Crumbs from the Table of Joy Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, 620 Sutter; 474-8800, www.lhtsf.org. $25-32. Previews Thurs/3-Fri/4, 8pm. Opens Sat/5, 8pm. Runs Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through Feb 27. Lorraine Hansberry Theatre performs Lynn Nottage's play about an African American family who moves from the South to New York City in the 1950s.

Florida 2004: The Big Bummer Marsh, 1062 Valencia; 826-5750, www.ticketweb.com. $10-15. Previews Thurs/3-Fri/4, 8pm. Opens Feb 10, 8pm. Runs Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Through Feb 26. Dan Hoyle (Circumnavigator) performs his new solo comedy about the 2004 election.

Indigo Don't Vote Shelton Theatre, 533 Sutter; 433-1226, www.jeanshelton.com. $20. Previews Thurs/3, 8pm. Opens Fri/4, 8pm. Runs Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Through Feb 26. The Shelton Theatre presents the premiere of Andrew Ward and Gabriel Goldstein's dark comedy.

Rescue and Recovery New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness; 861-8972, www.nctcsf.org. $20-40. Previews Wed/2-Sat/4, 8pm. Opens Sat/5, 8pm. Runs Wed-Sat, 8pm; Feb 13, 20, 27, and March 6, 2pm. Through March 6. The New Conservatory Theatre Center's Pride Season Ten continues with Steve Murray's dark comedy about falling in love with the right person at the wrong time.

The Road to Mecca Phoenix Theatre, sixth fl, 414 Mason; 820-1460, www.secondwind.8m.com. $8-20. Previews Fri/4, 8pm. Opens Sat/5, 8pm. Runs Fri-Sat, Feb 17, and 24, 8pm; Feb 13 and 20, 2pm. Through Feb 26. Second Wind Productions performs Athol Fugard's drama about freedom and aging in South Africa.

The Wonders Traveling Jewish Theatre, 470 Florida; 285-8080, www.atjt.com. $22-35. Opens Fri/4, 8pm. Runs Sat/5-Sun/6, 8pm; Sun/7, 2 and 7pm. Also: Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut, Berk; same phone number and price. Runs Feb 12, 8pm; Feb 13, 2pm. Traveling Jewish Theatre celebrates 350 years of Jewish life in the United States with this all-ages, all-original play inspired by vaudeville.

Ongoing
*'Beckett/Ionesco' Off-Market Theater, 965 Mission; 262-0477, www.custommade.org. $13-15. Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Through Feb 12. Screw figuring out the universe; these days it's hard enough just to rationalize the term "social security." In the first half of this evening's absurdist drama combo, the Custom Made Theatre Company tailors Eugene Ionesco's The Bald Soprano to such contemporary quandaries by moving the 1950s French couples into comfy Mill Valley digs. The clock still chimes out of order, but in "the suburbs of San Francisco," the children drink artesian water fresh from the purest California springs at the table. With facile command of the play's rapid-fire non sequiturs and tricky wordplay, the Smiths (Eric O'Kelly and Cassie Powell) and their friends the Martins (Jay Martin and Sarah Parker Leventer) make this piece shine. The point here being, insipid liberal platitudes aren't going to get us out of the mess we're in, but with money one can buy everything. Three Samuel Beckett shorts fill the last half: Catastrophe, Come and Go, and Ohio Impromptu. The second piece, so beautifully evocative of our universal need for comfort, needs no change of setting. When you're standing at the crossroads of being and nothingness, it helps to commiserate with these two masters. (Giattina)

*Caroline, or Change Curran Theatre, 445 Geary; 512-7770, www.bestofbroadway-sf.com. $45-90. Tues-Sat, 8pm (also Wed and Sat, 2pm); Sun, 2pm. Through Feb 20. In Tony Kushner's involving, pulsating new musical – developed in collaboration with acclaimed composer Jeanine Tesori – the author once again displays his knack for registering the timbre of the times while seeking a basis for spiritual and political regeneration in the cleavages opened up by social crisis. The story's setting in 1963 Lake Charles, La., recalls Kushner's childhood there as the son of working musicians in a white Jewish household aided by an African American maid. The boy in the story is roughly the age of the playwright in 1963, the time of the burgeoning civil rights movement and the cusp of a more general social upheaval that for many seemed ominously on the horizon. Those seismic shifts in American society form the meaningful backdrop for a deceptively modest domestic drama centered on Caroline Thibodeaux (portrayed by the excellent Tonya Pinkins), an African American single mother of four who spends her days in the Gellman family's basement laundry room, its location and heat representing the earthly hell she sees as her regret-filled life. Director George C. Wolfe's evocative staging throws Kushner's unconventional characters and poetic metaphors into vivid relief, while Kushner's witty lyrics blend seamlessly with Tesori's vivacious score, an ingenious mélange of Motown, blues, klezmer, and other styles. (Avila)

