46-463: SF Sketchfest , or The San Francisco Comedy Festival , is an American comedy festival founded in 2002 by Bay Area actor-comedians David Owen, Janet Varney and Cole Stratton . It takes place every January and February in a variety of Bay Area venues and features sketch comedy , improv comedy , film and television tributes and reunions, solo performers, music, podcasts and stand-up comedy performers. This article related to an American festival
92-431: A Podcast Award for Best GLBT Podcast in both 2012 and 2013. The duo have recorded 80 videos since signing on with Funny or Die. Tween Fest is an eight-episode Funny or Die series starring John Michael Higgins , Joey King , Drew Tarver , Arden Cho , and Lou Wilson that follows a two-weekend outdoor festival in the middle of the desert where all the acts are internet stars. The show launched on August 3, 2016 on
138-564: A 2014 Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Variety Special and Silverman's writing earned her an Emmy win for Outstanding Writing For a Variety Special. Record label Sub Pop , went on to release the special on vinyl, CD, and through digital download. Funny Or Die produced a special featuring comedian Jerrod Carmichael for HBO which aired on October 4, 2014. During the 70 minute special, Carmichael covers topics including poverty and wealth, controversial artists, female empowerment, and crime and race. "Jerrod Carmichael: Love At The Store,"
184-477: A campaign for the legal defense of Shezanne Cassim , a Minnesota resident who was jailed in Abu Dhabi for allegedly endangering national security by posting a parody video to YouTube . Comedians Patton Oswalt and Tony Hale were subsequently made part of Funny Or Die's effort to raise funds and awareness to "Free Shez." Originally sentenced to a year in prison, in the face of growing public pressure Cassim
230-605: A comedy lineup for the 2015 Treasure Island music festival in San Francisco, CA. The Funny Or Die Blah Blah Blah tent featured comedy acts from Tim Heidecker , Jerrod Carmichael , Jonah Ray , Chris Gethard , Jon Dore , Lauren Lapkus , Brian Safi & Erin Gibson, Kate Berlant & John Early, Guy Branum, Michelle Wolf, Max Silvestri, Barry Rothbart, and Jermaine Fowler. Although ostensibly independent of organized politics, site creators Ferrell and McKay are supporters of
276-479: A fictional author whose novel is being adapted for TV. The Spoils of Babylon novel follows a wealthy oil tycoon's family, the Morehouses. Robbins plays Jonas Morehouse, the patriarch of the family. Wiig and Maguire play Cynthia and her adopted brother Devon. IFC and Funny Or Die adapted Jonrosh's first novel, The Spoils Before Dying into another miniseries, which aired on July 8, 2015. Throwing Shade
322-649: A giant billboard of her face. During the HBO special Notaro talks about her breast cancer diagnosis, her break up with her girlfriend and the death of her mother. Notaro performs the final third of her set topless to expose the scars of her mastectomy to the audience. A 2015 special aired on HBO with Will Ferrell . In June 2008, HBO and Funny Or Die announced that HBO had purchased a stake of less than 10% in Funny Or Die. With this, Funny Or Die will be responsible for developing at least 10 half-hour episodes for HBO, and
368-722: A guest on the Comedy Central debate show Crossballs . She has appeared as a guest star in series including Bones , Better Off Ted , How I Met Your Mother , Hot in Cleveland , and Psych . Varney has had recurring roles on the shows Entourage ( HBO ), Burning Love ( Yahoo! Screen ), Country Comfort ( Netflix ), You're the Worst ( FX ), and Take My Wife ( Seeso ). In 2012, she co-created Neil's Puppet Dreams with Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka . That same year, Varney also began her role voicing
414-802: A guest recap the most recent episode of Game of Thrones in Van Ness' hair salon. Its first episode, recapping the first two episodes of season 3 of Game of Thrones , was released in April 2013 and has covered each episode from then until the finale in May 2019. Guests have included Alfie Allen , Tiffany Haddish , Kumail Nanjiani and Lena Headey . @midnight was a late night comedy panel show hosted by Chris Hardwick and produced by Funny or Die. The show debuted on Comedy Central on October 21, 2013. The show features three guest comedians that respond to different social media postings and pop culture references of
