Around Berkeley: Jazz phenom Samara Joy in town, Robert Townsend opens one-man show; TEDxBerkeley

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Around Berkeley

🎥 Robert Townsend, the filmmaking renegade responsible for 1987’s caustic takedown of cinematic stereotypes, Hollywood Shuffle, opens a two-month run at the Marsh Berkeley with his one-man show Living the Shuffle — a “show biz rollercoaster ride of ups and downs from the dangerous streets of Chicago to performing Julius Caesar at a pimp convention in New York City.” Through March 9. $40

🧠 Susan Snyder, a lecturer at the Haas School of Business and a Civilian CERT Instructor for Berkeley, will lead a session on how to plan for your mental health during a large-scale emergency. The presentation is a partnership with the Berkeley Disaster Preparedness Neighborhood Network. (Read our story about the city’s series of disaster readiness classes.) Thursday, Jan. 30, 6:30 p.m. Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists. FREE

🎲 Berkeley is holding its annual family community game night, featuring card and board games, chess, dominoes, cornhole and other kid-friendly games. All children must be accompanied by an adult. Friday, Jan. 31, Live Oak Recreation Center. FREE (RSVP) 

 🇿🇼 Berkeley-based MBIRA, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting and promoting traditional Shona musicians and instrument builders, presents a series of free Zimbabwean concerts at all Berkeley’s libraries Saturdays in February, starting Saturday at Central Library with Bay Area-based Zimbabwean musician Wamkanganise “Salani” naGaadza and Berkeley native Erica Azim presenting an mbira performance, discussion and a short period of instruction at the end for those who want to try playing the mbira instrument. Saturday, Feb. 1, 10:30 a.m. Central Library. FREE

🐍 West Berkeley’s Teance Fine Teas is celebrating Lunar New Year with a lion dance and pipa performances, a talk with fermentation expert Karen Wang Diggs (who will share complimentary tastings of her pào cài), a tai chi demonstration, family-friendly activities and several pop-ups including Mt. Kakigori. Saturday, Feb. 1, 12–4 p.m. 1036 Grayson St. FREE

🎤 The TEDxBerkeley 2025 conference (followed by a reception where attendees can engage with speakers) is organized around the open-ended theme Highway X, exploring the many different paths from point A to point B with “America’s Got Talent” winner Brandon Leake, award-winning National Geographic photographer Kiliii Yuyuan, and many more. Saturday, Feb. 1, 2:30 p.m. Zellerbach Hall. $20-$50

♟️ The first Saturday of the month, Berkeley Public Library’s North Branch hosts a casual chess meetup, where you can play others, get help from experienced chess players and peruse the library’s collection of chess books. All ages and experience levels are welcome. Saturday, Feb. 1, 3 p.m.–5 p.m. FREE

🎨 ACCI Gallery is holding an opening reception for “The Freedom of Art,” a satellite exhibition of Art of the African Diaspora. The exhibit features work by 11 Black artists. Saturday, Feb. 1, 4 p.m. FREE (RSVP)

🎤 Join three UC Berkeley Ph.D. students from the fields of geography, anthropology and sociology for a discussion of fringe politics. This timely talk, moderated by Paul Pierson, a UC Berkeley political science professor, will cover topics including QAnon, religious studies and California secessionism. Tuesday, Feb. 4, 4 p.m. 820 Social Sciences Building, UC Berkeley. FREE (RSVP)

🕺 African diaspora polyrhythms get down with Appalachian/American traditional songs in Evie Ladin’s latest body music project with MoToR/dance, MoToRING ON, a multigenerational project in collaboration with the Westlake Tap Ensemble and Corposonic Trio. Saturday, Feb. 1, 5 & 7:30 p.m. Ashkenaz. $25.75-$40  

🎶 Under the direction of Terrance Kelly since it was founded in 1986, the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir has become a beloved Bay Area institution, and the ensemble’s 10th annual Black History Month concert at the Freight is a cornerstone of the choir’s season. Sunday, Feb. 2, 1 p.m. Freight & Salvage. $34-$39

💐 Catch the UC Botanical Garden’s 16th annual Plants Illustrated Exhibition before it closes Feb. 3. This year’s exhibit focuses on plants and pollinators. Through Feb. 3 (daily except Tuesdays), 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 200 Centennial Dr.

