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The hosts of Cynic Cave
After three years of stand-up comedy showcases in the basement of the Lost Weekend Video,
Cynic Cave will bid adieu this Saturday with a four-hour comedy extravaganza.
In January,
Lost Weekend Video announced plans to relocate to
Alamo Drafthouse on Mission St., leaving its regular rotation of alt-comedy shows, including
Talkies and
Attractive Camp, looking for new digs. The move is set to take place some time this month.
The Cinecave, Lost Weekend Video’s 25-seat basement theatre, opened in 2012 with the intention to screen films, but the space quickly morphed into one of SF's alt-comedy hubs, hosting four or five shows a week. George Chen launched the first Cynic Cave shortly after the room’s opening, choosing the title to connect to the location and also because he “liked the idea of a comedy show that’s not just about good times or happy times.”
The Cynic Cave has hosted local comedians as well as national up-and-comers such as
Cameron Esposito and
Ian Karmel, often booking them right before they reached comedy club headliner status.
“The Cynic Cave has become the beating heart of San Francisco’s alternative comedy scene,” says comedian Nato Green, who became a co-producer of the show last year. “We’ve had an audience who was ready support risk and adventure and experimentation. I saw comics come from other parts of the country instantly fall in love with it, and say it is one of the most amazing rooms in America.”
This Saturday’s final Cynic Cave will feature over twenty local comics and will be recorded and edited into a compilation tape to be released by
Burger Records.
While the future of the Cynic Cave showcase is uncertain, Talkies has found a new home at The Roxie, and Green is launching a movie-inspired comedy show at the Alamo Drafthouse, the first taking place Tuesday, March 15.
Cynic Cave, Saturday, March 5, 8 p.m., at Lost Weekend Video, 1034 Valencia,$10, 415-643-3373.
