2023 SXSW Comedy Festival Lineup Announced: Eric André, Chelsea Handler, Abbi Jacobson, Sam Jay & More
Announcing the 2023 SXSW Comedy Festival participants and showcases! A unique gathering of performers from all reaches of entertainment, SXSW Comedy Festival hosts a lineup of acclaimed comedians and entertainers from March 10-14, with intermittent programming through Saturday, March 18.
The week-long SXSW Comedy Festival presents a uniquely diverse lineup that highlights exceptional talent from emerging voices to established greats. This year’s festival hosts performances from the industry’s brightest comics across programming formats including stand-up, sketch, improv, podcast recordings, conversations, and more.
2023 SXSW Comedy Festival Lineup
Participants
Abbi Jacobson • Adrienne Iapalucci • Andre Hyland • Anna Kendrick • Anthony Atamanuik • Anthony DeVito • Aristotle Athari • Beth Stelling • Bob Odenkirk • Brian Moses • Caitlin Peluffo • Caleb Hearon • Chelsea Handler • Christina Catherine Martinez • Doug Benson • Eddie Pepitone • Emma Willmann • Eric André • Felipe Esparza • Godfrey • Greg Proops • Ismael Loutfi • Jackie Fabulous • Jake Johnson • James Adomian • Jessica McKenna • Joe DeRosa • John Gemberling • Josh Johnson • Joyelle Johnson • Katherine Blanford • Leonard Maltin • Matt Besser • Mike Lawrence • Natalie Palamides • Nick Thune • Patton Oswalt • Pete Lee • Phoebe Robinson • Rachel Sennott • Reggie Watts • Sabrina Jalees • Sam Jay • Sam Tallent • Sandy Honig • Steve Agee • Steph Tolev • Stuart Goldsmith • Tim Robinson • Todd Barry • Tone Bell • Yamaneika Saunders • Plus surprise guests and more!
Special Programs Featuring
Adult Swim’s The Eric Andre Show • ASSSSCAT • The Comedian’s Comedian • Comic Relief US • The Creek & The Cave • Doug Loves Movies • Good Trip Live: A Night of Comedy and Psychedelic Stories • Gotham Comedy Club • I Used to Be Funny • improv4humans • Maltin on Movies • Matt Besser’s 420 Show • Roast Battle’s Tournament of Champions • Swan Leak: A Silent Clown Ballet • Variety Power of Comedy and more
Variety Power of Comedy, presented by Inspire Brands, will recognize comedic achievements across stand-up, film, TV and digital platforms on March 10. This year’s honorees include Chelsea Handler, Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick, Patton Oswalt, Phoebe Robinson, Tim Robinson, Zach Kanin, and others. This star-studded celebration of comedy will be hosted by Mike Lawrence and Nick Thune. Participants also include Bob Odenkirk. Full lineup and details below.
Expert impressionist James Adomian returns to SXSW Comedy with his third festival “keynote," ŽIŽEK vs ŽXŽW: My God, What Is This Polycrisis? (A Comedy Keynote in Twelve Volumes), featuring celebrity philosopher Slavoj Žižek (Adomian) sharing inscrutable insights and questioning guests who will no doubt struggle to comprehend what cannot be understood about deep politics, late capitalist culture, and SXSW itself.
Comic Relief US (comicrelief.org), the nonprofit known around the world for Red Nose Day, hosts stand-up performance and special event, Funny Thing About Breaking Up the Boys Club. Abbi Jacobson (Broad City), Sam Jay (Bust Down), and Joyelle Johnson (Crashing) join for a discussion on the impact of women who break barriers and the power of laughter to affect change.
Adult Swim joins the festival to celebrate the return of the The Eric Andre Show. Eric André, along with co-host Felipe Esparza, DJ Douggpound, and friends, will present an evening of live comedy along with an exclusive sneak peek of the long-awaited sixth season.
Producers of the hit Netflix documentary, and 2020 SXSW Film selection, Have a Good Trip, will host Good Trip Live: A Night of Comedy and Psychedelic Stories with Eric André, Reggie Watts, Steve Agee, Sandy Honig (SXSW Featured Short Pennies From Heaven), Hamilton Morris, and surprise guests! The Good Trip team will also take part in a SXSW Conference featured session, Have a Good Trip: Psychedelics in Film and TV.
Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (UCB) cofounder, Matt Besser, will return with a slate of shows including his beloved podcast improv4humans. He will provide stoner comedy at The 420 Show and lead UCB’s longest running show, ASSSSCAT, featuring true tales from celebrity guests and inspired scenes from some of today’s most skilled performers. UCB favorites Anthony Atamanuik (The President Show), John Gemberling (Broad City), and Jessica McKenna (Party Over Here) will join in the fun.
Besser will also present Johnny Cash Jr. & The Nepo Babies Hootenanny, a relatively star-studded event. Johnny Cash Jr. (Besser) hosts an evening of infamous nepo babies performing their biggest hits, or maybe their parent’s biggest hits. Another jam session of sorts, Nick Thune will host Riffs and Riff-Raff, a mixed bag of weirdness, complete with outlandish characters, nonsensical lyrics, and improvised songs.
