Porchlight Storytelling Series

The Bitch is Back: Stories of Resurgence Back in hot vax summer of '21, we were so jazzed about coming out of the pandemic. We brought our live show to the courtyard of the historic San Francisco Mint to hear tales of bouncing back, renaissance and reemergence. Stories from business executive Karla Martin, writer and professor Matthew Clark Davison, high school senior and spoken word performer Jyairrah Martin, writer and barman Alan Black and lawyer and artist Matt Gonzalez. Hosted by Arline Klatte and Beth Lisick, music by Marc Capelle, recorded by Brandi Howell. 

We wrap up our North Beach series with an interview with Graziano Cerchiai, the patriarch of the city's legendary Bimbo's 365 Club, on his 91st birthday. 

Our guest this week is theater director and current Chief Producer at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Jonathan Moscone. Jon talks about his North Beach memories, including memorable nights at Tosca, and how the pandemic has unveiled inequities in our society that we cannot ignore. 

Author, journalist, and fifth generation San Franciscan Pia Hinckle joins us to talk about growing up and raising her own kids in the city. Topics include her legendary father, journalist Warren Hinckle, and nearly every single bar in North Beach.

Arline and Beth catch up with poet Jack Hirschman.  He looks back on his friendship with Lawrence Ferlinghetti and shares a poem he wrote for Lawrence on the night of his passing.  

Arline and Beth catch up with City Lights Books' linchpin Stacey Lewis. She looks back on 25 years at the iconic bookstore and remembers her mentor and friend Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

A year after Tuttle's death, Arline and Beth remember the tattoo icon with his friend and archivist Danielle Boiardi.   

Arline and Beth talk to San Francisco legend Peggy Knickerbocker. The cookbook author and gal about town talks about The Dolphin Club, her new memoir, and childhood friends helping get her through the pandemic. Her story about running around North Beach was recorded at Bimbo's in 2018. 

Beth and Arline remember a great show back in 2019 in the perfectly lit, crowded lounge at Bimbo's. Porchlight favorite Jesse DeNatale was there. He spent the pandemic creating a beautiful album "The Wilderness." Hear all about it and the roads that lead us wherever the hell we wind up.

We were so excited to join forces with both the Contemporary Jewish Museum and the California Institute for Integral Studies for a night of stories exploring our understanding of self and the fluidity of identity. An amazing group shared personal stories inspired by the CJM exhibition Show Me as I Want to be Seen. The lineup: Kelly Beardsley has been telling wacky stories around SF for the last 15 years.  His stories have been heard on This American Life, The California Report, KQED and a bunch of Porchlight events. He works as a BART train operator and lives in Oakland. India Marie Chakraverty was raised in a small town in the Central Valley before enrolling at San Francisco State University. They are getting a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing and loving every minute of their starving artist life. They live with their boyfriend and cat (one for now) in this wonderful and expensive city and work as the General Books supervisor at the SFSU Bookstore. They are working on three novels and two short

A not-to-miss variety show celebrating the wonderment and weirdness of SF's landmark indie bookstore with author Mary Roach, illustrator Wendy McNaughton, Thao of the Get Down Stay Down, Vetiver's Andy Cabic, Forum's Michael Krasny, author Robin Sloan, author and musician Willy Vlautin and more!   Hosted by Arline Klatte and Beth Lisick on September 6, 2017 at the Great American Music Hall.  Recorded and Mixed by Brandi Howell

It's our 15th birthday and we're putting on a killer storytelling show to celebrate! BACK IN THE DAY will feature true tales from a stellar assortment of humans including: Muni Diaries founder Eugenia Chien Lawyer, activist, and artist Matt Gonzalez Bartender and writer Ginger Murray Master bookbinder Dominic Riley Writer and contributor to The New Yorker, Vice, and The Guardian, Carvell Wallace Writer, performer Cintra Wilson Musical Guest Sonny Smith with your emcees Arline Klatte and Beth Lisick

Porchlight and Sketchfest present: BOMBS AWAY! Stories of Implosions and Explosions With Dana Merwin, Eddie Pepitone. Erin Foley, Karla Martin and Mike Phirman 

Every year, we join forces with the amazing Litquake Literary Festival to bring you a night of stories told by authors and writers. Our theme for this show is ripped from the Talking Heads song “Life During Wartime,” and involves tales of explosive scenarios, epic struggles, and living each day like it could be your last. With Greg Milner, Laurie Notaro, D. Watkins, Jack Boulware, Eric Spitznagel, Bucky SInister, and Pamela Alma Weymouth. Hosted by Arline Klatte and Beth Lisick, with music by Marc Capelle. 

Who am I? It's a queston that never fails to amuse, confuse, bewilder, and humble us as we plunk along our journey on this earth. To what end, no one knows. To paraphrase Oliver Sacks, it is an enormous privilege and adventure to be a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet. And you are free to have canned fish for lunch every day, if you wish.  As Porchlight celebrates fourteen years of personal storytelling onstage, we look to a theme where storytellers can choose to reflect or freak out on the whats, whys, and hows of who they think they are.  Cousins author Mary Roach and bookbinder Dominic Riley Mythbusters legend Adam Savage writer and actor Moon Zappa Executive strategist Karla Martin Writer/performer/psychic hotline operator Ben McCoy Bawdy Storytelling dynamo Dixie De La Tour

Porchlight partners with Greenhouse, a software company that optimizes hiring practices, for a show of stories about JOBS. Our storytelling superstars for this special edition include writer/musician Eric Shea, HIV educator Ed Wolf, and producer/comedian Dana Merwin.    Hosted by Arline Klatte at the Hilton Union Square on May 26, 2016. Recorded by PSAV and mixed by Patty Fung.

Porchlight returns with a Bill Graham and the Rock & Roll Revolution edition featuring Wavy Gravy, Bob Barsotti, Eric Shea, Deanne Franklin, Bart Davenport, and Lorrie Murray. Hosted by Arline Klatte and Beth Lisick on May 12, 2016 at The Contemporary Jewish Museum. Recorded by Brandi Howell. Mixed by Patty Fung. 

Kitchen Confidential is back! Hear some of SF's finest onstage with their insider stories about food, restaurants, kitchens, customers, and the vagaries of having a life in the service industry. Writer and restaurant person Karen Leibowitz. Natural foods expert/writer Matt Levine. Cookbook author J. Kenji Lopez-Alt. Comedian Kyle Mizono. Chef/teacher Erika Almeida Mooney and superstar chef Richie Nakano. Hosted by Arline Klatte and Beth Lisick on April 13, 2016 at San Francisco's Verdi Club. Recorded by Brandi Howell. Mixed by Patty Fung. 

You're Doing It Wrong: Stories from Porchlight's annual SF Sketchfest show featuring Beth Lisick and Arline Klatte with guests Iris Haas-Biel, Moshe Kasher, Jackie Kashian, Kyle Mizono and Aparna Nancherla and songs by Bart Davenport. Hosted by Arline Klatte and Beth Lisick January 22, 2016 at the Swedish American Hall Recorded by Brandi Howell. Mixed by Patty Fung. 

Litquake’s edition of the Bay Area’s long-running Porchlight series (15 years!) returns to the festival for a special storytelling night of authors and writers, telling tales on the theme of “Kill Your Darlings.” Featuring stories by Heather Mackey, Martha Tolles, Neal Pollack, Mark Haskell Smith, Siamak Vossoughi and Ali Liebegott. Hosted by Arline Klatte and Beth Lisick on October 12, 2015 at San Francisco's Verdi Club. Recorded by Brandi Howell. Mixed by Patty Fung.