Audio By Carbonatix
Laughs and riffs in remembrance
8/30
Losing a loved one can be a difficult time, and how we choose to remember the deceased is an important part of the mourning process. When birthdays and anniversaries pass that remind us of those who have died, those days can feel especially painful. One way to ease the hurt is to convene with friends and family to honor those we’ve lost in a memorial gathering that honors the things that made them special to us. And if you can get the guy from Crank Yankers to show up, well, you’ve really created something meaningful. In honor of guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott’s birthday (he would have been 39 this month), the Addison Improv, 4980 Belt Line Road, is hosting a charity benefit show with all proceeds going to VH1’s Save the Music Foundation. The former Pantera member was shot and killed last December during a concert with his band Damageplan. Abbott stayed metal until the very end, however, and the Improv tribute aims to be irreverently appropriate in honoring that legacy with some of comedy’s biggest (and most deviant) names filling the bill. Culled from among Abbott’s favorite comics, prank phone caller Jim Florentine will join Mark “Chinaman” Britten, Emmy-winner Don Jamieson and Last Comic Standing‘s Shawn Halpin for an evening of heavy-metal hilarity. But the fun doesn’t stop there. It continues with some face-melting guitar work during a performance by Grim Reaper guitarist Nick Bowcott. The heavy metal legend and Abbott favorite will be playing an acoustic set of Pantera songs. That’s right, we used the words “acoustic” and “Pantera” in the same sentence. The benefit is this Tuesday at 8 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Admission is $20. Call 972-404-8501. –Andrea Grimes
Cooking Up a Plan
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8/26
Back to School
Heaven Sent
The greatest irony of Tuesdays with Morrie is that its author doesn’t follow the book’s teachings. Mitch Albom is a nationally syndicated sports columnist for the Detroit Free Press, the host of a nationally syndicated radio show and a frequent guest on ESPN’s many afternoon and Sunday morning shout-fests. He doesn’t have time to take time out, as Morrie would have liked. He’s too busy writing books such as The Five People You Meet in Heaven, a novel/addendum to Morrie that’s sold nearly as well. Still, don’t let Albom sour you on the original. Morrie‘s a decent book. Its television adaptation won four Emmys. No reason, then, to think any less of its theatrical debut, which comes to Circle Theatre in Fort Worth, 230 W. Fourth St., with shows at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Saturdays through October 8. Tickets are $15 to $30. Call 817-877-3040. –Paul Kix
Still Ill
8/25
The only disease a hypochondriac might never think he had would be hypochondriasis. But imagine if he did: No, really, I’ve got all the symptoms. First, I had to lie down because I started feeling really, really afraid of getting sick. Then, when I woke up the next morning, I was totally imagining that I had various physical ailments. Now that freaked me out. So I went to WebMD.com and did some research, and I think I may have contracted hypochondria. Seriously. I knew there was something wrong. That won’t be an issue in Theatre Three’s debut of its rendition of Jac Alder’s translation of The Imaginary Invalid. Molière’s classic tells of a resolute hypochondriac who spends most of his time consulting with doctors about his mysterious illness and devising ways not to pay his bills. The comedy runs on the Mainstage from August 25 through October 1. Tickets are $15 to $30. Theatre Three is located at 2800 Routh St. Call 214-871-3300. –Stephanie Morris
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