Crash Course: Cooking, Juggling, and Getting Hurt Climate Theater, 285 Ninth St; 871-9699, www.crashcourseshow.com. $15. Fri-Sun, 8pm. Through June 26. Juggler Scot Nery hosts a comedy cooking show, with weekly themes, recipes, and guests.

*'Epiphanies' Magic Theatre, Fort Mason Center, Marina at Laguna; 437-6775, www.zspace.org. $25-28. Wed-Sat, 8:30pm; Sun, 3pm. Through Feb 13. Experience of the divine doesn't enter into the stories Word for Word has chosen for its latest double feature: Guy de Maupassant's The Necklace and Susan Glaspell's A Jury of Her Peers. And yet director David Dower chose to call the pairing "Epiphanies," pointing out in production notes that James Joyce defined the word, somewhat atheistically, as the moment when the essence of an object becomes apparent. And this is how the notoriously misogynistic Maupassant and the feminist Glaspell have been brought together. Both of their short stories hinge on the discovery of a thing's true meaning. The gentle sarcasm Delia MacDougall brings to The Necklace's social-climbing wife humorously tempers the sentiment that a woman's petty desires inevitably leave men hung out to dry (quite literally in this case, as two of the male supporting-cast members serve as wet suits on a laundry line). A dry and chilling wind blows through the American frontier in Jury. As two women, quietly aware of their secondary station, examine the items of a farm wife's kitchen, they use the privileged knowledge of their gender to uncover a homicide's mystery. With well-done acting and staging, the Word for Word gang makes even commas reveal themselves in interesting ways. (Giattina)

*The Gamester Geary Theater, 415 Geary; 749-2228, www.act-sf.org. $11-68. Wed/2-Sat/5, 8pm (also Wed/2 and Sat/5, 2pm); Sun/6, 2pm. Valère (Lorenzo Pisoni), a dissolute youth addicted to gambling, is the worry of his hungry servant Hector (Gregory Wallace) and the helpless sexual prey of wealthy Madame Sécurité (Joan Mankin). Hiding from creditors, inundated with debts, and living well beyond his means, he's teetering on the brink, a hair's breadth from the street. Now his father (Steve Irish) vows to disinherit him unless he changes his ways. Ditto Valère's sweetheart, the beautiful Angélique (Margot White), who won't marry until he shows he prefers her to Lady Luck. Confident he will, she entrusts Valère with a small portrait of herself in a bejeweled frame. Still, counseled by her guardian, Madame Préférée (Stacy Ross), she resolves to keep a close eye on him anyway. Freyda Thomas's modern reworking of a 17th-century French verse comedy by Molière-inspired Jean-François Regnard is a light but solidly crafted two-act send-up of addiction among the idle rich. While ultimately offering more style than substance, American Conservatory Theater's very well-cast, spirited production plays zestfully on the tension (then as now) between official Christian morality and a concomitant obsession with sin, in various forms. (Avila)

Hilda Zeum Theater, 221 Fourth St; 749-2228, www.act-sf.org. $12-24. Opens Wed/2, 6:30pm. Runs Thurs-Sat, 7:30pm (also Sat, 2pm); Feb 13 and 20, 2 and 7pm. Through Feb 26. American Conservatory Theater and Laura Pels Productions present the U.S. premiere of French-African writer Marie Ndiaye's psychological drama.

I Look Like an Egg, but I Identify As a Cookie Hotel Rex, 552 Sutter; 1-800-838-3006, www.subvert.com. $30-50. Sun, 8pm. Through Feb 27. Heather Gold revives her solo show, an "interactive baking comedy."

