Category: Muni Diaries Live Shows

Doug has been driving Muni for 17 years, so he’s really seen it all. In this Muni Diaries Live video, he shares stories about being a Muni driver, including secret hand signals, tricky fare boxes, and how a Muni driver can tell if you’re really ready to ride this bus. Doug still has his “day” job working nights on the Mission Street buses, including the 49-Mission. He’s written two books about driving Muni. His first book, The Dao of Doug: The Art of Driving a Bus or Finding Zen in San Francisco Transit, 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.

Find Doug’s books here.

Did you know there was a movie theater on 17th Ave. and Geary that used to play lots of children’s films? That was just one of the destinations that this Muni Diaries Live storyteller would see on her Muni journeys growing up in San Francisco. Comedian and native San Franciscan Yayne Abeba started riding Muni by herself when she was 7, along with all her relatives ages 1 to 6.

“Muni was our baby sitter, and I learned a lot of life lessons on it,” she says. As a child, you could find Yayne 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.
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Photo by Kevin Wong

You know how sometimes you just stumble upon greatness unintentionally? That happened to us when we were planning last month’s Muni Diaries Live.

One rando day I saw someone post a Throwback Thursday photo of herself and her dad, decked out as he was in an honest-to-goodness Muni operator uniform. I followed the breadcrumb trail to Klee Wiggins, daughter of a Muni bus driver.

Fast forward to that night in November at the Elbo Room, when we were all treated to 12 minutes of delightful and hilarious and touching stories of growing up in a Muni family.

Check out Klee’s performance at Muni Diaries Live.

Previously …
Ronn Vigh
Dhaya Lakshminarayanan

Photo by Kevin Wong

Like sliding doors and dominos and butterflies flapping their wings, you never know what’s going to happen when you miss your stop on Muni Metro. At Muni Diaries Live earlier this month, SF comedian Ronn Vigh had us in stitches with a tale of serendipity and being stuck underground, because Muni.

Ronn’s story didn’t quite fill his time slot, so we urged him to keep going. He did, and the crowd was thoroughly enthralled. Listen to his entire set here:

“Ronn Vigh at Muni Diaries Live, Nov. 8, 2014”

Ronn (and fellow MDL performer, Dhaya Lakshminarayanan) will appear at Harvey’s in the Castro tonight. Whether you missed them at Muni Diaries Live or not, go see them. Unless you, like, don’t like to laugh or something.