Hey Everyone!  Check out (or, find) this promotion (or, deal) on Dealfind! Act fast, because it expires in less than 38 hours…the only hours YOU have left to be a mediocre parent.  Because once you buy this deal, you’ll throw predictable, mundane, universally-considered “good” parenting out the door! According to Dealfind’s enlightening & effective marketing copy, buying this deal (which gets you 2 Custom Tactical M4 Radier AEG Full Auto Machine Gun Rentals AND 2 Level One Range Memberships and 2 Shooting Range Lane Rentals at the International Spy Shop) will make you the “kind of parent [your kids will] absolutely, positively never…forget.” The deal has been sponsored by BAD IDEA.

 ”Some folks take their kids to Hooters when they turn 18; others get them driving lessons. But then there’s the kind of parent who chooses a birthday gift that they are absolutely, positively never going to forget.  Be that kind of parent with today’s unique Dealfind.  When the phrase ‘machine gun rental’ comes into play, there are often several reactions: some people think that perhaps machine guns should not be rented out, but those people are what professionals like to call ‘wrong’. The rest ask questions like ‘Can I bring my girlfriend’ or  ’Sweet, this is an opportunity to wear my machine-gunning shoes’. The International Spy Shop caters to this latter crowd.” Read more »

New Software

Being a bunch of lazy idiots ourselves, we’ve been hunting around for some newfangled ticketing software that will make it easier for our audiences to make purchases and, more importantly, make it easier for us to use/track/sell more stuff with. Enter, Ticket Turtle, the easiest, best-mascotted, speedingly-fastest ticketing software in the known Universe. Check it out here, we think you’ll dig the tortoise.

New Discounts

One thing we know is this: we want to be able to offer our friends and supporters the best deal in town (as opposed to a third party seller like Goldstar, Living Social or Groupon, being able to offer a better deal to new customers).  So we created new discounts specifically for the folks who see our shows on a regular basis.

The Pre-Run Dealganza of the Century:
Tickets purchased before the run begins are $12.50 with the discount code. To get the discount code, all you need to do is sign up for our mailing list here, and we’ll email it to you. But keep in mind, that discount expires when the run starts.

The Ultra Bulk Deal-o-rama Steal
At any point, if you purchase 6 tickets or more the per ticket price is $12.50. Anyone can do it, any time online.

The Week-Before Humunga Dealsplosion:
Tickets purchased more than 24 hours in advance of the show are $15 with discount code. Again, all you need to do is sign up for our email list here, we’ll forward you the code and you can use that to get your fatty dealio.

All Deals Put Simply:
$12.50 – Pre-Run (expires on Opening Night)
$12.50 – 6 or More Group Discount (good throughout the run)
$15.00 – Email List Discount (expires 24 hours before curtain)
$20.00 – General Admission / At the Door
$30.00 – VIP Ticket (includes best seats in the house, a customized complimentary beverage, and heaps of gratitude)

New Shows

In the next two months, PianoFight is premiering two different shows at two different venues both of which reside in San Francisco’s excessively cool Mission District. They are:

Don’t Tell Mom the Weekend’s Dead
by Monday Night ForePlays
TICKETS ~ TICKETS ~ TICKETS
Mondays, 8:00pm, Sept 19 – Oct 24
The Dark Room
2263 Mission St (between 18th & 19th)

“Don’t Tell Mom the Weekend’s Dead!” will feature comedians Natasha Muse, Kelly McCarron, Liz Grant, and Lilibeth Helson, along with music from Miranda Jones, Mal Blum, Jena McRae, and Zoe Boekbinder.

TICKETS ~ TICKETS ~ TICKETS

PanderFest 2011
by Mission Control & Crisis Hopkins
TICKETS ~ TICKETS ~ TICKETS
Thurs, Fri & Sat, 8:00pm, Oct 7 – Oct 29
Stage Werx 446
446 Valencia St (between 15th & 16th)

Panderfest 2011, an “official pick” of the Bay Area Comedy Hall of Fame, is the first show at San Francisco’s newest theater, Stage Werx 446.

This weekend only will see the production of Jump: A Love Story. It’s a piece of devised theater, written and directed by Mario Mendoza, devised and assistant directed by Alex Peri, both friends and fellow SFSU MFA students. It is based on the suicides that have taken place at the Golden Gate Bridge. In the earliest phase of this project, Mario and I collaborated on getting the project’s web site up and running. PianoFighter Anne Jones helped acquire some set pieces: giant sails. Now that the project is complete, I could not be more excited to see the fruit of all the labor Mario and his team have put into the project.

From Jump: “The School of Theatre of Cruelty is a group of interdisciplinary artists currently investigating the global interest in the Golden Gate Bridge as a suicide destination. Jump: A Love Story, a world premiere multimedia theatre production inspired by the works of William Shakespeare resurrects Ophelia, Juliet and Cleopatra as a triad of seagulls illustrating the dark and poetic stream of consciousness of one anonymous man’s attempt… to understand the pulsating struggle between identity and suicide. Experience the bridge, the poetry, the jump…”

This Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Location: CounterPULSE.

Tickets.

-Evan

Friend of PianoFight and collaborator Nicholas Weinbach will be producing an all-new, full length musical called Made in China. He is working on the project now, and the kickstarter page is up and running. Check out the project here.

From Nicholas:

“I have been writing this musical called Made in China for the past year and have plans to get it up and running by February 2012 (and plans to start rehearsing in November of this year). I have recently completed the book and lyrics for the musical and have written the music for all of its songs but one. Currently, I’m orchestrating the music and speaking with theater companies that might be interested in producing the musical. After I have the backing of one of these companies, I can start searching for a venue in which to stage the production. After having rehearsed for around two months, I hope to perform highlights from the musical with the full cast and orchestra over the radio in order to help promote the production and get people interested in coming to the show.”

-Evan

The world premiere of Monday Night ForePlays’ “Don’t Tell Mom the Weekend’s Dead” opened last week at the Dark Room to an appreciative crowd of friends, family and fans. Videographers Daniel and David Burke were on hand to capture the scene and put together the following vid – a taste of what to expect. Monday Night ForePlays runs every Monday night at 8:00pm in the Dark Room (Mission St between 18th and 19th streets) through October 24th, and you can get ticket here.

-Rob

Sang and his family at the Precita Market & Deli

PianoFight is executive-producing a short narrative film called Low Shoulders. Find out more at www.lowshoulders.com.

A couple of weeks ago, after over a year of production and a half-year on top of that for pre-production, Low Shoulders wrapped filming.

I don’t think we could have found a better way to do it. At about 5:30 AM, right in space where night has ended but the morning hasn’t begun – about 10 minutes before the sky first starts to brighten and dawn begins – Evan pulled up to my apartment. We loaded the gear into his car, and drove out to SF to pick up Dan Williams, who was going to help out on the shoot.

With Dan in the backseat, we headed towards the outer Mission, stopping for coffee along the way. The sun started to rise just as we left Starbucks (probably the 20th time we’ve been inside a Starbucks during filming of Low Shoulders) and when we pulled up to the Precita Market & Deli in San Francisco, it was just past 6:30. The sun was up, and the nearby sounds of Cesar Chavez and the freeway were starting to pick up.

And there was our host, Sang, the owner of the market, waiting for us outside with a friendly smile. He ushered us in and helped us set up our lights and gear.  We had a full on Tota light kit borrowed from Adolph Gasser at the last minute, providing us with nice warm lights to make the scene really glow.

Read more »