460-490: A new job in a modern office. Hendricks transports her character from the 1960s into a modern office environment. The video insinuates that modern office environments maintain antiquated policies regarding women's roles in the workplace. In response to 2008 California Proposition 8 ("Prop 8") Funny or Die produced a short musical written by Marc Shaiman and starring Jack Black (as Jesus ), John C. Reilly and Neil Patrick Harris satirising Prop 8. Funny or Die launched
506-494: A purported sex tape of the actress which was in fact an awareness-raising video on the bloody Syrian Civil War . In July 2013, shortly after the National Security Agency 's PRISM surveillance program was first publicized, Sasha Grey starred in a Funny or Die "Sexy NSA Commercial". On March 11, 2014, Zach Galifianakis interviewed Barack Obama on his show Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis on
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#1732798203482552-891: A thirteen-year veteran of Saturday Night Live , and one of three head writers in recent years, to oversee content production and development for the site and for the HBO partnership. In February 2008, Funny or Die launched "Will Ferrell's Funny Or Die Comedy Tour Presented by 'Semi-Pro'", in conjunction with the promotion of the movie Semi-Pro . The tour featured Ferrell, members of the FOD Team and comedians Zach Galifianakis , Demetri Martin , Nick Swardson and Andrea Savage . Adam McKay and Will Arnett served as tour announcers. The eight-city tour hit college campuses in Kansas , Michigan , Ohio , Pennsylvania , Rhode Island , Massachusetts , North Carolina and New York . The tour ran February 4–24, 2008. In June 2013 Funny Or Die announced
598-485: A video, merely saying "Chosen One" instead. Funny or Die expanded to include a television and film production company in 2011. Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis is an Emmy Award-winning comedy series featured on Funny or Die. Galifianakis interviews various celebrities on a low budget set, decorated by a pair of potted ferns. The series often involves interruptions for product promotions and musical guests. The Lonely Island 's " Spring Break Anthem " music video
644-535: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Janet Varney Janet Varney (born February 16, 1976) is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer. She is known for voicing the character of Korra in the Nickelodeon animated television series The Legend of Korra , co-starring as Sheriff Evie Barret in the television series Stan Against Evil , and a recurring role as Becca Barbara in You're
690-588: Is a podcast hosted by Erin Gibson and Bryan Safi, that addresses topics such as mainstream pop culture, women's rights and gay rights. In 2011 Gibson and Safi created the Throwing Shade podcast after InfoMania was cancelled and in 2013 Funny or Die began filming the podcast on a set, and airing the recordings of the podcast on its website. The podcast occasionally has famous guests including Cheyenne Jackson and Dustin Lance Black . Throwing Shade won
736-496: Is also a frequent guest on the puzzle, riddle and lateral thinking podcast Hey Riddle Riddle . Since 2022, Varney has voiced the character of Janet Lubelle on Welcome to Night Vale . Varney is the co-founder, creative director and producer of SF Sketchfest , the San Francisco Comedy Festival, and is also the co-founder of the San Francisco sketch group Totally False People. She is a core member of
782-520: Is also the son of Mark Kvamme, the venture capitalist who funded Funny or Die, came up with a concept for a new kind of comedy site, and the site was developed by Randy Adams. After the site was funded by his father, Michael Kvamme wrote a screenplay for Will Ferrell and founded Global eSports Resources in partnership with the Saudi Arabian Federation of Electronic and Intellectual Sports. Funny or Die launched on April 12, 2007 with
828-411: Is an alumna of San Francisco State University , where she majored in theater, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1997. She later pursued a career in interior design before eventually finding her way back into acting. Varney was raised Mormon , but left the church at 17 and began to identify as an agnostic . Varney is of English and Scottish descent. Varney made her television debut in 2004 as
