Tag: George Chen

TALKIES is BACK IN THE BAY AREA (BRIEFLY)

Y’know, as often as I try to keep on top of hip, new things, I’m 43 years old (going on 44 next month!), and I DEFINITELY reminisce about the Bay Area of my youth (Read: 30’s). And Talkies at the old Cinecave (The best comedy venue in history, RIP) was something that I always loved. Well, ever since George Chen moved to LA, the show moved, too. We’d only get to enjoy the blend of film, PowerPoint, stand-up, sketch, and storytelling that is TALKIES during his annual Sketchfest visit. Well… FEAR NOT! TALKIES is ON TOUR and it’s coming home during the off-Sketchfest season!  

TALKIES is hosted by Nick Stargu, Aviva Siegel, George Chen, and Land Smith-Abbinate. Special Guests for these shows will be Drennon Davis and Jack Brown, along with Ashley Monique in SF and Jessica Sele in Sacramento and Santa Cruz. (BTW: I bloody love those last two comics AND don’t drive, so, yeah, I’m a little sad about them being on different shows.)

Next week, they are bringing the show to Punch Line in SF on October 3rd, Comedy Spot in Sacramento on October 4th, and Blue Lagoon in Santa Cruz on October 5th! 

Interview: George Chen of Zum Audio

George Chen has been a friend of Spinning Platters for many, many years. In fact, we’ve interviewed him before! And I’ve appeared on his podcast, Sup Doc to discuss 2020’s documentary on The Go Go’s. With all the years I’ve known him, we’ve never talked about his record label, Zum Audio. So we decided to chat about Zum’s history as well as his upcoming Noise Pop Showcase! It’s happening at Bottom Of The Hill on Tuesday, February 22nd, and features Body Double, The Acharis, and My Heart, An Inverted Flame. You should buy your tickets here and then read the interview: Continue reading “Interview: George Chen of Zum Audio”

SF Sketchfest 20th Anniversary Initial Line Up Has Been Announced!

The first-ever SF Sketchfest happened in 2001. It was a year that would live in infamy for kicking off the greatest comedy festival in the United States and for absolutely nothing else newsworthy happening that year. <insert laugh> Sadly, the 2021 event was not able to happen as planned due to everything being awful. However, we’ve reached a place of things being slightly less awful, so the 20th SF Sketchfest will be happening on the 21st birthday of the event. This is also helpful because that means the festival can drink. 

The batshit crazy lineup is pasted below. And I say “pasted” because it’s so big that I haven’t finished reading it yet. I’ll make sure you get my annual “Nerd’s Guide” once I’ve taken the time out take it all in. Tickets for EVERYTHING are on sale Sunday, November 21st at 10 am PST at SFSketchfest.com. Please note that all attendees, performers, and venue staff *must* show proof of COVID vaccination as per SF Law. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest 20th Anniversary Initial Line Up Has Been Announced!”

A Nerd’s Guide to Sketchfest 2017

Sketchfest is really rough. There is literally too much to do over the course of the three weeks the festival runs. We have 18 days of anywhere between 3-10 shows, all special events with performers that rarely come to San Francisco to perform. I’m here to help you decide what to do. Below  are some of the events that I find the most interesting over the course of the entire event. You can use my handy guide, or you can just go rogue and take a look at the full schedule here! Continue reading “A Nerd’s Guide to Sketchfest 2017”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 1/29/2015 – 2/4/2015

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Looking for better things to do than to prepare for the Super Bowl? Well, here’s a week’s worth of rock n roll awesomeness.

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 1/29/2015 – 2/4/2015”

A Nerd’s Guide to Sketchfest 2015

A San Francisco Sketch
A San Francisco Sketch

Every year, the good folks at SF Sketchfest program three weeks of live comedy in the Bay Area. They program it so well that it can get exhausting to determine which shows to go to. Well, here at Spinning Platters, a forum for Bay Area music, film, and comedy nerds, we’ll be helping you determine which shows you should be going to. It wasn’t easy, but I think you’ll get sufficient enough chuckles for handling the post-holiday blues if you follow these guidelines.

Don’t like my suggestions? You can always pick for yourself! You can find the schedule here!

Continue reading “A Nerd’s Guide to Sketchfest 2015”

Sketchfest Interview: George Chen of Cinecave

Photo by Ricardo Esway
Photo by Ricardo Esway

George Chen is one of the founders of Cinecave, one of San Francisco’s best kept secrets. It’s a comedy club in the basement of Lost Weekend Video. It’s also one of the best rooms for comedy in this town. Cinecave is teaming up with Sketchfest for several shows during the festival, as well as shows every Friday and Saturday night! Chen is also one of the funniest comics in his own right, and you can catch him throughout the festival. His schedule is here.

Spinning Platters had the pleasure of speaking to George ahead of Sketchfest. Just click on the word “more.” Continue reading “Sketchfest Interview: George Chen of Cinecave”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 5/22/14-5/28/14

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Thursday, May 22nd Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 5/22/14-5/28/14”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 4/24/14-4/30/14

A band that puns on this show is opening for a band that has Ty Segall in it at Rickshaw Stop.
A band that puns on this show is opening for a band that has Ty Segall in it at Rickshaw Stop.

Thursday, April 24th Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 4/24/14-4/30/14”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 2/13/14-2/19/14

What's better than 2 Chainz? How about 4?
What’s better than 2 Chainz? How about 4?

Thursday, February 13th

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 2/13/14-2/19/14”