Mission Mission

Last Halloween Drama Talk and Drinks reviewed one of the most unique and crazy fun shows we’d been to, Thrillpeddlers’ annual Shocktoberfest. Since Brittany had so much fun at that show, she had to bring Katie back to share in the scintillating fun. We headed to the well hidden Hypnodrome to see the Thrillpeddlers latest production, Jewels Of Paris, for a night of naughty drama talk and drinks.

Photo by David Wilson.

Brittany: So that was different.

Katie: Very different. Very San Francisco. What I really liked about it was that it’s true community theater. People just coming together to put on a show because it’s fun.

B: They want to get out there and express their crazy selves in front of an audience and have a good time, which you could tell they did. The writing was also quite smart. If you don’t have a basic understanding of artists that were coming up in Paris in the early 20th century you wouldn’t get all the jokes and references though.

K: I didn’t get many of the references so I got uninterested at times, but most of the time there was so much happening between the singing, costumes, makeup, and nudity that I would get reinterested. It’s cool to see something so visually different. Also, I really loved the sad clown (Birdie Bob-Watt) .

B: I felt like they kinda got tied up in the “we’re doing a show about Paris” concept, trying to cover so much and be so smart, they lost some of the fun. The times when they tried to be more serious didn’t really work for me. There were a few actors that had solos that had trouble carrying a tune. But they went for it, and often naked, so props to them. I couldn’t do that. I love that the audiences at this show always get invested with hoots, hollers and claps even if things aren’t going perfectly. It really gives the feeling that we’re all in this together to have a good time.

K: What an interesting venue too. You enter through a parking lot to a back of a building. I pass this building almost everyday and had no idea that there was this theater behind it. Inside is very eclectic. Next time we go I want to get one of the decorated booths in the back, those were neat.

B: Both times I’ve gone to the Hypnodrome I thought I was lost until I walk into the theater.

K: Overall it was precious, but for me they didn’t bring it home. I would really love to see them do something else.

B: I would definitely recommend going to a Thrillpeddlers show, however, I don’t think this is their best work. I enjoyed it, but if you’re only going to see one show, don’t make this your first impression, I think they can do better.

The Verdict: Thrillpeddlers are a sexy uniquely San Francisco theater company. It’s not called fetish theater for nothing, this is for mature audiences only, which is part of what makes it so fun. Although the writing of Jewels Of Paris is very smart, you may miss some references if you don’t have a general grasp of the history of the Paris arts scene. This show shines when it’s at its raunchiest and silliest, but some weak singers and more serious scenes can make the show lose momentum. It’s an enjoyable night, but not quite Thrillpeddlers at it’s best.

The Drama Talk: For mature audiences only. There are penis, boobs, asses – basically all anatomy is exposed at some point, so be prepared to see it all. Don’t go in expecting everyone in the show to be professionally trained or a knockout singer. Some of the cast is very talented, but what some actors lack in training they make up for in heart and willingness to put themselves out there. The costumes and props are very impressive. The writing is smart, and some of the songs are quite catchy. The whole show is written in house making the sketches and songs all the more impressive.

The Drinks: After the show we headed over to 11th for drinks. If you want to keep the raunchy fun going you can always hit up DNA lounge. Or if you’re looking for a more divey party there’s Butter. We were hoping for some quiet cocktails, and since it sounded French we thought we’d try Bergerac. We couldn’t hear ourselves talk over the bizarrely loud DJ, so we bailed and went to Bar Agricole. Brittany got a Tulip and Katie got a Presidente and we enjoyed a classy and quiet drink to wind down the evening.

JEWELS OF PARIS: A Revolutionary New Musical Revue runs through May 2nd at the Hypnodrome Theater. Tickets are $30 gen. admission or $35 for Front Row Seats, “Shock Boxes” and “Turkish Lounges” and can be purchased on their website.

The Karaoke Underground is coming to San Francisco next month and I am very excited. I gushed about it at length last week, but I also really like this video of punk and indie superstar Ted Leo performing a Beat Happening song at a KU event a few years back:

That’s a pretty good Calvin, right?

