Arts & Events

THURSDAY, JULY 30 -more-

“In case you haven’t heard,” comedian W. Kamau Bell said, “A black guy’s president now. I’m not fighting against the Evil Empire anymore! I mean, how many Bush jokes can you do?” -more-

Too Big to Fail, the San Francisco Mime Troupe’s 50th anniversary show, swings through Berkeley again this weekend, playing outdoors in Willard Park Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. -more-

Whether it’s toiling in a chain gang, getting pickpocketed in a lowlife inn or fighting with hopeless courage on a Parisian barricade, the swirling onstage action and musical fanfare of Les Miserables would keep any company of actors and techs busy with the breakneck scene changes alone—much less a troupe of aspiring teenage performing artists, who take on the singing, dancing, emoting roles of principal and supporting characters, besides making up the ever-changing, ever-active chorus. -more-

“I don’t know if Obama can unite the Democrats and Republicans,” said satiric songwriter-singer Roy Zimmerman, who will perform at Freight and Salvage Friday night, “but he can unite a subject with a predicate! But fortunately, my job’s not just to make fun of the president.” -more-

The people of 17th century Devon made and enjoyed a wonderful apple cyder, and being a modern people (aren’t we always modern people?) they used a new-fangled mechanical press to make their cyder. The press was cleaned using lead shot and, when combined with the acid of the apples, left a residue that made more than a few folks sick. The Devon Colic was identified and explained by one Dr. George Baker in the mid-18th century and by the early 19th century, folks finally accepted the science and got the lead out. -more-

THURSDAY, JULY 30 -more-