The schedule features a slate of live podcast recordings. Renowned film historian Leonard Maltin and daughter Jessie Maltin, will talk all things cinema with guests on Maltin on Movies. Stuart Goldsmith will return with live editions of his famed podcast, The Comedian’s Comedian, where he delves into the minds of the funniest people with his signature curious and insightful style. Doug Benson will record his hit audience-interactive game show, Doug Loves Movies. For the first time in almost a decade, Greg Proops (Whose Line Is It Anyway) brings his podcast, The Smartest Man in the World, to the SXSW stage.
Two comedy institutions are back again this year to bring some of their favorite acts to the festival. A renowned launching pad for New York’s funniest, Gotham Comedy Club brings a killer lineup of comedians from their famous stage. Official SXSW venue The Creek & The Cave, which fostered a massive wave of comedy in NYC before making a home in Austin, will also be showcasing a selection of their top stand-ups.
Brian Moses returns to the festival with The Hateful Eight: Roast Battle’s Tournament of Champions. Since its inception at the world-famous Comedy Store, Roast Battle has spent a decade spreading the art of insult comedy, crowning the best trash talkers in cities all across the country. Moses assembles a first-ever meeting of champions from every region of America to compete in a three-day battle of wits...until one is crowned best roast battler in the country.
Joe DeRosa, comedian and owner of NYC sandwich shop, Joey Roses, returns with another edition of last year’s hit, Joe DeRosa’s Sandwich Summit. The summit will bring together chefs and creators behind some of Austin’s best eats to talk about all things sandwich.
In their first year at SXSW, comedians Natalie Palamides and Christina Catherine Martinez team up for SWAN LEAK: A Silent Clown Ballet. Moonlighting as incendiary LA clowns, the pair explore their softer side through a soggy interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece.
Comedian and actress Rachel Sennott stars as an aspiring stand-up comic struggling with PTSD in SXSW Narrative Feature, I Used to Be Funny. In partnership with the Film & TV Festival, We Used to Be Funny celebrates the film and its comedian-studded marquee with a stand-up show featuring cast members Rachel Sennott, Sabrina Jalees, Caleb Hearon, and friends.
Variety Power of Comedy, presented by Inspire Brands, will recognize comedic achievements across stand-up, film, TV and digital platforms on March 10 at SXSW. This year’s honorees are Eric André, Cult Favorite; Chelsea Handler, Comedy Icon; Jake Johnson, Comedy Director; Anna Kendrick, Comedy Actress; Patton Oswalt, Stand-up Comic; Phoebe Robinson, Comedy Innovator; Tim Robinson & Zach Kanin, Sketch Comedy; and Rachel Sennott, Breakthrough Artist. Variety Power of Comedy will be hosted by Mike Lawrence and Nick Thune. Participants also include Bob Odenkirk. Inspire Brands will be serving food and drink at the event from Arby's, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin', Jimmy John's, and SONIC Drive-in. The event will be open to SXSW Badge holders on a first come, first served basis.
SXSW Film & TV Festival
Featured performers will also appear in an array of exciting new films and TV series debuting at the SXSW Film & TV Festival. Jake Johnson and Anna Kendrick star in the SXSW Narrative Spotlight film, Self Reliance. Patton Oswalt will attend the premiere of TV Spotlight, Shatter Belt, where he stars in episode three of director James Byrkit’s modern mindbender. He’ll also make an appearance at a featured discussions session, The COHERENCE Effect: Manifesting Shatter Belt, to discuss the unconventional approach to the making of the film. Rachel Sennott takes the screen in narrative feature, I Used to Be Funny, along with comedians Sabrina Jalees and Caleb Hearon. Sennott also appears in the hilarious SXSW Film & TV Festival Headliner Bottoms. Sandy Honig attends the festival as director of her short film, Pennies From Heaven, and additionally for her acting role in The Young Wife.
Join us for the 2023 SXSW Comedy Festival in Austin, TX from March 10-14, with intermittent programming through Saturday, March 18. All SXSW Badge holders are welcome at all SXSW Comedy showcases.
Film & TV Wristband holders can attend SXSW Comedy showcases from Friday, March 10 through Saturday, March 18 and Music Wristband holders, Monday, March 13 through Saturday, March 18.
See You at SXSW 2023
Get ready to celebrate the convergence of the tech, film, and music industries across a variety of programming formats and special events from March 10-19. Dive into the SXSW Schedule to browse all confirmed programming and stay tuned for more announcements in the event lead up.
Don't miss your last chance to save off the walk-up rate when you register by March 4 at 11:59pm PT for SXSW 2023! Book your hotel through SXSW Housing & Travel for the best available rates and locations in Austin.
Explore more opportunities to save including Group Registration rates for teams of 10 or more. Plus, currently enrolled students may apply for a discounted rate.
We'll see y'all soon!
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2023 SXSW Comedy Festivals Participants (l-r) Eric André, Chelsea Handler, Abbi Jacobson, and Sam Jay
02/27/2023