Mambo Italiano New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness; 861-8972, www.nctcsf.org. $20-40. Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through Feb 20. New Conservatory Theatre Center presents the American premiere of Steve Galluccio's comedy about a young man who comes out to his Italian family.

*No Exit Exit Stage Left, 156 Eddy; 419-3584. $15-20. Fri-Sat, 8pm. Through Feb 26. "Ah, there it is. That human dignity you always revert to." A lot of good it will do down here too. This is bourgeois hell. It's bad enough the bellboy (Nick Maccarone) talks back in so ominously supercilious a tone; Garcin (Adam Kenyon Venker) finds recourse to the usual evasions offered by civility only feed the beast. And who's the beast? "Hell," goes the famous line, "is other people." A formula for endless torment between Garcin and his roommates Ines (Darcy Brown-Martin) and Estelle (Danielle O'Hare), a precise mixture of the compatible and incongruous. Simple, elegant, and brutal: three words that also apply to Cutting Ball Theater's excellent production of Sartre's 1944 drama, a precursor to the theater of the absurd, presented for the first time in artistic director Rob Melrose's vibrant new translation. Director Adriana Baer helms three well-honed and engrossing performances – framed by Jon Brennan's crisp and spooky scenic-lighting design, Cliff Caruthers's sinister soundscape, and Amy Nielson's immaculately civilized costumes – as desire, sadism, and conscience turn the heat up on the most urbane of infernal settings. (Avila)

*Not a Genuine Black Man Marsh, 1062 Valencia; 826-5750. $15-22. Extended run: Thurs-Fri, 8:30pm; Sat, 5pm. Through Feb 26. What, the unapologetically middle-class Brian Copeland asks, is the real meaning behind the phrase "a genuine black man"? By way of an answer, the stand-up comic and KGO radio host offers up a simultaneously funny and disarmingly frank story about growing up African American in the racist suburb that was San Leandro in the early 1970s. Letting his narrative bounce back and forth between his boyhood memories and a period of depression that overtook him as a parent in 1999 – and interlarding the autobiography with verbatim utterances from both sides of the fight his family joined to desegregate the city – Copeland brings admirable chops as a comedian to bear on some difficult and disturbing, if ultimately hopeful, material. (Avila)

Oklahoma! Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market; 512-7770, www.ticketmaster.com. $30-75. Tues-Sat, 7:30pm (also Wed and Sat, 2pm); Sun, 2pm. Through Feb 13. Best of Broadway presents the new national touring production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic musical.

*One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest Actors Theatre of San Francisco, 533 Sutter; 296-9179, www.actorstheatresf.org. $10-25. Extended run: Thurs/3-Sat/5, 8pm. Actors Theatre presents Dale Wasserman's very stage-worthy adaptation of Ken Kesey's novel, a timely revisiting of the antiauthoritarian spirit (admittedly muddied by a complacent white masculinity circa 1962) at the heart of Kesey's tale. R.P. McMurphy (a smooth Christian Phillips, making the part his own) is an incorrigible but good-humored nonconformist who thinks he's beaten the system by trading the workhouse for the loony bin. But McMurphy immediately upsets the mental ward's precious little tyranny (a "democracy," insist the keepers of the meds) by introducing a sense of human dignity and solidarity to the ward's overgrown boys and male misfits. Minus one or two awkward transitions, solid ensemble work directed by Keith Phillips and Tim Wadell warms into an affecting production. (Avila)

*Rush Limbaugh in Night School Marsh, 1062 Valencia; 826-5750, www.themarsh.org. $15-22. Extended run: Sat, 8pm; Sun, 7pm. Through Feb 20. Picture this: it's 1998, President Bill Clinton's facing impeachment for horsing around without the consent of Congress, and Rush Limbaugh is on top of the world, as well as on top of the ratings charts, at the very peak of his celebrity. All of a sudden a Cuban American with a righter-than-thou radio slot in Miami gets Rush nervous enough to enroll incognito in an evening Spanish class at the New School for Social Research. In that classroom, Limbaugh (alias Russell Lindbergh) will fall in love with a baby-boomer massage therapist with a secret of her own. First birthed at the Marsh in 1994 to great multiple run-extending applause, Rush Limbaugh in Night School is back, and it's still some of the sharpest satire around. (Avila)

So in Love: The Songs of Cole Porter New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness; 861-8972, www.nctcsf.org. $15-25. Fri/4-Sat/5, 8pm; Sun/6, 3pm. Meg Mackay and Billy Philadelphia perform their cabaret show, featuring many of Porter's best-known songs.

