The Dark Room is your one-stop shop for comedy, theater, events, entertainment,
rehearsal space and recording studio facilities (both pre- and post-production).
2263 Mission Street, between 18th and 19th San Francisco, CA 94110
Call 415-401-7987 for info.
Pandemonium reigns as lovable blowhard Al Czervik disrupts an idyllic snobatorium, The Bushwood Country Club, much to the chagrin of stuffy Judge Smails. Meanwhile, college-bound caddy Danny Noonan must decide whether it's smarter to kiss up to Smails for the coveted Caddy Scholarship, or take the advice of semi-suave playboy Ty Webb and just be the ball.
Everything will come to a head in 18 grueling holes of high-stakes golf...just so long as shell-shocked assistant greenskeeper Carl doesn't vaporize the fairway in search of a pesky gopher.
Caddyshack: Live! is adapted and directed by Jim Fourniadis and stars Jody Frandle, Bronson McKinley, Austin Brown, Tim Kay, Jim Jeske, Mikl Em, Jay Huston, Erin Lucas, Dawn Corine, Guy Silvestro, Peter Kim, Bryce Byerley and Christina Shonkwiler as The Gopher.
Dan Carbone: New Comedic Tales of Mystery and Imagination
Bay Area absurdist writer/ performer Dan Carbone (whom the SF Bay Guardian has described as “Jonathan Winters meets Cocteau”) returns to the Dark Room for an evening of new works including “Ol’ Blue Balls” about a chance encounter between Frank Sinatra and a little girl in the 1950s, “Debbie and the Demons” a woman wreaks havoc all around the globe (sort of like if Godzilla were directed by Kurosawa) and “The Koreans,” about a surreal, true-life encounter between Carbone and some young Korean students on the streets of downtown Oakland.
Dystopian Veneer is a unconventional, darkly comedic satire about a few various causes and effects loose in the current phase of human society. From the meltdown of Wall Street to the questionable influence of secret societies, modern religion's vapid fecklessness, and humanity's potential for actual evolution at this juncture, a representative operator lays out the halftime report of an organization whose social contract expires at midnight, December 21, 2012. The typical lines separating stage performance from real life will be disregarded, and the audience brought into new roles as contributors, instigators, and willing agents thereafter. This is not a show for those who are desperately clinging to failing structures and crippled traditions. If you've ever wondered what it would be like to consciously crash a system in order to promote effective reconstruction, take a trip through Dystopian Veneer. Maybe things out there in the world really aren't what you think they are...and there's more you could be doing about it. Clock's ticking.
Dystopian Veneer is the work of Paul Addis. His last stage appearance was the gripping, gritty, and unnerving life of Hunter S. Thompson from 1968-1971, Gonzo — A Brutal Chrysalis. After taking time to answer for the iconoclastic torching of Burning Man's wooden idol in 2007, Paul returns to the stage with a passion for both the real and unreal souls as they struggle to define their new roles in the history of the future past.
Friday, April 30, 2010
The Business
Best Alternative Comedy show in San Francisco. Featuring comedians from Comedy Central, SXSW, and the Comedians of Comedy tour!
Tickets: $5 at the door.
Every
Wednesday 8PM $5
Bad Movie Night
Every
Sunday 8PM $5
In the tradition of Mystery Science Theater 3000, except you can't tell which ones are the robots. — David Manning
Cinema is our culture's dominant art form.
It holds up a mirror to who we are.
It reflects our society, our dreams, our hopes, our fears.
Our films are how future generations are going to judge us.
Unfortunately, most of them suck.
Seriously, though—ever notice how you can't walk down the street or open a magazine or stand in line at a store or simply exist without ads for some dumbass multi-zillion dollar movie about a talking kangaroo
being shoved down your throat?
And then they expect you to pay fifteen dollars to see it in some googolplex, and after sitting through a half hour of commercials? Or watch it on DVD and have to sit through even more commercials and anti-piracy ads that you can't skip past? Doesn't it all just piss you off?
If so—or if you just like to have a good time—then Bad Movie Night is for you.
Laugh with the hosts riffing on the movie. Yell your own comments. Try to figure out what the hell "Skull Films!" means. Help yourself to the free popcorn. Enjoy the non-alcoholic beverage of your choice purchased from the store across the street. (Don't worry if the guy behind the counter glares at you. He does that to everyone.)
Which brings us to the post-Mad Max apocalypse film.
Actually, they're technically the post-Road Warrior films, since that film (called Mad Max 2 internationally) spawned the imitators, not the original. Kinda like how Dawn of the Dead launched the zombie movie genre, not Night of the Living Dead. (The More You Know!) Sadly, there's no -ploitation word for this genre. Which is weird, because the choice is obvious: Maxploitiation!
Equally obvious is the appeal of this genre, at least to the filmmakers: it's dirt cheap. All you need for a location is a desert or other brown terrain, and the costuming doesn't have to be fancy, nor is there really any need for special effects. Just guys in makeshift armor and funky haircuts fighting each other. And cars, of course—the more pointlessly tricked out, the better.
