Local fans of mainstream comedy headliners have the rare opportunity of having a choice of comedians to see this Friday, unless they have figured out some biological chemical algorithm to achieve transubstantiation, in which case HOLLER. Mr. Show and Sarah Silverman Program star Brian Posehn will be at Hyena’s Comedy…
If you didn’t get enough literary nerdiness at last weekend’s FenCon, never fear. The indie publishing industry descends on Dallas this weekend with vengeance. Indie Vengeance. As in IndieVengeance Day. Get it? No? Either way it goes down Saturday, October 12 at Half-Price Books (5803 East Northwest Highway)…
Pole dancing has been a non-stripper thing for a while now. Well, it’s obviously still a stripper thing, but many non-strippers now turn to it for general fitness and to ensure they could flee upward into a firehouse if the situation calls for it. Even though pole dancing champions have…
The big news is that it’s TX/OU weekend, so I’ve stuck a bunch of great football parties in this week’s list. (You’re welcome.) There’s more. A lot more. Like the 26-year-strong Dallas VideoFest, a vinyl toy party at ATAMA, a Bonnie and Clyde bicycle ride and a screening of the…
The greasy haired, cocktail clutching comedian Neil Hamburger often gets compared to Tony Clifton, the egotistical lounge singer who served as the alter ego of the late Andy Kaufman. But that’s unfair: Hamburger’s a much crueler bastard. The self-proclaimed “King of Komedy” has an ingenious hook that most comedy club…
If you’re in Deep Ellum on Thursday, October 24, and you see a hammered dude stumbling across the street with a barstool and mic, you should know in advance that it’s not Zombie Carlin, as welcome a sight as that would be. It’s the Dallas Observer’s first-ever Comedy Crawl. We…
This weekend when a host of Dragon Street galleries open new shows, here are six galleries where you won’t feel left out.
It does feel weird to applaud after John Wilkes Booth sings about shooting President Lincoln in the opening scene of Assassins, the 1990 Stephen Sondheim/John Weidman musical now playing at Theatre Three. But damn, actor Gregory Lush is so matinee-idol handsome as Booth, and his performance of “The Ballad of…
Tom Hanks has built a career out of playing aggressively noble roles, so it’s only natural to want to see him taken down a peg. But it’s no fun to watch him suffer at the hands of Somali pirates in Paul Greengrass’ true-life adventure Captain Phillips. Hanks plays the commander…
During his 2012 presidential campaign, Republican candidate Herman Cain rhapsodized about the fence he’d build on the U.S.-Mexico border: 20 feet tall with barbed wire, electricity and a moat. “And I would put those alligators in that moat!” he cheered. For Machete Kills, Robert Rodriguez built that fence but left…
Something’s seemed different about No. 1 American-born action hero Bruce Willis lately. His action movie output in recent years has mostly been stunt casting in mediocre sequels (The Expendables 2, G.I. Joe: Retaliation), or supporting roles in little-seen B-movies (Setup, Catch .44, Fire with Fire), as if he’s in a…
There are definitely some geeks out there who are worried about Zero Charisma. Does the movie take a lot of cheap shots, or does it for once accurately show what it’s like to be a geek? Zero Charisma is more of a nuanced character study than a broad comedy, and…
For the past few years State of the Arts, a panel series hosted by KERA-FM 90.1’s Jeff Whittington and presented by the same station’s Art & Seek, has been bringing fascinating conversations about art to North Texas. The series has brought together scenic designers, photojournalists, composers and museum directors to…
The things that make a house a home include love, warmth and surroundings that give you comfort. You don’t technically need anything more than a roof over your head — but small touches that make your space cozy and calm can be the difference between a place that’s merely an…
A secret art world has you surrounded. Those hand-lettered signs that color our city walls are created by typography addicts. You rarely consider the artists behind the things, though. Sure, you love the folksy lettering that jells perfectly with the message it pitches, or the punctuating swirl of a clearance…
He’s got a big ol’ potato body, but you love his pasty ass anyway. He was an original cast member on Mr. Show, he’s been on the Sarah Silverman Show, and if you were a fan of Just Shoot Me! (ME!), you might remember his 29-episode arc as Ray Liotta’s…
Though it’s still firmly rooted in the strip club scene, pole dancing has been in daylight for a while now. It may still raise some eyebrows when it shows up on the class schedule at an aerobics studio, but even the most pearl-clutching of housewives will admit that shimmying up…
The Internet cracked open the publishing world. Self-publishing, an effort that just 10 years ago felt like an author’s last resort, is now a treasured pathway for bringing exciting new, DIY talent to the forefront. This is, of course, a mixed blessing. With the rapid increase in books and shorts…
After elementary school, Columbus Day loses a lot of its luster. The day off is nice, but it starts to get harder and harder to really get into Christopher Columbus. You learn that he actually wanted to get to India and about the whole genocide part, and it’s just hard…
As the spookiest of seasons creeps up on us, it’s time for entertainment that warms the black heart of your inner goth. But this year, don’t stop at just dragging out your copy of The Shining — try something with a little more bite. LakeCities Ballet Theater’s production of La…
The likes of Tito Ortiz and Jon Jones have launched mixed martial arts to new heights. Sadly, it also boosted its ticket price. Ignore UFC’s $500 front-row treatment and capture (almost) the same excitement for a fifth of the price in Legacy Fighting Championship 24 Friday at the Allen Event…
The Walking Dead is back, and this season promises to feature chain-link fences, neutral tones and ample zombie struggles. Maybe even a death or two. To find out who gets dead first, meet up at the Angelika Film Center in Mockingbird Station at 8 p.m. Sunday and be among your…
