Instructors
Sal Calanni, Johnny Steele,
Kurtis Matthews, Tom
Smith (Joe Klocek Not Pictured)
- Kurtis (Jett)
Matthews
Specialties: Stand Up, LA and National Comedy Market,
TV/Radio, Public Speaking, Speech
Writing, Team Building, Creativity and Innovation, Executive
Coaching
In 1984,
Kurtis began his comedy career at the Comedy Store in Hollywood,
later touring with Bill Hicks, Adam Sandler, Sam Kinison, George
Lopez, Jeff Cesario, Jim Carrey, Bob Goldthwaite, Rodney
Dangerfield, Janeane Garofalo, Alonzo Bodden and Mark Lundholm,
among others.
Twelve
years of touring as a stand-up, appearing on national television,
numerous radio shows and a five year stint in the software industry provided both the
show business and corporate
experience not found in many teachers. In 1999, the San Francisco
Comedy College (SFCC) was born.
Over the
past nine years, the SFCC has become the largest
stand up school in the country, training over 2,000 people to be
funny with classes in stand up, improv, one-person shows and
comedy writing. In 2006, HBO came to the SFCC to showcase
comedians for its annual US Arts Comedy Festival in Aspen, marking
the first time the network, nationally renowned for its comedy
programming, scouted for talent at a comedy school. In 2006 and
2008, the Late Show with David Letterman held
auditions for upcoming episodes at the SFCC, solidifying their
role as the most sought-after comedy training in the country.
Kurtis is one of only two
instructors in the United States who offer the "process-based"
comedy training that anyone can use to be funny. His seminars have
been widely applauded by the National Speakers Association of
Northern California, The Harvard Club of Silicon Valley, Laugh
Lovers of Oakland, The Great American Comedy Festval and the Scottsdale Comedy Festival.
As well as being a great comedy teacher he can also be seen
nationwide as talent in the Comedy Addiction Tour
www.comedyaddictiontour.com
and in the UK as the star of BBC1s "Find Me the Funny".
Performance Resume
Johnny Steele
Specialties: Stand Up, TV/Radio, One Person Show,
Corporate Gigs, Material Generation
Johnny began
performing comedy in 1984 after quitting graduate school in a move
his parents named: Operation $40K Down The Drain. But Johnny
quickly got the hang of the craft and was soon performing - and
drinking for free! - at the nation's top clubs.
During the next
decade, Johnny went on to perform at comedy festivals, win comedy
competitions, log over 20 national TV appearances, and did we
mention drink for free?
In 1997, Johnny left
the comedy scene to host San Francisco's Live 105 Morning Radio
Show. Guests ranged from Carol O'Conner to David Bowie to city
supervisors, and both the S.F. Weekly's annual readers' poll and the
S.F. Publicity Club picked it as the city's best show. The Chronicle
called it the 'best morning chatter show' and also dubbed it 'clean
and smart.' Therefore, it was cancelled in the summer of '98 to make
room for the Howard Stern Poop and Wiener Hour.
In 1999, Johnny's
career took another turn when he became co-host of KRON/Bay TV's THE
SHOW. For three years, Johnny's informal interview style and
outrageous ad-lib comments kept everyone laughing. The irrepressible
Johnny once told feminist photographer Annie Lebovitz that he bought
her book Women because he thought it was a directory. Well,
he kept almost everybody laughing.
Johnny is currently
performing comedy as well as working on a number of web, radio, and
TV projects. He is also working on a humorous solo show about his
journey to find peace in a WalMart America gone mad with mindless
consumption, endless sprawl, and bone jarring stupidity. And really,
aren't we all?
Radio/Television Hosting
THE SHOW: KRON 4 & Bay TV 35 (NBC)
The Live 105 Morning Show: KITS FM (CBS)
Venues
Hundreds of venues in Canada, Europe, and U.S.
Corporate Humorist/Host
Clients in all areas of business and fund raising.
Awards/Honors
Winner of the S.F. International Comedy Competition
Best Morning Radio Show: S.F. Publicity Club
Best Morning Radio Show: S.F. Weekly Readers' Poll
Guest at the Montreal JFL Comedy Festival
Performance Resume
Joe Klocek
Specialties: Stand Up,
Riffing, Call Backs/Tags, TV/Radio, SF and national comedy market
Joe has become a respected member of
the SF stand up scene and established himself as a fresh voice. It
was 9-11 that gave Joe focus and direction that his comedy needed.
It was this focus that allowed him to start talking openly about his
social/political views. Amongst his accomplishments:
Runner-up in the
2003 International San Francisco Comedy Competition
Finalist in the 2002
Comedy Central Laugh Riots contest
Performer on
2002/2003/2004/2005 Comedy Day in the Park, San Francisc
Along with W. Kamau Bell created "GET
IT!?" a stand up game show featured once a month at the Punch Line
In SF
A feature act for Dave Attell, Robin
Williams, Greg Proops and Kevin Nealon and a regular at the
PUNCHLINE in San Francisco and Sacramento,
COBB'S COMEDY CLUB in San Francisco,
THE IMPROV in
San Jose and
Hollywood,
ROOSTER T FEATHERS in
Sunnyvale,
TOMMY T's, THE UNDERGROUND
in Seattle...
