Muni Diaries Live 5 Recap: We turned 3!
Photo by Amber Wolf of Wiz Bang Photography
Muni Diaries celebrated our third birthday on Friday with another Muni Diaries Live show. If you were at the packed Make-Out Room on Friday, you know that the audience and our performers threw down for a good time. So what happens when you put five top-notch performers on stage and mix that with a crowd who chants, “Back Door”? Let’s see…
Hometown boy Ariel Dovas of MissionMission opened the show with a story of his first kiss, which happened in a Muni Metro station underground. We learned why watching movies is not a good way to learn how to kiss in real life: they never show you what the hell you’re supposed to do with your tongue! Teenage romance can be so tough.
Photo by Amber Wolf of Wiz Bang Photography
Audience favorite Jesse James returns to the stage with a story of pre-Jaded Period heroics on Muni. Gentlemen (sorry, ladies), Jesse says he is single and looking for “good looking, age-appropriate men with low standards.” I happen to think he’s a solid 10. I mean, he wasn’t voted “most extraordinarily unique male senior” in his high school for nothing!
Photo by Amber Wolf of Wiz Bang Photography
H.P. Mendoza, who you know from Colma, the Musical, and Fruit Fly, brought his toy piano and led us in a cheerful song called “Public Transit.” “San Francisco’s like a bowl of cereal: when you get rid of the nuts and fruits, all ya got is flakes!”
Photo by Amber Wolf of Wiz Bang Photography
As usual, we open the stage to our wonderful audience to tell a short Muni story and win prizes. This time, our awesome prizes from Chrome Bags, Seed Store, and Metronome Dance Collective attracted six brave souls from the audience: Katie, Adam, Pam, Jeremy, Emily, and Carrie.
Photo by Amber Wolf of Wiz Bang Photography
Guess who won by thunderous audience applause?
Photo by Amber Wolf of Wiz Bang Photography
Go Pam!
Two-time Oakland grand slam champion Joyce Lee had us all enthralled with two Muni stories, one involving Joyce’s impeccably dressed southern mother who told some misbehaving boys on the bus how it is. We loved Joyce, and now we all want to meet her mom.
Photo by Amber Wolf of Wiz Bang Photography
What better way to wrap up our anniversary show than to have Kirk Read tenderly caress the Muni Diaries stage? Kirk’s story about standing up for a fellow passenger’s “art” had us in stitches. Art smells, real life smells, and when Kirk tells you, you better take note.
Photo by Amber Wolf of Wiz Bang Photography
Julie Michelle of I Live Here: SF took some great black and white shots of the show. Check out her slideshow here:
In the three years of running Muni Diaries, you help remind us every day that Muni stories aren’t just about the bus being late or smelling poop on the bus (though both happen with alarming regularity). We’re a community born out of the shared experience of riding public transportation, which connects us no matter who we are. The stories from the stage Friday night speak to that sense of community.
We’ll have videos from the show in the next few days. We also have some new features on the site that we’ll be rolling out in the coming months, so stay tuned and keep sending us your Muni stories!