Over a thousand SF theater packs for a legendary actor’s roast

And on Saturday night, more than a thousand people gathered at the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to watch a panel of star-studded actors and comedians hurl insults at her for two hours during a sold-out Sketchfest roast.

The Simpsons’ Dana Gould served as host, alongside a roster of roasters that included San Francisco-born character actor Kevin Pollak (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) and David Alan Grier (Jumanji), as well as heavy hitters horror Cassandra Peterson (you may know her as Elvira, Mistress of Darkness), drag icon and co-host of the Midnight Mass podcast Peaches Christ and Dana DeLorenzo, who stars in Ash vs. The Evil Dead. Unfortunately, the roast had been delayed twice due to the pandemic, and several expected guests like Kane Hodder (Jason of the Friday the 13th franchise), Jennifer Tilly (of Bride of Chucky fame) and Ted Raimi had to pull out. But the festival certainly rolled with the hits.

Campbell, the target of the evening, walked across the stage to thunderous applause that gave way to a chorus of boos. He adjusted his collar with a dramatic twist, took a sip from the can of Liquid Death on the podium in front of him, and cleared his throat as the audience fell silent. The whole room seemed to be waiting for him to drop one of his legendary one-liners.

His eyes roamed the auditorium, tracing the moment before he finally spoke.

Good night, everyone, he said in his tongue-in-cheek speech.

During her opening remarks, Campbell thanked the crowd and the late Sydney Goldstein, who rehabilitated and reopened the long-dormant venue in 2013, naming it the new headquarters of City Arts & Lectures.

No st. Without her, it would still be a space full of dusty filing cabinets and crumbling furniture with no seats or sound. So thank you Syd. Here he is, 97 years later, Campbell said. Always support ancient and creaky theaters because they will tear them down if you don’t support them.

Whether they know it or not, it was a statement that particularly resonated with audiences after the recent removal of the historic sign from the Alexandria Theater and ahead of the impending Historic Preservation Commission hearing that would determine the theater’s future. Castro.

But the sentimentality did not last long.

I won’t lie to you. I’m a little disturbed that people are showing up tonight and paying to see me roast in agony, he joked.

Gould started off with a few softballs, the first being more of a dig at a well-known disgraced comedian than anyone else.

In Evil Dead, Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness, Bruce played Ash, a man who wreaked havoc and destruction single-handedly, Gould said. These films were later adapted into a television series called Louis.

Gould also mocked Campbell’s extensive use of filters on social media and referenced the stars’ lesser-known roles in The Love Bug, The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. and Maniac Cop (or as we call them today, cops, he joked), praising the star as a renaissance man.

By that I mean he’s incredibly old, Gould said. But it ages like fine wine, largely out of public view.

Comedian and writer Nick Sahoyah who wore a sign around his neck claiming to be missing guest Ted Raimi took jabs at not only the oft-discussed Campbells looksbut also the moment when he appeared in an Old Spice ad singing Hungry Like the Wolf by Duran Duran.

What a great way to sell yourself while simultaneously asserting your cultural irrelevance, Sahoyah said. Bruce and Duran Duran have a lot in common. They were both super popular in the 80s, and now no one can figure out why.

Sahoyah then reflected on Campbell’s role in the 1990s TV series Xena: Warrior Princess, specifically two of the episodes he directed.

It’s really impressive, said Sahoyah. It’s kind of like the time Quentin Tarantino directed an episode of CSI, except Quentin Tarantino is a good director, and CSI is a show that people watch.

The loudest cheers of the night came when Peterson took the stage. Surprisingly, his best diss was directed not at Campbell but at Pollak.

Kevin was born and raised in San Francisco, she began. Just like our Senator Dianne Feinstein. And on behalf of everyone in California, I would just like to tell you what we all love to say to Senator Feinstein: Please, for God’s sake, retire already.

When Pollak was up, he claimed that Campbell had been cast in a coveted role in the Avatar film franchise, but that director James Cameron had to find someone else for the part because the technology didn’t yet exist to do so. make him a good actor. He also referenced an elusive movie Campbell appeared in called 18 1/2 elusive because it could only be seen on airlines.

On JetBlue, he only played on flights between San Francisco and Los Angeles, so it took a round trip to see it all, he said.

DeLorenzo introduced herself as Campbell’s “f-bomb throwing sidekick” Kelly Maxwell from “Ash vs. Evil Dead,” but she wasn’t exactly bragging.

“Everyone knows ‘Evil Dead’ was the start of Bruce’s career,” she said. “What I didn’t know was that it would be the end of mine.”

One of the funniest shots of the night came from Grier, who called himself Sketchfest’s diversity recruiter and commented on how white the sign was: Army of Darkness it’s not, a- he said. It’s more like Albino Army starring an Italian lady.

And the sleaziest digs came from Christ, who compared Campbell’s career to Pompeii (it’s really all about Ash) and even ridiculed her initials, which she pointed out were ironic for her age: BC

I’m not going to say I want him hurting himself with a chainsaw, you know, but when asked to recommend a security coordinator for the new Evil Dead movie, I recommended Alec Baldwin, a- she said, forcing Campbell to hide his face. as the crowd groaned in disbelief.

Campbell fired back with what at first seemed like a compliment, stating that she had been a mainstay in San Francisco’s underground community for decades.

The key words are was, he says.

At the end, Campbell opened the roast to the audience, asking them to shout out the name of one of his movies they wanted their money back for. He turned his back on her, and the response was an instant cacophony, with every title indistinguishable. So Campbell asked someone to identify themselves and speak.

The answer came from someone on the balcony, who called My Name Is Bruce, a comedy that Campbell directed and starred in life as a failed B movie star who is recruited by a group of teenagers to push back a real life monster.

Want your money back? Campbell responded, displaying a toothy smile. You know, that’s really enough of this stupid game, because people are going to name every movie I’ve done.

Sketchfest runs until February 5, 2023.