The Sweetest Swing in Baseball Magic Theatre, Fort Mason Center, Marina at Laguna; 441-8822, www.magictheatre.org. $20-38. Tues-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2:30pm. Through Feb 20. The Magic Theatre hosts the American premiere of Rebecca Gilman's new drama about an artist torn between commercial success and creative integrity.

The Typographer's Dream Thick House, 1695 18th St; 821-4849, www.encoretheatrecompany.org. $15-20. Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 5pm. Through Feb 27. Encore Theatre Company performs Adam Bock's new comedy.

V the Ultimate Variety Show V Theater, Pier 39; 39-VSHOW, www.vtheshow.com. $24-44. Nightly, 6 and 8pm. Ongoing. A revolving array of variety acts highlight this family-friendly show originally produced in Las Vegas.

A View from the Bridge Actors Theatre of San Francisco, Stage II, 533 Sutter; 296-9179, www.ticketweb.com. $10-40. Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 7pm. Through Feb 26. Think Red Hook, Brooklyn, before it was hip. We're talking longshoremen, illegal immigrants, and when "big night out" meant bowling and neighborhood guys hanging out on the stoop. Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge made its Broadway debut in 1955, but 50 years later, it's still a must-see. Directed by Jennifer Welch, this Actors Theatre production is chock-full of top-notch acting talent in a provocative and engaging performance that portrays one man's obsession that leads to his untimely demise. Eddie Carbone (Scott Agar Jaicks) makes a promise to care for his niece, Catherine (Caitlyn Louchard), after the death of her mother. Eddie's devotion, attention, and affection for the coming-of-age Catherine goes too far when she meets love interest Rodolpho (Daniel Hart Donoghue), shortly after he arrives from Italy with his brother Marco (Randy Sawyer). With commentary from the neighborhood attorney, Mr. Alfieri (Ian Hirsch), immigration officers on the prowl, and Catherine's mother, Beatrice (Ann Hopkins), objecting to the unsavory family dynamics, the drama builds and creates a well-constructed tale that haunts long after the curtain closes. (Mantzaris)

What a Crime! García Lorca! Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, 2868 Mission; 643-2785, www.missionculturalcenter.org. $10-20. Thurs/3-Sat/5, 8pm. Argentine playwright Héctor Schujman depicts the demise of the great Spanish poet and dramatist at the hands of the fascists in 1936, during the first days of the Spanish Civil War. Drawing on Lorca's words, the historical record, and his own imagination, Schujman's intentionally didactic approach begins with a group of Falangist soldiers (the actors wear grotesque half masks to emphasize their characters' depravity) plotting to eliminate a list of "subversives" including Lorca. One of them, Captain Rosales (James Galileo), objects. As a fan of Lorca's work, he vows to appeal to the Archbishop of Granada (Leon Setti). Meanwhile, Lorca (an animated but inconsistent Brian Neilson) rehearses a puppet show with a group of women as friends come by to warn him he must flee, advice he repeatedly rebuffs. It will finally be too late when he does flee, and Captain Rosales will of course get worse than nowhere with the hierarchy of the reactionary Catholic Church. Despite the subject matter and its particular resonance today, the cumbersome scenes tend to be overwritten, while director José Luis Leiva's large and very uneven cast can sometimes seem adrift in a production that needs more forward momentum. (Avila)

Bay Area
Bridge and Tunnel Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison, Berk; (510) 647-2949, www.berkeleyrep.org. $20-40. Thurs/3, Sat/5, Feb 12, and 17-19, 8pm (also Sat/5, 2pm); Feb 13 and 20, 2 and 7pm. Through Feb 20. Sarah Jones brings her Broadway-bound, multi-character solo show to Berkeley Rep for a series of workshop performances.

