Killing My Lobster

I love Killing My Lobster shows. I’ve been a regular at their shows since they started producing them monthly at PianoFight. The venue is a very cool spot, and a perfect backdrop for a great sketch comedy show!
In the last year, I’ve seen Rosemary’s Lobster (their Halloween show), Lobster Jones Diary, and KML Gets a Prenup (the wedding themed show). Every one of these didn’t fail to make me belly laugh. The sketches themselves have some of the most original concepts I’ve ever seen and the performers are consistently great… talented, high energy, and fully committed.
GO SEE!

This review is for the KML Excellent Adventure show.
The writing of the sketches was very uneven. Some were «meh», others like the roman cheerleaders were very funny. A little disappointed there.
The performers were great. They did the best they could with the material they had. I wish the writing was as strong as the performing.
2 stars for the uneven writing. 4 stars for the performers. It averages to 3.

So, here’s the thing … about 75% of the actors are really pretty good – some are awesome. The problem, IMHO, is that the writing is not nearly as good as the acting. And the acting can only make up for so much unfunny writing. It seems like the people running KML consider themselves good comedy writers, as well as actors – but there may be only one or two reasonably funny comedy writers in the group. Maybe they should ask for submissions from comedy writers, rather than using just what they write.

I’ve seen these guys more times than any other theater in town (and I like it all), and I’ve never been disappointed! They are fantastic, original and choked full of potential. Don’t believe me? Watch ANY of their online films and giggle your ass off!

Wow. Awful, awful, awful. I just saw their «Purim: The Whole Megilah» show, and it was truly terrible. The comedy was really at the level of a high school end-​of-​the-​year sketch show. Really? Did you really name a British character «Master Bates»? Stoned Rastafarians? Drag queens making jokes about «coming from behind»? Who on Earth could possibly have written this and thought it was funny?
Moreover, it was pretty offensive. I think this group doesn’t understand the difference between Jewish humor in the spirit of the great Jewish comedians like Woody Allen or Mel Brooks, and just ridiculing Jews by re-​hashing antiquated Jewish stereotypes. I am not certain, but I get the impression that there were few, if any, Jewish writers or actors in the show. For example, there were tons of jokes about getting circumcised. (I know, very clever.) Honest, no Jewish man is afraid of being circumcised because we ARE ALL ALREADY CIRCUMCISED! Furthermore, a Jewish mother wouldn’t be offended if a non-​Jewish girl showed up to a Purim (or costume) party wearing a pig costume, whihch is one of many reason that skit wasn’t funny. We don’t hate pigs. We just don’t eat them.
I could go on and on, like the show did, but I think I’ll stop here. Do not waste your time.

Deserves a bit more than 3 stars.
My husband bought tiks to the «Hold the Mayo» show after reading an Examiner article. We are reluctant foodies (love the food, not the hype on the culture or the self-​righetousnes — WE ARE NOT HIPSTERS!) so we were down for a bit of bashing. Definitely funny. I enjoyed the show. The actors were very good, all of them. But I expected more.
I thought the sketches would be longer, like 10 — 15 mins and not 5 — 10 mins.
The final sketch is pretty long and was funny. Most of the sketches were super funny but 2 of them were borderline offensive: the chinese woman and the Stephen Hawking one. In fact my husband said that it was definitely not funny, so he was offended. I guess you can say that I am very sensitive to racial jokes, even jokes about other races and my husband doesn’t think it’s ok to make fun of people with disabilities.
The intermission is unnecessary. They should just go through without one. The transitions between sketches were awkward and too long. I did like the musical interludes because those helped.
Overall, I did like the show. The actors are very talented. The writing is good. I would go again and I think that $ 20 is an appropriate ticket price for this show. You can get a discounted price on Goldstar fyi.

KML is super hilaricle — even to a non-​native San Franciscan.
I would recommend it to anyone looking for a fun night full of laughs. This round of actors and writing was very funny! I would totally go back again!
They only have about a week left, so make sure you go and see it before it goes bye bye!

The Qu’ran says your wifely duty, is to work that booty! …or something like that!
I saw KML Preaches to the Choir and thoroughly enjoyed all of the skits. Parking Gods, exorcism, diva Jesus. this show definitely had me laughing.
I also loved the live music in between skits; the band played themed rock ballads like Jesus is just alright with me & Living on a Prayer.
Grab some friends, bring a date, you will have fun!

Killing My Lobster is really one of the great San Francisco landmarks. They have been creating consistently funny sketch comedy for years now. I want the world to learn about KML so that they get huge even though the nerdy indy rock college kid in me enjoys being in on the secret.
I just saw «KML Preaches to the Choir» and did a quite a bit of LOLing.
Sure each show has it’s rough spots, but the high points are always high. If you haven’t checked them out, then put down your computer/​phone/​whatever and go see them.

A fun night out! A lot of the skits are sort of SNL-​ish. Lots of nice, talented folks. Still crackin’ up over «Tiny Baby Hands». Also stumbled upon «The Boneless Children Foundation» — a quirky band playing during intermission a couple of years ago.

I saw a show made up of comedy sketches by their class members. Most were quite good, some clunkers, and some brilliant ones. It was certainly as good as any episode of SNL nowadays.

Sorry, I have to dock a star after their last show (Patronizing the Arts). A lot of familiar faces in the cast, so I’m sure the comedic talent is there… maybe the writing was just off. I really wanted to like this show; unfortunately, it was a disappointment (except for the Jaime DeWolf spoken word special guest, who was awesome!). Also, the Traveling Jewish Theater isn’t nearly as nice as the Yerba Buena Center.

