5 Must-See Comedy Shows At SXSW, Starting With Cracked’s First Showcase

Keegan KellyWed, February 25, 2026 at 8:10 PM UTC

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South by Southwest just announced the lineup for its 19th annual SXSW Comedy Festival, and the list is a veritable who’s-who of humor industry leaders and innovators now that Cracked is on the bill.

This March 13th at The Creek and The Cave in Austin, Texas, Cracked will make its first-ever appearance at the esteemed SXSW fest with our stand-up showcase, Cracked Comedy Club In Partnership with Netflix’s Mating Season.

As the fastest-moving power players in cutting-edge humor, it only took us nearly two decades to debut in the comedy festival at the annual tech, media and entertainment conference conglomeration, and we couldn’t be more grateful to our partners at Netflix and their new adult-animated comedy series Mating Season, coming May 22nd, for making it happen.

But while the official showcase from Cracked Comedy Club and Netflix’s Mating Season will be the first event at the SXSW Comedy Festival, we're not the only A-listers on the lineup. As such, here are our favorite can't-miss events from the festival, starting, of course, with…

Cracked Comedy Club Official Showcase In Partnership with Netflix’s Mating Season

As anyone with experience booking comedians will tell you, the opener is always the best and most esteemed act on the bill, so it's no surprise that Cracked is kicking things off at SXSW this year. The showcase will include performances from stand-up comedians Paris Sashay, Sophie Buddle, Vanessa Gonzalez, Alex English and Jake Cornell, and it's all thanks to the patronage of Netflix, Mating Season and series co-creator Nick Kroll, to whom we will pledge our lives and our swords at the top of the show.

Reductress Live!

The feminist satire giant Reductress is also making their SXSW debut this year at the Creek and the Cave on March 14th. Featuring Freddie Shanel, Vinny Thomas and an encore from Jake Cornell among other acts, this will be another all-star showcase from the comedy organization responsible for headlines like, “‘Joy Is an Act of Resistance!’ Says White Woman Who Engages in No Other Acts of Resistance.”

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Reductress even teased, "If we're lucky, we'll kill this ‘Tony’ fellow once and for all."

BriTANicK: Dummy

The veteran sketch duo of Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher count massive, mainstream comedy TV shows like Saturday Night Live and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia among their credits, and they've taken their live show around the world. BriTANick's feature film Pizza Movie is also premiering at SXSW, and the new comedy starring Stranger Things actor Gaten Matarazzo will also be a must-see if it's anything at all like the group's first film, Eagles Are Turning People Into Horses: The Movie.

Chaos With Chelsea Peretti, Natasha Leggero, and Sabrina Jalees

On March 16th at Esther's Follies, these staples of the national stand-up scene will perform a dark, topical show that will apparently include “a cold-read of a scene written specifically for this show.” What, exactly, that ominous description entails will remain a mystery until the show's premiere, but, knowing the comics responsible for the scene/show, it will almost certainly hurt someone's feelings.

Dropout Improv

In her recent talk with Den of Geek, SXSW Director of Comedy Sam Schles called Dropout's performance in the Austin City Limits live show at The Moody Theater on March 17th “the big one,” and it's easy to see why. Born out of the former CollegeHumor brand, the indie comedy giants are revolutionizing comedy on the internet with their massively popular subscription streaming service, and the company responsible for improv-based hits like Game Changer and Very Important People will bring its A-game to Austin.

Critically, the ACL show is a Platinum perk exclusive for SXSW Platinum badge-holders, so only real VIPs will get access to the big show – but, luckily, Dropout fans can also catch Dirty Laundry with Lily Du and friends on March 15th or Crowd Control from Jacquis Neal on March 16th.

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Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”