Doors at 7:30 pm; Show at 8:00 pm

Tickets are $15 - $25 Sliding Scale
Buy Tickets here

Comedy at Ashkenaz One-Year Anniversary All-Star Show!

Bay Area comedian and comedy producer, Lisa Geduldig (of Kung Pao Kosher Comedy), and Ashkenaz Music & Dance Community Center joined forces one year ago to bring the East Bay a new monthly comedy series, Comedy at Ashkenaz!

On Thursday, October 11, Comedy at Ashkenaz celebrates its 1st Anniversary with an ALL-STAR comedy line up and a party with food after the show!

Together, we’ve celebrated Black History Month, International Women’s Day/Women’s History Month, and Gay Pride, we’ve raised money for two organizations and causes (the Redwood Empire Food Bank which provided food to shelters in Sonoma County for residents displaced by the North Bay fires and RAICES: The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services).

The 1 st Anniversary show features a line-up of Bay Area hard-hitting comedians: Diane Amos, Marga Gomez, Karen Ripley, Ngaio Bealum, Carla Clayy, and Lisa Geduldig.

Diane Amos is a San Francisco-based actress, improv artist, and comedian who is known as The Pine Sol Lady for having starred in their national commercials for over 20 years. She has appeared in numerous films including Nine Months, Copycat, Angels in the Outfield, EDTV, Twisted, and Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine.

Diane was a semi-finalist in Star Search, has been on A&E’s Evening at The Improv, Lifetime’s Girls’ Night Out, and Comedy Central’s Women Aloud. She has also been a winner on the game shows: Wheel of Fortune, $25,000 Pyramid, and Super Password. She was raised in SF by two lesbian mothers and attended Washington High School in the Richmond District, where took an improvisational comedy class…and the rest is history.

Marga Gomez is currently appearing in her critically acclaimed show Latin Standards at the Marsh in Berkeley. She is a GLAAD Award winner and was named “Best Bay Area Comedian” by the SF Weekly, Bay Area Reporter and The SF Bay Guardian. Robin Williams called her “Amazing…a lesbian Lenny Bruce.”

Armistead Maupin called her “astonishing.” Gomez’s comedy has been featured on HBO, LOGO, Showtime, Comedy Central and PBS. She has been a guest on leading comedy podcasts Marc Maron’s “WTF: The Keith and The Girl Show,” and Kevin Allison’s “Risk”. Her comic style has been described as “deliciously cheeky and incendiary” by the New York Times and “salaciously surreal” by the San Francisco Chronicle. She is a regular performer on Olivia Cruises and has been featured at numerous comedy festivals including SF Sketchfest, Montreal’s Just For Laughs, South Beach Comedy Festival, Vancouver Comedy Festival, and The Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She is also the author/performer of twelve solo plays, which have been presented Off-Broadway, nationally and internationally. Gomez can be seen in season two of the Netflix series “Sense8“  Her website is  margagomez.com

Ngaio Bealum uses his great storytelling ability, razor sharp wit, and engaging stage presence to leave audiences howling with laughter. He has earned a 5-star rating on Ticketmaster.com and has appeared on ABC, MTV, BET, Comedy Central, and many other TV programs. He has opened for Dave Chappelle and Weird Al (but not at the same time) and is also a regular guest on The Doug Benson Podcasts. Ngaio is constantly on the road and has headlined comedy clubs and performed at music and arts festivals all over the country. 

Carla Clayy is a native San Franciscan who has spent the last several years making people laugh all over the country. She has shared the stage with Paula Poundstone, Joy Behar, and Robin Williams. Carla is a regular at The Punchline, Cobb’s, and comedy clubs in such hotspots as Modesto and Chico.

Lisa Geduldig is a local comedian and comedy producer who’s the creator, producer, and MC of a variety of comedy shows including Kung Pao Kosher Comedy™ - Jewish comedy on Christmas in a Chinese Restaurant (which celebrates its 25th Anniversary last December); Comedy Returns to El Rio! (which just celebrated its 10 th Anniversary in May). She moonlights as a bilingual (Spanish- English) publicist.

