MEDIA MELTDOWN

About

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!

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Media Meltdown formed in 2019 and began producing immersive parties at the Stud and Makeout Room in San Francisco (think, a Wrestlemania-themed party in which a wrestling ring was constructed in the middle of the Makeout Room and drag performers duked it out while fans cheered from the sidelines.) We also hosted a monthly cult-film series at the Alamo Drafthouse New Mission.

On March 15, 2020 — the night before San Francisco's COVID quarantine was announced — Media Meltdown became the first digital drag show due to a last-minute venue cancellation. For the next few years, we produced weekly content on our Twitch channel. We offered free digital production classes to fellow queer artists and managed a network of streaming shows that included drag shows, cult movie screenings, local band music video shows, video games streams, cooking shows, comics & pop culture recaps, readings, and more. Celebrity guests included Alaska Thunderfuck (RuPaul’s Drag Race), Felony Dodger (Dragula), Chaki the Funk Wizard, and more.

In late 2021, Media Meltdown returned to live production with a series of fandom dance parties (Nick @ Fright, May the 4th) at the Oasis nightclub, an all-ages drag-hosted pumpkin patch pop-up, and a new cult movie series in partnership with Cinema SF (Balboa & 4 Star Theaters). Through this last partnership, we've worked with cult film icons such as Lloyd Kaufman & Mercedes the Muse (Troma), Dana Ashbrook & Sheryl Lee (Twin Peaks), and Chris LaMartina (WNUF Halloween Special).

In 2022, we entered the world of film production with our original shorts FrankenDivine and Evil in Residence. January 2023 saw a sold-out engagement at SF Sketchfest with Media Meltdown’s original Select Thine Own Journey: An Interactive Fantasy Drag Show, which will return to San Francisco stages November 2023.

We've had the pleasure over the years of partnering and performing with organizations including SF Sketchfest, Oaklash, The Frameline Film Festival, The Roxie Theater, Children's Fairyland, and Princess @ Oasis. Follow @MediaMeltdownSF on Instagram to stay up-to-date with all future engagements!

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) 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.

Full Bio >

Piranha Psychotronica is a San Francisco-based drag performer, theater artist, and filmmaker. After cutting their teeth producing Grand Guignol and Theater of the Ridiculous stage shows with Thrillpeddlers and cult-movie tribute shows with Peaches Christ Productions, Piranha began professionally producing theater with D’Arcy Drollinger & Heklina at the newly opened Oasis as well as co-directing (with Jason Hoover) Ray of Light Theater’s 2018 production of Hedwig & the Angry Inch. Along with their partner Kafka X, Piranha hosts the drag show Media Meltdown, which can be seen at their quarterly cult film series at the 4 Star Theater and pop-up events around the Bay. Their original stage show Select Thine Own Journey: An Interactive Fantasy Drag Show recently enjoyed a sold-out engagement at SF Sketchfest and will be reprised at Oasis this November. As a filmmaker, Piranha has produced and directed several shorts that have been featured at the Oaklash Film Festival, the SF Trasngender Film Festival, and Cinema SF Theaters. Sailor also served as the production coordinator on the 2020 feature Shit & Champagne (dir. D'Arcy Drollinger). As their character Cherry Cosmic, they are the lead singer and lyricist of the glam synth band HOLOGLAM (debut EP out soon). Follow them on Instagram at @Piranha_Psychotronica for updates on future work.

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. 🙂

Full Bio >

A longer bio for Kafka coming soon :^]

Shows

November 16th & 17th: Select Thine Own Journey at Oasis!

A sold-out engagement at San Francisco Sketchfest January 2023! The Bay Area's funniest drag performers have gathered to save Queerternia, but they need a little help... from YOU! At pivotal moments the action stops and you, the audience, must choose from one of several branching paths. Will you support them in their quest, or sabotage them at every turn? You never know what fabulousness lurks around the corner in SELECT THINE OWN JOURNEY!

Tickets for Thursday

Tickets For Friday

Full Calendar

Past Shows

We've done a ton of stuff. Get a taste of what we do with the highlights below. Full show history coming soon!

Select Thine Own Journey: An Interactive Fantasy Drag Show
A sold-out engagement at San Francisco Sketchfest January 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 literal 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)

Upcoming screening at Dark Thoughts horror film festival, click here for tickets.

When a struggling artist is attacked, her career takes off in surprising and macabre directions.

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.

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!

Media Meltdown