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The first time PianoFight ran Throw Rotten Veggies at the Actors Nights, audiences hucked veggies with glee, national and international media took notice, and about 7 actors got repeatedly pelted in the face with tomatoes. Here’s a video to give you an idea of it:

As you can see above, both audiences and actors had a ball. What we didn’t expect was for critics to go gaga as well.

“Good for theater” – NY Times

“A riot” - Guardian UK

“PianoFight has the answer” – ArtsJournal.com

So it is with great pride that SF/LA based production company PianoFight announces the return of its wildly popular Throw Rotten Veggies at the Actors Nights, in both San Francisco and Los Angeles, taking place during the run of the nation’s largest audience-judged playwriting competition, ShortLived 3.0. Immediately following the May 14^th and 15^th performances of ShortLived 3.0, cast members will don white t-shirts, distribute vegetables, and dive headfirst into a sea of projectile produce hurled by audience members at a tomato-tossing-tailored set of sketch comedy. Admission for Throw Rotten Veggies at the Actors Nights is included with the purchase of a $25 ticket to ShortLived 3.0 (please note: Throw Rotten Veggies in LA will only happen the evening of May 15th). TICKETS (SF) – TICKETS (LA)

Press Release for Throw Rotten Veggies II

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PianoFight’s ShortLived Actors Painted with Targets for Rotten Veggie Chucking Audiences

SAN FRANCISCO— April 23, 2010 – It is with great pride that SF/LA based production company PianoFight announces the return of its wildly popular Throw Rotten Veggies at the Actors Nights, in both San Francisco and Los Angeles, taking place Friday and Saturday, May 14 and 15 at 8:00pm, during the run of the nation’s largest audience-judged playwriting competition, ShortLived 3.0. Immediately following the May 14^th and 15^th performances of ShortLived 3.0, cast members will don white t-shirts, distribute vegetables, and dive headfirst into a sea of projectile tomatoes hurled by audience members at a produce-pitching-specific set of sketch comedy. Admission for Throw Rotten Veggies at the Actors Nights is included with the purchase of a $25 ShortLived 3.0 ticket, which can be purchased at www.pianofight.com (full-price for all non-veggie performances of ShortLived 3.0 is $20)

The last tomato-tossing-tailored set of Throw Rotten Veggies Nights, which happened right after two performances of PianoFight’s S.H.I.T. Show Deluxe, included a re-interpretation of the great American poem “Casey at the Bat,” Samuel Beckett farting into a micro-phone, arguably the worst improv group ever – “The Improvables,” bad robot stand-up, and a fan favorite sketch about a scientist who enlists his intern to be the first human to ever activate “The Veggie Magnet.” This time around will feature Bertolt Brecht getting drunk and ruining the plot of a new play, Ben Barnanke and Henry Paulson giving stock tips, George Bernard Shaw berating a small and innocent child, and the return of the vaunted Veggie Magnet. To get a better sense of what the evening feels like, please watch the following video on the inaugural Throw Rotten Veggies Nights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_81zYyu7hnI

Throw Rotten Veggies Night was conceived in 2008 as a marketing/promotion/fundraising alternative to Theatre Bay Area’s Free Night Of Theatre. Subsequently in 2009, the NEA and US Census Bureau released data revealing that since 1982 “attendance at performing arts … has seen double digit rates of decline.” Armed with these stats and a belief that giving the product away was not the best strategy to engage new audiences, PianoFight continued on its aim to reverse these trends by offering the public affordable, high-quality, inventive and engaging entertainment. Also, we figured it was going to be really fun.

ShortLived 3.0, a playwriting competition featuring local playwrights and theater groups scored by audiences, runs every Friday and Saturday night at 8PM at Off-Market, 965 Mission St (between 5th and 6^th), San Francisco, and at The Asylum Lab, 1078 Lilian Way (off Santa Monica and Vine), Los Angeles, from April 2- June 26. Throw Rotten Veggies at the Actors Nights will take place immediately following the May 14^th and 15^th performances of ShortLived 3.0, in both SF (Off-Market Theater) and LA (Asylum Lab). Tickets for that weekend of ShortLived 3.0 are $25 dollars, include admission to the veggie-pitching portion of the evening, and are available at www.pianofight.com

PRESS CONTACTS:

Rob Ready (SF) – 917.363.9646 – rob@pianofight.com

Nina Harada (LA) – 818.667.7444 – nina@pianofight.com

(L to R) Eric Reid, Alex Boyd, Jeremy Mascia and Jed Goldstein test "The Veggies Magnet"

Inaugural Throw Rotten Veggies Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

PianoFight’s SHIT Show Deluxe in Cross-Hairs of Rotten Veggie Hurling Audiences

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – September 24, 2009 – It is with great pride and no small bit of anxiety over the health of its actors that PianoFight announces its inaugural Throw Rotten Veggies at the Actors Nights, taking place Friday and Saturday, October 9-10, during the world premiere run of S.H.I.T. Show Deluxe, in Studio250 at Off-Market. S.H.I.T. Show Deluxe, running October 2-24, will feature videos, live music, powerpoints, slide shows, as well as a few throwback favorites from the past year, seamlessly woven into one loosely connected show filled with biting satire, harsh vulgarity and serious laughs. And on the weekend of October 9-10, audience members will have the S.H.I.T. Show lined up in their sights ready to chuck moldy produce at performers.

This past summer, the NEA and US Census Bureau released data revealing that since 1982 “attendance at performing arts … has seen double digit rates of decline.” With Rotten Veggies Night, PianoFight continues its aim to reverse this trend by offering the public affordable, high-quality and inventive entertainment. With a nod at Shakespeare, specifically his audience, PianoFight’s Throw Rotten Veggies Nights embrace the common behavior of a time when Theater was the quintessential mass media and accessibility was paramount. Also, it’s going to be really fun.

For the inaugural Throw Rotten Veggies Nights, immediately following the October 9^th and 10^th performances of S.H.I.T. Show Deluxe, PianoFight will distribute its stash of veggies to audience members who will be treated to an additional set of S.H.I.T. Show brand sketch comedy tailored specifically to the evening, featuring Samuel Beckett farting into a microphone, an Absinthe chugging contest with Oscar Wilde, Gilbert and Sullivan ruining karaoke night, and the reappearance of bellowed S.H.I.T. Show characters from the past year.