TUE 3/2
Usually, there isn’t much funny about Tuesdays. The previous weekend is but a distant memory — or depending on what you did, not memorable at all — and Friday is still too far off to think about which club you’ll hit up. But don’t despair. Those looking to insert a little humor between Monday and Wednesday are in luck. Dijon’s Comedy Corner at Clem Daniels’ End Zone (1466 High St., Oakland) promises laughs every Tuesday night. Owned by former Raider running back Daniels, the End Zone has been a popular Raiders stomping ground and happenin’ nightspot for more than 25 years. As a matter of fact, management boasts that the old-school R&B lounge is “the home of the longest running black comedy show on the entire West Coast.” A pretty stiff claim, but not without some merit. The Comedy Corner, which ran weekly for ten years before hanging up the gags four years ago, acted as a launch pad for many top comics ranging from Guy Torry and Cheryl Underwood to Don “DC” Curry and Mike Epps. And for those fans of BET’s Comic View, here’s a little trivia: An episode of the first season was filmed at the End Zone.
Dijon Credits: Danielle Barnett
Dijon, the host of the original Comedy Corner now returning to his post as MC and house funnyman, likened the demise and resurrection of the show to an on-again, off-again relationship: “It’s kinda like a marriage that goes sour, then after some time passes you realize, well hell, it wasn’t that bad.” Ultimately, he says it was an inquiry from a fan in New York that convinced him it was time to revive the Comedy Corner and put Oakland back on the map as a breeding ground for urban comics. The show includes weekly headliners and fresh local talent. Plus, according to Dijon, you can expect “some of the best comics that you’ve seen and some of the best comics you haven’t seen — up close and personal.” Why? Because, at the Comedy Corner there are no VIPs, and even top comedians mingle with the crowd.
So just how funny is Dijon’s Comedy Corner? Decide for yourself Tuesday. The show starts at 9 p.m. $10. 510-536-9332. — Joy White
2/26-3/20
River Ride
Mr. Fix It
Giving a character the profession of “fixer” has been an appropriately handy device throughout the creative ages. From Bernard Malamud’s woe-begotten protagonist in The Fixer, up to Harvey Keitel’s no-nonsense Wolf in Pulp Fiction, fixers — and the evocative idea of building a life out of fixing what’s broke — are a narrative fixture. Same goes for The Bright River, a new show by Tim Barsky (with help from Jess Ivry, Shree Shyam, and Andrew Chaikin). His latest one-man theatrical thrill ride stars a fixer named Quick guiding audiences on a mass-transit tour of the afterlife, via physical shenanigans, Jewish folklore, and live music by Everyday Theatre. The show plays Thursdays through Sundays, 8 p.m., through March 20, at Transparent Theatre, 1901 Ashby Avenue, Berkeley. Tickets: $14-$20, $12 advance, from 510-644-2204. — Stefanie Kalem
2/26-2/29
Send Out for a Danish
So you think times are tough now, bootschky? Consider the situation of the two protagonists of John O’Keefe’s stage drama, Times Like These: In Nazi-era Berlin, a husband-wife pair of actors — he Gentile and therefore “Aryan,” she Jewish — hole up in their apartment, hiding from the Nazis while the husband rehearses his role as Hamlet for the state-controlled theater. O’Keefe’s award-winning play is the second offering in A Traveling Jewish Theatre’s 25th season. It opens in the East Bay Thursday for five performances only, at Berkeley’s Julia Morgan Center (2640 College Ave.), starring Laurie O’Brien and Norbert Weisser, under the direction of the playwright. ATJT.com — Kelly Vance
SAT 2/28
The Gods Must Be Crazy
You remember Thoth, don’t you? No, not that ol’ wisest of the Egyptian gods. The loin-clothed über-busker who peddled his wares in Bay Area BART stations before hightailing it to New York, landing eventually on the big screen in Sarah Kernochan’s Oscar-winning 2000 documentary, Thoth? Well, he’s back, sawing at his fiddle, drumming with his feet, singing, and dancing in a “solopera” based on the mythical realms of his mind. Try and catch up with him at Studio Rasa (933 Parker St., Berkeley) tonight at 7 p.m., where Thoth will offer a “prayformance” to raise money for Nance Sobonya’s documentary, Gifts of Grief. — Stefanie Kalem
