Ricky Jay News

The Comedians with Disabilities Act (CWDA) makes its debut at SF Sketchfest at the Alameda Comedy Club. This comedy troupe, founded by the late comedian Michael O'Connell, features talented comedians with disabilities sharing their unique perspectives.

SF Sketchfest has revealed the initial lineup for the 2024 Comedy Festival in San Francisco. Tickets go on sale on November 19.

Carole Rothman, the founder of Second Stage, the prestigious theater company that has launched the careers of some of the greatest American playwrights over the past 45 years, is leaving the company. 

El Mago Pop, the eponymous Broadway show from Antonio Díaz, “El Mago Pop,” opens on Broadway tonight, Sunday, August 20th at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, making Antonio the youngest illusionist to have his own show on Broadway. Check out what the critics had to say here!

The theater community rallied together once again with spirited skits, dynamic dance and brilliant bonnets as Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS’ Easter Bonnet Competition returned April 24 and 25, 2023. The performances celebrated in-theater Red Bucket appeals that raised $3,601,355 for meals and medication, health care and hope for those who need them most.

Visionary performing artist Michael Moschen will bring his “Mysterious Forces” Show to the Ridgefield Playhouse on May 7.

David Blaine will make his New York producing debut with Asi Wind’s Inner Circle this fall at The Gym at Judson beginning Thursday, September 15 with opening night on Sunday, September 18.

OXY ARTS, Occidental College's public art space rooted in social justice and community organizing, has announced a collaboration with Paul Holdengräber, the renowned interviewer and Founder and Director of Onassis Los Angeles, a center for dialogue, and dublab, a platform for discovery and the cultivation of next-wave music, arts and culture.

SF Sketchfest, co-founded and directed by David Owen, Cole Stratton and Janet Varney, the longest-running comedy festival in the U.S. The event mixes major comedy stars and up-and-coming comedians from around the world for sketch, stand-up, alternative comedy, music, improv, films, tributes, live podcasts, workshops, and panel discussions.

SF Sketchfest presented announces additions to the lineup for the 19th annual San Francisco Comedy Festival January 9-26, 2020.

Ford Theatres presents an immersive experience: Last Whispers - Oratorio for Vanishing Voices, Collapsing Universes and a Falling Tree, on Friday, June 14 at 8:00pm. Last Whispers is simultaneously a spatially-designed sound composition and a film -- an invocation of languages that have gone extinct and an incantation of those that are endangered.

A young Classics professor puts her career-and her love life-in peril, and calls on the gods of Ancient Greece to save her. Things don't go according to plan when the gods who show up are The Gods of Comedy!

As 2018 comes to a close, we are reflecting on those we have lost in the Broadway and theatre communities throughout the year.

 The 30th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) announced that the festival's opening night will be the screening of All is True directed by Kenneth Branagh on Friday, January 4.  The festival will close with Ladies in Black, directed by Bruce Beresford on Sunday, January 13. The Festival will screen 223 films from 78 countries, including 48 premieres (4 World, 13 North American and 31 U.S.) from January 3-14, 2019.  The line-up includes a focus on cinema from France, India and Mexico, Premieres, Talking Pictures, Book to Screen, Special Presentations, FLOS: Foreign Language Oscar Submissions, Gay!La, Local Spotlight, Modern Masters, True Stories, World Cinema Now, a 30-film retrospective of selections from past festivals (free screenings sponsored by Desert Care Network and National Endowment for the Arts), and more.   

SF Sketchfest presented by Audible announces even more additions to the lineup for the 18th annual San Francisco Comedy Festival January 10-27.  The 17-day festival features over 200 shows with  major comedy stars and the best up-and-coming comedians from around the world performing in venues across the city bringing non-stop entertainment including sketch, stand-up, alternative comedy, music, improv, films, tributes, live podcasts, storytelling, family shows, workshops, panels and more. Tickets for all shows now on sale at sfsketchfest.com.

According to Variety, actor and magician Ricky Jay has died at age 72. His manager, Winston Simone, confirmed that he died of natural causes.

SF Sketchfest presented by Audible announces the initial line up for the 18th annual San Francisco Comedy Festival January 10-27, 2019, featuring top comedic talent performing in venues across the city. Audiences can expect another outstanding year of programming and fun as SF Sketchfest will host major comedy stars and the best up-and-coming acts from around the world for non-stop entertainment including sketch, stand-up, alternative comedy, music, improv, films, tributes, live podcasts, storytelling, family shows, workshops, panels and more.

 IN & OF ITSELF, the smash-hit solo show written and performed by three-time Academy of Magical Arts Award winner Derek DelGaudio (Nothing to Hide) and directed by four-time Emmy Award winner Frank Oz (Little Shop of Horrors, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Star Wars), adds one more record to the books by breaking the all-time record for highest weekly gross ($216,630.00) at Daryl Roth Theatre, for the production's penultimate week of performances (week ending August 12).  The show is also primed to break the record a second time in the upcoming final week, with DelGaudio delivering the final performance ever on Sunday, August 19, 2018.

Casting of Goodspeed Musicals' Cyrano is complete. Film and TV actor Blake Jenner will play Christian. He joins previously announced Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning actor Peter Dinklage, who will play Cyrano alongside film actress Haley Bennett as Roxanne in this bold new musical.

IN & OF ITSELF celebrated its 500th performance on Friday, July 6, 2018 at The Daryl Roth Theatre. The show, which has grossed over $6 million to date in the intimate 150-seat theater, is now in its fourth and final extension, playing through Sunday, August 19, 2018.