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From cutting-edge technology to new riffs on classic films, The Bay is full of entertaining experiments to try out this week! Whether you’re looking for musical-comedy mashups, science-based art shows, writerly edutainment, magic mushrooms as medicine, fringe theatre cabarets, accessible fashion, or feminist danceworks, this week is one for the books for all of you seekers, creators, and mad scientists. Here’s what we’re most excited about for the week of 11/16/21…

Our Partners’ Events

Star Crash:Synthpop Monthly

Thursday, 11/18, Doors at 8:00 pm, show at 8:30 pm | DNA Lounge, 375 11th Street | $15-20

Gaze into the future… Star Crash beckons. This monthly synthpop live show & dance party features electronic musicians & creators from the Bay Area & beyond. Synthpop, indie dance, indie pop, electropop, space techno, darkwave, electroclash, synth rock, synthwave/popwave… all are fair game in this Neo Synth Glam Wave. Wear the sparkles, neon, LED finery and space disco attire you’ve been waiting forever to take out on the town! Tonight’s lineup include audiovisual surrealists Quentel the Cryptid, along with Continues, Pleeay, and NO.

Hubba Hubba Revue presents: Fairy Tales

Saturday, 11/20, Doors at 7:00 pm, show at 7:30 pm | DNA Lounge, 375 11th Street | $25-35

Once upon a time, San Francisco’s world-famous burlesque & variety show gathered all the wicked princesses, beautiful witches, and sexy woodland creatures, for a magical evening in The Enchanted Kingdom of Tease! Come see some magical performances by Faggedy Randy (Chicago), P. NoNoire (Chicago), Dame SynCyr (Bellingham), Aerialists Duo Medusa, and MORE! Hosted by Good King Fish, Alexa Von Princessface & Juicy D. Godmother, and featuring the Hubba Hubba Go-Go Fairies! Stick around after Hubba for Bootie Mashup, with another set of burlesque at 11:11PM! (And check out our Pizza Special!)

Paul Stamets on Psilocybin Mushrooms and the Mycology of Consciousness

Friday, 12/3, 6:00 pm | Virtual Event | $20

Join CIIS Public Programs and renowned mycologist and medical researcher Paul Stamets for an illuminating talk covering the psilocybin movement through history into the current modern moment as well as an overview of the most clinically significant studies, the newest research on psilocybin analogues, micro-dosing, and the implications for creating a paradigm shift in the ecology of consciousness.

This Week’s Giveaways

FLASH GIVEAWAY!  Win Tix to See Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real!

We Wanna Send You to See Patton Oswalt Live @ The Fox!

We Wanna Send You to See Babe Area Live!

This Week’s Events

Tuesday, 11/16

The Wrong Key: An Experimental Comedy and Music Show

8:00 pm | Stage Werx, 446 Valencia Street | $10

Comedians DJ REAL and Chad Optiz present a night of experimental comedy and music at Stage Werx with special guests Jordan Thewlis and Sureni Weerasekera.  DJ REAL and Chad will each do a 30 min set and collaborate in a musical comedy extravaganza, and you for sure don’t want to miss out. I had the honor of having Chad perform during one of my own shows, and I’ve genuinely never laughed so hard in my life! If you’re not already following him on Instagram, you’re missing out on some premium musical-comedy content – so fix that by getting down to Stage Werx tonight!

Wednesday, 11/17

Super Shangri-La Show: War of the Wizards and Hercules in the Haunted World

7:00 pm | Balboa Theatre, 3630 Balboa Street | $15

A night of wizards, muscle-bound men, aliens, monsters – and both movies even have stone giants! Live your MST3K fantasies with your buds at this double-feature celebration of classic sci-fi and fantasy cinema.

