When it comes to comedy in San Francisco, stale Bush jokes and nefarious Rove references all too often are the order of the day. For those in search of something different, comedian Will Franken (no relation to Al Franken) is a breath of fresh air. I went to see Franken's one-man show, "Grandpa, It's Not Fitting," at The Marsh theater last week and was blown away.

Franken's show defies easy categorization. It's one part comedy, one part performance art and several parts surreal experience, all set against a backdrop of biting social and political satire. Franken has to be seen or, in the case of the many podcasts and clips available at his Web site, heard to be believed.

Tall with long hair, an elastic face and the casually hip demeanor of an urbanite who doesn't take himself too seriously, Franken looks like he belongs more in San Francisco than in his hometown of Sedalia, Mo. But looks can be deceiving. Franken is an equal-opportunity satirist and nothing survives his roving eye, least of all "San Francisco values," which he skewers unmercifully. At the same time, Franken told me, San Francisco's respect for innovation keeps things interesting.

More than anything, Franken captures the combustible mixture of radical Islam and Western suicidal tendencies so prevalent in today's world. Even as the purveyors of the former ideology act with confidence and determination, Western civilization tends to react with self-flagellation. As a result, those who do speak out against radical Islam are more often pilloried than praised.

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