The art of storytelling took a hit the day Johannes Gutenberg began fucking around with moveable type (on or around Tuesday, 1450), but stoking a good story by firelight or halogen lamp hangs on as a cultural desideratum in places like Ireland or San Francisco. Arline Klatte and Beth Lisick figured that out a long time ago, of course, with their Porchlight [1] series (nine years running and going strong). But "Previously Secret Information [2]" has lately proved there is plenty more storytelling worth accommodating in this chatty town.
Produced by stalwart stand-up comic Joe Klocek [3] and impresarios Bruce Pachtman and Ty Mckenzie, "PSI" slants toward the comic and happens on the odd Sunday at Stage Werx Theatre — including this Sun/11, oddly enough. The new installment features well-known pop music critic Joel Selvin, with consummate insider dish about Bill Graham back in the day; the Dursts (political satirist Will and partner in comedy Debi), recounting an understandably bizarre White House wedding they attended (I’m guessing probably not in the Bush years); and Sammy Obeid, a former UC Berkeley honor roll student turned stand-up comic (it must have been one of those funny majors), relating the story of how a teetotaler gets a DUI.
It’s already an impressive bill. But there’s more: Klocek joins the lineup with his own account of how “Barney the Dinosaur Got My Butt Kicked.” I don’t know if this tail tale can match Klocek’s last "PSI" offering — a near-death experience that changed the course of his life that was at times predictably hilarious, at times surprisingly moving, and always genuine — but I’d be keen to find out.
"Previously Secret Information (PSI)"
Sun/11, 7 p.m., $15
Stage Werx Theatre
446 Valencia, SF
www.stagewerx.org [4]
Links:
[1] http://www.porchlightsf.com/
[2] http://www.standupjoe.com/www.standupjoe.com/previously_secret_information.html
[3] http://www.standupjoe.com/www.standupjoe.com/Home.html
[4] http://www.stagewerx.org