Dublin Carol Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison, Berk; (510) 843-4822, www.auroratheatre.org. $28-45. Previews Wed/2, 8pm. Opens Thurs/3, 8pm. Runs Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through March 6. Aurora Theatre Company performs Conor McPherson's tale of an alcoholic Irish undertaker who is offered an unexpected chance at redemption.

Fêtes de la nuit Berkeley Rep's Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison, Berk; (510) 647-2949, www.berkeleyrep.org. $10-55. Opens Wed/2, 8pm. Runs Tues, Thurs-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Wed and Sun, 7pm (also Sun, 2pm). Through Feb 27. Berkeley Rep performs Charles Mee's "naughty valentine" to love and passion in contemporary Paris.

Fortune Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller, Mill Valley; (415) 388-5208, www.marintheatre.org. $28-46 (Tues, pay what you can). Tues, Thurs-Sat, 8pm (also Thurs/3, 1pm; also Feb 12, 2pm); Wed, 7:30pm; Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through Feb 13. Marin Theater Company presents the world premiere of Deborah Zoe Laufer's New York romantic comedy, the improbable romance between a world-weary fortune-teller and a social leper, both "fated" to remain alone. Jeremy (Darren Bridgett, in a Ritalin-ready bout of nervous fidgeting) is a desperately lonely accountant and orphan who approaches the veiled, mysterious, and cranky Madame Rosa, a.k.a. Maude (a wonderfully tough but frayed Julia Brothers), as a last hope before consigning himself to the East River. Maude breaks faith with the spirit world by lying to the poor sap about a "beautiful redhead" in his future, effectively adopting the grateful CPA. The socially phobic Maude now has to come up with the forecasted redhead, though her various attempts at impersonating one can't impress Jeremy as much as her faceless foreign-sounding self. Meanwhile, Maude's outlook changes upon realizing that saving the schlemiel proves the future isn't a done deal. Laufer, whose fine comedy of Jewish family dysfunction The Last Schwartz ran at MTC last season, displays again her facility with humor, though the edges are considerably rougher and the insights less penetrating. MTC's Lee Sankowich helms a lighthearted production featuring some genuine laughs, but Fortune's riches are pretty modest in the end. (Avila)

Fronteras Americanas Mills College, Lisser Hall, 500 MacArthur, Oakl; (510) 436-5085, www.theatrefirst.com. $10-22. Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 3pm. Through Feb 13. See "Out of Place."

Seduced Live Oak Theatre, 1301 Shattuck, Berk; (510) 525-1620. $10. Fri-Sat and Feb 17, 8pm; Feb 13, 2pm. Through Feb 19. Actors Ensemble of Berkeley performs Sam Shepard's drama about the downside of fame and fortune.

*The Serpent Eighth Street Studios, 2525 Eighth St, Berk; (510) 527-8119, www.raggedwing.org. $10-20. Fri-Sat, 8pm. Through Feb 19. The East Bay's newest theater company, Ragged Wing Ensemble, marks its debut with a flawless and spirited production of Jean Claude Van Itallie's allegory of lost innocence and the problem of evil. An imaginative piece of physical theater originally created in collaboration with the Open Theater in 1967, and here expertly choreographed by director Amy Sass in coordination with music director Dan Zemelman, The Serpent uses the biblical story of the fall to frame a nonlinear series of historical and mythic images that speak to the disorder and political violence of modern American culture. Revolving around the fact and consequence of human consciousness (Adam's realization that "I am not the same as these"), a lithesome and charismatic ensemble (Keith C. Davis, Andrea Hart, Jeffrey Hoffman, Anna Shneiderman, and Frank Turco) morphs in and out of arrestingly beautiful, playful scenes, the play's fluid structure spinning a continually evolving social tableau whose harmony and cohesion are fractured only by the winding, divisive form of the serpent. A chorus of five young women (sometimes in the masks of old hags) bears solemn witness to the cycle of life uncoiled from an idyllic but forgotten beginning of endless possibility. (Avila)

Shakespeare in Hollywood Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro, Mountain View; (650) 903-6000, www.theatreworks.org. $20-50. Tues, 7:30pm (no show Tues/8); Wed-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm, but no 2pm show Feb 12); Sun, 2 and 7pm (no 7pm show Sun/6 or Feb 13). Through Feb 13. Theatreworks performs Ken Ludwig's Hollywood farce, which imagines that characters from A Midsummer Night's Dream come to life and are cast in the 1934 film version of the play.

dance
Dallas Black Dance Theatre City College of San Francisco, Diego Rivera Theater, 50 Phelan; 239-3580. Tues, 11am. Free. See Critic's Choice.

