Critic’s Pick: From Jash to Jashfesht: A festival of fun, online and in person
Sarah Silverman is one of the founders of the online comedy collective Jash, whose Jashfest will offer a weekend of comedy and music April 1-3 in Palm Springs.
Jash (YouTube channel); Jashfesht (live performances, Palm Springs, Friday through Sunday). In 2013, Sarah Silverman, Michael Cera, Reggie Watts, Tim Heidecker and Eric Warehmeim loosely joined forces in a YouTube Channel called Jash, sometimes represented in capital letters as if it were an acronym: JASH. (It isn’t, as far as I know.) An ironically self-important introductory video, hosted by the “president of Google,” announced that the company was about to “permanently delete all videos from YouTube and start fresh -- with Jash,” “a comedy network made up of the world’s top comedians,” which would henceforth be responsible for all its content. (Silverman: “When Google/YouTube approached me about this Jash venture I was like, what? And now I’m like, when and why.” Cera: “Is doing work for the internet a step down for me? Yes.”)
In the time since, Jash, like many if not most YouTube channels, has been irregularly maintained, in terms of branded material, serving more as a hub for videos its founders may have posted on their own channels. (It also developed a subsidiary channel, called Buh, which is, significantly or not, “hub” spelled backward.) Last April, the lack of organized activity was explained by a video purporting to document an internal struggle over the Jash logo (“If the logo isn’t right, the content’s out the window,” says Silverman), pitting Heidecker against his fellow founders. (This was followed by, as far as I can reckon, another period of inactivity.) Visiting the Jash Network is, nevertheless, a gateway to lots of great stuff, including Silverman’s French film noir trailer “Fête des Pets”, Tim and Eric’s highly disturbing Zone Theory meditation video, some ambitious short films starring, directed and/or written by Cera (including this one, “Brazzaville Teen-Ager,” costarring Charles Grodin and Kelis) and Watts’ “Teach” series.
More immediately, its original spirit is also manifesting in the physical world this weekend in Palm Springs with Jashfesht, a three-day festival — an aggregation, one might say — of live comedy, films and musical performances, what Jash is calling with its usual ironic hyperbole “a unique and historic gathering of the comedy community, creating a grassroots experiential vibe for comedy’s most passionate fans & creators.” Running Friday through Sunday at Palm Spring’s Snapshot Studios, it will feature appearances by all the Jash founders, together and apart, and a host of Jash-approved performers, including Maria Bamford, Brett Gelman, UCB founder Matt Besser running a live version of his podcast “Improv4Humans”; “Hot Tub With Kurt [Braunholer] & Kristen [Schaal],” moving over from L.A.’s the Virgil, with guests including Kate Berlant and Jonah Ray; “Around the Campfire With Todd Glass” (Silverman is a guest), and much more. With music from Yacht, Islands, the Cooties, Honus Honus and Tim Heidecker & His Ten Piece Band. As festivals go, it promises to be chummy, manageable and focused. For more information, including tickets and schedules, go to www.jashfest.com.
Jash is also developing original content for Verizon Wireless’ Go90 mobile app, which I have no way to see. Tell me about it, if you do.
Follow Robert Lloyd on Twitter @LATimesTVLloyd
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