Good Medicine: A Night of Live Native Stand-Up | 8 July 2023 

Review by Ishmael Ali Khan Elias

As part of Cal Shakes’ Shared Light Initiative, the Bruns Amphitheater opens up to arts and cultural institutions from around the Bay Area. However, as Good Medicine creator, curator, host, and performer Jackie Keliiaa (Yerington Paiute / Washoe / Native Hawaiian) puts it, the Shared Light Initiative is more of a partnership rather than Cal Shakes simply letting folks use the amphitheater. 

She knows this firsthand as the Good Medicine brand was invited to be part of the Initiative in 2021. Since then, she has brought the production to Cal Shakes two more times—July 16, 2022, and July 8, 2023—making July unofficial Good Medicine season at The Bruns. The most recent show featured Jana Schmieding (Cheyenne River Lakota), Brian Bahe (Tohono O’odham / Hopi / Navajo), Larry Omaha, and Canada-based, First Nations comedian Dakota Ray Hebert.

As is the case with each show, Jackie is both emcee and opener. Her job is the hardest because she not only has to set the mood, but also keep the energy high throughout the night, a task she nails every time. 

Bahe’s sets are always hilarious in part because while he looks innocent, you quickly learn he’s seen some things, and because you don’t know exactly where he’s going with a joke until he gets there. “There” often being a strange place both disconcerting and hilarious.

This is my first time seeing Omaha and Hebert on stage, though I had unknowingly encountered some of their work beforehand—Omaha as the voice of Nightwolf in Mortal Kombat (2011) and Hebert in the 2021 comedy/drama Run Woman Run. Watching their routines—Omaha’s hilarious Native uncle takes on everyday life and Hebert’s neurotic introspections—made me a new fan of both.

The headliner for the July 8 show was Jana Schmieding. The thing I like about stand-up comedy is that it allows you to see either more of the type of comedy you expect from a comedian or a completely different side of their personality. Take Bob Saget, for example. I had only seen his more wholesome offerings on Full House and America’s Funniest Home Videos before seeing his bawdy stand-up routines online. While I wouldn’t say the stark level of night and day is apt for Schmieding’s routine, given her characters on Rutherford Falls and Reservation Dogs, I was reminded of Saget due to how many times she crossed the metaphorical lines in my head, and then kept going. Said simply, the set was very funny, but unexpected.

Good Medicine is truth in advertising. I’ve been to three shows, and they always feel like a second home. My wife and I also see some of the same people at each show, which adds a layer of familiarity.

“That’s what it is. It’s kind of like a reunion. It’s a unique event in the Native community in that it’s not a powwow,” Jackie said in a phone interview a few weeks after the show. “For the most part, no one’s expected to work. Because any time it’s a Native event, inevitably, someone’s one of the coordinators. Inevitably, someone’s tabling. You can’t get too deep with somebody because they’ve got to run and get something. [Good Medicine] is an opportunity for folks to chill and have some food, enjoy some music, and get ready [for the show]. I just love how the Native community shows up. Of course, we’re lucky to have all audience members, but I’m very grateful for the support of the Native community here.”

But providing such a chill and inviting experience is not an easy thing to pull off. Jackie said that while Cal Shakes books the hotels for the comedians and physically cuts the checks, she is responsible for fundraising and booking the talent. I replied that she makes it look easy.

“The production of Good Medicine is no joke,” she said. “You get to see behind the curtains because we’ve talked about this a few times, but your average bear is not going to assume that I’m doing everything. For the July 8th show, I applied for funding back in December, which means in November, I was working on the grant application, checking it, making sure everything’s in there…all that kind of fun stuff that no one gets a chance to see. So, thank you for saying I make it look easy. I know it’s going off without a hitch if I make it look easy.”

She continued, saying the hardest part of producing Good Medicine is switching gears between producer and performer modes. 

“I recall that the first year, I didn’t love my set because I was so in producer mode. I just couldn’t shift out of it. Again, I’m my hardest critic, so everyone else probably thought, ‘Yeah, I enjoyed your set,’ but for me, I thought, ‘Ah, I could have done better.’ I can see that because I was so intently focused on the production side of things that the artist in me, the comedian in me, didn’t get a lot of nurturing. So, when I got up on stage, I could feel that I was tighter than I usually am. Over time, as I’ve gotten better at doing that tight rope walk, to do the production as well as the performance, now I think I can handle it. I’m building that muscle, so to speak.”

She compared the experience to a wedding: “You spend so much time planning. All of your friends and family and people that you would love to see and hang out with are there. And sometimes you forget to eat.” She said working double duty is also like a wedding in that she wants to look back at the show to see how all the hard work paid off, how much fun she had, and how great her set was. “And it’s not always going to be like that,” she admitted, “but I will say, for this particular show, it felt really good up there. I loved my set. As an audience, I felt like you guys were ready to have a good time.”

She said Good Medicine is made possible by partnerships: “We are grateful for ongoing collaborations with Cal Shakes, Oakland Museum of California, and our newest partners Idyllwild Arts Academy and PAC NYC. I welcome working with other venues that are eager to bring Good Medicine to their stage.”

One of the great things about Good Medicine is that the overall roster for a show is never the same even if individual comedians have appeared on a Good Medicine stage before. 

“As for booking comedians,” Jackie said, “I think of Good Medicine as a sampler platter, a little something for everyone, so I curate lineups that reflect that. You’ll find elders, young people, moms, not moms, queer folks, straight folks; it’s a diverse mix. I aim to keep the lineups fresh, bringing in new comics to each show. I also do my best to book the big names in Native comedy. Folks like Jana Schmieding, Dallas Goldtooth, and Tatanka Means are super busy so it’s great when timing works and I can feature them on a Good Medicine lineup.”

At last year’s Good Medicine at Cal Shakes, my wife and I arrived on the earlier side with enough time to check out the vendors and grab a bite to eat. This year, we got to the theater close to showtime. The thing about The Bruns is that the parking lot fills up quickly, making for a Tetris-like parking experience since the lot is largely devoid of marked spaces. Pro tips for any Good Medicine show: Get there early and bring a blanket!

The next Good Medicine production is scheduled for September 16, 2023, at Oakland Museum of California in its fabulous outdoor garden area. Tickets at museumca.org.