Cole Stratton | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | September 21, 1976 |
| Occupation | Actor, comedian, podcaster, writer, producer |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Website | colestratton |
Cole Stratton (born September 21, 1976) is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, writer and producer, best known as one of the Co-Founders of SF Sketchfest, the San Francisco Comedy Festival and the co-host of the Pop My Culture Podcast.
Stratton was born in Lansing, Michigan and moved to Davis, California when he was 9 years old, where he attended Davis Senior High School. [1] He graduated with a degree in Cinema from San Francisco State University. He moved to Los Angeles in 2003, where he currently resides.
Stratton co-founded SF Sketchfest, [2] the San Francisco Comedy Festival with David Owen and Janet Varney in 2002. One of the most prestigious festivals in the country, it showcases sketch, stand-up, improv, tributes, movies, cast reunions, musical and alternative comedy. Past performers include Carol Burnett, Conan O'Brien, The State, Gene Wilder, Garry Shandling, The Kids in the Hall, Mr. Show, Paul Reubens, Upright Citizens Brigade, Neil Patrick Harris and many more.
Stratton co-hosted the Pop My Culture Podcast [3] alongside Vanessa Ragland. The podcast ranked second on Rolling Stone 's Best Comedy Podcast of the Moment, [4] one of the top 20 Comedy Podcasts of 2013 by Paste Magazine [5] and one of 10 Favorite Comedy Podcasts by IFC [6] and Mashable.com. [7] After 6 years, the podcast wrapped up in January 2017 with their 213th and final episode with guests Paul F. Tompkins, Rhett Miller and Samm Levine. The episodes are available on iTunes, Nerdist and the podcast's website.
He's a frequent guest host and improviser on Kevin Pollak's podcast, Alchemy This, appearing on over 40 episodes. He also is a recurring guest on Chuck Bryant's Movie Crush Podcast, with episodes focused on Searching for Bobby Fischer, The Manchurian Candidate , Still Crazy and a special episode discussing his "100 Lesser-Known Movies to Watch at Home" list.
Other podcast guest appearances include Voyage to the Stars, Dumb People Town, Never Not Funny with Jimmy Pardo, Alison Rosen is Your New Best Friend, Comedy Film Nerds, Hello from the Magic Tavern, Jordan, Jesse, Go!, James Bonding, The JV Club, Totally Laime with Elizabeth Laime, Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction, The Wahlberg Solution, The Mutant Season, Talkin Walkin and Probably Science.
Stratton has written and performed several comedic audio commentaries for films along with Janet Varney. These appear on the RiffTrax [8] website under the "RiffTrax Presents" branding, as being officially sanctioned by RiffTrax founder and Mystery Science Theater 3000 alum, Michael J. Nelson.
RiffTrax commentaries featuring Stratton & Varney include Dirty Dancing , Ghost , Footloose , Poltergeist , The Lost Boys , Jaws 3D , Flatliners and Dreamscape .
Television appearances include: American Horror Story , Good Girls , 9-1-1 , Nash Bridges , America's Most Wanted (featuring The Zodiac Killer), the Animal Planet original film The Retrievers , MTV's Yo Momma , and he was a cast member on NBC's competitive comedy pilot Comedy Colosseum. Film projects include: Diani & Devine Meet The Apocalypse, Callback opposite Kevin Farley, Around the Fire, Dead Man on Campus and The Selling. [9]
Stratton has studied improvisation at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre and M.I.'s Westside Comedy Theater, [10] where he performs frequently with the groups Pretty, Pretty Pony and The Cobranauts. He tours with the improv group Theme Park (featuring Rachel Dratch, Oscar Nunez, Simon Helberg, Danny Pudi, John Michael Higgins, Michael Hitchcock, Ian Brennan, Janet Varney and Jessica Makinson). Theme Park has performed at SF Sketchfest, the Bridgetown Comedy Festival, [11] Bentzen Ball, [12] the Moontower Comedy Festival and the Rooftop Comedy Festival. He co-founded the Bay Area sketch collective Totally False People (who performed at the 2004 HBO U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado). He's also performed with Greg Proops, Patton Oswalt, Jack McBrayer, Bob Odenkirk, Scott Adsit, Rick Overton, Matt Walsh, and Jeff Garlin.