Thursday, 11/18

GLIDE Annual Holiday Jam: Still We Rise

5:30 pm | The Masonic, 1111 California Street | $50-100

Join Bobby McFerrin, Fantastic Negrito, and more for an evening of music benefitting GLIDE and its incredible work! Rub elbows with local celebs (like me!), sip some wine, and enjoy the jams, speakers, and storytellers. The food will be delicious, the wine will flow, and the performances will be unforgettable – all in service of a legendary San Francisco group who continue to make a difference in our community every single day. Get your tickets before they sell out!

Star Crash:Synthpop Monthly

Doors at 8:00 pm, show at 8:30 pm | DNA Lounge, 375 11th Street | $15-20

Gaze into the future… Star Crash beckons. This monthly synthpop live show & dance party features electronic musicians & creators from the Bay Area & beyond. Synthpop, indie dance, indie pop, electropop, space techno, darkwave, electroclash, synth rock, synthwave/popwave… all are fair game in this Neo Synth Glam Wave. Wear the sparkles, neon, LED finery and space disco attire you’ve been waiting forever to take out on the town! Tonight’s lineup includes audiovisual surrealists Quentel the Cryptid, along with Continues, Pleeay, and NO.

Histrionixx 03

9:00 pm | Monarch, 101 6th Street | $0-20

Getting fed up with that flesh prison, girl? Tired of waiting until the cost of transforming into the sickening android bitch of your dreams comes down to an affordable level? No need to crowdfund babe – HISTRIONIXX has GOT YOU! For the cost of one ticket, they will bombard your senses with fully feminizing vibrations of c*nty beats until the tragic limitations and constant suffering of your human form become nothing but a distant memory. Join Travieza, Dangerous Rose, and Violet Vapour for the psychic vacation you’ve been longing for!

Friday, 11/19

Museum of Craft and Design Curator Walkthrough: Mode Brut

1:00 pm | Virtual Event | $8-10 (Free for MCD members)

Join guest curator Clea Massiani from Creativity Explored (CE) and MCD Curator Ariel Zaccheo for a virtual tour of Mode Brut, an exhibition that redefines fashion through accessibility. Over 50 CE artists with developmental disabilities worked with design partners Bonanza, Tokyo Gamine, and Ayana ‘Yanni’ Brumfield. Persisting through challenges imposed by the pandemic, the designer and artist teams spent more than a year making fashion over Zoom, navigating phone calls and mail projects. The unique and incredibly intentional pieces on display challenge museumgoers to think past the familiar modes of apparel by redefining what, and who is fashionable. Don’t miss out on your chance to view a screening of the VIP tours from opening weekend, and to receive extra insight from your curatorial guides.

Glow: Discover the Art of Light

Thursday, 11/18 through Sunday, 1/30 | The Exploratorium, Pie 15 | $0-29.95

Searching for the perfect way to spend the Holidays in San Francisco? Light up with delight this season at the Exploratorium’s winter exhibition, Glow: Discover the Art of Light. Explore your curiosity in this special collection of illuminated installations and sculptures by eight artists. Dance, connect, and play through the Exploratorium’s spacious galleries and discover the captivating work of Michael Brown, CHiKA, Nick Dong, Alicia Eggert, Ekene Ijeoma, Luke Jerram, Burt Libe, and Ames Palms. (And don’t forget to check out the opening night party on Thursday!)

Saturday, 11/20

Rainbow Girls

8:00 pm | Freight and Salvage, 2020 Addison Street, Berkeley | $10-20

Rainbow Girls are an eclectic folk trio hailing from the golden coastal countryside just north of the SF Bay Area. Comprised of three unique musical talents – Vanessa May, Erin Chapin, and Caitlin Gowdey – they seamlessly combine soul-touching harmonies and poignant lyrical content into an unusually beautiful sonic tapestry. Let them steal your heart tonight at Freight and Salvage!

