Good Medicine To Perform Night Of Live Native Stand-up Comedy At Cal Shakes
The July 17 performance marks the first in-person performance for Good Medicine, which began as a virtual showcase to raise funds for tribes impacted by the pandemic.
By: A.A. Cristi Jun. 23, 2021
Jackie Keliiaa's Good Medicine announces a Night of Live Native Stand-Up to be held on July 17 at California Shakespeare Theater featuring top Native American stand-up comedians.
The lineup includes: Marc Yaffee, a seasoned veteran whose Dry Bar special went viral; Adrianne Chalepah who opened for First Lady Michelle Obama; Brian Bahe whose jokes have been featured in NPR, Vulture, and The Los Angeles Times; Kaitlyn Jeffers who is a contributing writer for The Hard Times and has been featured in The Los Angeles Times; and Keliiaa who's opened for names like Judah Friedlander, Nikki Glaser and was recently featured on Team Coco LIVE: Moses & Friends. The 90-minute show will be followed by a DJ and dance party.
Keliiaa-an Oakland-based comedian and producer-began producing Good Medicine virtually in May 2020 as a way to showcase Native comedians and fundraise for tribes impacted by COVID-19, raising over $11,000 for charitable causes. July 17 marks Good Medicine's first in-person performance since the show began.
"You won't find any stoic Hollywood tropes in these sets, these Native comedians are using comedy to redefine Native identity in their own words and on their own terms," says Keliiaa. "This art is urgent. It needs to be heard, lauded, celebrated and supported. Native comedy is blowing up and Good Medicine is a long-overdue spotlight on live stand-up comedy from some of the best and brightest comedians Indian Country has to offer."
2021 has been a groundbreaking year in Native American comedy-We Had a Little Real Estate Problem: The Unheralded Story of Native Americans & Comedy was published featuring Keliiaa and many comedians on the lineup, Rutherford Falls premiered and became an instant hit, and the highly-anticipated Reservation Dogs premieres this summer.
Doors open at 6:30 pm and the show begins at 8:00 pm on July 17. Audiences are encouraged to arrive early and enjoy dinner and drinks on the Bruns Amphitheater grounds before showtime. Be sure to bring your blanket as temperatures cool in the evening. Copies of We Had a Little Real Estate Problem: The Unheralded Story of Native Americans & Comedy will be raffled off throughout the evening. Tickets start at $25.
"We've finally turned a corner in this pandemic. More than ever we need to gather and celebrate life," says Keliiaa. "Comedians are here to bring folks some good medicine-laughter."
"When Cal Shakes started conversations about a season of Shared Light, Jackie was the first person I thought of," says Cal Shakes Artistic Director Eric Ting. "After the racial reckoning of this past year, one thing we've been doing is looking to prioritize opportunities for Native artists; and we are humbled to host Good Medicine and grateful for the laughter to come."
Good Medicine is generously sponsored by Cal Shakes, the Sogorea Te' Land Trust, an urban Indigenous women-led land trust facilitating the return of Indigenous land to Indigenous people and IllumiNative, a nonprofit increasing the visibility of Native Nations & peoples in America. Non-Indigenous people living on traditional Lisjan Ohlone territory are encouraged to pay Shuumi Land Tax to support the critical work of the Sogorea Te' Land Trust.
For more information and tickets, visit: calshakes.org/good-medicine.
Comments
Videos