Ellis Wood Dance Cowell Theater, Fort Mason Center, Marina at Laguna; 345-7575, www.fortmason.org. Sat, 8pm. $15. The New York City-based modern dance company performs Stella, Timeless Red, and Pignut.

'Forever Tango' Post Street Theatre, 450 Post; 771-6900, www.ticketmaster.com. Tues-Sat and Feb 14, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm; no show Feb 16); Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through Feb 20. $39.50-67.50. Luis Bravo presents a return engagement of his tango extravaganza.

'Remote and Meditation on Three Raisins: New Performance by Winter Artists in Residence' 848 Community Space, 848 Divisadero; 922-2385, www.848.com. Thurs-Sun, 8pm. $10-15 (no one turned away for lack of funds). See 8 Days a Week.

Rennie Harris Puremovement Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater, 700 Howard; 978-ARTS, www.ybca.org. Thurs-Sat, 8pm. $24-45. See Critic's Choice.

San Francisco Ballet War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness; 865-2000, www.sfballet.org. Program One: Wed/2, 7:30pm; Fri/4, Feb 10, and 12, 8pm (also Feb 12, 1pm); Sun/6, 2pm. Program Two: Thurs/3, Sat/5, Tues/8, and Feb 11, 8pm (also Sat/5, 1pm); Feb 9, 7:30pm; Feb 13, 2pm. $8-165. Program One includes Lar Lubovitch's ... Smile with My Heart, Helgi Tomasson's 7 for Eight, and Balanchine's Theme and Variations. Program Two includes Mark Morris's Maelstrom, a world premiere by Stanton Welch, and Paul Taylor's Company B.

Bay Area
'Black Choreographer's Festival: Here and Now' Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice, Oakl; (415) 863-9835. $10-20. Fri/4-Sat/5, 8pm; Sun/6, 3 and 7pm. Also Feb 11-13, same show times, phone number, and price, Project Artaud Theater, 450 Florida, SF. See Critic's Choice.

Virginia Iglesias La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck, Berk; (510) 849-2568, www.lapena.org. Sat, 8pm. $18-20. The flamenco choreographer performs new works, with original music by Jorge Liceaga.

performance
BATS Improv Bayfront Theater, Fort Mason Center, Bldg B, Marina at Laguna; 474-8935, www.improv.org. Fri-Sat, 8pm: "The Life Game," $10-12. Fri-Sun, 8pm: "True Romance, Improvised Comedy" $8-15.

'Between Dirt and Sky' Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson; 392-4400, www.cityboxoffice.com. Sat-Sun, 2pm (also Sat, 7:30pm). $8-15. Through Feb 13. The San Francisco Arts Education Project presents this musical about the life of Cesar Chavez performed by children's theater company Arts Ed Event Players.

'The Buddy Club' Randall Museum, 199 Museum Way; www.thebuddyclub.com. Sun, 11am-noon. $7. The Brian Waite Band and juggler Doug Nolan entertain the kiddies.

'Cabaret: Tongue In Cheek' ODC Theater, 3153 17th St; www.sfgmc.org, 865-3650. Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2 and 7pm. $20-25. Dr. Kathleen McGuire and the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus present their annual cabaret show.

Climate Theater 285 Ninth St; 863-1076. Ongoing. $5. Mon, 8pm: "Monday Night Improv Jam," presented by the San Francisco Improv Co-Operative. Tues, 8pm: "Tuesday Night Improv Special: Night of 1,000 Games," short-form improv jam.

'Comedy on the Square' Shelton Theatre, 533 Sutter; 522-8900. Ongoing. $15. Fri, 10pm: "Big City Improv."

'Funny but Mean' Exit Theatre, 156 Eddy; 387-2046. Mon, 7pm. $6. The improv group lampoons "award shows."

