See your Muni stories come to life next Saturday
Our favorite night of spring is back! We can’t wait to see your shiny faces in real life at Muni Diaries Live at the Elbo Room next Saturday. We’re back with another awesome lineup, including a Muni driver, a three-piece band singing Muni-themed songs, and a Muni Haiku Battle you won’t want to miss. Join us and your fellow commuters for a night of only-in-San Francisco tales.
Muni Diaries Live
Advanced tickets are sold out, but we’ve saved some spots for a few door tickets. Get there early!
Saturday, April 18, Door: 6 p.m. Show: 7 p.m.
Elbo Room
647 Valencia Street
San Francisco
Take Muni there: J-Church, 12, 14, 22, 33, 49, or BART: 16th or 24th St stations
Our storytellers:
Yayne Abeba is a native San Franciscan. As a child, you could find her dancing and singing her way around San Francisco with the San Francisco Children’s Opera. In 1995, she began studying with Jean Shelton at the Jean Shelton actor’s lab. She was bitten by the comedy bug in 1999 at Tony Spark’s Luggage Store. “…It’s like I have no control over it…whether it’s an open mike, a showcase, or a soap box, I just want to be a part of it.”
Doug Meriwether has been a transit operator for the SFMTA for 16 years and has withstood the test of time: He still has his “day” job by working nights on the Mission Street buses! Step up and step in to follow Doug and find your Zen in a trolley. His book, The Dao of Doug: The Art of Driving a Bus or Finding Zen in San Francisco Transit: A Bus Driver’s Perspective, is a behind-the-scenes look at being a Muni driver, with his philosophy on how to maintain dignity and peace when the going gets tough.
Caitlin Gill has performed on the Oddball Comedy Tour, the Outside Lands Festival, SF Sketchfest, Bridgetown Comedy Festival, the Vancouver Global Comedy Fest and in some of the best comedy clubs in the nation. Her writing has been featured in a Believer Magazine project for 826LA. She was featured her as one of the 7 Comics Rocking the Local Scene in 7×7 Magazine and was voted Best Comedian in the East Bay Express “Best Of” Edition in 2013. You can also hear her on podcasts like Put Your Hands Together, Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction and NPR’s Snap Judgement. We know and love her for slaying her competition in the Dirty Haiku Battle, the inspiration for our Muni Haiku Battle, at Oakland’s Tourettes Without Regrets.
Tarin Towers has been riding Muni since 1995, when she used to ride the 22 to her first job working the graveyard shift at the Denny’s in Japantown. She has performed her work nationwide, including on tour with Sister Spit. Her book is called, Sorry, We’re Close. She’s a big fan of manners and also a realist. Please don’t block the aisle with your enthusiasm.
Mesquite and Mustard is a three-piece musical act from San Francisco. Simply put, they play songs about whiskey, trains, biscuits, and mamas.
Jesse James is the reigning champion of the Muni Haiku Battle. When not administering tours of the Golden Gate Bridge to Australian tourists, Jesse spends way too much money on art school and a slightly smaller amount on comic books. He didn’t drink until he was 21 and has been trying to make up for lost time ever since. Jesse was the winner of the TOHS Class of 2000’s Most Extraordinarily Unique Male Senior Award.
Katie Haverkamp is a lifelong musician and an unofficial vintage transit cheerleader. When not airing her many grievances to the SFMTA, she can be found brewing beer inspired by the Market Street Railway fleet or earning a ticket from SFPD for fiddling in the park. Katie’s a daily L-Taraval rider and adores her spot in the fogbelt.
Ronn Vigh‘s brash attitude and acerbic wit have earned him a comparison to a young Joan Rivers by SF Weekly. It’s a fitting comparison, since he later became a writer for E! Television’s Fashion Police, which was co-hosted by Rivers. For 13 years, Ronn has been a proud San Francisco resident and not-so-proud Muni rider. It just further reminds him that his car was repossessed when he first moved here. On the bright side, he’s also a yoga teacher and has found that regularly riding Muni is an excellent way to put all the teachings of compassion and letting go into practice. It’s also great for working on your core strength when there’s no dirty hand strap in reach as you’re being tossed around a careening L train at rush hour.
Graphic design by Craig Fowler