This past weekend, I returned to the San Jose Improv Comedy Club, a place that I have written about before and have encouraged people to go to. I had such a great time that I thought I would tell you about it.
After a nice dinner and a few Mai Tais the size of a small cat (yes, I know, I drink too much), my friends and I hit Jamie Kennedy’s 10 p.m. show. I chose the late show for a few reasons, but mainly because I know how a comedy show can turn and the audience can loosen up when the headliner comes on closer to 11 p.m. at night.
Now, I can’t tell you how many people said, “Jamie Kennedy? Is he a black comedian?” Or, “I’ve heard his name, what’s he in?” I tried with the Scream movies, Malibu’s Most Wanted and tons of shows on MTV, but regardless of people’s ignorance of pop culture, he is a legitimate movie and TV star, and was in San Jose for the entire weekend. It’s what I think is a fairly big deal on the “Big Deal for San Jose” scale. Not to mention that it was probably the funniest comedy show I have ever been to. (I know, you are probably thinking Mai Tais had something to do with it, but honestly, they didn’t.) It was a great atmosphere and there wasn’t one person in the audience not laughing so hard they cried!
The only disappointing thing about it was that even though the showroom was packed with very satisfied customers, the balcony was empty. I was actually shocked that the place wasn’t jam-packed.
However, it was when the show ended that the real adventure began. When we left the theater, I realized where all the people were. They were waiting in lines outside Tres Gringos and San Jose Bar and Grill, or Toons and The Voodoo Lounge. They were cruising down Second Street or Santa Clara Street, hooting and hollering at the women that were walking by in very little clothing. Don’t these people know there is a legitimate comic in our town? Do they really know they have a choice to actually go IN somewhere rather than bug all the people trying to do something themselves?
Yet again, I had to withstand the ridicule and teasing from my friends that were visiting from San Francisco who said all night, “Now, is this is why you never visit us in the city anymore?” They couldn’t have had a better time at the comedy club, but it was leaving that was the nightmare for all of us.
As we walked down Santa Clara Street for what seemed like 20 minutes, we had to meander around crowds of people to get to San Pedro Square. Once we made a right on San Pedro Street, it was as if we had found a quiet bunker to crawl into right in the middle of a huge battle. The city became peaceful again once we walked into O’Flaherty’s, where we sat outside and had a pint, but I felt like I crawled through 100 miles of mud to get there, and so did my friends.
Even the comedians showed the audience what they thought of San Jose. One of the earlier comics, Reggie Steele, poked fun at the women in San Jose saying, “Though we have beautiful women, we also have some of the skankiest dressing girls I have EVER seen…,” and that is a direct quote. Even Jamie Kennedy started calling us “The 415.” I guess San Jose wasn’t even memorable enough to register for him.
Much has been made of cleaning up downtown, including closing the sleazy nightclubs that perpetuate this undesirable behavior, but nothing seems to really be happening. What we need to do, RIGHT NOW, is stop the behavior of cruising and hooliganism we see on a weekend night on Santa Clara Street. I have said it before, but shut it down if you need to on the weekends. Give $500 tickets for cruising. Hell, bring in a dress code for all I care.
Soon many people are just not going to want to deal with it, and I am scared that I am going to become one of them.
So you’re fed up with sleazy attire or juvenile cruising? Is this downtown or high school?
There certainly is a polarization evident in any talk of downtown on Thursday-Saturday nights. We get one type crowd, Santana Row gets another type crowd. And never the twain shall meet.
It will be interesting to see what effect the current dowtown crowd has on the sale of all these expensive condos being built now. I know I am seriously rethinking my plan to move from Willow Glen to downtown SJ.
There may be little practical effect of the weekend problems for me, since I rarely go out evenings anymore, while the convenience of being three blocks from my office and four from my athletic club is a huge draw. But late night noise may well become an issue.
For those of you who are not aware, there is a very dangerous proposal coming before the Sunshine Task Force this Thursday at 6 p.m.
You might want to view tomorrow’s Council Meeting at 3:30 pm., and attend the Sunshine Task’s Force Meeting Thursday, or at least watch it. Here’s my letter to the Mayor and Council. I strongly urge you to write in, and voice your opinion on this, no matter what your stand on this issue is.
Honorable Mayor Reed, and Council Members,
I am writing to you as a private citizen, as a victim of a crime, and as a victim’s advocate. I attended tonight’s forum at the MLK Library. I am deeply concerned about the proposal of opening Police reports to the public and the media. As a former victim, the thought of having my name, address, phone number, and the details of what I went through, made a matter of public record is terrifying to me. As a mediator who has worked in Victim Offender Mediation, and as a person who sits on several committees and boards defending the civil rights rights of victims, I am terrified that the of kind transparency you are being asked to give members of the public, will not only keep victims from coming forward, but would allow a perpetrator the opportunity to come after their victims by gaining access to this presently confidential information.
As an advocate who works with immigrants in San Jose, I can tell you first hand that the media has represented the Police as brutal, racist, and violent so much so that, many of the victims I work with absolutely refuse to come forward and report things like rape, assault, robbery, and other felonies. My biggest fear is that opening Police reports and files to the extent I heard tonight, will further victimize innocent people, victims of crimes, and witnesses to crimes. Confidentially is a huge bargaining tool that Police Officials, government departments, and other enforcement agencies, like Code Enforcement use, to ensure the safety and well being of those coming forward. My hope is that you will take this into serious consideration before you allow this kind of action.