'GenderEnders' Femina Potens, 465 South Van Ness; www.juliaserano.com. Wed, 8pm. $3-7. Tranny band Lipstick Conspiracy, spoken word artist MK, and other genderqueer performers take the stage; the night includes an open mic.

'Monday Night Marsh' Marsh, 1074 Valencia; 826-5750, ext 6, www.themarsh.org. Mon, 8pm. $7. Rebecca Fisher, Natalie Taylor, Manley Lennox, and Julia Mitchell perform.

Off-Market Theater and Studio 965 Mission; www.cafearts.com. Wed, 8pm: Staged reading of Horatio's Son, by playwright Vadanak Ke, $5-10. Thurs, 8pm: "Improv (R)evolution: Zeppelin Beach Singing Improv Contest," $10. Sat, 10pm: "Ha Bloody Ha," $10. Sun, 2pm: "Uncle Buzzy's Hometown Theater Show," $10. Sun, 8pm: "Gayprov," $5.

'Pharmasupial: Love Doctor' SF Playhouse, 536 Sutter; (510) 645-1223. Sat, 10pm. $15. Improv performers base sketches on audience members' love lives.

'Three Drops of Blood: Installment IV' Dance Mission Theater, 3316 24th St; 273-4633. Fri-Sat, 8pm. $16-19. Ali Tabatabai curates a music, dance, and performance event featuring Janice Garrett and Dancers, Guy Klucevsek, Accordian Works, and others.

'The Wonders' Traveling Jewish Theatre, 470 Florida; 285-8080, www.atjt.com. Fri-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2 and 7pm. $22-35. Traveling Jewish Theater performs an all-ages celebration of 350 years of Jewish culture.

Bay Area
'Love, Place, and Memory' Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant, Berk; (510) 845-8542, ext 376. Mon, 7:30pm. Free. Actors give "lively readings" of short fiction by Emma Donoghue, Mark Helprin, and Louise Erdrich.

'Tourette's Without Regrets' Jack London Square, 201 Broadway, Oakl; (510) 763-1146. Thurs, 8:30pm. $7-10. Jamie Kennedy and Geoff Trechard host an "underground Vaudeville show" of hip-hop performance, freestyle battles, and a poetry slam.

comedy
Buriel Clay Theater 762 Fulton; info@bookhousecafe.com. Sat, 7:30pm: "Bernard's Silly Saturdays," with featured comedians Jovelyn, Poke, Sinderella, and Tony Sparks.

Canvas Gallery 1200 Ninth Ave; 504-0010. Tues, 8pm: "Comedy Open Mic Night," with host Susan Alexander, free.

Club Deluxe 1511 Haight; 552-6949. Mon, 9pm: "StandUp Showcase: Heather Gold," with rotating hosts Leah Eva and Sam Arno, free.

Club Excelsior 4704 Mission; 1-888-777-4992. Fri, 8pm, "World's Greatest Comedy Hypnosis Show," free.

Cobb's Comedy Club 915 Columbus; www.cobbscomedyclub.com or www.ticketweb.com. Wed, 8pm: "All-Pro Comedy Showcase," $10. Thurs-Sun, 8pm (also Fri-Sat, 10:15pm): Arj Barker, $13-17.

Eureka 215 Jackson; www.elephantlarry.com. Sat-Sun, 8pm: "Elephant Larry," $15-20.

50 Mason Lounge 50 Mason; 398-4129, www.50masonlounge.com. Wed-Sat, 8pm: "San Francisco Comedy Club Showcase," $10.

Green Room Comedy Club 2801 Leavenworth; 674-9333, www.greenroomcomedy.com. Wed and Mon-Tues, 8:30pm: "Green Room Pro Showcase," $10. Thurs-Sun, 8:30pm: Mike Pace with Jenny McNulty, $12-20.

Luggage Store 1007 Market; www.luggagetuesdays.blogspot.com. Tues, 8pm: Comedy open mic, free.

Mock Cafe 1074 Valencia; 826-5750, ext 5, www.themarsh.org. Sat, 9:30 and 11pm: Stand-up comedy, $7.

Punch Line Comedy Club 444 Battery; 375-7573, www.punchlinecomedyclub.com. Mon, 9pm: "Joe Klocek's Get It?!," $5. Tues, 9pm: Jimmy Dore with Mickey Joseph, Rick Mitchell, $10.

