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My son and I watched a retelling of the classic tale of “the boy who never grew up” … with puppets … last Sunday afternoon at the Bankhead Theater in Livermore.
DLUX Puppets put on a fun show with their abridged version of the adventures of Wendy, John and Michael with Peter Pan, Captain Hook, Mr. Smee and Tinker Bell, engaging well with the audience of young children, parents and grandparents.
Francis had a good time because he knows the “Peter Pan” story well and the puppets’ antics captured attention, but the tongue-in-cheek humor often went over his 3-year-old head and the music references were mainly from his grandparents’ era than catered to his generation.
It was his first professional puppet show — but oddly enough, it wasn’t my first even in the Bankhead. I saw “Avenue Q” there some years ago; talk about hilarious (definitely not for kids though).
The Tri-Valley is in the middle of a striking run of comedy on stage this spring.
Take the lineup on tap at Tommy T’s Comedy Club in Pleasanton, highlighted by Brandon T. Jackson on April 18-19, Sheryl Underwood on April 25-26, Tip Harris (T.I.) on May 2-3, Gary Owen on May 9-11, Frankie Quinones on May 16-18 and D.L. Hughley on June 13-15.
This weekend features rising comedians Jessica Michelle Singleton on Friday and Justin Silva on Saturday. The former reached out to me out of the blue ahead of her first-ever trip to Pleasanton, and was open and honest (and funny) when I engaged her for an interview.
“My shows are fast-paced and punchline heavy, with jokes that occasionally cross the line into dark or dirty material, but always managed to have an absurd silliness to them, throughout,” Singleton told me.
“No two shows are the same and while I do not go out of my way to do crowd work or veer off on side tangents, I am always doing my best to remain as present and in the moment as possible, while being true to myself which means my chaotic brain is always adding a little bit of new spice throughout the night,” she said.
Part of her life from a young age, comedy perhaps inevitably became her vocation of choice — and she’s starting to enter her stride, with two albums released, appearances on Hulu and Peacock on the resume and her debut hour-long special due out at the end of the month.
“For as long as I can remember, I was making people laugh,” she said. “I think it was something innate in me and growing up in a chaotic, unpredictable household — for all its negatives — helped me hone that ability. It became a survival skill in a sense, to be able to break the tension in a room, which is a lot of what standup comedy often does … I’m just in a constant state of observation and that leads me to my jokes.”
The city’s Firehouse Arts Center in downtown Pleasanton also hosts standups here and there, but the next isn’t on the books until the Best of San Francisco Stand-up Comedy show on May 24.
There will be laughs aplenty this month, though, as the Creatures of Impulse teen improv troupe is presenting this year’s “Tri-Valley High: The Musical” from April 24-26 – four totally unique, improvised shows.
Each performance is an “on-the-spot sitcom … a hilarious, unique, and interactive theater experience for the whole family”, according to director Lou Cooper.
“With every scene made up on the spot, ‘Tri-Valley High’ is teen improv at its most daring and delightful. Powered by audience suggestions and pure creativity, Creatures of Impulse delivers a high school musical experience like no other — packed with unpredictable twists, spontaneous songs and nonstop laughs,” city recreation supervisor Julian Mireles told me.
And then there’s the Bankhead.
This Friday, it will host the traveling show of The Second City comedy troupe (known for famous alumni like Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Martin Short, Tina Fey, Keegan-Michael Key and Steven Colbert).
On Monday, comedian Brian Maggi will host the free Livermore Valley Arts Comedy Workshop. The Best of San Francisco Comedy Competition arrives next Friday (April 18), and comedian-actor David Koechner will revisit his Dunder Mifflin days at “‘The Office’ Trivia with Todd Packer” on April 25.
My wife and I also have our eye on May 10, when Cary Elwes will appear for two engagements each featuring a screening of “The Princess Bride” and behind-the-scenes stories from the star himself.
That would make two pirate tales in a month at the Bankhead for me, but so be it. There’s a low-ticket alert for both Elwes shows though; as Westley would say, “That doesn’t leave much time for dilly-dallying.”Â
Editor’s note: Jeremy Walsh is the editorial director for the Embarcadero Media Foundation’s East Bay Division. His “What a Week” column is a recurring feature in the Pleasanton Weekly, Livermore Vine and DanvilleSanRamon.com.