I would also like to ask that you do not allow a Charter change to give the IPA any more power or discretion than she already has. While she may be educated enough to over see complaints, I do not feel she is trained in enforcement, use of force, and certainly has no idea of what a Police Officer goes through when a gun is pulled on them, or they are fighting for their lives. That was very evident to me in tonight’s meeting, and during the special Council Meeting during her IPA report.
Finally, I’d like to say that I have attended every public forum held on this issue, and regarding the Police. I have yet to see anyone or group present who speaks on behalf of victims of crime in San Jose. Every forum I’ve been to has been one sided, and does not include groups who oppose these kinds of requested changes. There is something very wrong about that.
When Police enforcement representatives, or DA personnel is present they are rarely given a fair opportunity to respond to allegations made, or remarks by panelists, or the public. That happened in tonight’s forum, when District Attorney McCracken tried to respond to comments made to her by the panel sponsoring the forum. She was not given equal time, or an opportunity to refute incorrect statements, or information. If members of the public who do not support this were notified as widely as these special interest groups, that these changes are being requested, I’m pretty sure they’d call, write, and appear before you.
Please, vote no on this very dangerous, and well meaning proposal.
Respectfully,
Kathleen
Finally Kathleen,
You go the police on the correct string. the one about comedy. The police are a complete joke!
Good work
Single Gal,
It may be too late to corral the down town. Getting rid of ants requires cleaning up any thing that attracts them.
I spent the weekend Salmon Fishing on the Feather River. I stayed at the Feather Falls Casino and Lodge. New and very upscale.
I mention this because I was totally unprepared for the activity there. A 900 people event center, that was packed Friday with 21-35 year olds dancing to rock. Saturday night was Latin night, it was packed with that many hispanics dancing to 5 bands.
They charge no parking, they do not have a cover charge nor do they charge for entry into these kinds of venues. What was so amazing was, there were no police presence at either event. No show of any force of any kind, The folks that attended were there to dance and have a great time. The venue provides the community with a place to gather and come together
I observed very little drinking both nights.
After the events most seemed to evaporate into the Oroville sky line. I witnessed no tention or rowdy behavior .
Granted someone is paying their dues to keep the doors open, but hey, they are onto something. I was impressed, and it was somewhat of a downer to return to the nightlife you and others find and talk about in San Jose after dark!
I’m not proposing a Casino, just the underlying formula for providing a comming together of all of our resident. The Casino is 10 minutes out of town. Let’s move the entertainment centers, bars, dives out of downtown. Let’s go Up Town instead of Down Town.
The Village Black Smith / Gil
What a hell of vitality downtown! You can’t handle all those crowd of people downtown? Yeah, you’ll have people cruising and hollering at you. That’s what happens when you have everyone coming downtown, even these people who are cruising. They are not criminals. It just that you have all these sexy women on the streets attracting cruisers. It’s the victim of success. First, it started out a few clubs in the 80’s with the A’ list people going there without “other types”. Then in the 90’s, you got alot more clubs bringing people downtown still without that many “less than desirable types”. By now, everyone wants piece of the action and now, you have what you have today. Some A’ list people are discouraged from coming downtown as result of this. It’s all victim of success. Everyone wants to come downtown from all over the Bay Area, and downtown has a diverse crowd of people having fun. So, get over it!
Single Gal,
Where do you get a Mai Tai the size of a cat?
Thirsty
#7- I bet you’ll sing a different tune, when some punk holds a gun to your face, while threatening to blow your ignorant brains out.
I posted this vital issue on this blogg because this forum just happened. Sorry SG if it offended you. I enjoyed your column.
I know that a lot of these spots make money, even though they all cater to basically the same type of crowd/ demographic. The landlords/ owners know what’s going on. So it’s not explicitly in the hands of the club promoters themselves.
I think that these spots need to be a bit spread out, and there needs to be diversity in what’s available. Not everyone is a SJSU student who wants to kill a few kegs, nor is everyone some 20 something that wants to ghostride the whip.
Go see Jodie Foster’s new movie, The Brave One (don’t get the title, but she did a hell of an acting job)
We’re not there yet, but we’re heading in that direction dowtown.
#10- It’s called Brave One. Yes, she did do a fantastic job. The movie was frightening because I could see why she did what she did, and why the Cop did what he did~
Remains to be said, San Jose has always been a cruiser town. You can put as many expensive watering holes in the downtown area but you are always going to have 2 problems. San Jose is boring, and, the locals like to cruise.
Wayne
Kathleen:
It would be best to never reveal your actual home address. A legitimate mail drop location could be rented from a place that has an extra delivery slot. This could be a connection who owns a business, an unused apt to a granny flat. Not a mailbox rental business nor a P.O. Box. (your true identity can be traced) You thus can keep your identity private and unless someone is trailing you, this is a small inconvenience as price to pay to remain anonymous.
I’m with S-Weezy^^^. I think we need some classier joints downtown, too. You don’t see these hooligans and the same level of skankiness at Santana Row in the evenings.