Purple Onion 140 Columbus; 956-1635. Sat, 9:30pm: "Tutti Frutti Commedia," $10.

SFCC Club House 414 Mason, Ste 705; www.sfcomedycollege.com. Sat, 8pm: "The Stand-up Project," free.

Shelton Theatre 533 Sutter; 522-8900, www.comedyonthesquare.com. Sun, 3pm: "Celebration of Laughs," $15. Sun, 8:30pm: "Tony Sparks Comedy Showcase," with Julia Jackson, Carla Clayy, and others, $15.

Uptown 200 Capp; 206-9997. Wed, 8:30pm: "Uptown Comedy Open Mic," hosted by Eric Peterson, free.

spoken word

Open mics take place almost every night in cafés throughout the Bay Area. If you want to perform, show up about half an hour before start time to put your name on the list. A day-by-day guide to spoken word events and featured readers:

Wednesday: Canvas Cafe 1200 Ninth Ave, SF; (415) 504-0060, mike@westcoastvideo.net. "Open Mic Talent Showcase," 7:30pm, free. Lost and Found Saloon 1353 Grant, SF; (415) 981-9557. Open mic with host Chris Brown, 8:30pm, free. Berkeley High School 2223 MLK Jr Way, Berk; www.youthspeaks.org. "Youth Speaks Teen Poetry Slam Semifinals," 7pm, $4-6. La Peña Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck, Berk; (510) 849-2568, www.lapena.org. "Cafe Poetry," hosted by Kira Allen, 7:30pm, donations accepted.

Thursday: 16th Street and Mission BART plaza 16th St at Mission, SF; (415) 255-9881. "CAI Street Arts Workshop," open mic, 9:30pm, free. Mediterranean Cafe 2475 Telegraph, Berk; (510) 526-5985. "Word Beat Reading Series," with featured readers Chris Angell and Rita Bregman, 7pm, free. Youth Speaks 2169 Folsom, SF; www.youthspeaks.org. "Youth Speaks Teen Poetry Slam Semifinals," 7pm, $4-6. Morrison Library UC Berkeley, Berk; lunchpoems.berkeley.edu. "Lunch Poems Reading Series," with featured poet Barbara Guest, 12:10pm, free.

Friday: Oakland Metro 201 Broadway, Oakl; www.youthspeaks.org. "Youth Speaks Teen Poetry Slam Semifinals," 7pm, $4-6.

Saturday: Red Vic Peace Center 1665 Haight, SF; (415) 864-1978. "Open Mic and Hot Tamales," 5-9pm, free. Intersection for the Arts 446 Valencia, SF; www.youthspeaks.org. "Youth Speaks Teen Poetry Slam Semifinals," 2pm, $4-6. Edinburgh Castle Pub 950 Geary, SF; (415) 885-4074, www.castlenews.com. "7th Avenue Reading Series," 7:30pm, free. West Oakland Public Library 1800 Adeline, Oakl; "African American Celebration Through Poetry," 1-4pm, free.

Sunday: Cafe Prague 584 Pacific, SF; (415) 905-8837. William Mercer reads, plus open mic, 4-5:30pm, free. Cody's Books 2454 Telegraph, Berk; (510) 845-7852. "Poetry Flash," with Mark Wunderlich, 7:30pm, $2.

Monday: Purple Onion 140 Columbus, SF; (415) 217-8400, www.caffemacaroni.com. Open mic hosted by the Kitchenettes, 7pm, $5. Priya Indian Cuisine 2072 San Pablo, Berk; berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com. "Poetry Express," open mic with featured reader Mahogony, 7pm, free.

Tuesday: Park Branch Public Library 1833 Page, SF; www.sfpl.org. "Poetry Open Mic: On the Stage, Off the Page," hosted by Diamond Dave Whitaker and Maryann Daryabgi, 7-9pm, free. The Beanery 2925 College, Berk; (510) 549-9093. "The Whole Note Poetry Series," open mic with featured readers the Boyz from Santa Cruz, 7pm, free. Cafe Royale 800 Post, SF; info@youthspeaks.org, "Spoken City," featured poets and open mic, 7:30pm, $3-5.