Stephnie Weir and Robert Dassie Headline San Francisco Improv Festival, Kicking Off Today

The San Francisco Improv Festival presents its 11th season of off-the-cuff comedy from top improv and sketch comedians. The San Francisco Improv Festival runs today, September 10, through September 19, 2015 at The Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson Street, San Francisco. For tickets ($5 - $35 for shows, $50-$225 for workshops), the public may visit www.sfimprovfestival.com.

The festival welcomes back the husband and wife comic duo WeirDass, comprised of Stephnie Weir (MadTV, Raising Hope) and Robert Dassie (Eleven Year Itch, Funny or Die). Joining WeirDass will be Upright Citizen's Brigade founding member Matt Besser (Comedy Central, MTV, NBC), who will be live recording his popular iTunes podcast, improv4humans, at the show. Also featured will be Chicago comedian Susan Messing's hit show Messing with a Friend (with guest, MadTV's Frank Caeti) and iO West's star team King Ten, one of the premiere improv ensembles in Los Angeles.

In addition to ten jam-packed days of comedy from some of nation's sharpest minds, the festival also includes master-level workshops led by industry pros, Friday night comedy jams with special celebrity guests, and the festival's traditional finale, "Game Island," in which performers throw down under the watchful eye of former Whose Line Is It Anyway Games Director Ron West. The program will also include local talent and out-of-town comics selected from a highly competitive, record-breaking pool of applicants.

Headliner Stephnie Weir made a name for herself as a head writer and actress on hit sketch comedy show Mad TV. Weir, a Second City alumna, has appeared in and written for other series including The Millers, Modern Family, Weeds, and 'Til Death. She most recently co-starred in the FX network show The Comedians, alongside Billy Crystal and Josh Gad. Robert Dassie, the other half of improv duo WeirDass, is a veteran sketch comedian who has performed with Second City, iO West, and others. He has appeared on Comedy Central, FX, and NBC, and is a regular performer in Funny Or Die's online sketches and HBO televised series. Matt Besser is host of the popular sketch series, improv4humans, one of the top comedy podcasts on iTunes. A founding member of Upright Citizen's Brigade (alongside Amy Poehler, Matt Walsh and Ian Roberts), Besser has also appeared regularly on television series including Comedy Bang! Bang!, Parks and Recreation, and Key and Peele.

The full list of participants is as follows: 5 Play (Fremont, CA), BATS (SF), Awkward Dinner Party (SF), Cat Dance (SF), Chardonnay (SF), Chick Flick (SF), Chicken Scratch Improv (SF), Damaged Goods (Louisville, KY), DASH at Un-Scripted Theater Company (SF), Euro Trash (SF), Game Island (LA), Hamilton & MacLean(SF), Honey (NYC), Hot Again (NYC), HUGE (SF), improv4humans (LA), Jetzo (LA), King Ten (LA), Liss n' Sams (SF), Messing With a Friend (Chicago), My Cousin's Wedding (LA), Off One Letter (SF), Pilgrim (LA), Shades of Grey (SF), Sketchy Alley (SF), Speechless (SF), Stage 4 Improv (San Jose, CA), The All Girl Revue (LA), The Double Improv Rainbows (Hawaii), The Five Deadly Improvisers (SF), The Letters (SF), The Recchia (SF), The Right Now (SF), The Unwritten Bedroom (SF), The Utility Players (Reno, NV), Vagina Jones (SF), and WeirDass (LA)..

The San Francisco Improv Festival celebrates the art of improvisational theater by presenting events with local and out-of-town ensembles, producing workshops with the most innovative minds in the art form, and educating the public about all aspects of improvised performance. The San Francisco Improv Festival was founded by Sam Shaw and Shaun Landry in 2004. Jamie Wright has been Executive Producer since 2009.

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