May 29, 2019 Edition

Praise “Bob”!

This week’s Curator: Simone Davalos

(In our effort to continually show you new facets of wonder in the Bay Area, we’re thrilled to have a guest curator today – Ed.)

Simone describes herself as a person whose only real skill is saying yes and being in the right place at the right time, sometimes. She used to be the Secret Tentacle for Laughing Squid and maintained a thing called The Squid List (a listing of the odd and interesting happenings around the SF Bay Area*) for a bunch of years. She has one nickname that nobody actually calls her except for that one person and among her friends is the boring normal one. She was informed on her 23rd birthday that she would be running an art bar with a dude named Chicken, and that’s pretty much how things in her life have gone from there. She’s into robots and fire and ethical taxidermy and keeps getting asked to write stuff for places like The Anglerfish so maybe she’s doing something right somewhere.

(*Our name is a lovingly aquatic homage to The Squid List – Ed.)

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COMING UP THIS WEEK:

JR “Bob” Dobbs and the Church of the Subgenius
The 18th annual SF Documentary Film Festival features this amazing film. Remember that time when you took a joke to the extreme and accidentally invented a religion? Bob Dobbs does. Humor is the ultimate weapon. Increase your Slack. Praise Bob. Watch this movie.
THU MAY 30: 7:01pm; Roxie Theater, SF; $13?

Teddy Bear Orchestra/Chaki/Moira Scar/Sue and the Namies/DJ Jiggles
Picture it: San Francisco, late 90s. Some guy gets a bug in his bonnet and builds a bunch of audioanimatronic robots who have imprisoned him and force him to gig amongst the dive bars and art spaces of the days of yore. Those robots are gone but damn if they haven’t been replaced by something even more ridiculous.

Chaki is the synth-powered absurd local radio funk you have always not known you wanted. And you do, oh yes you do. Moira Scar is the PostPunkFreakDeathRock Trio that you- hang on is that a trombone? Sue and the Namies: post apocalyptic surf rock just like Mom used to play. DJ Jiggles brings it hard, Latin and Island style. Heckin’ punk, all of it.
SAT JUN 1: 8PM; The First Church Of The Buzzard, Oakland; FREE?

Albany Bulb Nature Nerd BioBlitz
Are you a Citizen Scientist? Do you want be? Support the understanding of this amazing microcosm we live in and gather useful data to make us make us want to make the world better AT THE SAME TIME. It’s at the Albany Bulb, an amazing and oddly compelling place even without the science part, and if you have never been there, schedule some time in your schedule for gazing in wonder. Anyway, throw down with either money or time if you can and and support the people protecting our environment.
SAT JUN 1: 9am; Albany Bulb, Albany; FREE

Hoodslam!
Filthy, filthy, sexy, sexy showmanship. Do you miss Incredibly Strange Wrestling? Do you even remember what that was? Are you not quite money enough to go to Lucha in the Mission? Hoodslam. Hoodslam is your answer. Cheer your heroes, boo your foes, for dog’s sake don’t bring your kids and remember always: elbows up in the pit, friends.
SAT JUN 1: 8pm; Oakland Metro Opera House, Oakland; $20

Open Shop at the Department of Spontaneous Combustion
So you’re sitting on your couch of a Tuesday and you’re thinking to yourself, “You know, I could order Thai and cancel my HBO subscription now that Game Of Thrones is over, OR, I could get myself down to the DSP  Open Shop night and freaking learn how to MIG weld and set things on fire artistically.” What do you choose? You decide. Really though, we all know that you’ve been hankering to stick bits of metal to other bits of metal with the cleansing power of electricity. Here’s where you can learn how to do that with some lovely people who can show you how.
TUE JUN 4: 7pm; Dept. of Spontaneous Combustion, Oakland; FREE

The Contraption Quartet and Pet The Tiger
Part of the Spirit of Invention III gallery exhibit The best found object/sculptural exploration of the physical and visual that you will find in a self-storage/commercial kitchen/coworking space/coffee venue in Richmond on a Saturday. It features veteran members of The Crank Ensemble, who are adept at turning junk into art. Don’t ask, just go.
SAT JUN 1: 7pm; Bridge Storage and ArtSpace, Richmond; $10

Two Hats, One Guest: A Mostly Magic Show
Does what it says on the tin: Two hats, one guest, mostly magic, with room for…? Run by members and associates of the Magic Castle, this recurring magic showcase night features some really talented performers in a place where everything is home-did and it’s still okay to lovingly heckle. and Magic enthusiasts who dig secret locations and tiny, tiny adorable volunteer run venues will really like this, even if it’s always on a Monday.
MON JUN 3: 7pm; The Monkey House, Berkeley, $20

Odd Salon: Proof
The heralded weirdos of the world gather to discuss wide ranging topics on whatever they fancy, interpreted in ways only they can. This week’s theme is Proof. Spirits or certainty? Who knows? You will, after these six expert talks on odd topics and odd talks on everything else.
TUE JUN 4; 6:30pm; Public Works SF, SF; $15

Night Moves: A nighttime walking tour of the history of the Tenderloin
Explore the rich and storied history of San Francisco’s Tenderloin district with the knowledgeable denizens of the Tenderloin Museum. Brothels, gin joints, speakeasies, gambling dens, LGBT gathering places, and occasional stops to wet your whistle. Learn about this place so many have called home and see how the changing forces of history and community have brought us to where we are right now.
WED JUN 5: 5:30pm; The Tenderloin Museum, SF; $20
(Also Jun 19, Jul 3, and Jul 17)

Jay Alexander at the Marrakech Magic Theater
In the basement of a luxuriously decorated, oddly located, mystery enshrouded Moroccan restaurant sits a tiny, tiny theater. Equally luxuriously appointed, it houses the Marrakech Magic Theater (that’s right, a literally underground venue for those with that fetish). Do it up North African Style for dinner (Traditional seating! Belly dancing! Tea rituals! A pretty good bastila!), then pour yourself downstairs for another cocktail so you can be ready to get your head even more bent by Jay Alexander, a heck of a mentalist and magician.

Venue opens an hour early for drinks and close magic. Bring your audience participation shoes, there’s nowhere to hide (but it’s not (too) scary, I promise).
Ongoing: 6:30 & 9:30pm; Marrakech Magic Theater, SF; $55

*Bonus event! (that is, slightly out of time frame but still rad)*

Head Trip – A Doggie Diner Dog Head Cross-Country Documentary
A while ago, a bunch of reprobates and bicycle circus clowns hitched three giant dogs’ heads to the back of a 1937 Gillig school bus and took off from San Francisco on their way to Coney Island. Fletcher Fleurdujon and John Law wrote, shot, produced and edited the glorious carnage that ensued. ONE SHOWING ONLY! The Doggie Diner Heads are a Bay Area institution. You may have seen them and *not even known it*. Screening is in conjunction with Sign Man, a three month retrospective on the art and happenings of local underground legend John Law.
FRI JUN 7: 3pm; The New Parkway, Oakland; $10