Performance Resume
Sammy Wegent
Specialties:
Improv, Sketch Comedy, Stand Up
Sammy Wegent has performed, directed, and taught improvisation,
sketch comedy, and stand up comedy for over 10 years and has been at
SFCC since 2004. He holds a B.F.A in Theatre from Shorter
College and an M.F.A. in Acting from Catholic University. Sammy
has performed comedy all over North America at festivals and venues
such as the Chicago Improv Festival, the NBA All Star Jam Session,
dccomedyfest!, YouTube Live, SF Sketchfest, the Toronto
International Improv Festival, Gotham Comedy Club, Improv Olympic,
and the MLB All Star FanFest. His corporate comedy clients include
Virgin America, NBC/Universal, Clickatell, Vibrant Media, Table For
Six, and The Princeton Review. His commercial experience includes
TV and internet ads for 24 Hour Fitness, Capital One, Chiquita,
AARP, iPhone, ESET, Logitech, and Adify.
Sammy has also taught
acting, improvisation, sketch comedy, and stand up comedy at several
institutions including the American College Theater Festival,
University of California Berkeley, Old Dominion University, and
Georgetown University.
In 2005, he won the Battle of the Bay Comedy Competition
at the San Jose Improv along with the title of "The Funniest Person
in the Bay Area." He worked for years with San Francisco
based comedy troupes, SPF 7 and Richter Scale, and he's currently
the better half of the comedy duo/couple, Wegent & Page
Performance Resume
Greg Dean - Consultant/Adjunct
Professor
Specialties: Comedy Theory, Stand Up, Public Speaking,
NLP Master Practitioner
The San Francisco Comedy College is proudly associated with Greg
Dean's Stand-Up Comedy Workshops in Los Angeles. Greg is the author
of
"Step-By-Step to Stand-Up Comedy"
and since 1982 has taught stand up technique to thousands of
comedians. Greg is multi year veteran of nightclubs, street shows
and the corporate arena.
Performance and Teaching Resume
Eddie Brill -
Consultant/Adjunct Professor
Specialties: Stand Up, Corporate,
International and Domestic Television
Eddie Brill, for the past ten years and counting,
has worked on the Late Show with David Letterman. He is the audience
warm-up and Talent Coordinator for the comedians who appear on the
show.
He started stand-up comedy in the late 70's in college, but moved
back to NY and was a copywriter for an advertising agency for a
short while. But in July of 1984 he got back into doing stand-up
when he started, booked and hosted the very successful Paper Moon
Comedy Club in the west village of NYC and hasn't stopped since.
Since then he has become an international comedian who can work most
anywhere in the world...anywhere in the world where they speak
English of course. He has taped more than 100 television shows in
six different countries. He is also a 3-time MAC Award Winner
(Manhattan Association of Cabaret and Clubs) for Best Male Stand-up
Comic in NYC.
Performance Resume
Steve Smith - Consultant/Adjunct Professor
Specialties: Stand Up, Corporate, Cruise Ships,
Corporate Comedy
Steve was one of Merv Griffin's favorites!? He has amassed over 50
national television appearances over the years and now positions
himself exclusively as a corporate and cruise ship entertainer.
Steve is a regular performer on Royal Caribbean Cruise lines and
L.P.G.A. events. Normally he kills audiences with his humor but was
mercilessly killed in “Nightmare on Elm Street 2” and
“Slaughterhouse Rock.” We think it's payback for his father bit.
Performance Resume
Jeff Jena - Consultant
Specialties: Stand Up, Acting, Commercials, Corporate
Comedy
Jeff was a finalist in the 1989
San Francisco Comedy Competition and made his first national
television appearance on Star Search. He has been seen doing his
stand-up on Dennis Miller, Showtime, MTV, NBC, FOX and the Nashville
Network. Jeff has also had dramatic roles on Murder She Wrote,
Hunter and many other shows. He appears regularly at The Improv in
Hollywood, The Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach, and the Ice
House in Pasadena. He successfully ran the comedy school at the
Improv in Irvine for four years. He is now a partial owner of the
Funny Bone in Cincinnati and runs a successful comedy school there
as well!
Performance Resume
But are
they great comedy teachers? Many great comedians can't teach comedy
and many great comedy teachers aren't very funny. Amazingly, all of
these teachers are both! Not sure? Find out for yourself by
attending a free intro!
Support
Jonathan Dippert
Director of Operations/CFO/CTO
Rich Stimbra
Assistant Director, Founder
SFCC Entertainment
Melissa Gans
Marketing Coordinator, Director
SFCC Clubhouse
Bob Brindley
Improv Instructor/Producer/MC Extraordinaire
Daymon Ferguson, Scoth Wichmann, Ryan Kasmier, Adam McLaughlin, Joe Nguyen
New Talent Coordinators
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