Dangerous Beauties: MUSE

8:00 pm | Brava Center for Women in the Arts, 2781 24th Street | $20-45

The Dangerous Beauties Ten Year Anniversary production MUSE shines a light on the inspiration behind some of  the world’s most beloved works of art. Think Vermeer’s “Girl with the Pearl Earring”, Rodin’s “Eternal Idol”, Eric Clapton’s “Layla”. The artists have been honored and memorialized, but what of the mysterious muse?  Immortalized on canvas and the page; in marble and in songs, but over time, their passion, exquisite light and identities have been negated; even the name “Layla”  was a pseudonym. “Muse” by Dangerous Beauties brings these extraordinary women to life in a celebratory evening of dance you’ll always remember…so they may never be forgotten.

Hubba Hubba Revue presents: Fairy Tales

Saturday, 11/20, Doors at 7:00 pm, show at 7:30 pm | DNA Lounge, 375 11th Street | $25-35

Once upon a time, San Francisco’s world-famous burlesque & variety show gathered all the wicked princesses, beautiful witches, and sexy woodland creatures, for a magical evening in The Enchanted Kingdom of Tease! Come see some agical performances by Faggedy Randy (Chicago), P. NoNoire (Chicago), Dame SynCyr (Bellingham), Aerialists Duo Medusa, and MORE! Hosted by Good King Fish, Alexa Von Princessface & Juicy D. Godmother, and featuring the Hubba Hubba Go-Go Fairies! Stick around after Hubba for Bootie Mashup, with another set of burlesque at 11:11PM! (And check out our Pizza Special!)

Sunday, 11/21

California Writers Club presents: Making Podcasts Work for Writers

1:00 pm | Virtual Event | $10 ($5 for members)

Podcasts are for people who would rather listen than read, right? Not necessarily. Every writer should know the three powerful ways that podcasting can boost their literary life: as a listener, as a guest, and as a podcast creator. Join award-winning podcast host and author Nancy Davis Kho for this virtual workshop, during which Kho will share practical tips and insider wisdom for making the audio format support your writing career.

SF Symphony Youth Orchestra

2:00 pm | Davies Symphony Hall, corner of Grove and Van Ness Streets | $20-55

Ah, the YOUTH! They give me such joy and hope for the universe! Support the growth and education of young musicians and enjoy some of the finest musical stylings you’ll hear this year when you check out this special performance by the SF Symphony Youth Orchestra. The kids are alright!

Babe Area LIVE!

5:30 pm and 8:30 pm | Oasis, 298 11th Street | $25-50

The Bay Area’s most renowned fringe arts curators have come together for one night of sensual & hilarious magic! Join a star studded cast of peelers, wigglers & teasers for another Babe Area LIVE at Oasis, this time benefitting victims of Hurricane Ida and the Burlesque Hall of Fame in Las Vegas. Don’t miss out on this one-night spectacular, featuring group performances from the Rebel Kings of Oakland, the VonJynx Sisters, 3 Tiny Klowns, and more – not to mention steamy solos from RedBone, Vyxen Monroe, and plenty of other names you know!

Monday, 11/22

GWAR + Napalm Death+ EyeHateGod

8:00 pm | The Regency Ballroom, 1290 Sutter Street | $35-40

You could spend your Monday night responsibly – you know, eat a salad for dinner, go to bed on time, all that… Or you could spend it drunk on 40s and moshing like it’s 2005 and not a school night. I know what I’d rather be doing – and I know I’d rather be doing it at this howling, grinding, growling show of hardcore icons. Enjoy your carrots and Netflix – I’ll be headbanging.

Mark Your Calendar

Paul Stamets on Psilocybin Mushrooms and the Mycology of Consciousness

Friday, 12/3, 6:00 pm | Virtual Event | $20

Join CIIS Public Programs and renowned mycologist and medical researcher Paul Stamets for an illuminating talk covering the psilocybin movement through history into the current modern moment, as well as an overview of the most clinically significant studies, the newest research on psilocybin analogues, micro-dosing, and the implications for creating a paradigm shift in the ecology of consciousness.