Doors at 7:30 pm; Show at 8:00 pm

Tickets are $15 - $20 Sliding Scale

Buy Tickets Here

Bay Area comedian and comedy producer, Lisa Geduldig (of Kung Pao Kosher Comedy), and Ashkenaz Music & Dance Community Center joined forces last year to bring the East Bay a new monthly (the second Thursday of the month) comedy series, Comedy at Ashkenaz!

This month’s show features Alicia Dattner, Chey Bell, Regina Stoops, Barry Fischer, and Lisa Geduldig.

Alicia Dattner was voted Best Comedian in both the SF Weekly and the SF Bay Guardian. She has performed around the world from Bombay to Bali, London to New York, Hawaii to Hollywood. Her newest stand up show, One Life Stand, plays at The Marsh Berkeley from August 17 to September 29. She's Enlightened AF. Catch her now before she ascends. www.aliciadattner.com www.soloshowdown.com

Chey Bell is a bisexual comedian who's brutally honest and uniquely clever. Often confounded by stupidity, Chey's comedy mirrors life experiences and self-discovery, touching on everything from family, drugs, coworkers, misspelled tattoos and sexuality. Her energetic stage presence is engaging, silly, fearless and direct, just like her.

Regina Stoops was born and raised in a town called Normal though her humor is anything but. She has her own unique perspective on what most might consider the mundane details of ordinary life; raising children, being married (or not), aging parents, special education and mini-van motoring through the drop off line. Her unique perspective on life in the suburbs has made her a favorite at comedy clubs and fundraisers throughout the Bay Area. www.reginastoops.com

Barry Fischer is a Bay Area native who has elicited outbursts of laughter around the globe. He launched his stand up comedy career while living in a tiny country in the South Pacific called New Zealand, which went really well ... until he got voted off the island. Since then, his witty style has won over crowds on both the West and East Coasts. He has also performed with the Stanford Improvisers, competed in the Washington Improv Theatre's "Fighting Improv Smackdown Tournament," and has done birthday party magic for 3-year-olds who don't know any better. 

Lisa Geduldig is a local comedian and comedy producer who’s the creator, producer, and MC of a variety of comedy shows including Kung Pao Kosher Comedy™ - Jewish comedy on Christmas in a Chinese Restaurant (which celebrates its 25th Anniversary last December); Comedy Returns to El Rio! (which just celebrated its 10th Anniversary in May). She moonlights as a bilingual (Spanish-English) publicist.

Doors at 7:30 pm; Show at 8:00 pm

Tickets are $15 - $20 Sliding Scale

Buy Tickets Here

Berkeley, CA… Bay Area comedian and comedy producer, Lisa Geduldig (of Kung Pao Kosher Comedy), and Ashkenaz Music & Dance Community Center joined forces last year to bring the East Bay a new monthly (the second Thursday of the month) comedy series, Comedy at Ashkenaz!

This month’s show features Dan St Paul, Milt Abel, Jill Maragos, and Lisa Geduldig.

Dan St. Paul grew up in San Francisco's Mission District and moved to LA where he appeared on several episodes of An Evening at the Improv, numerous shows on VH-1, MTV, and Comedy Central. He has opened for Jerry Seinfeld, Natalie Cole, Smokey Robinson, and others. He appeared in the movie Flubber with Robin Williams and signed a recording deal with MCA records. His CD, Natural and Good for You contains one the most requested comedy pieces on radio, "The First Baseball Game." He also is the star of his own one-man play, Outer Mission, Middle Class - The Comic Diary of an Immigrant's Son. Corporate clients include Hewlett Packard, IBM, Intel, Nations Bank, Philips Magnavox, Chevron, and Blue Cross. The majority of Dan's material comes from being a suburban husband and father and dealing with the frustrations of everyday life. He lives in Foster City with his wife and son. www.danstpaul.com

