*Brief Note: Stay2uned would like to thank @GalavantTVABC for sharing with us her front row coverage from this past Friday’s Galavant panel at the 2016 SF Sketchfest.  You can follow their Twitter account and find them on Facebook for the latest Galavant news. So without further ado…enjoy!!”  View Disgession is Advised – Clip contains mild language.*

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Even United Airlines Couldn’t Kill The ‘Galavant’ Panel’s Spirits at SFSketchFest:

                                                                                                                  Article By: Audrey Kovar

 

 

 

SF SketchFest is an annual event hosted in Downtown San Francisco completely dedicated to comedy. All types of comedic entertainers arrive for the two-week event with panels and performances scattered amongst the numerous theaters and stages found in the city. If you enjoy ANYTHING within the comedy genre, SF SketchFest will have something to delight you. From stand-up comics, to comedy podcasts, live performances and tributes to comedy films and performers, SF SketchFest will find a way to tickle your funny bone.

 

Ever wondered how many times a network, such as the Disney-run ABC, would allow the word whore to air in an episode? Ever wanted to see Luke Youngblood’s tight abs? Did Mallory Jansen actually lie in her audition to get the role of Madalena? What would it take to get Karen David to pout and Timothy Omundson to curse and call-out an airline on their inefficient customer service?

 

If you had attended the ‘Galavant’ panel in San Francisco for the SFSketchfest event, you would have experienced all of these things. You would have also gotten to participate in one of the funniest events I have ever attended. Everyone in the audience left the theater with a smile and some left with the hiccups from laughing so hard.

 

The panel was moderated by Ben Blacker, a genius for co-creating “The Thrilling Adventure Hour”, and began with writers/producers Kat Likkel and her husband John Hoberg. They had plenty of anecdotes from the set and gave insights into what it takes to get a show as complicated as ‘Galavant’ started for the season before they played Alan Menken’s demos of ‘Building a New Tomorrow’ and then the unapproved ‘Your Mother is a Whore’.

 

So, how many times will ABC allow the word whore to be said? Twice. Menken’s cut of the song came in with thirteen mentions of that word, plus forty-six bleeps and many different forms of the word. (To put that in perspective, the most bleeps in an ABC show came in at 22 in an hour; this song is only two minutes long!) Disney/ABC may have thought it would be offensive, but the audience found it extremely hilarious.

 

Mallory and Luke told several funny stories about the audition process for getting their roles. Mallory did happen to lie about being able to sing in order to land her part as Madalena; she had never sung before and rushed to get a vocal coach before having to sing for the casting director and definitely before recording began. Upon hearing her song, ‘Is This a Feeling’ in last Sunday’s episode, I would never have been able to tell she hadn’t been singing before. Enchanting voice.

 

Luke’s character, Sid, had been written as a white Jew. He wasn’t even sure about going to the audition, since he’s quite obviously not Jewish. Thankfully the ‘Galavant’ casting crew looked outside the box on that one. The fact that Sid is adopted played out quite well in season one.

 

Then things at the panel took a sharp turn. We were all informed that due to mechanical issues, Karen and Timwouldn’t be joining us for the event. There were promises of compensation and apologies all around to make things better, but the show went on. There were no riots or spontaneous fires set, no matter how much Tim may have appreciated the sentiment. (Check his Twitter feed for those posts.) The two wayward and stranded travellers did send videos explaining their predicament and we all witnessed the wrath a king may have towards an airline that left him waiting five hours for a flight. Yes, there were stern swear words lobbed in United’s direction and Karen’s cute sad pout made us all weepy with sympathy for their situation. Who hasn’t felt either of these emotions towards airlines when things don’t go as planned? I know I have.

 

They also even sent a video asking and answering a question for us. We appreciated the extra effort they went to for us. Maybe United needs to take a few lessons from them.

 

The audience seemed to take their absence in stride, although disappointed. Kat and John added extra scene clips from upcoming episodes to appease the crowd. I can say that next week’s ‘Giants vs. Dwarves’ episode has a great “West Side Story” number that will knock your socks off and Nick Frost.

 

All in all the ‘Galavant’ panel was amazing and I am glad I was able to attend. It would have been elevated to a different level of greatness if Karen and Tim could have made their appearance, but no matter how hard United Airlines tried to derail the show, we still had a great experience.  I just might hold a small grudge against United for a while, just on principle, though.

 

 

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Photo Credit: ABC Studios
Used on Stay2uned.com with permission

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