The Cast of “The State” Took Over SF Sketchfest 2024

SF Sketchfest is always a fun way to kick things off in the comedy community every year, and 2024 was no different. Last weekend, the cast of the cult 90’s comedy troupe The State reunited in San Francisco for two fun events. 

First up at Cobb’s Comedy Club, there was a major reunion of the show. The lineup was a who’s who of comedy that included David Wain, Ken Marino, Joe Lo Truglio, Kerry Kenney-Silver, Kevin Allison, Thomas Lennon, and Todd Holoubek. Kevin Pollak sat in for some of the missing players.

The cast and creators sat down together to read sketches that never quite made it to the air. Titled Hits and Misses, Ken Marino would have the audience decide on what was a hit and what was a miss. Despite it being comprised of fans of the show, there were still quite a few misses. Some of the more memorable sketches, however, included subjects on such things as the national bird, the Dahmer party, David Wain as Hitler (who was someone’s guardian angel), a Mormon who has to get rid of 7 of his 8 wives, the choreographer for Michael Jackson’s Thriller, and a movie trailer parody. 

Two other standout bits had nothing to do with sketches. First, Kerri read a note from her niece - who was 9 at the time of the show - that offered constructive criticism of the show, particularly Thomas. But the biggest laughs came from the Q and A section. About two questions in, you realized that all of the questions were strangely enough for Kevin Pollak, and all about the film Middle Men.

Then at night, it was time to head over to the Great American Music Hall for Ken Marino and David Wain to helm the Middle Aged Dad Jam Band. This is something that the two started doing in David’s garage in LA, and it quickly became a staple of the LA comedy scene. Now they’ve started taking it on the road.

It was a rocking three hour (!) show featuring cover songs, and the occasional song from their movies. They also brought out some special guests, including Weird Al Yankovic, Joe Lo Truglio, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Thomas Lennon, and Michaela Watkins. 

If you get the chance to see either one of their reunion shows, we can’t recommend going highly enough! We promise, you will have a blast and be thoroughly entertained.