Bay Area arts: 16 cool shows and concerts to catch this weekend and beyond
Looking to get out over the holidays? Comedy shows and concerts are in the offing. And if you are staying in, we have some suggestions for that, too.
Kosher cackling on tap
There are various scenarios for the kinds of people who attend the annual Kung Pao Kosher Comedy show in San Francisco Dec. 24-26. There are those who don’t celebrate Christmas and need a night out to laugh with other non-celebrators. There are those who do celebrate Christmas and need a night of robust laughter after being cooped up in a house full of hyper-anxious kids and confused pets. And of course there are those who just want to enjoy one of the Bay Area’s funnest holiday traditions. Kung Pao Kosher Comedy, now in its 33rd year, is a deliciously low-fi affair that features three nights of comedy at a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco (in keeping with with times, the show is now offered online as well). Headliner for this year’s lineup is Elayne Boosler, the groundbreaking comedian who came up during the 1960s and ‘70s – a male-dominated era in comedy – and struck a chord with her frank and confessional brand of humor. Comedian Richard Lewis called her “the Jackie Robinson of my generation” and Rolling Stone billed her as one of the “50 best comedians of all time.” Others in the lineup include Orion Levine, Amanda Marks and Lisa Geduldig, a longtime Kung Pao participant and fixture in the Bay Area comedy scene.
Details: Performances are at the Imperial House, 818 Washington St., San Francisco. Early (dinner) shows run 5 to 7:30 p.m. ($95) and include a six-course dinner; the later (cocktail) shows run 8:30 to 10 p.m. ($70) and include light snacks. Or you can stream the event for $30-$75. More information is at www.koshercomedy.com.
— Bay City News Foundation
Here’s a Christmas song playlist
Looking to freshen up your Christmas playlist with some newer recordings?
Well, the contemporary Christian music (CCM) genre just keeps cranking out quality Christmas albums year after year. Here are some great tunes from that realm that have come out in recent years. So go ahead and make your own playlist from these choices on Spotify or another streaming service and enjoy a tuneful Christmas day.
“O Holy Night”: Tasha Layton delivers a gorgeous version of this classic on the 2022 album “This Is Christmas.”
“Because of Bethlehem”: Matthew West shines on this stand-out track from 2025’s “Come Home for Christmas.”
“Freeze the Frame”: A first-tier Christmas tearjerker, for sure, which was first found on Michael W. Smith’s “Christmas at Home” EP in 2022.
“I Still Believe In Christmas”: Anne Wilson is as great as ever on the opening number of the all-around-solid EP “The Manger” from 2022.
“Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee”: Elevation Worship’s first-ever holiday album, 2023’s “Echo the Angels,” closes with this amazing track featuring Isaiah Templeton on lead vocals.
— Jim Harrington, Staff
Summers in San Jose
Jiaoying Summers has a wealth of experiences to talk about when she takes the stage at San Jose Improv this week. Born in Henan province in China, in the “One Child” era when it was considered a public embarrassment for parents to bring a girl into the world, Summers developed an early interest in acting and entertainment by watching the movies her mother sold and rented in a family-run video store. She worked at a construction company, interned at IMAX Corp. and won a Miss China pageant before settling in Los Angeles. She auditioned for a John Singleton-produced TV series, and the director recognized her talent for comedy and advised her to give stand-up a try. That turned out to be good advice. Summers began working at SoCal comedy clubs; and her career really took off when she began posting comedy videos on TikTok. Known for commenting intelligently and hilariously about issues related to immigration and identity, she was recently named by Variety as “100 comics to watch,” and her Hulu comedy special, “What Specie Are You,” debuted to critical acclaim. She also runs a production company, owns two L.A.-area comedy clubs and is extensively involved with the charity Operation USA.
Details: Summers performs four shows Dec. 26-27 at San Jose Improv. Tickets are $31.14-$132.05; go to improv.com/sanjose.
Party like it’s 1899
High-spirited dancers whirl around the room, the women’s voluminous skirts sweeping the floor to a fine polish, the men’s natty dark tailcoats and spotless cravats in severe contrast to the burst of off-the-shoulder color sported by their female partners. This giddy affair, upcoming Dec. 27 at the Scottish Rite Ballroom in Oakland, is another iteration of the annual Gaskell Ball, a dance party inspired by the reign of Queen Victoria that has become the largest such event (600 attendees-plus last year) in California since it started at Mills College in 1990. Waltzes, polkas, mazurkas and the like are all the rage, as Franklin Beau Davis and his San Francisco-based Brassworks Band supply the music, as they have for a couple of decades. Formal attire is required, but the gaskellball.com website can hook you up to some creative ideas.
