Pure Shock Value to Run at Exit Theatre Through March 22

San Francisco sketch comedians Killing My Lobster (KML) return to long form storytelling with the world premiere of Matt Pelfrey's play Pure Shock Value at the Exit Theater. Directed by Laley Lippard, produced by Michael Hoch and Sarah Mitchell, Pure Shock Value is a darkly comic contemporary comedy that runs Thursdays through Sundays through March 22, 2009. Tickets are now on sale at killingmylobster.com.

The production is made possible by support from The Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation and Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund.

Pure Shock Value centers on three film industry bottom-feeders on the brink of abandoning their Hollywood ambitions. Their fortunes take an unexpected turn when a mysterious man of considerable influence shows up in their own backyard. Inspired to give their dream movie project one last go, the trio concoct a scheme to stardom-using whatever means necessary. What ensues is a surreal comedic journey through the underbelly of Hollywood, far from Beverly Hills three-picture deals, multi-million dollar profits, and anything else they could have ever expected.

"Despite the energy of this past election, the anxiety brought by failing markets and job loss exposes our vulnerability," says director Lippard. "Matt's comical look at LA's facade lampoons the extremes we take to stay in the game and keep our head above water. He takes a razor to civilized ambition. It's a bold and caustic comedy, but there's a lot pleasure to be had in seeing desperate characters take desperate action in desperate times."

Featuring some of the brightest young comedians in the Bay Area, the cast of Pure Shock Value is led by KML and Precarious Theater member Erin Carter as Gabby. Carter's Bay Area credits include Heavy Days (Shotgun Players), Criminal Genius (TheatreFirst), I'm Yours! or Deranged by Love (Precarious Theatre), Purple Tourniquet (Magic Theatre Launchpad) and Nicky Goes Goth (Impact Theatre)

Pure Shock Value also features 2 members of San Francisco comedy group SPF7: Justin Lamb and Chris Yule. Lamb has previously appeared onstage in The Santaland Diaries, The Complete Works of Wm. Shakespeare (Abridged), A Midsummer Night's Dream, Rumpelstiltskin, and Dark of the Moon. Yule has been acting in the Bay Area for four years, having appeared in The Crowd You're in With at the Magic Theatre and The Mystery Plays at SFPlayhouse.

Having created more than twenty sketch comedies and over two dozen short films in their eleven year history, Killing My Lobster is a Bay Area non-profit sketch comedy group proclaimed "Best Comedy Group" by the editors of SF Weekly. Their award-winning shorts have taken home the Golden Spire Prize at the SF International Film Festival and have been featured at festivals around the world, including Sundance. Last year, KML presented the world premiere sketch comedies KML Springs Forward, Falls Back. In 2006 their critically acclaimed world premiere production of Peter Sinn Nachtrieb's Hunter Gatherers received an extended three-month run at San Francisco's Thick House Theater and was proclaimed by the San Francisco Chronicle as "a major achievement for Killing My Lobster." The play went on to win both the Will Glickman Award for the best new play of the Bay Area (2006) and the Steinberg Award for the best new play produced outside of New York City that year. Hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as "the closest thing we have to Second City" and heralded as "an orgy of comic genius" by Comedy Central, KML has created original work for HBO, is a two-time winner of the Best of the Fringe Award at the SF Fringe Festival and was voted "Best Comedy Group" by the San Francisco Bay Guardian.

Pure Shock Value Written by Matt Pelfrey Directed by Laley Lippard Featuring Erin Carter, Calum Grant, Justin Lamb, and Chris Yule Produced by Michael Hoch and Sarah Mitchell Associate Producer: John Cavellini Location: The EXIT Theater 156 Eddy Street between Mason and Taylor) Performances: February 26 - March 22, 2009 Thursday - Saturday at 8:00pm; Sunday at 7:00pm Tickets: $25 general; $15 students with valid ID Available now at killingmylobster.com and nightly at the door.