Good Medicine Season
By Ishmael Ali Khan Elias
It’s said laughter is good medicine. I believe it, but I tend to forget when life becomes a snowball of work and responsibilities.
Respite came on a hot night late last month. My wife and I dropped our daughter off at her grandparents’ place, and we headed to Walnut Creek for a quick dinner before the Good Medicine show at the Lesher Center for the Arts (LCA). Felt good to sit, talk, and eat without thinking much about deadlines.
As we approached LCA, we saw the digital billboard for the show, now in its fourth season. I smiled, thinking of the previous shows we’ve seen at the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) and the California Shakespeare Theater (Cal Shakes). It hit me that this would be our first inside Good Medicine experience as the OMCA and Cal Shakes shows we attended were “under the stars.”
The evening’s performance included nationally acclaimed Bay Area comedian, writer, actor, and Good Medicine founder and host, Jackie Keliiaa (Netflix, Comedy Central), Adrianne Chalepah (Netflix, Amazon Prime), Kristin Chirico (The Kitchen & Jorn Show), Taietsarón:sere ‘Tai’ LeClaire (Upright Citizens Brigrade, NBC’s Rutherford Falls), and Bobby ‘Dues’ Wilson (FX’s Reservation Dogs).
After picking up our tickets, we headed to the second floor, picked up some snacks from the vendor, and were kindly ushered to our seats. We relaxed and had a few good laughs with several of Keliiaa’s family members. Before too long, the house lights dimmed and Keliiaa (Yerington Paiute/Washoe/Native Hawaiian) took the stage to open the night, bringing immediate smiles to the audience with her vibrancy and quick wit. I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating that she has the hardest job due to not only being a performer but also organizing the event, hosting, and setting the comedic bar so high.
One of the many things I appreciate about Good Medicine is the lineup is different each time. True, some comedians return to the production, but not in the same lineup, so no two shows are the same. In this case, I had never seen the comedy of Chalepah, Chirico, LeClaire, or Wilson live, so I didn’t know what to expect. The TLDR version is that everyone brought the funny, but I’ll elaborate.
Adrianne Chalepah (Kiowa/Apache) has described herself on Instagram as “political, emo, corny, nerdy, and just to confuse everyone, conventionally attractive,” and brought all that energy to her set. One of her jokes or, rather, audience interactions that stuck with me went something like, “Does anyone in here want to have kids, but they haven’t yet? Make some noise.” Crickets. Chalepah looked sharply left and right in confusion, and then said plainly after about three seconds, “Cool. So, we’re going extinct. Good to know.”
I didn’t realize I knew of Kristin Chirico’s (Cayuga/Seneca) work until visiting her/their Instagram page after the show. She was a writer for Buzzfeed before becoming a solo content creator and I had enjoyed her Buzzfeed content about seven years ago without realizing her heritage. I’m not sure when she added stand-up comedy to her repertoire, but she makes it look effortless.
Bobby Wilson before he took the stage at Good Medicine. (Photo by Jim McCambridge)
Bobby Wilson (Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota) has been making me laugh for over a decade in The 1491s’ Youtube videos and more recently with his work on Rutherford Falls, Reservation Dogs, and Spirit Rangers. But, as mentioned before, I had never seen him stand in front of an audience and tell jokes. Someone once said my written poetry has the same essence as my instrumentals even though they are presented through different mediums. The same can be said about Wilson’s work. His vibe is always mellow and profound wound together with a bit of irresistible silliness.
Tai LeClair’s (Mohawk/Mi’kmaq) set included some of my favorite kinds of jokes: unexpectedly corny, as in, “I’m Tai. You might recognize me from Killers of the Flower Moon. I played the moon.” Some comedians say funny things or say things in a funny way. Tai does both with an added animated facial expression or gesture to send the joke home.
Even in a new venue, Good Medicine still felt like Good Medicine, which is to say a spirit of community and connection through humor. “The Lesher Center is a great venue and performing on the stage was awesome!” Keliiaa said in an interview after the show.
The next Good Medicine Comedy show is scheduled for July 27, 2024, at Cal Shakes, featuring Keliiaa, award-winning actor and stand-up comedian Tatanka Means (Navajo/Oglala Lakota/Omaha/Yankton Dakota), comedian and writer Brain Bahe (Tohono O’odham/Hopi/Navajo), and Dene comedian, actor, and writer Dakota Ray Hebert.
“This is such a special time to host Native comedy,” Keliiaa said in a press release. “Coming off Sogorea Te’ Land Trust’s successful advocacy to return the West Berkeley Shellmound Sacred Site to the Lisjan Nation, the Land Back movement is gaining steam. Good Medicine is a great opportunity for everyone to show their appreciation of Native communities, support Native artists, and just enjoy a hilarious evening of comedy under the stars.”
Tickets are available now from the Cal Shakes website.
Comedians Adrianne Chalepah, Kristin Chirico, Jackie Keliiaa, Bobby Wilson, and Tai LeClair take a bow after their performances at this past June’s Good Medicine. (Photo by Jim McCambridge)
