Sans the rivalry of a mayoral contest that fueled the drama of last year’s Monday Night Live!, the political comedy show ramped up the raunchiness for its 22nd annual production this week with a skit that left freshman Councilman Raul Peralez drenched and shirtless. Set to an Addam’s Family theme—complete with dry ice and a macabre, melodramatic Gomez Addams—the sketch-fest kicked off with a Three Stooges scene starring developers Tom Armstrong, Ray Hashimoto and Michael Van Every. The bumbling trio, on a quest to steal San Jose’s overcooked general plan, encounter a zombified interim Councilwoman Margie Matthews mumbling something about the jobs-housing balance and industrial land conversions, evidently possessed by some policy wonk poltergeist. Peralez, the gamely host for the evening, picked it up with a canned stump speech that morphed into a Magic Mike-slash-Flashdance number punctuated by offbeat thrusting, table-top dancing and a chair-straddling strip-down that gave everyone a good long look at his tattoos. Council colleague and “token Republican” Johnny Khamis made an appearance with Deputy Director of Economic Development Nanci Klein to riff on Mayor Sam Liccardo’s toilet-to-tap-guzzling publicity stunt. Though absent in the flesh, District 4 contenders Manh Nguyen and Tim Orozco worked their way into the script. In a Saturday Night Live!-style “Weekend Update,” anchors Halsey Varady and Will Springhorn Jr. quipped about Nguyen’s rumored stable of wives and how Orozco could blame Sen. Barbara Boxer for his long-ago DUI busts. Ex-Mayor Chuck Reed got a shout-out for turning a $1 FPPC fine into a $106,000 return by some alchemical calculus. After taking a jab at Metro trying too hard to be edgy, Willow Glen Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio delivered a “Top 10” list teasing Liccardo for indulging Vice Mayor Rose Herrera’s delusions of grandeur by letting her sit in his office after-hours. And for forgetting to strap on a bike helmet during union negotiations.
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- Snarkier-than-thou Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio delivered a Top 10 list dedicated to the mayoral missteps of Sam Liccardo. (Photo by Greg Ramar)
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- The Stage players Halsey Varady and Will Springhord Jr. with the Weeknight Update. (Photo by Greg Ramar)
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- Retired—er, recovering—planning director Joe Horwedel welcomes a medical marijuana patient to the “Rose Herrera Wellness Center.” (Photo by Greg Ramar)
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- The host getting ready for his “Magic Mike” moment. (Photo by Greg Ramar)
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- Tom Armstrong ogles at an Envision San Jose 2040 general plan full of “planner porn,” like sexy road diets and transit villages. (Photo by Greg Ramar)
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- A ghostly Margie Matthews made a cameo appearance only slightly more short-lived than her council term. (Photo by Greg Ramar)
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- Tom Armstrong, Michael Van Every and Ray Hashimoto stooging around. (Photo by Greg Ramar)
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- Deputy Economic Development Director Nanci Klein and “token Republican” Johnny Khamis balk at the price of sewer water. (Photo by Greg Ramar)
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- Councilman Raul Peralez breaks it down. (Photo by Greg Ramar)
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- They called this number, “Full Disclosure.” (Photo by Greg Ramar)
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- San Jose Stage players Johnny Moreno (as Gomez Addams) and Allison Rich. (Photo by Greg Ramar)
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- The finale, set to a chorus of shrieks from the audience. (Photo by Greg Ramar)
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- Courtney Hatcher as “the girl you wish you hadn’t started a conversation with at the party.” (Photo by Greg Ramar)
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- Guests at the pre-show mixer. (Photo by Greg Ramar)
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- Raul Peralez, treating the crowd to an off-beat striptease. (Photo by Greg Ramar)
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- Raul Peralez, treating the crowd to an off-beat striptease. (Photo by Greg Ramar)
Metro trying too hard to be edgy? Oliverio must be talking about the restaurant reviews or something, because the SJI portion of Metro simply goes along with whatever the Mayor says. That’s about as far from edgy as it gets.
Where does the funding for this event come from? Tax dollars? Private underwriting?
If it’s tax dollars why isn’t SJI investigating the waste and abuse? If it’s privately funded where is the investigation into the influence and access being purchased?
Unions labor, unions labor, unions labor…. County this… Milpitas that.. Shirakawa and Campos blah blah blah… another grand old time yucking it up at Monday Night live – business as usual at SJI.
Nice to see our city council having fun on the eve of their month long vacation in July. The dire staffing situation at SJPD seems to be the last thing on their minds.
What’s not to celebrate? The mayor’s pay will increase from $114,000 to $125,000 (+ 9.6%), while council members’ pay will increase from $81,000 to $92,000 (+13.6%) . Plus, the monthly vehicle stipend will go from $350 to $500 (+43%).
…meanwhile on another SJI thread the usual suspects are throwing around “bankruptcy” at the mention of a raise for the folks who actually interact with the public…
Weed you misunderstand! They need that money! They spend so much time driving around to special events to take selfies to post on facebook, they exceed their data cap monthly!
So many sarcastic killjoys here. San Jose citizens: why are you so narrow, mean, sarcastic? for the record, I neither agree or disagree with this event, but, these negative comments make my stomach turn. UGH. San Jose needs to get a heart, you tin man city.
I just puked in my mouth.