Laughter, albeit sometimes uncomfortable, is never a bad thing. I have been a KML fan for quite some time now, and every show never fails to make my eyes widen and cause me to nudge my buddy next to me. My friends and I are STILL dropping quotes from long gone shows. And whenever we run into the sketch actors at random cafes or bars, we always twitter as if in the presence of celebrity.
Cheap entertainment is not always that hard to come by in this awesome city, but these guys know how to do it right.

This group definitely can put on a show! They aren’t afraid to push limits either. The skits were a good mix of randomness and weren’t too long, so the show had good flow. And an intermission with alcohol and cookies.
For this particular performance… the skits of Lord Humongous, Annoying
and MASH were my favorites. I hadn’t thought about MASH in forever, goodness junior high days… mansion, apt, shack, house. Funny stuff.
Also decent price for tickets. Will look into seeing more of their shows as they change things up.

Been to two KML shows now and found them both original, often very funny, sometimes a bit reaching. I appreciate the effort that goes into live troupe performance and love the flashes of absurd hilarity that make the whole experience worthwhile.

I saw KML «Faces the Music» last weekend! I’d been to a couple of their shows in years past (whenever a friend wanted to go). .I found them amusing, but never rip-​roaring funny.
This one, though, was amazing. I can’t even just name it ‘funny’ or ‘hilarious’ because it’s beyond that. The actors are quirky, the writing is clever, and there’s MUCH that’s unexpected. KML puts their whole heart into the performance. They’re performing FOR you.
The songs keep repeating in my head (which i would usually find annoying, but these are funny songs) and I continue to remember all the SF neighborhood jokes. The KML «Faces the Music» show has passed, but I’ll definitely be seeing their shows in the future.

Two friends and I had plans to see this show. I bought tickets and then it sold out (why?). My two friends ended up ushering (actually I got suckered in too) because we really wanted to see the show– our friend was playing in the band and it sounded like a generally fun time.
Alas. It was pretty lame. For one– the mics were TOO LOUD. I was holding my ears for parts of the show. Not only were the levels too high but the actors were singing and talking really loudly in a small theatre. At a few points the mics failed on some of the actors and I could still hear them clearly.
Then there was the issue of the jokes not being too funny and seeming like in-​jokes. Some parts were pretty good but it was very inconsistent and rather painful. I like the song about the taquerias. This star is for that bit and the radio, and my friend being in the band.

Killing my lobster nearly killed me. Well, it wasn’t really that bad, but I find myself disappointed.
So, to continue, we saw Faces the Music. My first reaction was that none of the people in the cast can sing. In fact, many of them are painfully bad, to the point where I considered walking out (even though it was clear the singing wasn’t what brought us here).
As for the plot, it was hard to tell whether there was any. There were a bunch of songs, and they seemed loosely connected, but character development was weak. And most of the jokes were pretty weak, too. The only song that I really enjoyed was the one about the taquerias in the Mission (we had to visit Cancun the next day).
Its kind of interesting how a lot of the humor revolves around the conflicts between various neighborhoods and types in San Francisco. There wasn’t really any politics, or any current events. Just Marina hates the mission, east bay is different from sf, etc…
There also seemed to be a lot of in jokes. Maybe I would get them if I went to other shows. What was up with that Malfar character? I didn’t find him to be that funny, and it seemed sort of out of place.
In conclusion, go if your friends are in the cast, or if you enjoy dumb, pointless comedy, or you like San Francisco jokes. Otherwise, stay home and order a pizza.

Hmmm. Considering that a night out at Cobb’s or the Punch Line will set 2 people back at LEAST $ 60, A night of sketch comedy with KML for $ 33 is a bargain!
Yes, you kind of have to ‘work your way’ into this– it’s not a comedy scene that everyone will appreciate (or understand, esp if you do not live in the Bay Area) but they definitely put the heart n’ soul into their work and we thought their ‘KML Faces the Music’ at the ODC theatre on Saturday night (7pm show) was pretty darned hilarious!
We’ve seen so much *bad* comedy (bad, as in, I-​want-​to-​get-​up-​and leave-​NOW-​because-​I-​feel-​so-​awkward-​sitting here BAD) at the improvisational comedy festival in SF a few years ago, so maybe my reference point is set a little ‘off’… BUT– I think these guys deserve the mad props they get! (…AND i love their poster art)
For a group of college kids who started out in the late 90’s doing shows for friends and friends of friends, they have done pretty well– complete with ‘live’ music!
Oh, and there *was* a sign posted that said that no drinks can be taken into the theatre… (to their defense.)
I’m torn. I love the 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors too, but they have moved to LA…
OH, and by the way— the people who brought their KIDS (under 13) to this show… WHAT IS UP WIT DAT? They’re SINGING about blowjobs and throwing around F– this and F– that, and you sit these with your kids? (HUH?)

Funny in theory, but a total snooze in reality. That’s how I’d sum up KML. Went to see the «Marina vs. Mission» show tonight, and while there were bits and pieces that I found humorous, overall I left wishing I had those two hours of my night back.
Oh… and for the people serving drinks up front… thanks for forgetting to mention that you can’t bring drinks into the show and pouring our drinks about 30 seconds before announcing the show is about to start.

KML are a wet yourself sort of sketch group, dangerously funny. I’d recommend seeing any of their shows or films, and they just put out their first ever play (Hunter Gatherers)! If you like the unexpected satire, mixed with slapstick and other bits of quirky randomness, not to mention some musical numbers, well then what are you waiting for. Support local comedy, do it now!