While pointing out that the nine-person show, happening at 7 p.m. Friday in Mockingbird\u2019s space in the Dorothea Laub Music & Arts Center, is \u201ca comedy, because you never know what you\u2019re going to get,\u201d co-director Peter Jacques says \u201cWe do it straight, as if it\u2019s going on air for a couple of million people. The surprise is the whole thing goes nutty.\u201d<\/p>\n
As with most improv shows, audience suggestions drive the storytelling, or as Jacques calls them \u201cthe gas that makes the machine work. The audience is 50 percent of it. We play off of their energy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRadio 47\u201d grew out of a Bay Area improv show created by Adam Raichel, who is now co-director of the Mockingbird experience. That forerunner, called \u201cRadio \u201938,\u201d followed a so-called \u201cbat\u201d format where the show was performed in the dark.<\/p>\n
\u201cRadio \u201947,\u201d says Jacques, \u201cis absolutely not a bat.\u201d But like those old-time radio Westerns of yore, there is some theater of the mind going on. Improvisation, he adds, thrives on its unpredictability. \u201cIt happens in the moment, and that moment will never happen again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRadio \u201847\u201d will be performed again on Nov. 28, then after a December hiatus, it returns for the second and fourth Friday nights in January at 2590 Truxtun Road, Suite 200, San Diego. Tickets start at $15 at mockingbirdimprov.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n Actor\/comedian Billy Gardell, best known for playing Mike opposite Melissa McCarthy in the long-running TV series \u201cMike & Molly,\u201d is gearing up for a national comedy tour.<\/p>\n But before he hits the road, he\u2019ll perform a fundraising comedy show on Wednesday at TERI Campus of Life in San Marcos<\/a>. TERI provides therapeutic, educational and career training for young adults with special needs. Gardell is the stepfather of one of the clients served by TERI.<\/p>\n Doors will open at 6 p.m. for craft beer and wine sales along with sweets and snacks. Pre-show dining is also available in the TERI Common Grounds Caf\u00e9, beginning at 4 p.m. The concert is at 7 p.m. Nov. 19 in the 200-seat Bornemann Theatre at 555 Deer Springs Road, San Marcos. Tickets are $35-$75. All proceeds benefit TERI programs.<\/p>\n On Nov. 26, Netflix\u2019s hugely popular sci-fi series \u201cStranger Things\u201d returns for its fifth and final season.<\/p>\n For those who aren\u2019t familiar with series, it\u2019s about four teen boys in 1980s Indiana who bond over the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. Eventually the monsters and demons in their fantasy game emerge into the real world and a dark underworld and wreak havoc on their lives and town.<\/p>\n D&D fans who can\u2019t wait for the series 5 premiere may want to check out \u201cDungeons & Dragons Twenty-Sided Tavern,\u201d<\/a> arriving at San Diego\u2019s Balboa Theatre next Tuesday in its West Coast premiere. This national touring production, playing Tuesday through Nov. 23, features a group of theatrical improv actors\/D&D experts playing the game live onstage with audience interaction, special effects and more. Tickets start at $51.25.<\/p>\n In celebration of the 250th anniversary of 18th-century English novelist Jane Austen\u2019s birth, the Jane Austen Society of North America\u2019s San Diego chapter (bet you didn\u2019t know we had one) is hosting a free celebration from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at downtown\u2019s Central Library.<\/p>\n The festivities, for which attendees are encouraged to dress in Regency attire, begins with a screening of the comedy \u201cClueless,\u201d based (loosely) on Austen\u2019s \u201cEmma.\u201d The Write Out Loud people will present readings from Austen\u2019s works at 2 p.m., followed by Regency era music (from flutist Ann Erwin and pianist Cho-Hyun Park) at 2:30 p.m. in the library\u2019s Garden Courtyard at 330 Park Blvd., San Diego. Details at sandiego.librarymarket.com\/event\/hold-concert-series-452291<\/a>.<\/p>\n Two legends who emerged during the folk music surge of the 1960s, Judy Collins and Tom Rush, will perform Saturday night at the California Center for the Arts, Escondid<\/a>o.\u00a0 \u00a0Collins is a personal favorite of mine as well as an inspiration for many singers and songwriters who emerged later.<\/p>\n Rush, too, paved the way for other singer-songwriters, and in various genres, from not only folk music but country and blues. We\u2019ve learned over the years that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame isn\u2019t just about including rockers. Folkie Pete Seeger is an inductee. Collins and Rush should be, too. Tickets at: artcenter.org\/event\/aneveningwithjudycollins<\/a>.<\/p>\n Podcasts<\/p>\n Actor Katie MacNichol is part of the cast of Backyard Renaissance Theatre Company\u2019s \u201cThe Waverly Gallery,\u201d<\/a> currently in previews at the Tenth Avenue Arts Center downtown. She\u2019s also the co-host, with fellow actor Melanie Lora, of a podcast called \u201cAct Like A Mother.