Sketch Cram, a monthly sketch show written and produced in a day. In addition to those shows, Tim also teaches Sketch at the UCB Training Center and directs the Maude Team Glendale.

As of writing this bio, he has most recently written for the show Newsreaders on Adult Swim and been a contributor to The Onion News Network. In the past he has worked on and appeared in shows like Childrens Hospital and NTSF:SD:SUV::. You can catch him doing improv and sketch around town at all the cool indie comedy venues you should be checking out. He does drama sometimes, too. He is just very great. He sometimes writes on timneenan.com, but it is mostly a collection of weird stuff he found on the internet.

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Matt Newell (Los Angeles, CA)

is an improvisor, actor and writer from Youngsville, NC. He began studying improv at Comedy Sportz in Chapel Hill, NC and then continued at The Upright Citizens Brigade when he moved to Los Angeles. He’s been performing at UCB since 2010 on Harold Night with Kid Grift and Outside Dog and on Maude Night with The Royal Bermuda Whiskey Club.

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Kristen Rozanski (Los Angeles, CA)

has a BFA in musical theater, and has done several theater productions in NYC and LA. TV credits include: Law and Order, Law and Order: SVU, Ugly Betty, The Birthday Boys on IFC, as well as various videos for College Humor, and Funny or Die. She has been on two UCB Maude (sketch) teams, and is currently part of resident sketch team Oh, Brother! Other UCB credits include her solo show “Kristen Rozanski has Womanly Attributes”, Those Magnificent Moms, Quick and Funny Musicals, and Sketch Cram.

Hawaii Premiere

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“Witches” (Los Angeles, CA)

Tamsin, Lilura, and Hecate are witches, doing what they normally do on a Saturday night… namely, hexing townspeople who have displeased them. When it’s clear that Tamsin’s attention is somewhere else, Lilura and Hecate question her devotion. Tamsin reveals that she’s dating a Puritan and is ‘over’ casting spells, which does not sit well with the others. Old resentments surface and tempers flare as the witches turn their spells on one another.

Featured Comedy Videos

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Cynthia Kao (Los Angeles, CA)

recently wrote for TBS’s, “Ground Floor”, is currently a writer for UCB Maude team, Bombardier, and is excited to have a short that she wrote and stars in, “It’s So Cliche”, premiere at the Cleveland International Film Festiva and Hawaii Sketch Comedy Festivall this spring. Her documentary short about people dressing up as ethnicities for Halloween won best Documentary at the Wisconsin Film Festival. Videos she’s made have been featured on Huffington Post, The Telegraph UK, Cosmopolitan, Wifey.tv, USA Today, and Cracked.com among other sites. She writes/directs/performs in LA.

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Wild Horses (Los Angeles, CA)

is a long form improv team from Los Angeles starring Stephanie Allynne, Mary Holland, Lauren Lapkus, and Erin Whitehead. They debuted at the All Jane, No Dick festival and have performed at Out of Bounds, The Bentzen Ball at The Kennedy Center, SXSW, and all over LA. You can hear them on podcasts like Improv4Humams, Comedy Bang Bang, and With Special Guest Lauren Lapkus. You can see them the first Saturday of every month at Upright Citizens Brigade Franklin in their show The Perspective. Follow them on Twitter @wildhorsesshow.

2015 Schedule

March 28th: Opening Night

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Live from Honolulu!

Location: Doris Duke Theatre at The Honolulu Museum of Art
Time: 6pm – 9pm (Opening reception starts at 6pm. Show begins at 7:30pm)
It’s the day of the show y’all! Live comedy performances by: Goof Troop Riot, Benny & Griff and Kevin Yee. Special guest performances by Ann Maddox, Tim Neenan, Matthew Newell and Kristen Rozanski from Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles. Live music by Shoshana Bean.
Opening Night Reception: Food by Da Spot and drinks by DDT will be available for purchase. Live music provided by Shawna Lynn Masuda and Chris Luke.

March 29th: HISF Panels

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HISF Photoshoots and Panels

Location: Kaka’ako Agora – 441 Cooke Street
Time: 10am – 3pm
Join us for a day of pop up photoshoots, networking and panels!

March 29th: HISF Screening

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Eat My Comedy Shorts

Location: Doris Duke Theatre
Time: 7:30pm
Get ready to LOL your pants with our special selection of submitted videos and contest entries!

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HISF WRAP PARTY

Location: Bethel Street Tap Room
Time: 9pm
We did it! It’s time to party! Come celebrate the finale of the first ever Hawaii Sketch Comedy Festival at one of our most fave Chinatown spots! We’ll have pupus for you to eat and drinks specials available for purchase. YAY US!