Matthew Gregory Besser is an American actor, comedian, director, producer, and writer, best known as one of the four founding members of the Upright Citizens Brigade sketch comedy troupe, who had their own show on Comedy Central from 1998 to 2000. He currently hosts the improvisation-based podcast Improv4humans on the Earwolf podcasting network.
SF Sketchfest, or The San Francisco Comedy Festival, is an American comedy festival founded in 2002 by Bay Area actor-comedians David Owen, Janet Varney and Cole Stratton. It takes place every January and February in a variety of Bay Area venues and features sketch comedy, improv comedy, film and television tributes and reunions, solo performers, music, podcasts and stand-up comedy performers.
Janet Varney is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer, known for voicing Korra in the Nickelodeon animated television series The Legend of Korra, co-starring as Sheriff Evie Barret in the television series Stan Against Evil, her role as Becca Barbara in You're the Worst, hosting the JV Club podcast and co-hosting the Avatar: Braving the Elements podcast.
RiffTrax is an American company that produces scripted humorous commentary tracks which are synced to mostly public domain feature films, education shorts, and television episodes. With the talents of former Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) cast members and writers, RiffTrax also produces several live shows each year which are broadcast to movie theaters. The style of commentating originated from MST3K, their earlier television series, in which they would similarly mock films aloud while watching them. As of February 2022, RiffTrax has riffed 460 feature films, 410 short films, and 16 TV episodes.
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Earwolf is an American comedy podcasting network founded by Scott Aukerman and Jeff Ullrich in August 2010. It merged with podcast advertising network The Mid Roll in 2014, a separate company founded by Ullrich, to form Midroll Media. Midroll was acquired by the E. W. Scripps Company in 2015. In July 2020, Sirius XM acquired Midroll Media, which includes Stitcher Radio and Earwolf, for $325 million.
Pop My Culture was a podcast hosted by comedic actors and improvisers Cole Stratton and Vanessa Ragland. Broadcast approximately weekly, it is an informal, conversational show about movies, television, music, gossip, etc. with the two hosts and their celebrity guests. The show was named the #2 Best Comedy Podcast of the Moment by Rolling Stone, one of the Top 20 Comedy Podcasts of 2013 by Paste Magazine, and one of 10 Favorite Comedy Podcasts by IFC.com. and Mashable.com. The show launched March 2, 2010 with inaugural guest Samm Levine, and joined the Nerdist Network of shows in December 2011. They have done live recordings at SF Sketchfest, The Rooftop Comedy Festival in Aspen, Co., the LA Podfest, the 2015 Wondercon in Anaheim, CA, and the 2016 Wondercon in Los Angeles, CA.
Geoff Plitt is an American comedian, satirist, and filmmaker from Los Angeles.
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April Richardson is an American stand-up comedian. She was a round table regular on the television show Chelsea Lately and a frequent contestant on @midnight. She is from Atlanta, Georgia.
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Helen Hong is an American stand-up comedian, actress, director, and producer. She has appeared in such works as Jane the Virgin, Parks and Recreation, and the Coen Brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis. She has a regular spot on NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! and hosts a trivia podcast called Go Fact Yourself. She formerly hosted the podcast Little Ethnic Girls. She has a recurring role on Nickelodeon's The Thundermans and had a recurring role as Mrs. Song in Starz's Blunt Talk. Hong is known for her comedic NowThis videos.
Irene Tu is an American comedian, actor, and writer. She has appeared at comedy festivals such as SF Sketchfest, the Portland Queer Comedy Festival, Bridgetown Comedy Festival, and Comedy Central’s Clusterfest, and on shows such as Take My Wife and Funny How? In 2016, she was named one of KQED's Women to Watch and SFist listed her as one of the Bay Area’s 11 Best Stand Up Comics. In 2017, the San Francisco Chronicle dubbed her as an "artist on the brink of fame." In 2019, Vulture by New York Magazine placed her on their list The Comedians You Should and Will Know in 2019, tracking "23 comics that industry insiders are watching closely." The same year, SFist listed her as one of 13 San Francisco Standup Comedians to Go See Now.
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