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n In these 50-something-minute-long episodes MacNichol and Lora, not only both actors but both mothers, talk with guests about the challenges of balancing an artistic career and parenting. The most recent episode features guest Rosina Reynolds, not only a respected local actor but also the mother of another respected actor, Kate Rose Reynolds. \u201cAct Like a Mother\u201d can be found on the Apple and Spotify apps.<\/p>\n When I think of Diane Keaton, two of her most famous roles come to mind: \u201cAnnie Hall\u201d and as Michael Corleone\u2019s wife in \u201cThe Godfather Part II.\u201d<\/p>\n On the day of her recent passing, Oct. 11, I streamed \u201cAnnie Hall\u201d for the who knows how many times, and watched her become a star. As for \u201cThe Godfather Part II\u201d I\u2019ve discovered I can see it again on the big screen, at 7 p.m. Tuesday night at Media Arts Center San Diego\u2019s Digital Gym Cinema<\/a>.<\/p>\n Though her role is not \u201cAnnie Hall\u201d-sized in that 1974 sequel to \u201cThe Godfather,\u201d Keaton is a powerful and poignant presence as Kate Adams-Corleone, who in the film watches with horror as her husband breaks bad (and then some) as the new don of the notorious mob family.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Godfather Part II\u201d is the only movie sequel to follow its honored predecessor as an Oscar Best Picture winner. Tickets at digitalgym.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n UCTV<\/p>\n University of California Television<\/a> invites you\u00a0to enjoy this special selection of programs from throughout the University of California. Descriptions courtesy of and text written by UCTV staff:<\/p>\n \u201c\u2019From Sleepy Lagoon to \u2018Zoot Suit\u2019\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n The 1942 Sleepy Lagoon case stands as one of the most racially charged trials in U.S. history. Twenty-two Mexican American youths were tried together for the death of Jos\u00e9 D\u00edaz, despite no witnesses linking them to the scene and no clear cause of death. The trial was plagued by bias, with a hostile judge, an all-white jury and defendants denied the chance to speak with counsel. Twelve were sentenced to San Quentin. This documentary by UC Santa Cruz\u2019s Bob Giges spotlights activist Alice McGrath, who became a central figure in the defense effort \u2014 visiting prisoners, rallying public support and leading fundraising. The convictions were overturned in 1944, marking a powerful early civil rights victory later dramatized in Luis Valdez\u2019s \u201cZoot Suit.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCognitive Health and Resilience\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Cognitive resilience isn\u2019t built overnight \u2014 it grows from consistent, everyday habits that help the brain stay adaptable with age. Fadel Zeidan, Ph.D., presents mindfulness as a form of mental training that sharpens attention and shapes how we respond to pain. Erin E. Sundermann, Ph.D., highlights lifestyle strategies like movement, social engagement, hearing support and lifelong learning as key drivers of brain health. Raenne C. Moore, Ph.D., focuses on practical ways to support attention and memory, from creating routines to managing anxiety. Older adult Carolyn Dunmore brings these ideas to life through her own story of resilience rooted in purpose, faith and self-care. Together, they show how small actions can add up to stronger cognitive health over time.<\/p>\n![\"Actor\/comedian](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sut-l-comedy-gardell-01.jpg\")
Actor\/comedian Billy Gardell will perform a pre-tour comedy show on Nov. 19 at TERI Campus of Life in San Marcos. (Billy Gardell)
\nComedy<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sut-l-stage-dungeons.jpg\")
The cast of the national touring production of \u201cDungeons and Dragons Twenty Sided Tavern,\u201d playing Nov. 18-23 at the Balboa Theatre in San Diego. (Andr\u00e9 Chung)
\nGames<\/p>\n![\"English](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PVN-L-CALENDAR-0925.jpg\")
English novelist Jane Austen. (Hulton Archives)
\nAustenland<\/p>\n![\"Judy](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Judy-Collins.jpg\")
Judy Collins will perform with Tom Rush in Escondido on Saturday. (Sam Hough)
\nPop music<\/p>\n![\"Melanie](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sut-l-podcast-actlikeamother.jpg\")
Melanie Lora, left, and Katie MacNichol co-host the podcast \u201cAct Like a Mother.\u201d (Katie MacNichol)<\/p>\n![\"Al](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sut-l-movies-godfather2.jpg\")
Al Pacino and Diane Keaton in the movie \u201cThe Godfather Part II,\u201d which will be screened Tuesday, Nov. 18 at Digital Gym Cinema in San Diego. (Paramount Pictures)
\nFilm<\/p>\n
![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/SUT-L-photos-1staff-816546-sd-me-star-india-figurehead-bcf014.jpg\")
People walk along the Embarcadero to take a closer look at the Star of India. (Brittany Cruz-Fejeran \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n