874-605: Is hosted by Taylor Tomlinson . The show retains some previous segments from @Midnight, and introduces some new games that lean more into improv and physical comedy. The Spoils of Babylon is a comedy miniseries that aired on January 9, 2014 on IFC . The show was created and written by former Saturday Night Live writers Matt Piedmont and Harper Steele . Piedmont also directed the series. The series stars Will Ferrell , Kristen Wiig , Tobey Maguire , Jessica Alba , Haley Joel Osment , Tim Robbins , Michael Sheen , Carey Mulligan and Val Kilmer . Ferrell plays Eric Jonrosh,
920-555: The Democratic Party and have personal politics that "tend to lean a little left." Funny Or Die has also been responsible for creation of parody videos lampooning California 's 2008 traditional marriage initiative, Proposition 8 , and taking a pot shot at the National Rifle Association with a video featuring comedian Jim Carrey . The site also worked with television star Alyssa Milano to "leak"
966-507: The Los Angeles based improv group Theme Park Improv . She performed with the Los Angeles and San Francisco -based group Sequel 4000. Varney dated comedian Chris Hardwick from 2004 to 2011. In 2018, Varney came out as bisexual. In young adulthood, Varney was diagnosed with depersonalization disorder . Funny or Die Funny or Die, Inc. is a comedy video website and production company owned by Henry R. Muñoz III that
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#17327982034821012-573: The Maximum Fun network. The podcast released its 500th episode in Jan 2023. Varney has participated on a regular basis on the improv comedy podcast Spontaneanation with Paul F. Tompkins , where she is referred to as "Little Janet" Varney. She is also one of the core cast members of the improvised SciFi podcast Voyage to the Stars , and the podcast Thrilling Adventure Hour . Avatar: Braving
1058-612: The RiffTrax website under the RiffTrax Presents branding, as they are officially sanctioned by RiffTrax founder and Mystery Science Theater 3000 alumnus Michael J. Nelson . She has performed in Rifftrax commentaries for the following films: In March 2012, Varney launched a podcast titled The JV Club , hosted on Nerdist.com from 2012 to 2018. In November 2018, it was announced that The JV Club would be moving to
1104-625: The Elements , an official Nickelodeon companion podcast to Avatar: The Last Airbender , premiered on June 22, 2021, hosted by Varney (the voice of Korra ) and Dante Basco (the voice of Zuko ). Varney and Basco discuss key moments and behind-the scenes information from each episode. She has appeared on the podcast Hello from the Magic Tavern as the character Braidwynn the Warrior Elf, who disguises herself as Crone Bakeress. She
1150-622: The Oddball Comedy & Curiosity Festival comedy tour partnered with Live Nation The tour was headlined by Dave Chappelle and Flight of the Conchords . The lineup also included Al Madrigal , Kristen Schaal , Brody Stevens , Demetri Martin , John Mulaney , Jim Jefferies , and Hannibal Buress . The tour ran August 23 – September 22, 2013. In 2014, Funny Or Die continued the Oddball Festival, touring 20 cities across
1196-568: The Street is a half-hour comedy game show hosted by Billy Eichner . The show's producers include Anna Wenger, Mike Farah and Billy Eichner. Billy on the Street premiered on Fuse TV on December 18, 2011. On October 8, 2015 the show began airing on tru TV . Eichner quizzes people on the streets of New York on pop culture in exchange for cash and prizes. Many episodes feature a special guest and celebrities Lindsay Lohan , Anne Hathaway , Neil Patrick Harris , and Olivia Wilde have made appearances on
1242-474: The Street , Comedy Central 's @midnight and Zach Galifianakis ' web series Between Two Ferns . Many videos on the site featured well-known actors (examples include Nina Dobrev , Steve Carell , Charlie Sheen , Ryan Gosling , Patrick Stewart , Daniel Radcliffe , Sophia Bush , Mila Kunis , AnnaSophia Robb , Hilary Duff , Adam West , James Van Der Beek , Jim Carrey , Ariel Winter and Selena Gomez ). Michael Kvamme, an aspiring young comedian who
1288-689: The U.S. from August 8 – September 21. The tour featured comedians Louis C.K. , Sarah Silverman , Aziz Ansari , Chris Hardwick , Amy Schumer , and Jim Gaffigan . The 2015 lineup included Amy Schumer , Aziz Ansari , Anthony Jeselnik , Ashley Barnhill, Bridget Everett , Dave Attell , Donnell Rawlings , Jak Knight, Jay Pharoah , Jeff Ross , Jim Norton , John Mulaney , Katherine Ryan , Mark Normand, Michael Che , Nick Kroll , Nick Thune , Nikki Glaser , Rachel Feinstein , Rory Scovel , Sebastian Maniscalco , Steve Rannazzisi , T.J. Miller , Tim Minchin , Todd Barry , and Tony Hinchcliffe. The tour ran August 28 – October 18, 2015. Funny Or Die curated