Milt Abel is a stand-up comedian with over 35 years of experience. Starting in the heyday of the San Francisco comedy scene of the 1980's, Milt went on to headline comedy clubs throughout North America and cruise ships throughout the world. Besides numerous TV appearances (An Evening At The Improv and comedy specials for PBS and Showtime) and having written for Dennis Miller’s TV show, Milt's stand up performances are heard regularly on SiriusXM comedy channels. He also an accomplished author, publishing a collection of humorous short stories about cruise ship life "Stories from the Delux" and a novel "The Deductions.” www.miltabel.com

Jill Maragos developed her sense of humor and knack for storytelling as a survival tactic for growing up with a crazy family in Buffalo, NY. With degrees in Broadcast Journalism and Mechanical Engineering, she made the natural progression into stand up comedy. This year Jill was selected to perform on Audible's "Fresh Voices of Comedy" at SF Sketchfest. She performs regularly at The Punchline and Cobb's Comedy Club in San Francisco and has appeared on "The Office" (NBC), "Laughs" (FOX), "Comedy Time" for The Ice House in Pasadena (YouTube), and "West Coast Comedy" (Hulu). She performs throughout the country.

Lisa Geduldig is a local comedian and comedy producer who’s the creator, producer, and MC of a variety of comedy shows including Kung Pao Kosher Comedy™ - Jewish comedy on Christmas in a Chinese Restaurant (which celebrates its 25th Anniversary last December); Comedy Returns to El Rio! (which just celebrated its 10th Anniversary in May). She moonlights as a bilingual (Spanish-English) publicist.

Doors at 7:30 pm; Show at 8:00 pm

Buy Tickets Here

Tickets are $15 - $100 Sliding Scale

This month's Comedy at Ashkenaz! line up features Ngaio Bealum, Victor Pacheco, Francesca Fiorentini, and Lisa Geduldig.

This month's Comedy at Ashkenaz! show will be a benefit for RAICES. The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that promotes justice by providing free and low-cost legal services to underserved immigrant children, families and refugees in Central and South Texas. RAICES is the largest immigration non-profit in Texas with offices in Austin, Corpus, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio.

Stop Separating Families! Families Belong Together!

Geduldig, who is bilingual and has lived in Mexico, has been doing media outreach for recent local immigration protests in her capacity as a publicist and concerned citizen. She and Ashkenaz turned the launch of the Comedy at Ashkenaz comedy series last October into a last minute benefit for North Bay fire relief and raised $1200 for the Redwood Empire Food Bank. Geduldig has raised 10s of 1000s of dollars for various organizations through her annual event, Kung Pao Kosher Comedy: Jewish comedy on Christmas in a Chinese Restaurant since its inception in 1993. And Ashkenaz has been a vital community venue, which has held many a benefit since being founded in 1973 by a dedicated human rights activist, the late David Nadel.

Ngaio Bealum is an American comedian, musician, writer, actor, activist, juggler and publisher. He co-hosted Cannabis Planet and published West Coast Cannabis Magazine.  He writes a column in Sacramento News & Review, answering questions from readers about marijuana and its politics.
Ngaio was born in San Francisco to hippie parents, leading to jokes about how he got his name. He is well known for his many film and television appearances as well as for being a regular host of High Times events, and more recently for being a frequent guest on Getting Doug With High hosted by fellow comedian Doug Benson. He recorded a CD called Weed and Sex. Former member of the Award Winning Hip Hop band Most Chill Slackmob, and 1994 People's Choice Award winner of the International Jugglers Association Fest.

RAICES (The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services) is a non-profit organization that promotes justice by providing free and low-cost legal services to underserved immigrant children, families, and refugees in Texas. Founded in 1986, RAICES has grown to be the largest immigration legal services provider in Texas. With offices in Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio, RAICES is a frontline organization in the roiling debate about immigration and immigrants in the world. In 2017, RAICES staff closed 51,000 cases at no cost to the client. RAICES’ advocacy and commitment to change are driven by the clients and families they serve every day as their attorneys and legal assistants provide legal advocacy and representation in an immigration system that breaks apart families and leaves millions without pathways to legal status. Parents separated from their children at the border (and other immigrants placed in detention) can't get released from ICE custody to reunite with their families until they pay the full amount of their immigration bond. Bonds are set at a MINIMUM of $1500 and are usually in the range of $5-10,000, even for asylum seekers without any criminal history. Unlike in the criminal system, bail bond companies either do not help people in immigration proceedings or impose very strict requirements, like private ankle monitors (which families have to pay to "rent"). Donations to RAICES directly support legal services for detained separated parents and the direct funding for bonds to get parents released. Through the monies raised, they can now reach many more families, reunite parents with their children, and pay bonds to get parents released.  www.raicestexas.org

