The San Francisco comedy festival SF Sketchfest is back for its 18th year and runs January 10-27th at venues around the City. Amoeba Music is proud to co-present five stellar musical events:

Jonathan Coulton. Paul & Storm.

Rhett Miller

Greg Behrendt

Milk Carton Kids

Wajatta: Reggie Watts & John Tejada, with Galen & Solar from Sunset Sound System
Friday, January 11 • 9pm @ Mezzanine (444 Jessie St, SF)
Tickets
Wajatta – the new group formed by beat-boxer/comedian/musician Reggie Watts and electronic music artist/DJ/producer John Tejada recently released its debut album, Casual High Technology. Presented as a cosmic collection of funk-infused techno, Casual High Technology is the culmination of decades’ worth of Watts and Tejada’s favorite electronic music shaped to fit a new dance sensibility. Wajatta (pronounced wa-Ha-ta), as the name suggests, is a mash-up of the artist’s last names. Having grown up with similar musical influences, Austrian-born Tejada and German-born Watts draw from their love of urban, electronic music. With an opening set by Galen & Solar from Sunset Sound System. $30, 21+

The San Francisco comedy festival SF Sketchfest is back for its 17th year and runs January 11-28th at venues around the City. Amoeba Music is proud to co-present two stellar musical events: Epic Rap Battles of History Live and Smells Like the '90s: A Night of '90s Music and Comedy!

Epic Rap Battles of History Live
Great American Music Hall
Jan. 26th (two shows: 7:30 & 10:00 pm)
Tickets
The record-breaking digital series Epic Rap Battles of History, created by Peter Shukoff (aka Nice Peter) and Lloyd Ahlquist (aka EpicLLOYD), features comedic rap battles between historical and/or pop culture figures - such as Albert Einstein vs. Stephen Hawking, James Bond vs Austin Powers, Steve Jobs vs. Bill Gates, and Jim Henson vs Stan Lee. The series, which airs on the YouTube channel /ERB, is currently the most-viewed format on YouTube on a per-episode basis. The series has garnered over three billion views and more than 14 million subscribers, and has been nominated for numerous awards including the Emmys. Musician, comedian and actor Nice Peter, and comedian and emcee EpicLLOYD first met freestyling on a porch in Chicago. EpicLLOYD recruited Nice Peter to join the improv comedy group Mission IMPROVable, which he helped found at the University of Massachusetts and later expanded across the country. In 2009 the improv group began the M.i. Westside Comedy Theater in Santa Monica, CA and after separate moves to Los Angeles, Nice Peter and EpicLLOYD connected again in the comedy circuit performing at the club.In 2010 Nice Peter, already a well-established YouTube personality, suggested that one of the live segments he, EpicLLOYD and MC Mr. Napkins (Zach Sherwin) were performing—an improv rap show that featured comedic, poignant altercations between two characters suggested by the audience—was better suited as a digital format. Tapping into his growing YouTube fan base, Nice Peter went to his channel subscribers for potential matchup ideas. Premiering on Nice Peter’s channel in September 2010 as Epic Rap Battles of History, John Lennon vs. Bill O’Reilly, the first battle in the series, was an instant hit. It was Episode #2 though, Adolf Hitler vs. Darth Vader, that became a viral sensation—with now over 96 million views. Epic Rap Battles of History has since featured appearances from hugely popular stars including Weird Al Yankovic, Snoop Dogg, T-Pain, Key & Peele, Rhett and Link, George Watsky and DeStorm Power, among others.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, Susanna Hoffs performance at SF Sketchfest has been canceled due to illness. Susanna regrets not being able to perform for her fans.

The San Francisco comedy festival SF Sketchfest is back for its 16th year and runs January 12-29 at various venues around the City. This year the fest features over 250 shows with some of the top comedians and best up-and-coming talent around. Amoeba Music is proud to co-sponsor two stellar events: Susanna Hoffs & Friends, with Petra Haden, Chris Price, Tamara Yajia & More on January 15th and The Grawlix Yacht Rock Party with Mustache Harbor (+ special guests Chris Hardwick, Jessica Kirson, and Mike Phirman) on January 20th.

Susanna Hoffs & Friends, with Petra Haden, Chris Price, Tamara Yajia & More
Sunday, January 15, 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM, $30, 21+
Swedish American Hall, 2174 Market St, SF
Tickets

Susanna Hoffs (The Bangles) brings her friends to SF Sketchfest for an intimate night of music and comedy, where she has the freedom to pull her favorite songs from her entire discography as well as some choice covers. With special guests stopping by to jam with her, each show will be a one-of-a-kind adventure for both her and the audience.

For the Amoeblog's third installment of Talent Show, a place to show off new projects and acts that will undoubtedly change life as you know it, we bring you The Creepy Podcast. If you love to hate and hate to love the user-generated horror ramblings of Creepypasta sites, fanfiction, and the like, you need to follow DJ4AM’s prolific The Creepy Podcast, which both mercilessly skewers and pays homage to this puzzling literary phenomenon. Listen to The Creepy Podcast on Bandcamp or Youtube.

DJ4AM (aka Jason Nevermind, aka Jason Chavez) has been an active DJ and musician for over 20 years. Formerly a member of Octavius and San Francisco indy band Black Fiction, he is currently a member of Dopestyle 1231, The Beta Macs, and Opal Heights. However, for his latest project this life-long cratedigger, storyteller, sound engineer, and aficionado of the obscure sample has funneled his numerous talents into a new and heretofore uncharted format: the comedy horror podcast. DJ4AM sources amateur tales of horror from Creepypasta sites and gives them the MST3K treatment, which is to say he furnishes them with simultaneous running commentary, over his original genius soundscapes. Sometimes he adds special guest readers/commenters to the mix and it feels like you’re trying to watch a movie with your funniest friends. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself jumping in with commentary of your own.

Comedy fans rejoice! Director Rick Alverson (Comedy, New Jerusalem) has given the world the Neil Hamburger vehicle of a lifetime with his latest existential zinger of a film, Entertainment. Fans of Hamburger's performance-art-as-stand-up (or is it the other way around?), devotees of his output with the 1990's San Fran punk outfit the Zip Code Rapists (under his legal name, Gregg Turkington), and rabid collectors of his label Amarillo Records' limited releases have been waiting for this moment since the film showed at Sundance early in 2015.

In Entertainment Turkington/Hamburger portrays a down-and-out comedian on tour in the Mojave desert. He is a fractured man in search of happiness and his estranged daughter as we follow him through a series of novelty tourist attractions, third-rate venues, and volatile encounters.