Sing some Beat Happening, or some Ted Leo, or any number of your lifelong favorite punk and indie hits this coming April 12th at Rickshaw Stop, when Karaoke Underground comes to SF for the very first time. Advance tickets are available here.

RSVP and invite your friends!

They’re releasing their famous “Bike to Books” map as a bigass poster for you to put on your wall. Here’s the deal:

Remember the Bikes to Books Map that highlighted a bike tour connecting streets that the San Francisco Board of Supervisors renamed after 13 authors and artists? Did you say to yourself, “Oh man I loved the map, but I really wish it were bigger and had more things on it?” If so, you are in luck! Behold and gaze your eyes upon Bikes to Books 2.0, The Poster!

It’s bigger! At 3 feet by two feet, it contains over 863 square inches of history!

It’s better! It now contains 31 individuals and entities, and over 50 points of historical and literary interest, and an awesome comparison timeline that shows who lived and worked in San Francisco at the same time.

It’s faster! It’s not folded! You can readily hang it on your wall! But you’d better hurry to catch this limited run. Be the first to get one of these maps at our release party at Benders on Wednesday, March 18th, 7-9 pm. It’s like a giant Burrito Justice post that you can hold in your hands! Details below!

And tonight is the release party, at Bender’s, 7-9pm. Have a beer with a big Burrito himself!

[via Burrito Justice]

[via Kat]

Artist, transit activist, and Mission Mission reader Ilyse, whose projects we’ve posted about before, has been leading a series of pub crawls on public transit routes (aka PUBlic Transit Crawls) to raise money for the SF Transit Riders Union. The next crawl takes place this Thursday in the Mission, and in honor of Valentine’s Day, it’s along the 14 bus route.

Here are the details:

Starting Point: 16th/Mission BART
Date/Time: Thursday, February 12, 6-10pm

Schedule:
6PM: Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, 2323 Mission St (btw 19th St and 20th St)
7PM: El Rio, 3158 Mission St (at Precita Ave)
8PM: St. Mary’s Pub, 3845 Mission St (at College St and Crescent St)
9PM: Pissed Off Pete’s, 4528 Mission St (btw Santa Rosa St and Ocean Ave)

Read more about the crawl at the SF Transit Union’s website.

RSVP and invite your friends!

Sketchfest is upon us! The time of year when all our favorite comedians descend on the Bay Area for three weeks of merriment. Ariel, our DT&D editor, and Sam, Brittany’s boyfriend, are big fans of the 90s American sitcom, NewsRadio so we decided to check out the NewsRadio reunion show as our first foray into Sketchfest 2015.

Brittany: I like NewsRadio, but I don’t think I’m as big of fans as either of you are.

Ariel: When I was in college I obtained raw footage from an entire NewsRadio episode to cut my own episode. And it’s really interesting, when they talked about the musicality of the entrances and exits, for a 3 or 4 camera show it was really hard to cut. You’d imagine for a multi-camera show you can just cut back and forth, but it was so carefully orchestrated, that you couldn’t really cut it a new way. I feel like they took the Kramer entrance from Seinfeld and applied that to the whole show.

B: I was disappointed that there weren’t more cast members there, but I think you still got a sense of what it was like to be on the show.

A: I was bummed that Maura Tierney wasn’t there.

Sam: Vicki Lewis too. I loved Vicki.

A: Maura Tierney to me, maybe because I had a crush on her, she was the heart of the show to me. She was stuck in a world of bumbling cartoon characters.

(more…)

If you have grandparents who loved Murder, She Wrote marathons, or if you grew up with an affinity for singing teapots, you can’t help but have a special place in your heart for Angela Lansbury. Who else can make murdering people and cooking them into pies sound so sweet? So, when we heard that at age 89 she was doing a super-limited North American tour of Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit, we knew we had to see it. So, off we went to SHN’s Golden Gate Theater for a night of laughs, drama talk and drinks.

Katie: Go fucking see this show!

Brittany: IT WAS SO GOOD!

K: If you’re going to throw down some money on a really fun, twists and turns, old-school, straight-play comedy, THIS is where you should put your money, people.

