The Improv Web site cites comic Sheryl Underwood as a “sexually progressive, God-fearing conservative Republican” but hell, we can forgive anyone a transgression or two if they’re truly funny. Fortunately, Underwood offers a topical and accessible act that any moderately informed and slightly dirty adult can appreciate…which is the exact…
Oh, to be stuck in round after round of Die Hards, Transformers and Nancy Drews for the next few weeks. This is the struggle that people living in Fort Worth have to face in the remaining months of the long but yet not so hot summer. Hollywood cinema, good and…
Judah Friedlander wears many hats. In fact, looking for the various trucker hats his character “Frank” wears on the NBC comedy 30 Rock has become a sport. (Favorites include “ESP Tutor” and “Extra Sausage.”) Offscreen, Friedlander declares himself to be a comedian, national teen idol, international star of the silver…
In its continuing campaign to nourish our cinematic bodies, the AllGood Café’s July 11 Rock ‘N’ Reel Night features a doobie duo that would have David Wooderson dazed and content in the front row: Reefer Madness and Grass. Throw in the café’s menu—mom’s home-cooked goodies made with the freshest ingredients…
We can probably effectively rule out any appearances by Cindy Sheehan at this conference, but nonetheless, there are not many opportunities to rub elbows with three Nobel Peace laureates, and dozens of internationally known peacemakers. Oh, and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, who is billed as a member of the host…
Dear Person, Hi, you may remember me, your anus? Yeah, I know we haven’t had a one-on-one chat since the Spoiled Shrimp Incident of ’06, but I’m still down here, doing all your dirty work. It’s all right, I know it’’s a thankless job; I don’t expect a medal or…
Dr. Michael Phillips’ book White Metropolis: Race, Ethnicity and Religion in Dallas, 1841-2001 will do things to you. It’s a history book in a lot of ways, but it also makes you take a look around at the half-million-dollar condos springing up all over Dallas and realize who gets to…
I reached the pinnacle of my acting career in eighth grade, when I was cast as the turtle in Urashima Taro, a Japanese fairy tale. Since this was Kabuki, traditional, stylized Japanese theater, all of us wore thick white makeup and elaborate costumes—my best friend was “the four seasons,” and…
If it’s possible for something good to ever come out of the death of a rock ‘n’ roll icon, it’s never the rehash of greatest hits, the concert DVDs or the random memorabilia. In the case of Texas guitar legend Stevie Ray Vaughan, the best thing that came from, or…
At 8 p.m. this Saturday, Brookhaven College, 3939 Valley View Lane in Farmers Branch (bring your papers), is putting on a stage production of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman’s Little Shop of Horrors in the School of the Arts Performance Hall (Building C), and you should go see it. It’s…
What parent has not used that most despicable of embarrassment methods—singing what he or she believes is “cool” music at top volume in front of their offspring’s friends? In case you just couldn’t get enough of that as a teen, you can experience something quite similar this Friday at the…
Readers of the e-book beware—megabytes and pixels do not a book make. And don’t even get me started on the eyestrain. But don’t worry, there’s still hope for you. The 2nd International Book Fair is here to make you a bibliophile once again. To promote the love of the written…
Compared to other arts, video art is relatively new and is still an open field without a set definition. Defined or not, the Dallas Video Festival has been on top of this medium for 20 years. In recognition of this, and also as a run-up to the 20th anniversary of…
Keith Urban is the musical equivalent of your average big-box Texas suburb—bland, slick and lifeless—which is why soccer moms in Frisco, Plano and Allen love him and want to have his half-Australian babies. It’s almost like he was created in a laboratory (and come to think of it, that’s pretty…
For those in need of a basketball or even a Mavericks fix, SMU may have the answer. Now don’t start grumbling about Dirk and Co. not making it to the finals this year. Patience is a virtue, and we now know that next year is the time for that trophy…
The World Series of Video Games, an annual summer championship for videogame addicts, returns to Dallas this weekend. As well as being a showcase for the latest gaming technology, the WSVG gives people a chance to show off their mad gaming skills. Last year, the highlight was a gaming stage…
Artist Paul Greco uses mixed media–such as old Disney cartoons and Dick and Jane characters juxtaposed with scenes of skyscrapers and nuclear weapons–to illustrate his philosophy that life was just as hard and confusing in past decades as it is now. For instance, one of Greco’s pieces, “All God’s Children…
When I think circus films, Tod Browning’s 1932 horror film Freaks is the first that comes to mind. It’s got everything a good movie about a circus needs: sideshow performers, a beautiful trapeze artist and a sickening eye-for-an-eye ending that would petrify even the most worldly 10-year-old. A true classic…
Dallas-based Lily Hanson is master of what art critic Charissa Terranova has called “the soft uncanny.” Or maybe it’s the “snuggly strange.” A sculptor and textile artist, Hanson creates large abstract squishy objects by meticulous sewing and stitching of fabric and foam. She recently received the Dallas Museum of Art’s…
Sometimes three’s a crowd. You don’t want your boyfriend’s best pal tagging along on a romantic dinner date or a bystander busting in on your annual physical. All Jay and Silent Bob needed was each other, and another Beavis or Butthead would have been one pimply teen too many. Such…
According to the owner, Pawn Gallery decided to give Detroit artist Topher Crowder his first big Dallas show, “so he wouldn’t start hacking people up with a machete,” if that gives you an idea how edgy this guy is. Crowder’s ink-on-paper images are huge on the wall but draw the…
Kiss the Boys is like a hipster game of Clue. A murder plot to avenge two gay men scorned, where the weapon of choice is a poison martini. But the plan is foiled by a born-again Christian, a teetotaler and an alcohol snob. Will the would-be murderers carry out their…