Details: Party time starts at 7:30 p.m. at 1547 Lakeside Drive in Oakland and continues ‘til lights out at 11, and there is a catered snack buffet and the famous Gaskell punch available for refreshments. Tickets are $55.20 through Eventbrite, and you can find the link on the ball’s aforementioned website.
— Bay City News Foundation
Let it glow, let it glow, let it glow
Festive holiday lights are ablaze everywhere you look in the Bay Area this time of year, but for the sheer scientific magic of it all, much of it participatory, it’s hard to beat the Glow Festival that the Exploratorium in San Francisco mounts. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on both Dec. 27-28, the hands-on museum at the Embarcadero and Green Street will be welcoming visitors to multiple exhibits that invite them to “play in the light,” including a “Pop-Up Light Lilies” display in Gallery 2 that lets you create illuminated flowers by connecting geometric shapes, an “Incredible Art of Neon” show in Gallery 4 that introduces you to artists who will demonstrate their skills and a “Luminous Plankton” demo in Gallery 4 with the opportunity to peer through a microscope at the tiny bioluminescent critters. You won’t be likely to ignore the Doloresaurus, either, because the 15-foot illuminated Tyrannosaurex rex skeleton takes up a whole lot of space in the place.
Details: Donors and members are free to enter; museum admission for the general public is $29.95-$39.95, with tickets available at exploratorium.edu.
— Bay City News Foundation
Bust a gut for New Year’s
Because laughing is one of the best ways to greet a new year (and expunge an old one), here’s who’s playing at the some Bay Area comedy clubs that night.
San Jose Improv: The club is hosting Alfred Robles, an on-the-rise comedian whose claim to fame is he got into comedy after getting expelled from the police academy (insert Steve Guttenberg joke here). Details: 7 and 10:30 p.m. Dec. 31; 62 S. 2nd Street, San Jose; $49.22-$101.65; improv.com/sanjose.
Tommy T’s: The Pleasanton club is hosting Tony T. Roberts. The veteran comedian is well-known to laugh fans for his many TV appearances on such shows as HBO’s “Def Comedy Jam,” BET’s “ComicView” “Showtime at the Apollo” and his touring as a solo artist as well as part of the BET Comedy Tour and Russell Simmons Def Comedy Jam Tour. Details: 7 and 9:45 p.m. Dec. 31; 5104 Hopyard Road, Pleasanton; $46-$76; tommyts.com.
Punch Line: The popular club is, in keeping with its tradition, hosting comedian Greg Proops, who grew up in the Bay Area and is known for his biting social commentary and his longtime association with the U.S. and British versions of “Whose Line Is it Anyway.” Details: 7:30 and 10 p.m. Dec. 31; 444 Battery St., San Francisco; $65-$130.70; www.punchlinecomedyclub.com.
Cobb’s Comedy Club: The North Beach club is hosting a New Year’s Eve Comedy Countdown, featuring such young yuckmeisters as Bo Johnson, Irene Tu, Mohanad Elshieky, Raanan Hersberg, and more. Details: 7:30 and 10 p.m.; 915 Columbus Ave., San Francisco; $40-$81 (subject to change); www.livenation.com.
— Randy McMullen, Staff
New Year’s shows for music lovers
Here’s are three New Year’s shows music fans should know about.
Molly Tuttle: The Grammy-winning bluegrass artist and Bay Area native is playing a hometown New Year’s Eve concert at the Guild Theatre in Menlo Park, the rehabbed former movie theater that reopened as a concert hall three years ago. Details: 9:30 p.m.; tickets start at $118.88; guldtheatre.com
Yo La Tengo, Luna: The double-bill is like an alt-rock lover’s fantasy, featuring bands with addictive and distinctive sounds with lots of first-rate guitar work. The bands are at the iconic Fillmore auditorium in San Francisco for a three-night (no show Dec. 30). Details: 8 p.m. Dec. 28-29, 9 p.m. Dec. 31; tickets start at $72.50 for Dec. 28-29, and $107 for Dec. 31; livenation.com.
Dirty Dozen Brass Band: If you can’t be in New Orleans to watch the ball drop, go see one of the Crescent City’s most revered institutions. This 45-year-old band — with its rich sound marrying traditional New Orleans jazz with funk, blues and other genres, has been a major influence in American roots music. And they are a blast in concert, as well. Details: 8 and 10:30 p.m. Dec. 31; tickets start at $54.50; sfjazz.org.
— Randy McMullen and Jim Harrington, Staff