📚 Local author-illustrator Briana Loewinsohn will discuss her new YA graphic novel Raised By Ghosts. The semi-autobiographical book is set in Loewinsohn’s own teenage years in Oakland during the ’90s. Tuesday, Feb. 4, 7 p.m. Mrs. Dalloway’s. FREE (RSVP)

🎤 Sociologist Bianca Mabute-Louie will be joined by author-activist Michelle MiJung Kim for a talk about her new book Unassimilable: An Asian Diasporic Manifesto for the Twenty-First Century. The event, co-sponsored by the UC Berkeley Ethnic Studies Library and Eastwind Books, will be opened with a poetry reading by Samoan poet-author Terisa Siagatonu. Refreshments will be provided. Wednesday, Feb. 5, 5:30 p.m. UC Berkeley Ethnic Studies Library (30 Stephens Hall). FREE (RSVP)

🎲 Have you been curious about Dungeons and Dragons but too intimidated to enter the world of role playing games? Games of Berkeley has just the right class for you: a two-part, beginner-friendly intro to D&D class taught by a professional actress who specializes in improv and immersive theater. Wednesday, Feb. 5 and 12, 6 p.m. Games of Berkeley. Ages 13 and older. $30

🤖 Ken Goldberg, a UC Berkeley engineering professor and robotics expert, will give a talk about AI and robots. You might recognize him from his popular TED talk “Why don’t we have better robots yet?”. Wednesday, Feb. 5, 7 p.m. Berkeley City Club. $5-$10 (RSVP)

🎶 Samara Joy, a 25-year-old jazz sensation who has already won three Grammys and was recently nominated for two more, is making her Cal Performances debut. Wednesday, Feb. 5, 7:30 p.m. Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley. $55+ (RSVP) 

🐍 Fourth Street welcomes the Year of the Snake with a Golden Lion Martial Arts demonstration, the Kei Lun Lion Dance performance, the Shop Blessing Parade and crafts for kids hosted by Shu Ren International School. The festival is dedicated to the late Winnie Yu, co-founder of Teance Fine Teas, who launched the Fourth Street celebration in 2009. Saturday, Feb. 8, 1-4 p.m. Delaware Street at Fourth Street. FREE

🎶 Plan ahead: This year’s Freight & Salvage Django Reinhardt birthday celebration brings three consecutive triple bills featuring the world’s leading practitioners inspired by the Belgian-born Manuche guitar legend, with fiddler Elana James’ Hot Club of Cowtown and Québecois Christine Tassan et les Imposteures kicking off the party Friday. Festival curator Paul Mehling’s Hot Club of San Francisco performs each night, joined Saturday by violinist Jason Anick’s acoustic Rhythm Future Quartet and L.A.-based San Lyon featuring French violinist, bassist, percussionist and vocalist Jenna Colombet, and Sunday by the Hot Club of Los Angeles and Toronto-based Debi Botos, who has immersed herself in the Hungarian Roma violin tradition. Friday-Sunday, Feb. 24-26, 7 p.m. $54-$59

Beyond Berkeley

🎉  The Oakland Asian Cultural Center has partnered with the Malonga Arts Residents Association (MARA), Eastwind Books of Berkeley, Marcus Books, and the Alameda County National Council of Negro Women for the third annual Lunar New Year x Black History Month Community Celebration. In addition to a full slate of dance, music and other performances, there will be a local vendors marketplace, a children’s area, and an exhibition on Black and Asian solidarity. Saturday, Feb. 1, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Free; Oakland Asian Cultural Center, 388 Ninth St., suite 290

🚽 Got a home plumbing project on the agenda but need some know-how? Or, a finicky toilet that has defied fixing? The Oakland Tool Lending Library is hosting a plumbing workshop the first three Saturdays in February. Learn plumbing fixes you can perform yourself, proper use of plumbing tools, preventative maintenance, and take advantage of a Q&A with an experienced, licensed plumbing professional to get your trickiest plumbing problems solved. Adults only; no registration required, first come, first admitted up to room capacity. Saturday, Feb.1, Feb. 8 and Feb. 15; noon to 2 p.m., Tool Lending Library, 5205 Telegraph Ave. 

🎵 Oakland Unified School District’s middle school and high school music students will perform for students and the public in Oakland Tech’s auditorium. The special guest for this year’s Oakland Unified Jazz Festival is Christelle Durandy, who blends Afro-Caribbean, jazz and other polyrhythmic sounds in a style that reflects the African diaspora’s diffuse and substantial musical influence. Wednesday, Feb. 5, 6:30-10:30 p.m.; Oakland Technical High School, 4351 Broadway

💃 The first show of Foster the People, the Los Angeles-based band that initially shot to notoriety with its 2011 hit single “Pumped Up Kicks,” sold out. So, they added a second show and tickets are still available for the Oakland leg of the Paradise State of Mind Tour. Good Neighbours will also perform. Saturday, Feb. 1, Doors at 7 p.m., Show at 8 p.m.; Tickets start at $62; Fox Theater, 1807 Telegraph Ave.

🐘 Every year, the Oakland Museum Women’s Board hosts the popular White Elephant Sale, which has supported educational programs, exhibitions, and marketing initiatives for over six decades. From Jan. 29 through Feb. 22, you can find everything from antiques, glassware, toys, and more at the massive sale. Check the website for times and tickets. Wednesday, Jan. 29 through Saturday, Feb. 22. 333 Lancaster St., Oakland. 

The Oaklandside reporter Azucena Rasilla contributed reporting to this story.