1334-588: The Worst . Varney has hosted The JV Club podcast since 2012 and is also the co-host of the Avatar: Braving the Elements podcast along with Dante Basco . She is the co-founder, creative director and producer of the long-running comedy festival SF Sketchfest in San Francisco . Varney was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona . She graduated as salutatorian from Rincon High School in 1993 and
1380-520: The announcement coming just two months after the new CEO, Mike Farah, took office. Henry R. Muñoz III bought Funny or Die for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition was announced in Variety on May 12, 2021. Muñoz purchased Funny or Die from the company's former stakeholders, which included AMC Networks , WarnerMedia and Sequoia Capital . Unlike other viral video sites, members of Funny or Die are encouraged to vote on videos which they view, with
1426-414: The companies may organize future comedy tours together. Regarding the agreement, Will Ferrell said, "I don't want to overstate the importance of this deal, but this is the missing link moment where TV and Internet finally merge. It will change the way we as human beings perceive and interact with reality. Okay, I overstated it. But it is an exciting deal." In August 2008, Funny Or Die hired Harper Steele ,
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1472-427: The day including responses to actual tweets on Twitter , Craigslist ad postings and comments on Reddit . @Midnight used social media as a platform to engage with their fans. The show created hashtags including #HashtagWars and #SpookyCelebs that were used by fans to submit their own responses to the game on Twitter. A CBS revival of the series, entitled @fter midnight , was launched on January 17, 2024 and
1518-565: The episode the trio join together at a grocery store in Washington D.C. to play a game titled "Ariana Grande or Eating a Carrot?" Michelle Obama made an appearance in a Funny Or Die movie trailer for "Snakpocalypse" which was featured on September 2, 2014. The trailer described the events that led to the elimination of a teenage population due to poor food choices offered at their high school. Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign supports healthy eating in youth and adults and she appears in
1564-479: The host of the TBS cooking and entertainment show Dinner and a Movie . She appeared with Paul Gilmartin and Claud Mann in each episode, introducing films and injecting humor during the preparation of a creative dinner for some themes. The series was cancelled in 2011. Varney has written and performed several comedic audio commentaries for films along with fellow SF Sketchfest co-founder Cole Stratton . These appear on
1610-550: The main character of Korra on the Nickelodeon animated series The Legend of Korra , a spin-off of the series Avatar: The Last Airbender . Varney voiced the character of Korra for all four seasons of the show, which ended in 2014. After a decade of voicing Korra in both the series and several video games, Varney later stepped down from the role with her final outing as the character being in Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway in 2022. In 2016, Varney
1656-441: The narrator's dialogue. Due to their general drunkenness the narrators are unable to accurately discuss the historical events and oftentimes make up and embellish aspects of the story. Guests include Jack Black , Michael Cera , Bill Hader , Nick Offerman , Winona Ryder , Chris Parnell , Kristen Wiig , Luke Wilson , and Jason Schwartzman . Gay of Thrones is a comedy web series hosted by Jonathan Van Ness in which he and
1702-495: The options of "Funny" or "Die". The video then gets a score of the total percentage of people who voted the video "Funny". If the video receives an 80% or greater "Funny" rating after 100,000 views, it gets an "Immortal" ranking. If the video receives a 20% or less "Funny" rating after 1,000 views, it is relegated to the Crypt section of the site. The Funny or Die staff can also select a rating of "Chosen One", which disables voting for
