{"id":400726,"date":"2026-08-08T00:30:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/400726\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:30:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:30:22","slug":"austin-sketch-fest-returns-with-an-snl-cast-member-a-delusional-starlet-and-rising-texas-comedians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/400726\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin Sketch Fest returns with an SNL cast member, a delusional starlet and rising Texas comedians"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This month some of the country\u2019s best sketch comedy performers will head to ColdTowne Theater in the Texas capital city for this year\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atxsketchfest.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Austin Sketch Fest<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe review dozens of submissions every year to pick the cream of the crop,\u201d said executive producer Ashley Ellis, \u201cand we\u2019re looking for unique perspectives, fresh ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Over the years, the festival has gained a reputation for showcasing comedians on the cusp of breaking out into mainstream pop culture.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve had Tim Robinson, Amber Ruffin, Meg Stalter, James Adomian,\u201d said Ellis. \u201cThere\u2019s so many acts that we\u2019ve had before they were big.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One of this year\u2019s headliners is Saturday Night Live\u2019s Andrew Dismukes, who attended the University of Texas and started his comedy career in Austin.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re so excited to have an active SNL cast member,\u201d said Ellis. \u201cI\u2019m gonna have to try really hard not to be a fangirl when I meet him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Festival organizers also go out of their way to showcase a variety of Texan performers like Mimi Meier, whose comedy journey started when she made a joke on an elevator and somebody suggested she try standup.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was all it took,\u201d said Meier.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>She moved to Austin five years ago to pursue her comedy dreams and at this year\u2019s Sketch Fest, she\u2019ll be performing her show \u201cMe? Me!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meier put together a character comedy show that centers around a Hollywood starlet telling her life story.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut she doesn\u2019t realize she\u2019s not famous,\u201d said Meier, \u201cwhich is kind of me as a person.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In addition to stage time and exposure, Austin Sketch Fest allows performers the chance to learn from and network with other performers navigating the entertainment industry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not only for an audience to have fun, it\u2019s for performers to connect with each other,\u201d said Meier, \u201cto learn and have a friend in another city.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This year, the festival runs two weekends, Aug. 14-16 and 21-23.<\/p>\n<p>If you found the reporting above valuable, please consider making a donation to support it\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/kut.secureallegiance.com\/kut\/WebModule\/Donate.aspx?P=KUTOA&amp;PAGETYPE=PLG&amp;CHECK=aI6A0UTYM%2bPiQl%2byqVkEd4HJipnY8PNT&amp;SOURCECODE=STORYT\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>. Your gift helps pay for everything you find on\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/texasstandard.org\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">texasstandard.org<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/kut.org\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">KUT.org<\/a>. Thanks for donating today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This month some of the country\u2019s best sketch comedy performers will head to ColdTowne Theater in the Texas&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":400727,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-400726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=400726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/400727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=400726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=400726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=400726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}