Clusterfest, the comedy and music festival, returns to San Francisco June 1–3 with plenty of big names—including Amy Schumer, The Lonely Island, Desus & Mero, Trevor Noah and his predecessor, Jon Stewart. With multiple stages, the lineup includes music, podcast hosts, TV stars, drag queens, and set re-creations from TV shows like Arrested Development and Nickelodeon’s Double Dare.
But we’re especially interested in Jon Stewart, and his decision to step away from surrealism. Every comedian right now gets asked, “Wow, you must have a lot of material since the election, right?” and their answer is almost always no. In fact, it’s harder to be a comedian these days, because how do you satirize satire? This is something that people talk about when they talk about Jon Stewart being off TV—that he couldn’t make up anything more ridiculous or absurd than what’s happening in Washington D.C. right now.
This is a rare appearance for Stewart, at a time when everyone’s saying “We need you more than ever!” Needless to say, it’ll be interesting to see what he brings.
Clusterfest runs Friday–Sunday, June 1–3, at the Civic Center and Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. Details here.