There is no bad seat at The Freight but this time I got front row , it's always general admission…read moreseating. This show was for Dave Alvin and Jimmy Dale Gilmore... two legends playing without their band for this show. Last time I saw them with their full band much closer to home at Felton Music Hall... also a great venue. Opening artist was guitarist Lenny Kaye from The Smiths and he was great too. Awesome audience as usual for The Freight. Get out and see live music, it's always a great time.

We saw Keola Beamer and Henry Kapono recently. It was our first visit to the Freight since they…read moremoved ever so long ago. This is truly a nice venue to see music. The staff is friendly; parking is convenient next door in the garage; plenty of restaurants nearby. There were also a few snack items and drinks available for sale. I was bummed that perhaps customer service and management aren't completely in synch with their own policies. I had written and asked if photography would be allowed since this was a Hawaiian show. I wanted to bring in one camera with an attached lens, no flash to take photos for personal use only. I was told that the policy was no photography was allowed. On the night of the show, the last announcement before the show started, was that non-flash photography was welcome. Oh well.

The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe is only on for 4 more performances- SEE…read moreIT! STREAM IT!! Marga Gomez is utterly astonishing in her talent performing this brilliant & iconic (Lily Tomlin) monologue of the 80s/90s (written by her wife Jane Wagner). It's a MUST SEE in the absolutely charming downtown Berkeley arts district theatre!

the SEARCH for SIGNS of INTELLIGENT LIFE in the UNIVERSE is fabulous. Marga Gomez does a fantastic…read morejob. It is on until August 10th. Don't miss it.

Provocation Theatre is one of the best dang improv theatre's in the Bay. I've taken a few classes…read moreat Provocation and at first hand experience, I must say they are sooo welcoming, put newcomers or anybody who's nervous to play infront of strangers at ease. Also super cost effective.They are very understanding and are very supportive whatever the financial situation. If your just starting improv or are vetrans in the game, highly recommend checking out this theatre!

This theatre is my Bay Area improv home. Everything one associates positively with a "home-like"…read morefeeling is Provocation Theatre. From their warm, welcoming, kind, inclusive, social/economic justice minded, and skillful teachers to their eclectic and humxnizing variety of speciality classes and workshops to their fun and frolicky community improv jams to just all the wonderful people within Provocation Theatre that I'm lucky enough to consider and build community with, Provocation Theatre is truly a place to unleash the inner child in safe, creative, and empowering ways. So grateful the East Bay has this treasured community resource to play, connect, and grow as an improviser and as a humxn (esp during these trying times). Do yourself a solid and check them out

I have never seen live Improv and it was incredibly impressive…read more I hosted a small client event at Stone Soup Improv and I reached out to folks who attended after the fact and everyone loved it. So this review is only a single review, but there is research from about 20 other people behind it. Everyone I asked would give Stone Soup Improv 4 or 5 stars. My cheeks hurt until Tuesday following the show. Even the skits that bombed were funny. An absolutely great time. I would certainly recommend Stone Soup to anyone who is wavering.

Improv is hard, man. I know that from attempting it at a couple of workshops within the last year,…read moreduring which I bounced from the high of getting something really right to the low of feeling the trickle of yolk on my face. Which is why I applaud the six brave souls of Stone Soup Improv, who hit way more highs than lows in the show I attended last night. Stone Soup consists of three guys and three gals, though gender was highly irrelevant during their entertaining romp of a show in which roles were often reversed to strong comedic effect. Female performers played mustachioed bartenders in a Western and a stalking boyfriend in a Paris nightclub. Blokes were suddenly aged mothers and passionate daughters in scenes from a Spanish soap opera. Mind you, this show had much more than gender reversal going on: there were talking wristwatches, two-faced customer service representatives, kung fu masters, bullfighting dentists, world knitting championship competitors - all conjured up out of the imagination of the performers, with seeds planted by the audience. There were memorable moments sprinkled throughout the show, my favorites being the poetry slams performed by Jonathan Stern and Dan Rosenthal (about dish soap lingerie and eagle scouts, respectively) and the song composed on the spot by the magnetic Jennifer Simmons built around random words lobbed in by the audience (you try coming up with lyrics on the theme of Nantucket, including the words pterodactyl, eukelele and fink). And even occasionally less successful skits became classic - when Ryan Fuller turned to Stern in the middle of one scene and said " I'm lost", the audience roared, sharing Fuller's confusion. A couple of skits fell a little flat, but that's the beauty of improv - you shut the scene down, wipe the slate, and start over. In the interests of full disclosure, I should make it known that I work with three members of this cast. Regardless though, I'd recommend this show to anyone looking for a night of unpredictable comedy where just about anything can happen.

On a Tuesday night, the last thing I want to do is surround myself with high art and pretentious…read morepeople. I want to unwind. Last night, Carrie Fisher's show was a little like reading Entertainment Weekly on heavy doses of codeine (which happens to be her drug of choice). There was this warm relaxing glow to the whole evening, complete with complimentary wine after the show. Oh, and George Lucas was sitting three rows in front of me. As in, THE George Lucas. As in, "these are not the droids you are looking for" George Lucas. Debbie Reynolds was in the audience once again (she came for the first preview), and Fisher even "outed" her at one point, yelling "Right, mom?? RIGHT??". Perfection. The production is not a play as much as a loosely organized string of silly anecdotes about Hollywood and testimonials to addiction and its aftermath. You won't be able to discuss the actress's "layered performance" and the "subtle nuances" of the character's rites of passage. This show is not for culture snobs but for Americans hooked on reality tv and Flavor Flav. The next production at Berkeley Rep, Les Waters' TRAGEDY, will bring back your exploration of the futility of man's existence in a postmodern world. I'm sure it will be brilliant. But for now, I'll pour myself a drink and keep laughing.

