BA of the Week: Ace from Reality Check TV

Every week we feature a different person from the community shedding a little light on their life of brokeitude. Who knows, maybe you’ll learn something about the human spirit — probably not.

Wanna be a Broke-Ass of the Week? Holler at us here and we’ll send you the questionnaire.

ACE is the Producer/Co-Host of REALITY CHECK TV the long-running, Award-Winning (2 SF Bay Guardian, 1 SF Weekly “Best of The Bay” awards) cable TV Program that has been documenting Hard/Heavy Music, Rockstars, Classic Film & TV Icons, Adult Entertainers, Pro Sports and Wrestling luminaries, Pop culture, local artists/events and anything wild, weird, wonderful or wacky for over 22 years and 550 Episodes. He has also been active as an MC/DJ or Production/Stage Manager (sometimes all of these at once) at Events like The Haight St. Fair; Manages several local bands (including THE NERV & SECRETS OF THE SKY) and consults with other acts like BITE and SILKE BERLINN & THE ADDICTIONS. He also is VP of Social Media/Special Events for RCTV TRANSMEDIA, an affiliate of RCTV, which specializes in Event Production, Videography, Video Production and related services. He’s is a native of NYC but has been a resident of San Francisco for over 25 years. For more info see http://realitychecktv.com

Name: ACE

Age: 50

Occupation: Self-employed as Producer/Host of Reality Check TV, as well as MC/DJ, Event Producer/Promoter, Production/Stage Manager, Band Manager/Consultant and so on. I also do some Security gigs.

What Neighborhood do you live in?: Inner Richmond

Best Money-Saving tip: Buckshot Bar & Grill has the cheapest drinks and bar food in my neighborhood. It’s also conveniently located adjacent to RCTV HQ, so there’s no commute time. Great people, great place and great prices. I also dare anyone to beat my scores on Trivia Quiz.

What do you refuse to spend money on?: The outrageous sums charged for big-name acts like Madonna or Prince. Most Arena/stadium shows are outrageously over-priced, as is beer/food at sporting events. Sporting Events are also pretty over-the-top. The average fan gets hit pretty hard.

Most expensive thing you ever bought: My 1972 Olds Cutlass Supreme, which I bought with a bank loan when I was 18.

How’d that feel?: Great! I had my own car and could jump in it and blaze down the highway to my heart’s content. It was a fast car with a 4-barrel carb on it.

Favorite Cheap Eat: Buckshot on 3rd & Geary. Best cheap burger & fries in town.

Favorite Dive Bar: Buckshot again, along with Bender’s in the Mission, which also has some good/decently inexpensive grub, as well as great bands.

Best deal you’ve ever gotten: The 1977 Chevy Nova I bought prior to coming to SF…I think that was about $500. Got me out here, then I had it for a few months. The City eventually snagged it for too many parking tickets.

Favorite Free Thing to do: I go to a lot of shows, both as part of Reality Check TV and with the bands or events I work with/for, so I see a lot of great bands. I think we have a lot of underrated talent here in the Bay Area. I also go a lot of Art Openings and the like, all kinds of cool events. No shortage of talent out there, that’s for sure.

If you woke up a millionaire what’s the first thing you’d buy?: A plane ticket to go see cool places like the Egyptian Pyramids and the Great Wall of China. I’m fascinated with archeology and history, so those are places I want to see before my time on the planet is done.

Despite not having money, do you still love your life?: Oh, yes. It’s pretty good to be me–most of the time. I get to do a lot of cool stuff, and meet fun people through Reality Check TV.

Do you own my book?: Nope! Send me a copy, and I’ll be happy to read it. I generally blitz through books pretty fast, because I read so quickly. It’s a gift, really. An average person will take days or weeks to read a book of a few hundred pages, and I’ll knock it out in a few days at most.

Best Hangover Cure: Hmmm…don’t really get them, but if I am under the spell, then eggs, bacon, toast, OJ, and Earl Grey tea.

Are you a Hipster?: I don’t even know what that means. It’s a word thrown around so loosely. I’d say no.