San Francisco’s comedy festival SF Sketchfest runs January 24th - February 10th and features over 150 shows with some of the top comedians and best up-and-coming talent around.

SF Sketchfest, the most prestigious comedy festival on the West Coast, celebrates their 12th year with a tribute to Portlandia with Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, evenings with Bruce Campbell and Patton Oswalt, Drew Carey, Futurama Live, and so much more!

See the amazing line-up and get your tickets HERE!

Here are a couple of nights we here at Amoeba recommend!

Judge John Hodgman LIVE with John Hodgman & Jesse Thorn, musical guest John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats
Friday, January 25, 10:30pm at Marines’ Memorial Theatre
Join bestselling author and self-appointed judge John Hodgman as he listens to real- life disputes and weighs in on such pressing issues as “Is chili a soup or a stew?” This live version of the popular Maximum Fun-produced podcast features Bullseye host and Maximum Fun founder Jesse Thorn and musical guest John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats.

Attention vinyl hounds! Noise Pop and Amoeba Music continue the biweekly

 
On August 1st and 2nd, Cinema SF and folkYEAH present the third and fourth installments of City Scenes, the on-going series that pairs musicians with their favorite films.

This time around, local guitar-wizard Sean Smith (Citay) will perform Kraftwerk’s 1974 krautrock masterpiece Autobahn in its entirety followed by a screening of the Coen Brothers’ 1998 cult comedy Big Lebowski (1998).

The following night, master songsmith and Tiny Telephone founder John Vanderslice performs David Bowie's dystopian glam opus Diamond Dogs in its entirety, followed by a screening of Michel Gondry’s meta love story The Science of Sleep (2006).

Whew, another Record Store Day has been and gone at Amoeba San Francisco, and what a whirlwind it was! The special international holiday created to celebrate the independent record store in all its resplendent glory brought with it special guest DJs galore, prize giveaways and, of course, mega-limited special edition releases by popular, record store-lovin' artists.

Over at the Haight Street store we had a salivating group of customers waiting with bated breath outside our doors for 10:30 am to finally arrive. When the doors opened at last, there was a mad rush for the limited edition 7"s, vinyl, CDs and DVDs that artists such as Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Pavement, Guided By Voices, Metric, The Flaming Lips, and many more had released in honor of RSD. We sold through almost everything within just a few hours -- some, like the Jesus Lizard singles collection, went in mere minutes! Employees worked like barkers, calling out artists' releases and getting them to the frantic masses as quickly as possible. The Information Counter was lit up with zillions of phone calls, checking on the status of any number of artists' special releases.


At noon we began our giveway drawings, ably hosted by our own spirited Zack, who took to the intercom with game show host-like zeal. Various customers won $50 gift certificates and their choice of a myriad of prizes, including Guitar Hero and a special prize pack from heaviest heavy rock label Southern Lord. These giveaways were met with cheers and screams of delight, both from being caught up in the moment and encouraged by their host!

John Vanderslice is one of the Bay Area's most well known and most beloved musicians. He is also the proud owner of one of the few remaining all-analog studios, Tiny Telephone. John's a Barsuk recording artist and his most recent album is entitled Emerald City. He also happens to be one of my favorite people I've had the pleasure of meeting during my tenure at Amoeba. You can check out a sweet performance/interview with John from 2007 here on the Amoeba website, and you can also check out an mp3 of his song "White Dove" right here. Read on for our interview about reluctant piano lessons, greencards and the perfection of the Kinks.


Miss Ess: How did your passion for music develop when you were young?

John Vanderslice: My mom forced me into piano lessons when I was 6. God, I hated them!! Of course, years later, when I had absorbed some theory and could play a bit of piano I thanked my mom for starting me out. From there, it was a lot easier to move to piano and voice.

ME: I took piano from six as well and had much the same experience, minus the great success you’ve gone on to! When was the moment you realized you could make creating music your life and livelihood?

JV: After I started Tiny Telephone and we got a few clients, I realized that the combination of the studio and my touring income would allow me to leave my job (I was a bartender at Chez Panisse, a fantastic to place to work).
 
ME: What have you been listening to lately? Whose songs resonate with you?