“Holy S***. You’re eighteen? When you were born I wasn’t even relevant.” Bobcat Goldthwait may have been absolutely right. In the early nineties his run was over. By the time that young audience member was crawling Bobcat had worn out the line about his devil possessed toaster, already set the tonight show on fire and all the VHS copies of the Police Academy movie he had starred in were being tossed into remainder bins. Goldthwait’s star was quickly fading. Since his retirement form stand up in 2005 fans of Goldthwait’s have been disappointed. No word from the outrageous comic. Until now.

He walked onto the small stage in San Francisco at quarter to midnight as he took part in SF Sketchfest. A comedy festival that brings a diverse group of performers to the city every winter. Joining Goldthwait on stage were comics Greg Behrendt, Brendon Small, Marc Maron, Brody Stevens and musician Matt Nathanson.

The night had its ups and downs. Veteran comic Maron got the audience laughing as did Stevens. Brendon Small quieted them down with a few jokes that fell flat. Then, up came Goldthwait who completely stole the show. Twenty minutes of solid material followed as the famous comic owned the club.

These days Bobcat is sans his trademark voice. This elicited “Do the voice,” screams from audience members through out the set. He obliged a few times, gave the audience a quick taste of the old days, then quickly reverted back to his own, much more normal, tone. His comedy has changed as has his physical appearance. Most have Bobcat of 1985 burned into their brains. He addressed his bald head quickly. “I know, I’m going bald. See I’ll show you. I’m not trying to fake you out. I’m not like Brett Michaels who’s like I’ll just wear a bandana in the hot tub with all these whores at four in the morning.”

Much of Bobcat’s humor is about family life with a twist. He’s dubbed this the alimony tour, and tossed in a few cringe worthy jokes about his teenage daughter. All of his material works well and he reeled the audience in quickly. Goldthwait hasn’t lost a step material wise.

Whether it was about his appearance ( “I know, I look like Drew Carey fucked Woody Allen”);
American Idol voters ( “I wish I was super smart and could figure out a way when you vote for Idol it turns the battery in your phone into an explosive device. I don’t want these people to die. I just want them to have a burn on their face, so when I see them coming I know I don’t have to talk to them at all. There’s not a goddamn thing you can say to me that will improve the quality of my life.”); or about his arrest after the Tonight Show incident ( “I still have no idea why I set the chair on fire.”) All in all Bobcat is sharp as a tack.

The long show came to a close around 1 am and sent the sold out audience home happy. Many fans were repeating lines from Bobcat’s set on their way out the door. It was yet another triumph for the renowned Sketchfest which is continuing to bring great performers to the Bay Area.

For more info on SF Sketchfest visit: http://sfsketchfest.com/home/

Article By: Tyler Sobie