About
“Media Meltdown is (…) putting on some of the most riotous drag shows in the city…” - SF Gate
MEDIA MELTDOWN is a queer art and event production collective that celebrates cult media, weird pop culture, and childhood nostalgia. Hosted by San Francisco-based drag performers and “roommates” (in the Biblical sense) Kafka X & Piranha Psychotronica, we’re known for bringing you the themes no other drag show dares to tackle!
Piranha Psychotronica
Producer / Artistic Director
One of Media Meltdown's primary hosts, Piranha Psychotronica is the creative mastermind behind Media Meltdown's most ambitious productions, namely Select Thine Own Journey: An Interactive Fantasy Drag Show (SF Sketchfest 2023, Oasis 2023-2024) and the original short films Evil In Residence (2023) and FrankenDivine (2022). Follow them on Instagram for updates on their future work as part of Media Meltdown and beyond.
Kafka X
Producer / Technical Director
Kafka X (formerly Franzia Kafka) is the technical lead and other primary host of Media Meltdown. For two years, they produced multiple weekly livestreams on Media Meltdown's Twitch channel, and have served as a technical jack-of-all-trades for Media Meltdown's film work and live shows. They also built this website. 🙂
The Movie Madhouse
3rd Sundays at the 4 Star Theater
Get Tickets Here!
Piranha Psychotronica and Kafka X bring you a new experience in cinematic depravity… Media Meltdown Movie Madhouse! Prepare yourself to enter into a world of face-flaying forgotten and forsaken films… Made-for-TV, Direct-to-Video, VCR games, and more wiley weirdness than your minds can handle! Commit yourself every 3rd Sunday to … MEDIA MELTDOWN MOVIE MADHOUSE!!
Playing in October:
VAMP (1986)
Ordered to fetch a stripper for a fraternity party, three college students drive into the city to try their luck recruiting at the After Dark Club, where they're seduced by the mysterious silent stripper (played by the icon that is Grace Jones) and descend into a world of depravity! This Halloween, the ghouls from Media Meltdown are joined by Pablo and Paul from the Scared Gay Podcast, a horror movie podcast with a gay agenda, to discuss the film! And the Movie Madhouse may have a vampiric stripper or two of our very own!
Select Thine Own Journey
“A must-see!” - SF Gate
Media Meltdown’s original stage production “Select Thine Own Journey” is a unique theatrical experience like no other! Developed in the style of “Choose Your Own Adventure” novels, each show is an original story where the audience is asked to make crucial choices at key moments that affect the heroes' journey, resulting in multiple possible endings on any given night. Starring some of the San Francisco Bay Area’s funniest drag performers and comic actors, Select Thine Own Journey throws theater, comedy, drag, and improv into a blender with all of your favorite genre tropes and gives birth to a magical stage experience that SFGate called “a must-see”!
Returning in 2025...
Select Thine Own Journey will return with all new tales in 2025!
Full Calendar
Past Shows
We've done a ton of stuff. Get a taste of what we're capable of with the sampling below. This is only the tip of the iceberg!
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Select Thine Own Journey: An Interactive Fantasy Drag Show
A sold-out engagement at San Francisco Sketchfest January 2023 and Oasis SF (Nov 2023). At pivotal moments the action stops and the audience must choose from one of several branching paths. Can the Bay Area's funniest drag performers roll with the punches? -
Nick @ Fright at Oasis
Media Meltdown’s first large-scale dance party featured immersive decor, drag performers & go-gos, a slimy photobooth and throwback visuals & music designed to take partiers back to a cartoon-fueled 90s Halloween. -
Pop-Up Drag Pumpkin Patch at Milk SF
Complete with pumpkins sourced from a trans-owned farm, drag hosts, performances every half hour, free candy, and a haunted walk-through attraction, this pumpkin patch was a highlight of the 2021 Halloween season. -
Wrestlemania: A Drag Show at The Make-Out Room
A highlight of Media Meltdown’s pre-pandemic parties, the Media Meltdown crew built a wrestling ring in the middle of San Francisco’s Makeout Room and had drag performers (including Nicki Jizz, Drag Queen of the Year 2023) literally duke it out while fans cheered on the lifts, drops, and wig snatches from the sidelines. -
Cult Movie Screenings at the Balboa & 4 Star Theaters
Our Cinema SF cult movie series beginning in September 2021 at San Francisco’s Balboa & 4 Star Theaters has featured special guests such as Sheryl Lee & Dana Ashbrook from Twin Peaks, Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman and Mercedes the Muse, and director Chris LaMartina (WNUF Halloween Special, Call Girl of Cthulhu).
Film Work
Evil in Residence (2023)
When a struggling artist is attacked, her career takes off in surprising and macabre directions.
Premiered at: 4 Star Theatre (SF, CA)
Featured at: Dark Thoughts Film Festival and Chromatic Cinematique showcase.
Blue Moods (2023) [Commercial]
Media Meltdown was thrilled to work with San Francisco based queer artist Another Bard on this promotional music video for their recent EP, Blue Hour.
FrankenDivine (2022)
In this loving (if not lewd) send-up of gothic horror and cult filth, a mad scientist and his necrophiliac henchman resurrect their queer idol to reshape the world in their image, only to discover that she has plans of her own.
Featured at: Dimensions, Oaklash and the SF Transgender film festivals.
Fan Club
Join our fan club mailing list to get the meltiest, most up-to-date info about upcoming shows, hijinks, and more! Never more than one email per week.
All fan club members can receive a special fan club card at any in-person Media Meltdown event!
(Double check your "Promotions" and "Spam" tabs if you aren't seeing the newsletter after signing up.)
Contact
Want to plan an event? Need some drag hosts? Curious about past events or what we do? Shoot us a message and we'll get back to you ASAP!