1748-559: The show. In 2013, Eichner received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Game Show Host. The series wrapped its third season on May 14, 2014. Drunk History is a comedy series on Comedy Central that was released on Funny or Die in December 2007. The show originated as a web series created by Derek Waters and Jeremy Konner. The show features a drunken narrator who attempts to recount an event from American history. The actors are played by celebrity guest stars who lip-sync
1794-490: The site's first video, " The Landlord ". "The Landlord" has received over 84 million views and features Ferrell confronted by a swearing, beer-drinking two-year-old landlord. In June 2007, they received venture capital funding from Sequoia Capital , and in June 2008, they announced a partnership with HBO . On August 3, 2016, Funny or Die shut down one of its California offices, reducing its headcount by 30% to 95 employees, with
1840-654: The streaming service go90 . Tween Fest was created by Nick Ciarelli and Brad Evans, was directed by Scott Gairdner , and features Jane Lynch , Tim Meadows , Chris Parnell , David Koechner , Dave (Gruber) Allen , Josh Fadem and more in supporting and guest-starring roles. A 2012 special aired on Comedy Central with Zach Galifianakis . On November 23, 2013, HBO presented a special in association with Funny Or Die titled, "Sarah Silverman: We Are Miracles" featuring stand-up by comedian Sarah Silverman . During her hour-long set, Silverman made jokes about rape, religion, and her personal insecurities. The special received
1886-419: The video crunching on a carrot. "Mary Poppins Quits" with Kristen Bell was featured on Funny Or Die on July 23, 2014. In the video Mary Poppins played by Kristen Bell sings about increasing minimum wage in order to meet living wage standards. "Modern Office" with Christina Hendricks was published on August 6, 2014. Christina Hendricks who plays fictional character Joan Harris on AMC 's Mad Men gets
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1932-712: The website. During the interview, they asked people to sign up for healthcare on the Healthcare.gov site as part of the Affordable Care Act . By the next day, 11 million viewers had watched the video, and more than 890,000 people viewed the website during just that morning. On February 16, 2015, the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama , teamed up with Billy Eichner and Big Bird to promote her health initiative called 'Eat Brighter!' In
1978-421: Was directed by Spike Lee and was filmed at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles . Carmichael chose the location because it was the first venue he performed in back in 2008. Funny Or Die produced a comedy special for HBO featuring comedian Tig Notaro . Tig Notaro: Boyish Girl Interrupted premiered on HBO on August 22, 2015. Notaro promoted the special by walking the streets of Los Angeles to bring awareness to
2024-531: Was embedded into an episode with James Franco and featured actor Edward Norton . Galifianakis has interviewed the likes of Brad Pitt , Justin Bieber , Jennifer Lawrence , Samuel L. Jackson , Richard Branson , and President Barack Obama . Galifianakis interviewed President Barack Obama during the launch of the United States health insurance exchange website. The video was released on March 11, 2014 and garnered over 32 million views. Funny or Die's Billy on
2070-404: Was founded by Will Ferrell , Adam McKay , Mark Kvamme , and Chris Henchy in 2007. The website contained exclusive material from a regular staff of in-house writers, producers and directors, and occasionally from a number of famous contributors including Judd Apatow , James Franco and Norm Macdonald . The associated production company continues to make TV shows including truTV 's Billy on
2116-735: Was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series for her role on Everyone's Crazy But Us , a web series produced on Funny or Die . Varney was a main cast member on IFC 's Stan Against Evil , playing Sheriff Evie Barret. The show ran for three seasons from 2016 to 2018. She was also the host of ESCAPE! , a web series broadcast on Geek & Sundry where teams of celebrities work together to get out of an escape room . The show ran for one season in 2017. In 2018 Varney created, produced and starred in Fortune Rookie , an 8-episode web series presented by IFC. In 2005, Varney replaced Lisa Kushell as
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