March 25th: HISF Workshops

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Improv Workshop w/ Matt Newell (Introduction to Game)

Location: Manoa Innovation Center
Time: 6-9pm
This class will focus on finding the “Game” of the scene through listening and grounded scene work. The game of the scene means being aware of what makes your scenes funny and focusing on it as the scene progresses and is the cornerstone of UCB style improv.

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Building Character w/ Kristen Rozanski

Location: Manoa Innovation Center
Time: 6-9pm
This workshop is open to anyone interested in creating or workshopping original characters. If you have a character you’d like to work on, bring it along for individual feedback. If not, no fear! You will be taught different strategies and participate in exercises that help you generate characters of your own. All levels welcome!

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Sketch Comedy Writing w/ Ann Maddox

Location: Manoa Innovation Center
Time: 6-9pm
WORKSHOP 1: INTRODUCTION TO SKETCH WRITING
Students will be introduced to the fundamentals of good sketch writing, with a strong emphasis on the “game” of your scenes. We’ll watch a few classic sketches and discuss what makes them work effectively, then practice pulling ideas for sketches from every day interactions and anecdotes from life.

March 26th: HISF Workshops

Mattnewell
Improv Workshop w/ Matt Newell (Introduction to Game)

Location: Manoa Innovation Center
Time: 6-9pm
This class will focus on finding the “Game” of the scene through listening and grounded scene work. The game of the scene means being aware of what makes your scenes funny and focusing on it as the scene progresses and is the cornerstone of UCB style improv.

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Sketch Comedy Writing w/ Tim Neenan

Location: Manoa Innovation Center
Time: 6-9pm
WORKSHOP 2: PITCHING & REWRITING
Students will receive feedback on sketches pitched in Workshop 1, with emphasis placed on getting your idea and game executed clearly. They will leave with a solid direction to take their sketches in for their second drafts. Students will be encouraged to pitch and punch-up as a writers’ room on each other’s sketches.

March 26th: HISF Screening

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HISF Amuse Bouche!

Location: Kaka’ako Agora
Take a sneak peek at our “Eat My Comedy Shorts” night!

March 27th: HISF Workshops

kristenrozanski
Building Character w/ Kristen Rozanski

Location: Manoa Innovation Center
Time: 6-9pm
This workshop is open to anyone interested in creating or workshopping original characters. If you have a character you’d like to work on, bring it along for individual feedback. If not, no fear! You will be taught different strategies and participate in exercises that help you generate characters of your own. All levels welcome!

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Sketch Comedy Writing w/ Tim Neenan

Location: Manoa Innovation Center
Time: 6-9pm
WORKSHOP 3: SKETCH GENRES
Workshop 3 will continue what we’ve done in Workshop 2 – students will receive feedback on sketches assigned in the previous class. After noting and pitching as a group, students will be given general guidelines on writing effective character-based sketches, parodies, and topical sketches. Students may want to come prepared to pitch general ideas for one of these genres.

2015 Sponsors

Produced by:

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Platinum Sponsor:

Aqua Hospitality Hor 4C

Gold Sponsors:

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Surroundsme

Silver Sponsors:

landsberg
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royjoji
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Community Sponsors:

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Media Sponsors:

CB-Flat
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HISF Supporters

$100-$249
Anonymous
Anonymous
Britton Adams
Charity Thomson
Dan Cutter
Dancers Unlimited / Linda Kuo
Diana Wan
Diane Kim
Diverse Art/Niki Kealoha
Eric Koike
Eugene Cordero
Isaac Calpito
Jeremiah Frei-Pearson
John Cambareri
John M Cummings III
Jonathan Wong
Kristi Russo
Kutmaster Spaz
Lindsay Weiglein
Matt Mullarkey
Mika Nishida
Myra Wong
Pat Masumoto
Rob Bertholf
Spencer Toyama
Steve Sue
Tom & Micheline McManus
$50-$99
Aaron Landry
Ai & David Cheung
Amy Sullivan
Andrew Djang
Ann Britt DuChateau
Annie Kwong
Anonymous
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Carlynn Wolfe
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Curtis Cregan
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Elizabeth Nievera
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Emily HIckey
Eric W.
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Janet Varney
Jeff Takiguchi
Jill Tengan
John LeBlanc
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Karala Mosley
Karla Mosley
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Michael LeBlanc
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Patrick Eviston
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$1-$49
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Annie Kwong
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Eileen Hsi
Emi Hart
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Jason Ellinwood
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Kate Kugler
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$1-$49
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Mark James
Marshall Givens
MaryAnn Hu
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Meredith Akins Pena
Myra Wong
Nelson Wong
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Phillips Payson
R. Kevin Doyle
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Sean-Joseph Choo
Shakun Matani
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Shiloh Swanson
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The Halls
Tim Ceder
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