I was a bit concerned that Saturday’s Mike Birbiglia performance, My Boyfriend’s Girlfriend, at the Winspear Opera House wasn’t billed as stand-up but rather as a solo show or monologue. Most stand-up acts could be described as a monologue or a solo show. What’s the difference between a stand-up performance…
Last night was billed as a “once-in-a-lifetime interview with Charlie Rose, acclaimed broadcast journalist with both film and documentary director, Rory Kennedy, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., exploring the lives and legacy of the Kennedy family.” There were moments when that actually happened, courtesy of Rose and Rory, during Friday…
Tuesday Night Trash, we salute you. The Observer awarded Tuesday Night Trash Best Cheap Date in 2012, so we’re all a little (read: very) crushed to see it go. The program was a free, weekly adventure into the depths of poor taste, think video’s equivalent to those freaky 10-foot worms…
Big comedy news o’clock, everyone, as tickets for Bill Burr’s stand-up show at the Majestic go on sale today. If you don’t think this will sell out faster than a pop star faced with a check from Pepsi, you’re going to be disappointed next week. A fixture across all kinds…
Whether you’re anxiously awaiting its arrival in your cable box or you’re a decidedly disinterested heterosexual male, Girls season two premieres Sunday night on HBO. Fall into the disinterested category? Allow me to be your guide to making the most out of your lady’s (and, like, everyone else’s) latest obsession,…
If you think the God of parties is some heavenly figure with neon lasers shooting from his eyes, annoying house music reverberating from his wind pipe and confetti blowing out of his ass, you are, we fear, eternally mistaken. The lord of celebrations is actually a position divided into two…
Well Dallas, it’s time to shake out your joints and do some deep lunges — you don’t want to sprain anything during Saturday night’s flood of first looks. Yep, it’s a big night for the Design District, and everyone’s flexing their favorite talent to kick off 2013 after a sleepy…
Nicola Benedetti seems to be living a charmed life. At 25 she is gorgeous, has an exciting international performance career and an album — 2012’s release The Silver Violin — that’s topped classical and pop charts. If she weren’t so down to earth and passionate, we’d really like to hate…
Every Thursday we highlight the best comedy of the coming weekend. Find more comedy events at dallasobserver.com/calendar. D.L. Hughley at the Addison Improv The star of The Hughleys and one of the four comedians featured in the Spike Lee film The Original Kings of Comedy, D.L. Hughley is a household…
Comic, playwright, one-man funny train set to full speed: Mike Birbiglia is in town on Saturday. Dallas, you looked so precious as you slept through the holidays — I couldn’t bear to wake you. But it’s clear that someone ripped the blankets off, because this weekend is like a toddler…
If you’ve ever been to a baby shower, you’ve seen the same gifts over and over again: baby bottles, baby diapers, baby blankets, baby clothes. Sure, people who are expecting to have a baby-type person enter their lives need those things. But there’s a ton of other shit that Babies…
“Like a lot of other stuff in my life, I sort of fell backwards into it,” screenwriter Will Beall says of his unexpected perch atop Hollywood’s A-list. Unexpected, because just five years ago Beall was busy working for Tinseltown’s second most famous employer, the Los Angeles Police Department, where he…
Originally slated to open in September 2012, Gangster Squad was delayed when the movie-theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado, suddenly made a scene of gunfire in Grauman’s Chinese Theatre “inappropriate.” But released any time, the movie would be a crime against cinematic sensibility. As Gangster Squad opens, boss Mickey Cohen (Sean…
When he died in December 2011, Kim Jong Il left behind more than a dynastic regime and a closet full of drab pantsuits. Jong Il, who ruled the hermetic North Korea from his father Kim Il Sung’s death in 1994 until his own passing 17 years later, was a noted…
David Huntsberger describes the brain as a lazy corporate employee not cutting the mustard. One that forgets the name of the person you just met, but replays in excruciating detail the words your ex used to dump you. He muses upon robot suicides, tiny black holes with micro civilizations, minotaur…
It has been speculated that Neil Hamburger was first brought to popular attention when the comedian’s body was discovered frozen in an Atlantic City dumpster. He was, of course, thawed and wrung-out, then rapidly educated in the last 40 years of pop culture. But Hamburger has little love for these…
Even those of us who are not star-struck by Hollywood celebrities are fascinated by the Kennedys. There’s something eternally intriguing about the most mysterious and famous political family in America. And here in Dallas we have a personal connection with the clan, even if it is, sadly, as a result…
It still feels like one day his fame simply arrived, and when it happened, we all knew. Since that day, the “This American Life” contributor, author, actor, director and — oh yeah, comedian — Mike Birbiglia has only gained more notoriety. His book Sleepwalk With Me & Other Painfully True…
In Dallas, the closing out of the holidays is accompanied by an artful renewal. Saturday evening, nearly every CADD Gallery in town presents its fresh collection of seasonal work. Here’s a quick guide to a few favorites from that massive list, and visit Mixmaster, the Dallas Observer’s art and culture…
One of the most memorable films of the last 25 years, Delicatessen (the directorial debut of Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro) gave audiences a taste of a crazy stylized French alternaworld. Part in-depth character study and part post-apocalyptic nutrition lesson for the squeamish, Delicatessen is one of those movies that…
Satin, lace and tulle, tulle, tulle. Either it’s a JoAnn’s Fabrics explosion or bridal show season is officially upon us. Surprise, it’s the latter. Start the year out with an ivory bang at Soiree Boutique Bridal Show. Soiree offers a smaller, more personal experience complete with niche designers, a panel…
D.L. Hughley hasn’t experienced the warmest of relationships with the metroplex. Just a handful of years ago, he ran afoul of a bunch of area preachers who called for boycotting his set — then declared victory when they got a bunch of press. But don’t comedians kind of live for…