Doors at 7:30 pm; Show at 8:00 pm

Tickets are $15 to $20 Sliding Scale

The June 14th show, Comedy at Ashkenaz! The 2nd Annual Gay Pride Comedy Night, will feature a multicultural (Asian, African American, Jewish, Caucasian) and multigenerational (ages 20s to 60s) gaggle of Bay Area Bay-based LGBT comedians: Karen Ripley, Irene Tu, Nick Leonard, Dom Gelin, and Lisa Geduldig, some of whom have been performing for a few years and others for 20 to 40 years.

Karen Ripley a queer comic and improv master and has been featured on LOGO TV. She is a veteran of LGBT comedy and began her comedy career in 1977 (41 years ago!) in the heyday of the LGBT comedy movement in San Francisco. She has performed at hundreds of Pride events as well as The Fringe and Diva Festivals. Ripley recently premiered her one-woman show, Oh No, There’s Men On The Land to rave reviews at The Marsh Berkeley.  She is currently working on her next show, Memories of Resistance.  www.karenripley.com

Irene Tu is a Chicago-born, San Francisco-based stand up comedian, writer, and actor. In 2016, she was named one of the “Bay Area’s 11 Best Stand Up Comedians” by the SFist and one of 20 “Women to Watch” by KQED. She has performed at SF Sketchfest, Bridgetown Comedy Festival, Riot LA and her comedy has been featured on Seeso and Viceland. Irene hosts several popular comedy shows in the Bay Area: Man Haters, Hysteria, The Mission Position, and Millennials Ruin Everything (they do). You can follow her @irene_tu. www.irenetu.com

Nick Leonard performs his dry and sly humor at clubs around California and all over the world including Marsh Theater, NYU, The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, The San Francisco Fringe Festival, and the Vancouver International Comedy Festival. He is the co-founder of the QComedy Showcase (currently on hiatus) and the popular Bilarious Show in the National Queer Arts Festival. Nick also performs regularly as his alter ego, Ginorma Desmond.

Dom Gelin is an Oakland-based comedian who has performed at SF Sketchfest, Boston’s Women in Comedy Festival, and the All Jane Comedy Festival. She has also touched the stage of a really famous comedy club that one time.

Lisa Geduldig is a local comedian and comedy producer who’s the creator, producer, and MC of a variety of comedy shows including Kung Pao Kosher Comedy™ - Jewish comedy on Christmas in a Chinese Restaurant (which celebrates its 25th Anniversary last December); Comedy Returns to El Rio! (which just celebrated its 10th Anniversary in May); Funny Girlz: A Smorgasbord of Women Comedians; The Color of Funny: A Multi-Cultural Comedy Show; and A Muslim, A Mormon, and A Jew Walk into A Bar: The Comedy of Religion. She moonlights as a bilingual (Spanish-English) publicist.

Doors at 7:30 pm; Show at 8:00 pm

Tickets are $15-$20 Sliding Scale

Berkeley, CA… Bay Area comedian/comedy producer, Lisa Geduldig (of Kung Pao Kosher Comedy), and Ashkenaz Music & Dance Community Center joined forces last Fall to bring the East Bay a new monthly (the second Thursday of the month) comedy series Comedy at Ashkenaz! featuring a different line-up each month.

