.Stephen Layton

Frankie Marcos' standup debut was a bomb not of his making. His co-worker, a chef, had told him it was open mic night at a bar in San Francisco. Marcos, like many beginners, decided to give it a shot because he had a rep as the funny guy at work. Why not try standup?

Niche board games surge in popularity as valley techies go wireless.

Back when they were first dating, Dana and Yori Seeger would dream, over beers, about exactly what they would do if they won the lottery. The answer: Open an art school, of course.

Every human-even the bird-eaters among us-enjoys masticating organic matter of a higher order. Or, to put it in more basic terms, we all love to stuff our faces with delicious food. But in order to carry out this time-honored tradition, we must patronize not only our favorite taquerias and ramen joints-we must also flock to summer food festivals around the South Bay, from the venerable Gilroy Garlic Festival to the young upstart Electronic Sriracha Festival.

Ah, the SAP Center. That palace of sport. That hallowed arena where, on most days of the week, one can watch freakishly strong men...

The world is an indifferent place governed by the chaotic whims of nature. Humanity's feeble attempts to corral these inexorable forces are futile and ultimately resolve in destruction and decay. And David Kimball Anderson is just fine with that. In fact, the Santa Cruz-based artist finds it all quite beautiful.

Robert Karimi performs as his alter ego, Mero Cocinero, in his show ‘Love, Food, Love.’

Ty Barnett and Ian Harris take on divisive topics in comedy special