About the Author
Jack Rikess
Comedian. Journalist. Author. San Franciscan.
Twenty-five years making strangers laugh. A decade covering cannabis culture for Village Voice Media. One debut novel about what happens when a couple of weeks turns into something much longer.
He lives in San Francisco. He photographs drum circles. He walks Stella. He writes about all of it.
The Full Story
A Life Told in Chapters
The Stage
Jack Rikess spent twenty-five years making rooms full of strangers laugh for a living. Stand-up comedy across the USA — clubs, colleges, festivals, and every dive bar in between. Along the way he became a producer of comedy shows and other productions, including two years as an Operational Manager for The Emerald Cup, the world's premier cannabis competition.
The Column
In the early 2000s, Jack began writing about the Northern California cannabis scene. That led to a column with Village Voice Media's "Toke of the Town," syndicated across American cities — LA Weekly, SF Weekly, City Pages in his hometown of Minneapolis, and more. He covered the culture, the characters, and the contradictions of an industry finding its footing before legalization changed everything.
The Book
His work is featured in Stephen Sparks and Tom Allman's Out There In The Woods — their account of being embedded with law enforcement during the 36-day manhunt for a double-murderer hiding in the hills of Mendocino County. Then came Just For A Couple Of Weeks, his debut novel: a darkly comic memoir-flavored story about what happens when a San Francisco comedian flies to Scottsdale to help his aging parents for a couple of weeks — and doesn't come back for a year.
The Life
Mr. Rikess lives alone in San Francisco, and is happy. He photographs drum circles in Golden Gate Park, walks his dog Stella through the Haight, and writes about all of it. The blog is where the rest of the story lives.
"I didn't set out to write a book about caregiving. I set out to survive it. The book came later, when I realized surviving it was the story."
— Jack Rikess
In His Own Words
On Comedy, Writing & the City
"Stand-up taught me that the most painful things are usually the funniest — you just have to wait long enough to find out."
"I didn't set out to write a book about caregiving. I set out to survive it. The book came later, when I realized surviving it was the story."
"The drum circle in Golden Gate Park is the most honest place in San Francisco. Nobody's performing. Nobody's networking. They're just there."
"The city keeps changing. The Haight keeps changing. I keep changing. We're all just trying to stay interesting."
A Life in Brief
The Timeline
1990s–2010s
25 years performing stand-up comedy across the USA
Early 2000s
Begins covering the Northern California cannabis scene
2005–2015
"Toke of the Town" column, syndicated via Village Voice Media
2013
Operational Manager, The Emerald Cup
2018
Featured in Out There In The Woods (Sparks & Allman)
2024
Publishes Just For A Couple Of Weeks
Read the Book
Pick up Just For A Couple Of Weeks and find out what happens when a couple of weeks turns into something much longer.