The Barb

One of the comedians at the new Barbary Coast Comedy night is from Santa Cruz. At first glance, we figured the Santa Cruz connection automatically meant that Grant Lyon would be a reactionary weirdo full of jokes about the term “PC.” (These days, Santa Cruz cultural exports have largely moved from Bush critics to those who complain about them.) Luckily, we were just being jerks: Lyon is a hilariously sharp observer, not one of those tired white-guy bellyachers. On the subject of Canada, for example, he goes bug-eyed about the lack of censorship on the radio waves, and boggles at the dissonance between cuss words and positive messages: “Put your hands in the AIR! If you got that motherfuckin’ free health CARE!” Naturally, he also gets in a few jabs at Environmental Studies majors and their no-deodorant–wearing ways — it’s funny because it’s true. Also on the bill is local-guy-getting-national-attention Charlie Ballard and a host of other Bay Area comics.
Mondays, 9 p.m., 2009