Maureen Langan is a stand up comic and radio personality. Her wit and rants on today’s “reality culture” make her a powerful voice on stage and radio and earned her the prestigious MAC Award. Maureen performs at clubs, theaters and festivals across the U.S., Europe, South Africa, and Canada, where she was named “Best in the Fest” at the Winnipeg Comedy Festival. She was a top finalist in the San Francisco Comedy Competition. Maureen has performed on Broadway with Rosie O’Donnell, and she has opened for Joy Behar, Steven Wright, and Dennis Miller. Her TV appearances include Gotham Live, HBO, Red Eye, Comics Unleashed, Cozi TV, NBC, CBS, and national commercials. Maureen is currently touring the country with her solo show “Daughter of A Garbageman,” a moving and comedic tale of growing up in the 1970s, a time when hard work trumped sex tapes. It debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival before landing a 6-month run at The Marsh Theater in San Francisco, where it was declared one of the “Top 3 Solo Shows of 2017” by Theatre Eddys. The San Francisco Examiner said, “Maureen has something to say about family relationships, self acceptance, and American culture...without sacrificing her killer sense of humor.” Maureen is the host of “Hanging with Langan,” a 3-hour talk show heard Sunday nights on KGO Radio in San Francisco and is a frequent guest host on WABC Radio in New York City. She grew up in Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey, where there is no lake. www.MaureenLangan.com
“Maureen is to comedy what James Brown was to soul.” - Jerry Stiller

Joe Nguyen, subtle but sharp, laid-back yet engaging, is a smart slacker beloved by audiences for his easygoing delivery and good joke writing. Raised in the state of Georgia by immigrants of Vietnamese and Jewish descent, Joe was destined to become a stand up comedian. At home in all venues from clubs to cafes, Joe is a regular at the Punch Line and other Bay Area comedy clubs. He was featured at Kung Pao Kosher Comedy in 2010 and tours nationally with the “You’re Funny, But You Don’t Look Jewish” comedy tour. www.vietjew.com

Bob McIntyre is a San Francisco-based waiter, comic, and occasional actor who is currently binge watching his recently purchased 38-disc, 325-episode “Mary Hartman Mary Hartman” box set. He currently sees everything in shades of avocado green, mustard yellow and burnt orange with a waxy yellow buildup. He is single.

Lisa Geduldig is a Bay Area-based comedian and comedy producer who is the creator, producer, and MC of a variety of comedy shows including Kung Pao Kosher Comedy™ - Jewish comedy on Christmas in a Chinese Restaurant (which celebrated its 25th Anniversary last year) and Comedy Returns to El Rio! (now in it 10th year). Lisa moonlights as a bilingual (Spanish-English) freelance publicist. www.KosherComedy.com • www.SFPublicist.com

Doors at 7:30 pm; Show at 8:00 pm

Tickets are $15-$20 Sliding Scale

Maestra Series Packages $48 - $150

Berkeley, CA… Bay Area comedian/comedy producer, Lisa Geduldig (of Kung Pao Kosher Comedy), and Ashkenaz Music & Dance Community Center joined forces last Fall to bring the East Bay a new monthly (the second Thursday of the month) comedy series Comedy at Ashkenaz! featuring a different line-up each month.

The next show in the series, Women’s History Month Comedy will take place on Thursday, March 8, International Women’s Day, and will feature a multicultural line up of comedians: 

Eloisa Bravo, Priyanka Wali, Mary Carouba, and Lisa Geduldig

Priyanka Wali, named by Refinery29 as "50 Female Stand-Up Comedians You Need To Know,” is a stand up comic who performs routinely all throughout the United States and abroad, including corporate gigs, casinos and comedy clubs.  She has been featured on KFOG Radio, Women's Health Magazine, The Today Show, Business Insider, Uproxx, Cosmopolitan, India Currents Magazine, and Healthline. Priyanka truly believes laughter is the best medicine but likes to cover her bases as a board-certified practicing physician in Internal Medicine too.  www.priyankawali.com

Mary Carouba is a comedian, performance artist, and professional speaker. She is also the co-author of the highly acclaimed book, “Women at Ground Zero: Stories of Courage and Compassion.” Drawing on her Arab-Irish roots, her turbulent yet strangely funny childhood (her Irish-Catholic mother describes Mary's childhood as a "test of my faith"), the drama of 9/11, followed by a near-death experience and subsequent liver transplant, Mary likes to ride the razor's edge of tragedy and comedy and take audiences to places they've never been. Mary’s house recently burned down in the Sonoma fires, and she takes it as a sign that something is truly, deeply wrong with her that it’s put her in the mood for comedy.