B: It was amazing, and Angela Lansbury is the most adorable, wonderfulest person. I wish she was my grandma. I mean I love my grandmas, but I’d take her as my third grandma any day.

K: Be prepared though, because every time she walks on stage people love her so much they can’t stop clapping. Which was annoying, but I get it.

B: She walks on stage and all you want to do is give her a hug. You can’t take your eyes off her, she’s that talented. Everyone in this show is really talented, but she is exceptionally talented.

K: This is one of the few shows I’d say don’t have a drink before, because you don’t want to miss a thing. It starts off with a lot of British fast wit, and you want to be able to follow it, because it’s hilarious. What I really loved about his play is it wasn’t predictable.

B: There’s a reason some plays survive the test of time. This was written in the 1940s, and it’s still so funny.

The Verdict: If you have the money, or if you don’t have the money go find some money and then see this show. When you aren’t mesmerized by what’s happening on stage, you’re hoping that the scene change doesn’t mean the play is over, because you want it to keep going for another hour. One of the best shows we’ve ever reviewed.

The Drama Talk: The best actors are the ones who you can tell absolutely love performing, and you can tell Angela Lansbury loves being on stage. It’s no wonder she won a Tony for this role. She is phenomenal; you can’t help but watch her and love her. This is a quick, smart, witty play, but with enough darkness and occult elements (it’s a comedy about ghosts) that it doesn’t get saccharine. All the actors are great. With a play this fast you need a tight cast, and they are tight. It’s a national tour, so of course the set and design are top notch. As delightful as this show was, perhaps the most endearing part is watching Angela beam at her curtain call. She really is one of the greats. Don’t miss this chance to see her perform.

The Drinks: We had rock-star parking near the Golden Gate, so we decided to stay nearby and go to The Showdown across the street for drinks. It’s an “Urban DJ Saloon” so, as promised, there was a DJ spinning and an open-mic hip-hop show happening. It was hard to hear yourself over the music, but the drinks were strong and good. Brittany got a martini (since those are the drinks they open the show drinking) and Katie got a gin and tonic, and we yelled excitedly over the DJ about what an awesome show we had just seen.

Blithe Spirit runs through February 1st at SHN’s Golden Gate Theater. At the time of writing, SHN’s website was showing the error “We are currently experiencing high demand for tickets. Please check again shortly.” Since price is variable based on demand, these aren’t going to be cheap tickets. If any are still available you can get yours on SHN’s website. As of right now there are also tickets available on Goldstar.

There’s really no better party than a dance party, but have you ever been to a slow dance party?

The Dancehall of Beautiful Radiant Things is a slow dance club that welcomes dancers of all skill levels and non-dancers to share a night of vignette moment with strangers and friends. Attendees are given a dance card upon entry with 21 spots for 21 songs to be filled by you with other attendees.

We will begin with a simple lesson of the dancestep and then leave it to you to fill up your card. You do not need to be an accomplished dancer as the emphasis the interaction not the flair. Dress to the nines and come mingle with us for a night not to be forgotten.

It’s all happening at the Verdi Club this Wednesday at 8pm, and we’re giving away TWO FREE TICKETS!  To enter, just name your favorite song to dance to in the comments.  Contest ends at 4pm tomorrow!  Check out all the details here.

And for all the rest of you, get 20% of your tickets here!

Sure sure, you can have your gaudy Twitter holiday parties at City Hall and all that biz, but I’ll take the awesome community spirit of the Adobe crew over that any day.  I mean, just look at this lineup!

Holiday jams provided by DJ JustStella
Ornament making with Erica Gangsei
Treats donated by Tartine Bakery
Tasty snacks provided by Bi‑Rite Market

THE RETURN OF CHRISTMAS KARAOKE

So be sure to brush on your Bing Crosby and come on down!  Check out all the details here.

I’m thinking maybe this party at Virgil’s:

Virgil’s Soul Room
w/ records hand-selected for your dancing pleasure by
DJ PAUL PAUL (Soul Party)
DJ CARNITA (Hard French)
DJ WAM BAM ASHLEYANNE

Free Entry!
Free Fernet-Branca Toast at Midnight!

That’s a lot of good reasons. RSVP and invite your friends if you want!