“Getting Curious With Jonathan Van Ness” podcast just part of the fun at Clusterfest.

Clusterfest focuses more on comedy, pruning most serious music acts in favor of podcasts

Comedy Central Presents Clusterfest returns to San Francisco for its third year, from Friday to Sunday, June 21-23, and the comedy festival is starting to develop some predictability in its unpredictability.

Once again there’s a deep roster of comedians coming to the plaza fronting City Hall, with very few repeats from previous years. The pop culture “experiences” are heavy on television shows, with new replicated sets from “The Office,” “Atlanta” and “Drunk History” for fans to explore.

But there have been some subtle changes since the festival debuted in 2017 as the Colossal Clusterfest. It’s hard to call Clusterfest a comedy and music festival anymore, with more comedic music acts (the Dan Band, Craig Robinson & the Nasty Delicious) than straightforward ones. If anything, Clusterfest is heading in the direction of a “comedy and podcasting” festival, with “My Favorite Murder,” “Comedy Bang! Bang!” and “Small Doses With Amanda Seales” leading an impressive list of live podcast recordings.

Amy Poehler, John Mulaney and Patton Oswalt are arguably the biggest comedy names, and the ones showing up the most in the festival’s advertising. And yet even more than previous years, the concept of a headliner is becoming blurred at Clusterfest. Last year, Mulaney and Nick Kroll gave some of the strongest performances in afternoon slots. This year, performers including three current “Saturday Night Live” players (Colin Jost, Leslie Jones and Chris Redd), Chelsea Peretti, Anthony Jeselnik and Ilana Glazer make up an elite second tier.

So with the understanding that comedy is an unpredictable live art, festivalgoers can still expect that the Dunder Mifflin lines will be long, and the best set sometimes comes from the comedian you’ve never heard of.

Enjoy this guide to Clusterfest, with hopes that along with what you paid to see, you’ll discover a new favorite comedian as well.

(See the full lineup at www.clusterfest.com. Set times are subject to change.)

Emma McIntyre / Getty Images

Jeff Kravitz / FilmMagic 2018 John Mulaney, seen last year in a Clusterfest afternoon slot on the Bill Graham Stage, is back as a headliner for the festival’s third year in San Francisco.