{"id":458409,"date":"2026-09-09T17:14:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T17:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/458409\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T17:14:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T17:14:10","slug":"drama-masks-kml-sinks-its-claws-into-hysterical-historium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/458409\/","title":{"rendered":"Drama Masks: KML sinks its claws into ‘Hysterical Historium’"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is Drama Masks<\/a>, a Bay Area performing arts column from a born San Franciscan and longtime theatre artist in an N95 mask. I talk venue safety and dramatic substance, or the lack thereof.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a zig-zaggy history of SF theatre-goers finding post-show congregation spots. For much of the 20th century, Geary Boulevard offered no shortage of eateries: Tommy\u2019s Joynt at one end of the district, Lefty O\u2019Doul\u2019s at the other, countless hole-in-the-wall spots that were only occasionally outnumbered by art galleries. There was even Original Joe\u2019s on Taylor. Whether rehearsing a show, having missed a show, or just coming out of one, there were cheap and filling places to nosh and discuss what just happened.<\/p>\n

Around 2010, the Caf\u00e9 Royale on Post Street became a theatre social nexus. Directors, performers, and even an indie opera company flocked into its very-cramped, balcony-boasting walls to watch and put on shows. It was where local loons recited Shakespeare, read sarcastic Christmas anecdotes, and sang original Faustian musicals as they tried to squeeze past chairs and avoid pint glasses falling from the aforementioned balcony. I know this because I was one of those local loons<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Royale was never really the same after the owner sold it to his son mid-decade. The younger guy wasn\u2019t all that interested in a loyal band of creative kooks who were happy to bring new paying audiences with us.<\/p>\n

Still, there were plenty of regular gathering spots for theatre-types. If you\u2019d caught a show at EXIT Theatre, you could stick around in their cabaret space for a limited selection of drinks. Yet, you\u2019d already have to have seen a show to get in. If your legs were game for a hike, you and your indie theatre compatriots could head up the hill to the Hotel Beresford\u2019s White Horse Tavern\u2013if you got there early enough, there was free popcorn (and hotdogs sometimes!). <\/p>\n

The real treat was hanging out in the \u201cquiet\u201d sitting room where everyone could be laughably pretentious about the craft. If you fancied something more dingy, you could venture deeper into SoMA\/Tenderloin and shout over the crowds at The Tempest on Natoma. Under the literal shadow of the soon to be former Chronicle building, The Tempest was a wonderful dive bar where theatre folk could get sloshed and heckle loudly the sub-par show they may have just seen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Pianofight (RIP) was aways good for a hang. <\/p>\n

Those places were great, but none really offered a true amalgamation of theatre folk and normies. It wasn\u2019t until PianoFight took over Original Joe\u2019s that the unwashed masses had a place to stumble upon goofy performers by pure accident. PianoFight was a proper bar that attracted all comers without alienating the theatre folk who created it. People showed up for Super Bowl broadcasts just as often as stand-up routines; they came to tie one off after work next to folks who just saw a show about the dark side of OCD. Then alas, that beloved and scruffy spot closed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One can only wonder where theatre audiences\u2013especially indie theatre audiences\u2013go for their post-show fix now. Sure, more venues than ever have dedicated drink and snack areas, but one has to be there for the show to access those places. It\u2019s as if more places have created their own gated communities rather than creating spaces that easily welcome all types. It certainly doesn\u2019t help that SF City Hall has gone all-in on these \u201centertainment zones\u201d that feel as artificial as Disney\u2019s Main Street. A spoon-fed San Francisco that appeals to flyover states isn\u2019t just bad, it\u2019s offensive.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m self-aware enough to know that one can\u2019t catch lightning in a bottle twice. I\u2019m also aware that certain audiences have gotten older and aren\u2019t as keen to stay out as late. And there are us few but resilient COVID-safe folks who just aren\u2019t comfortable indoors around mouth-breathers anymore. I don\u2019t have the solution, but I lament the loss of those kinds of theatre congregation spots.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Perhaps younger audiences do have places like that and folks my age just don\u2019t know? If so, I hope they\u2019re enjoying them. If there\u2019s one thing I do know it\u2019s how much they\u2019ll miss those places and the times spent there when they\u2019re gone.<\/p>\n

\"\"Killing My Lobster\u2019s Tirumari Jothi, Celeste Kamiya, Perry Fenton, May Simon Ramos, Sam Bertken. Photo by Kayleigh McCollum<\/p>\n

KILLING MY LOBSTER\u2019S HYSTERICAL HISTORIUM AT Z BELOW<\/p>\n

Has it really been just over-a-year since KML\u2019s last proper show<\/a>? It seems like a lifetime since then. It felt as if the company was about to vanish forever before pulling off an unexpected comeback. Since then, most of their output has been their Sketch on Speed series coinciding their return to their old home beneath Z Space. Many of us had accepted that the odds of seeing another proper show were about the same as seeing kids in the audience of a KML show.<\/p>\n

Wouldn\u2019tcha know it? Their latest show, Hysterical Historium<\/a> (through September 12 at Z Below, SF) is not only a welcome return to full-length sketch, but its opening night featured a considerable number of juvenile audience members. The latter was a surprise after years of KML shows full of obscenities and the occasional sex toy. But then, they\u2019ve spent the last decade-plus teaching kids how to write sketch, so it\u2019s probably not as odd as it seems.<\/p>\n

The reason for all-ages audience is likely due to the shows collaborators, Red Barn. They\u2019re the folks behind San Francisco Historium<\/a>, a show that (like the SF Dungeon before it) shows tourists along the wharf a noticeably more irreverent view of our city\u2019s dark history. I haven\u2019t seen that show, but I imagine PG-style tone would be crucial to its success. As such, we have a KML show where the raunchiest thing is a joke about poop falling from the sky.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"KML\u2019s Tirumari Jothi and Sam Bertken. Photo by Kayleigh McCollum<\/p>\n

The overarching narrative is that the Gold Rush-era Vaudevillian troupe of 49ers and Repertory Theatres (FARTS) are taking some well-aimed jabs at this strange seaside town built on Ramaytush land and where divorce is totally legal. The sketches in question involve a rich man (Sam Bertken) pitching his new-fangled \u201ccable car\u201d as if he were some techie trying to sell people on self-driving taxis. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a town where a sit-down interview with the real Captain Nemo (Tirumari Jothi) reveals secrets of the Nautilus left out of Verne\u2019s text: \u201cAs soon as we painted [the ship] brown, it could withstand greater pressure.\u201d It\u2019s a show where two ladies (May Simon Ramos and director-subbing actor Nikki Me\u00f1ez) who just want to take a quick ferry trip have to put up with an obnoxious man-spreader (Perry Fenton, who steals the whole show). Such is the material one expects from an SF sketch troupe of any era.<\/p>\n

CO\u00b2 levels weren\u2019t the worst, with numbers on my Aranet4 peaking around 1,158ppm during the hourlong show. A few SNAFUs notwithstanding, it was nice to see KML shake off the cobwebs of putting on a show they hadn\u2019t just written hours prior. It got awkward watching them trying to spin the simultaneous plates of period allusion, contemporary satire, and family-friendly entertainment, but a show that finds a way to take shots at SouthWest Airlines in a prospector setting is one you should give a watch.<\/p>\n

KILLING MY LOBSTER\u2019S HYSTERICAL HISTORIUM runs through September 12 at Z Below, SF. Tickets and further info here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This is Drama Masks, a Bay Area performing arts column from a born San Franciscan and longtime theatre…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":458410,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-458409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/458410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}