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About Will Durst
Acknowledged by peers and press alike as one of the premier political satirists in the country, Will Durst has patched together a comedy quilt of a career, weaving together columns, books, radio and television commentaries, acting, voice overs and most especially, stand up comedy, into a hilarious patchwork of outraged and outrageous common sense. His abiding motto is “You can’t make stuff up like this." The New York Times calls him "possibly the best political comic in the country." Fox News agrees "he's a great political satirist," while the Oregonian hails him as a “hilarious stand-up journalist.” This former radio talk host, oyster shucker, and margarine smuggler currently writes a nationally syndicated humor column, and his scribblings have appeared in Esquire, George, the San Francisco Chronicle, National Lampoon, The New York Times and scads of other periodicals.
He is a 5 time Emmy nominee; has been fired by PBS three times; told jokes in 14 countries; racked up 7 nominations for Stand-Up of the Year; and his 800+ television appearances include Letterman, HBO, Showtime, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox News, the BBC and many more. The critically acclaimed Off-Broadway run of his one man show: “The All American Sport of Bipartisan Bashing,” which was subsequently turned into a book of the same name by Ulysses Press. His hobbies include pinball, the never-ending quest for the perfect cheeseburger and his heroes remain the same as when he was 12… Thomas Jefferson and Bugs Bunny. Not necessarily in that order.
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This Just In: Updates from Debi
GoFundMe Updates • 6.6.26
Hey Everybody! It’s almost Summer and we’ve had a lot going on.
Will was admitted to CPMC a few weeks ago. He was having trouble breathing and in some pain. Not a phone call you want to get on a late Sunday night. I rushed over to the ER on Van Ness Avenue and was able to sit with Will for a few hours while they got his white blood count down. He was dehydrated and was admitted that night. The next day he was transferred over to the Davies Campus since he wasn’t in dire straits anymore. The upshot was he had an unknown UTI that was slowly developing into sepsis. After a ton of fluids and every antibiotic known to Man he was released a few days later and was shuttled back to his facility. It was a scary few days and I was having flashbacks to when he first had his “vascular incident” as we call it.He’s all better now and fingers crossed we don’t have another scare like that again.
Therapy is coming along just great. Will is finally able to stand from his wheelchair with some assistance and is practicing walking with a walker; his therapist holds on to him with a gait belt and I follow along with the chair so he can plop down when he gets tired. This past week he did the equivalent of 40 feet back and forth, taking breaks @every 10 feet. It’s a HUUGE improvement and his therapist is so happy with his progress. Stairs will be next!
We did manage to get out to see a few shows presented by both A.C.T. and ATG San Francisco (formerly Broadway SF) and just a few days ago we saw The Mandalorian and Grogu on IMAX. The ADA seats in the back of the theater are really the best seats in the house!
Will is busy writing every day. You can’t make this stuff up as he says–he’s working on his one man show tentatively titled “He Who Shall Not Be Named.”
I’m so proud of him and the progress he is making. It is indeed like watching paint dry but the light at the end of the tunnel keeps getting brighter and we are both confident he will walk unaided again. Until then we are literally taking it one step at a time and very grateful for the coaching and assistance of his therapists and all of you for your unwavering support.
For those of you who would like to see the Alex Bennett and Friends Reunion Show that was part of SF Sketchfest at Cobb’s on January 31, The entire show is linked below: The password is BENNETT (all caps) and we’d like to thank the videographer Jim Granato for putting it together.
<https://vimeo.com/1160813861?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci&t=26>
Hope all of you are as well as can be in this explosive time in our history. We love you all and thank you profusely for your continuing support.
Now if the Giants could just get back to .500…
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Will Durst's Performances
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Alex Bennett & Friends
January 31, 2026
HOLY CITY ZOO
The comedy shows at the Holy City Zoo were started in spring 1975 by Darryl Victor Dubin as a fill-in between the sets of a belly-dancer performing. Shortly afterwards, the Holy City Zoo started featuring comedy Sunday nights. Tony DePaul, a local comedian, took over production and under his direction, the comedy shows were expanded to seven nights a week. In June 1980, John Cantu took over production of the stand-up shows. As the longest running club in Northern California, the Holy City Zoo has been responsible for the development of of more major comedy acts than just about any other club in the country.