I should have known what type of evening I was headed for when I saw four old women dressed in the…read moreRed Hat Society uniform - scarlet red sequent berets with head too toe matching ensembles probably purchased from QVC - enjoying the roast turkey special in the window at Cosmic diner. As I walked by thinking "that will be me one day" little did I know I was already one of them. I would run into this gaggle of elderly girl power again in the first mezzanine of Studio 54 for a preview performance of Carrie Fisher's one woman show Wishful Drinking. Now, you may ask, "why did you get a ticket to that, Kristen?" Good question, a one-woman show created and performed by the woman most famous for being chained to a blob while wearing a metal bikini normally would not be on my theatre to-see list, but I love solo performances. To carry an entire show solo, in my opinion, is the boldest act of theatrical courage I can witness and when one pops up I like to support the person who takes on the challenge. Highlights of this style have been Vanessa Redgrave in Year of Magical Thinking and the most memorable of them all Christopher Plummer in Barrymore. So where does a bipolar Princess Leia fit into the mix? I have to say she doesn't. If I was in Branson, MO with my fellow silver fox bus tour members I think I would have loved this show, or at least would have been giggly shocked by some of the references to drugs, gay men and the love life of Eddie Fisher. But I'm a New Yorker, please - we are sitting in Studio 54 the walls have more shocking stories. And as for opening the show with a charming - and odd - antidote about waking up next to a gay guy dead in your bed - hello I live in Chelsea I can hear more hard core gay stories during Musical Monday at Splash. Ms. Fisher is a snappy lady. I would love to have her as a guest at a dinner party because I bet she is magnificent with her spontaneous one-liners and jokes around a table, but she is not much of an actress - or she was having a manic episode on stage - I'm not sure which. I felt bad for the director because I can't imagine his instruction was pace, use your hands a lot and talk fast. Plus, did she choose the costumes? She kept making jokes about her weight and her looks - she looks like her Mother (Debbie Reynolds) with a hint of her Step-Mother (Connie Stevens) added on via plastic surgery - but she came out wearing silk pajamas and kicked off her shoes. You wear pajamas for comfort not for attractiveness, so don't make fun of yourself for not looking great. The delivery of the stories felt very stale and she forgot her accounts more then once blaming her early morning trip to the Today show as the reason (I would also blame whatever medication she obviously is on). There was some predictable interaction with the audience and a very predictable bit about a Princess Leia sex doll that looked more like an anime character to me, but I guess the point was made. The Red Hats loved the show laughing at all the bits and blushing at the mere mention of "gay". I suspect they stayed after to get pictures and autographs that I know Ms. Fisher happily obliged. I left vowing to never move to Florida, keep my plastic surgery to a minimum and if I ever end up marrying a man who leaves me for another man I will do the sensible thing and act like it never happened.

It was disappointing that their college and cabaret performance space closed, but they still have…read moreperformances across the street in a pleasant hall.

I've been taking classes (playing in bands) here for four years. Gotten me back on track in terms…read moreof my playing. It's also becoming a good place to hear concerts, hard to find any creative music venues these days.

I've now attended 4 Critical Hit shows. It's an absolute steal of a night out. They've got great…read morealternating hosts, and comics that punch way above average. I've been to shows at Cobb's that were a big letdown and have yet to experience such at Critical Hit. Last night the crowd was ready and they had to add extra seats in the back to accommodate. Sure there's no brick wall or velvet backdrop, who cares?! I came to laugh. Xander Beltran closed out a night that already had everyone gassing with great sets from the hosts and Diana Hong! There's something special about local talent sharing a stage with other locals and touring comics. The standup community is a patchwork of regions and backgrounds that somehow finds ways of supporting each other and pulling the best out of these crossing paths. Need ideas for a date night? Critical Hit is the closer. Anywhere nearby in Temescal is going to have good food and drinks. If you're a planner, getting tickets more than a week in advance and it adds very little cost to your budget for the night. If you can't plan your way out of a paper bag, it's still stupid cheap to finish out your night with comedy on a whim. There's also a local ice cream shop around the corner open til 11pm on Saturdays. Can grab dessert before or after the show. I don't recommend making eye contact with the comics while eating your cone. Do not recommend. Actually wait, since you're the one eating and making eye contact, maybe I'm the one watching, so... highly recommend. Bottom line: I enjoy standup comedy, if you enjoy standup comedy, you'll like the laughs available at Critical Hit.

i have been going to this show for years, and always have a good time. it's a well run show with…read moreprofessional, diverse lineups. the hosts have been working together a long time and you can tell they have really fun onstage chemistry with each other. it's also in an amazing local business, one i've shopped at many times, and it just feels cool to be watching stand-up in a game store. i took some friends who were visiting from out of town, and it was an awesome way to show off oakland. would recommend this show to anyone! whatever style of comedy you dig, they'll have it

Lovely venue. Very intimate. When they say arrive early, do so. There is no need to get VIP. There…read moreis no bad seat in the house. However, I am all for supporting the Arts. So if you do wish to pay the higher ticket price, know it is going to a good cause. There is a parking garage. The entrance is on Kittredge st, you can exit the garage on Allston Way.

Great place to see top-rate solo performers! They have an intimate theater, as well as a…read morebar/cabaret space. Last night was the first time we saw a show in the bar space and it was very fun, ordered reasonably priced cocktails.