Lisa Geduldig is a Bay Area-based comedian and comedy producer who is the creator, producer, and MC of a variety of comedy shows including Kung Pao Kosher Comedy™ - Jewish comedy on Christmas in a Chinese Restaurant (which celebrated its 25th Anniversary last year) and Comedy Returns to El Rio! (now in it 10th year). Lisa moonlights as a bilingual (Spanish-English) freelance publicist. www.KosherComedy.com • www.SFPublicist.com

Doors are at 7:30; Show at 8:00 pm

Tickets are $15-$20 sliding scale

Buy Tickets Here

Bay Area comedian and comedy producer, Lisa Geduldig (of Kung Pao Kosher Comedy fame) brings together a hysterical multicultural gaggle of East Bay-based queer comedians for Gay Pride Comedy Night at Ashkenaz!  

Featuring: Karen Ripley, Mimi Gonzalez, Sampson McCormick, Nate Blanchard, and Lisa Geduldig

Karen Ripley a queer comic and improv master and has been featured on LOGO TV. She is a veteran of LGBT comedy and began her comedy career in 1977 (40 years ago!) in the heyday of the LGBT comedy movement in San Francisco. She has performed at hundreds of Pride events as well as The Fringe and Diva Festivals. Ripley recently premiered her one-woman show, “Oh No, There’s Men On The Land” to rave reviews at The Marsh Berkeley.  She is currently working on her next show, “Gunver the Resistance.”

Mimi Gonzalez has been rocking the mic everywhere from Prides and protests to cruises and festivals since before being gay was spelled with three letters. She welcomes everyone in the acronym of GLBT etc. through her fierce politics of inclusion. Her life-long agitation and activism is expressed in print through queer and diversity and inclusion magazines and as a stand up comic on nationally televised shows. She has been called "one of the funniest comics in NYC" by Backstage Magazine, and Provincetown Magazine says she’s "Funny, sexy, sharp, positive… Mimi Gonzalez is a comic, life-affirming force."

Sampson McCormick is an experience, a down to earth comedic force of nature, and one of the most celebrated LGBT comics working. He's been named 'One of the Funniest LGBT comics' by Huffington Post, BuzzFeed, The Advocate, and OUT Magazine and appeared on MTV, VH1, BET and is currently featured in the upcoming Netflix documentary "A Tough Act To Follow" and in this season of VICELAND's popular show "PayDay.” His comedy offers riveting and refreshing takes on politics, race, religion and sexuality —you know, all those things you aren't suppose to talk about in polite company.

Nate Blanchard started his comedy career in San Francisco at the tender age of 19. After appearing at the Punchline, Harvey's, and two SF Pride events, the siren sounds of cheap rent, smoky bars, and an emerging international comedy scene drew him to Berlin in 2010, where he further evolved his own brand of blunt, brazen comedy. Animating his wayward life, glamorous misadventures, and queer sensibilities, he’s “like a virgin... touched for the 53rd time.” He starred in the viral YouTube video, “Sh*t Expat Berliners Say,” has toured throughout Europe, and produced his own show, The Neukölln Confessional, for the German television channel, ALEX. He currently lives in Oakland and is probably chatting with your man on Grindr.  

Lisa Geduldig is a local comedian and comedy producer who’s the creator, producer, and MC of a variety of comedy shows including Kung Pao Kosher Comedy™ - Jewish comedy on Christmas in a Chinese Restaurant (celebrating its 25th Anniversary this December!); Comedy Returns to El Rio! (which just celebrated its 8th Anniversary); Funny Girlz: A Smorgasbord of Women Comedians; The Color of Funny: A Multi-Cultural Comedy Show; and A Muslim, A Mormon, and A Jew Walk into A Bar: The Comedy of Religion. She moonlights as a bilingual (Spanish-English) publicist.