Sandnes (help·info) is a city and municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is part of the region of Jæren.

Sandnes was separated from Høyland as a municipality of its own in 1860, and gained city status the same year. On 1 January 1965, the rural municipalities of Høyland and Høle, as well as parts of Hetland, were merged with Sandnes.

The city is named after an old farm ("Sandnæs" 1723), since the city was built on its ground. The first element is sand which means "sand" or "sandy beach", the last element is nes which means "headland".

The coat-of-arms was granted on 21 April 1972. The arms show a piece of pottery, as pottery was one of the main industries in the late 18th century. The symbol is a leirgauk, which in English would be a ceramic cuckoo-bird (leir(e)= clay/ceramic and gauk/gjøk = cuckoo-bird). The ceramic Sandnes-cuckoo (Norwegian: sandnesgauker) is an ocarina or simple flute which was made by the potteries in Sandnes and used to advertise their products. Later it also became a nickname for people from Sandnes.

Raske Menn (translation: Fast guys) is a trio of Norwegian comedians who have gained fame in Norway for their sketches and shows. The trio consists of Anders Hoff, Øyvind Rafto and Calle Hellevang-Larsen.

The group began with Øyvind and Calle being friends from childhood. Øyvind and Calle had played together in a school theater. Anders and Øyvind were fellow students and met each other during the UKEN-revues at the Norwegian School of Economics.

In 2005 the trio won the Norwegian comedy award for best newcomers.

Their most famous sketch is "Verdenshistorien på 5 minutter" which can be translated to "The history of the world in 5 minutes" The 5 minute long sketch is essentially a summary of the most important events and people through history including Jesus Christ, Charles Darwin, Muhammad, Neil Armstrong, Moses and the vikings. Thor Heyerdahl also makes an appearance as the explorer who always appears at important events.

Calle has his own comedy web series titled "Ah! Så det er SÅNN det er!", which translates to "Ah! So THAT'S how it is!". The series is not ongoing however, as there is only one episode left to air. Calle plays every character in the show, which is mainly himself and his friend/neighbor Abraham, a clueless neanderthal who plays a positive and funny character throughout Calle's misadventures. The show isn't extremely popular as of yet, but many fans of Raske Menn enjoy the show.