king khan & the shrines

11 Things: King Khan & the Shrines

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Digging curiously through the ampersands of time, we found King Khan & the Shrines traveling somewhere north of North Dakota and then, just as quickly as we found them, we lost them again ... only to find them reappearing a few days later somewhere deep inside the great big heart of Alberta. By this point, it had become increasingly obvious to us that the band was unstoppable. But if you think this saddened us, or made us feel down in some small fashion, think again. Knowing that King Khan & the Shrines were unstoppable only made the following facts - and the band members' decision to share them with us - that much sweeter:

1. Old & Wise: "The combined ages of King Khan & the Shrines is 384."

2. Brother & Sister: "Bamboorella, the GoGo dancer, and Ben Ra, the sax player, are the first legitimate brother/sister love affair and have been ex-communicated from all societies except the Shrines."

3. Fate & Coincidence: "Mr. Speed-finger, the Shrines lead guitar player, went to high school with the dude from Stereo Total."

4. Talented & Fun: "Fredovitch, the organ master, was featured in Bass Player magazine in 1998 for being able to play the 'Ghostbusters' theme on slap bass."

5. Sweet & Delicious: "Ron Streeter, percussionist extraordinaire, has been known to cry tears of vanilla ice cream."

6. Righteous & Worthy: "King Khan & the Shrines raised enough money in 2007 to build a school in Ecuador (this is true!)."

7. Strange & Amazing: "Big Fred Rollercoaster, the baritone sax player, has the longest fingers in all of France."

8. Unbeaten & Unbelievable: "A statue was erected in Wolfshagen, the hometown of Simon the Amazing Trumpet Player, for his still unbeaten record as women's arm wrestling champion of the East German Olympics."

9. Furby & RoboCop: "The Shrines rescued a Thunderdome reject who is like the living version of a Furby and RoboCop who, over the years, has morphed into their soundman."

10. Related & Unrelated: "Recent DNA tests have shown that King Khan is definitely not related to the Kennedy family or Michael Jackson."

11. Where & When: King Khan & the Shrines play a free show at 5:30 this afternoon at Amoeba before taking over the Great American Music Hall tonight at 9 tonight. Amoeba Music, 1855 Haight St., S.F. (415) 831-1200. www.amoeba.com; Great American Music Hall, 859 O'Farrell St., S.F. (415) 885-0750. www.gamh.om.

- Tim Sullivan, tsullivan@sfchronicle.com

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/28/NSUJ17O1UU.DTL

This article appeared on page F - 3 of the San Francisco Chronicle

rob riggle

11 Things: Rob Riggle

Thursday, January 22, 2009

1. "Facebook Improv"? Can you explain it in fewer than 20 words? We look up audience member profiles, let them explain, then do scenes based on their lives. (16 words.) YES!

2. The Rob Riggle School of Journalism? Can anyone explain it in fewer than 20 words? Don't lie to me 'cause I'll crush you into powder. Also, the truth isn't as important as the story. (19 words.) YES! Nailed it again!

3. Now that Bush and Cheney have departed, is your job really necessary? Always ... Someone ALWAYS has to speak truth to power! Let's see how good the Dems' sense of humor is now that they're in charge.

4. Can you explain exactly how Katie Couric managed to steal you away from Jon Stewart? Stewart lost me in a late-night poker bet to CBS.

5. Do you miss sharing office space with John Oliver? Sharing an office with John Oliver for 2 1/2 years was definitely one of the highlights of my entire comedy career. It's summed up quite nicely in the farewell video at links.sfgate.com/ZFWU.

6. Favorite thing about San Francisco? Most of the people.

7. Least favorite thing? Some of the people.

8. Favorite comedian (other than yourself)? There are sooo many! John Oliver, Mike Birbiglia, Jon Stewart, Rory Albanese, Rob Huebel, Paul Scheer, Owen Burke, Seth Morris, Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh, Demetri Martin, Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Eddie Murphy, Sam Kinison ... the list could go on for a very long time.

9. Is it true you were declared Kansan of the year last year? Not me, I lost again. This time to a 4-H pig named Jezzzebell.

10. Anything you'd like to add? Please come to the SF Sketchfest! I will be juggling fire and plan to swallow a tiger whole. You don't want to miss it!

11. Rob Riggle can be found fighting crime at: "Facebook Improv" with Rob Corddry, Rob Huebel, Paul Scheer, Seth Morris, Chad Carter and Owen Burke. 8 and 10 p.m. Fri. $20. Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson St. (415) 584-2941. He'll also be appearing at "The Hills: A Staged Reading" and "Invite Them Up" with a variety of other Sketchfest comedians. 8 and 10:30 p.m. Sat. $25. Cobb's Comedy Club, 915 Columbus Ave. (415) 928-4320. www.sfsketchfest.com.

- Tim Sullivan, tsullivan@sfchronicle.com

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/22/NSU915C2KH.DTL

This article appeared on page G - 3 of the San Francisco Chronicle