Amy L.
Yelp
This review would be a few more stars if the owner didn't spend the vast majority of his time on stage calling women "b*tches" and belittling white women specifically. Then when he was off-stage, he was talking loudly to other comics next to where I was sitting, so I had a harder time hearing the show.
Let me back up: I generally love standup comedy, and go to a lot of local shows. At The Function, I came to the Christmas Eve early show. I was five minutes late, not realizing they would start exactly on time. Admission was $15/each. I was informed that the "space reserved" for wheelchairs was a little space next to the front door, as far from the stage as possible. Okay, fine, I wasn't going to argue, especially since I was five minutes late.
The club space itself is a shotgun-style bar. It's beautifully decorated, feels very contemporary and upscale, definitely gentrified for the neighborhood. The cocktails were average-upscale in price and well-made. I enjoyed my Lemon Drop. They also had a menu of intricate-sounding holiday-themed cocktails, which were probably delicious, but I'm a simple girl who likes the classics, and I was very happy with my drink...Definitely keep that bartender!
The mostly-male line-up offered both racial and age diversity. Most the comedians relied on the usual misogyny, homophobia, and reductive jokes about white people. There were two standouts: A guy with a goatee who was a born-and-bred San Franciscan and had some great one-liners, and a 50-year-old woman named Pam, who called out a particularly chauvinistic comedian for his misogyny and kept everyone in the club in stitches! I would've been happy if the show had just been those two comics! I also want to give a shout out to "Dirty Mike", the emcee, who did a great job of keeping the energy alive in the room between the other performers.
Near the end of the show, they announced that they were sending a tip bucket around, suggesting a "tip" (is it a tip if you shame everyone into paying it?) of $10-20 per person, or "$3,000 if you're white". We tossed in a $20 "tip" for the two of us, which meant that between that and the door fee, this show was actually $25/each, which it was definitely NOT worth.
This space really is NOT 100% WHEELCHAIR-ACCESSIBLE, with the exception of the very front entrance. Once inside, if all the bar seats are taken, it's virtually impossible to maneuver a wheelchair of any ADA-compliant width through the space. I wasn't able to get through the bar at all, so cannot comment on the bathroom. There is also a balcony that is 100% NOT WHEELCHAIR-ACCESSIBLE. So, if you use a wheelchair, be prepared to sit in a tiny alcove by the front door, as far from the stage as possible. There is no ADA-compliant section of the bar, but the goatee-having comic apparently also works there and came around to check if we'd been able to order drinks.
I would say that I'd come back here for a cocktail at a time when there wasn't a show, because the bartender was great and the cocktail was delicious, but honestly, there are tons of more-wheelchair-accessible bars out there, and the owner put out a bad vibe. Why would I want to give business to a man who misogynistically belittles women who share my skin color? I also definitely wouldn't go back for comedy again, because the show was over-priced for the caliber of the performers (with the exception of the two I mentioned above!). Comedy is so subjective, though, so if misogyny, homophobia, and jokes about "white b*tches" are funny to you, you might enjoy this place.