Much like how the majority of the post-Dawn of the Dead zombie films came out of Italy (cf. Lucio Fulci), Maxploitation was also popular with the folks in The Boot. And the classic era of both genres was the early eighties, concurrent with the rise of video stores and the need for more and more product to fill shelves. People renting the movies knew that, if nothing else, the movie would be batshit crazy and therefore entertaining. A classic example of Italian Maxploitation is 1982's The New Barbarians, aka Warriors of the Wasteland:
Does that not look like the most awesomest movie ever? You know it does. That same glorious year, Italy also gave us 1990: The Bronx Warriors. It's not strictly post-apocalpytic, falling more into the Dystopia category—there's been no war or apocalypse to speak of, merely social collapse—but it's Maxploitation all the same, and besides, who's writing this? Me or you? Exactly. Anyway, the trailer:
Those movies at least tried. Some Maxploitation couldn't be bothered with French nonsense like mise-en-scène, and instead just shoot wherever they can, including lush green settings which don't appear to have gone anywhere near an apocalypse, such as the Mystery Science Theater 3000 classic Warrior of the Lost World:
If you've watched each clip all the way through (which you have, right? Right!), you've noticed a common actor: Fred Motherfuckin' Williamson. The ol' Hammer himself. He spent much of the seventies and eighties making movies in Italy, and producers loved him, because he was inexpensive, available, thoroughly awesome, and give the films an international marketing hook. (He was in the original Inglorious Bastards, which was recut and marketed in America as G.I. Bro) So, if a Maxploitation film was from Italy and/or featured Fred Williamson, you knew there would be some entertainment value.
This week's feature is not from Italy, and Fred Williamson is not in it. You do the math.
Your hosts Sherilyn Connelly, Mike Spiegelman and Dan Foley will Hammer this movie themselves.
Upcoming Phlegms:
Bad Movie Night's Fifth Anniversary!
March 28, 2010
Red Dawn Patrick Swayze (not pictured here) plays a high-school football player leading a bunch of kids in a battle against multicultural commies.
Fun fact: being our anniversary show, this will be the sixth time we've done this movie.
Socialized wackiness ensues.
Hosts:
Sherilyn Connelly, Tristan Buckner, Jim Fourniadis and other Wolverines!!!11!!1
April 4, 2010
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Bee Gees and Peter Frampton in a very, very seventies movie sorta kinda not really based on Abbey Road. Or maybe it was Pet Sounds? One of those Rolling Stones albums.
Bell-bottomed wackiness ensues.
Hosts:
Sherilyn Connelly, Jim Fourniadis, Mike Spiegelman, and other lovely meter maids.
April 11, 2010
Purple Rain
Animals strike curious poses, what with the heat between me and you.
Paisley pandemonium reigns.
Hosts:
Jim Fourniadis, Mikl-Em, Dan Foley and other glam slammers.
April 18, 2010
Michael Jackson's Moonwalker Gwen Stefani was right—this shit is bananas. Sure, she was referring to something else entirely, but it doesn't change the fact that this movie is B-A-N-A-N-A-S.
Wackiness which is neither bad, dangerous nor invincible ensues.
Hosts:
Sherilyn Connelly, Mike Spiegelman, Bryce Byerley and other Neverlanders.
April 25, 2010
High School Musical 3: Senior Year
Spoiler alert: Snape is actually a good guy. (Or is that a different series?)
Pubescent pandemonium reigns.
Hosts:
Jim Fourniadis, The Cock-Ts and other dropouts.
May 2, 2010
I am Legend
Will Smith battles vampires in post-apocalyptic New York—with sass!
Fabled wackiness ensues.
Hosts:
Sherilyn Connelly, Mike Spiegelman, Jason Weiner and other myths.
May 9, 2010
Bad Boys II
Will Smith and Martin Lawrence battle druglords—with sass!
Explodey pandemonium reigns.
Hosts:
Jim Fourniadis, Mikl-Em, Tristan Buckner and other not-so-good people.
May 16, 2010
I, Robot
Will Smith battles robots—with sass!
Postironic wackiness ensues.
Hosts:
Sherilyn Connelly, Mike Spiegelman, Tim Kay and other Uncanny Valley-dwellers.
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May 23, 2010
Wild Wild West
Will Smith and Kevin Kline battle a mad scientist and his giant metal spider—with sass!
Mild pandemonium reigns.
Hosts:
Jim Fourniadis, Mikl-Em, Maura Sipila and other westerners.
May 30, 2010
Seven Pounds
Will Smith battles...um...well, we're not really sure. Existential ennui or jellyfish or something. But he does it with sass!
One hundred and twelve ounces of wackiness ensue.
Hosts:
Sherilyn Connelly, Mike Spiegelman, Dan Foley and other stingers.
June 6, 2010
Star Trek: Nemesis
A bald guy fights his clone, who is also bald. Which makes them both like penises (like Swayze's sword!). What we're trying to say is, it's pretty gay.
Wackiness boldly ensues.
Hosts:
Sherilyn Connelly, Mike Spiegelman, Ziad Ezzat and other new lifeforms.
June 13, 2010, 6pm Special Event (in a box!):
Rhiannon and Sherilyn's Star Wars Trilogy Birthday Sleepover!
To celebrate Rhiannon and Sherilyn's birthday(s), we're going to riff on the first three Star Wars movies, the ones that (mostly) didn't suck. Bring your jammies and blankets and get cozy. Necking with the birthday girls encouraged.
Forceful wackiness will ensue. SHOW BEGINS AT 6PM, BITCHES.
June 21, 2010
The Chronicles of Riddick
Vin Diesel (again with the baldies!) makes a horrible career choice, making this sequel to Pitch Black instead of the sequel to xXx or The Fast and the Furious. (Then again, maybe he was screwed no matter what.)
Gleaming wackiness ensues.
Hosts:
Sherilyn Connelly, Mike Spiegelman, Dan Foley and other chromedomes.
June 28, 2010
Planet of the Apes (2001)
Remember when Tim Burton's movies were creative and interesting and usually didn't suck? This film is not from that time period.
Wackiness ensues in a madhouse—a madhouse!!!
Hosts:
Jim Fourniadis, Mikl-Em and other damn dirty apes.
Hey
People!! New designs just in time to totally miss the holidays!!
Visit
either our Dark Room
store or our new Maggie
store and buy our shirts and tiles. They woulda made a great
Holiday gift!!!
