A new week has arrived, bringing a tide of unwanted obligations. Your free time is yours to fill, however, so why not calm your Monday mania by planning a week's worth of entertainment? Once again, Denver's creative community has filled the upcoming days with fun and, more important, free events. Keep reading for the five best.
MediaLive Opening Reception
Monday, May 14, 6:30 p.m.
Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art
1750 13th Street, Boulder
BMoCa's new-media festival, MediaLive, brings together together art, technology and digital culture in a week's worth of performances, media installations, workshops and events by contemporary artists and thinkers working internationally in new media; it also serves as the Arts Track for Boulder Startup Week. This year's festival, whose theme is "Interdependence," will open with a free reception for MediaLive’s ongoing installations, including an award-winning virtual-reality experience by Hyphen-Labs, an international collective of women of color; a video about artificial intelligence, governance and cats by San Diego-based Pinar Yoldas; a code-based exploration of autocorrect by Colorado artist Joel Swanson; and more, along with artist talks. All events are free; find out more here.
Music With Friends: Ensemble Faucheux
Tuesday, May 15, 6 to 7 p.m.
Syntax Physic Opera
Friends of Chamber Music and Syntax Physic Opera are teaming up for another evening of song and spirits as the Music With Friends concert series returns with Ensemble Faucheux. An accomplished string quartet comprising cellist Heidi Mausbach, violinists Ben Tomkins and Robyn Julyan, and Colorado Symphony assistant principal violist Catherine Beeson, the ensemble will be working through a continents- and centuries-spanning concert program that includes John Corigliano's "Snapshot," Sahba Aminikia's "One Day," Ayumi Okada's "String Quartet No. 1," and Benjamin Tomkins's "Tangos for 4 Lonely People." With a refreshing focus on living composers, the intimate performance is tailor-made for Syntax's velvet-lined stage. Admission is free, but seating is limited; find more information on the Friends of Chamber Music's events calendar.
Ratio Comedy Three-Year Anniversary
Wednesday, May 16, 8 p.m.
Ratio Beerworks
Producing a weekly comedy show is such a laborious and often thankless task that quality control can be hard to maintain. That isn't the case at Ratio Beerworks, however, where Ian Douglas Terry and Andrew Bueno have produced, hosted and performed at weekly Wednesday night showcases for three laugh-filled years. While the lineups and formats — which include theme shows like Doom Room, Battle Royale and the occasional Lucha Libre & Laughs — change week to week, Ratio Comedy consistently draws a delighted crowd to its constantly improving taproom-cum-performance venue. Bueno and Terry are celebrating their brainchild's milestone with a barn-burning showcase featuring local standups Katie Bowman, Matt Cobos, Josh Skillman, Cory Helie and Cody Spyker, along with headliner Dante Powell. Admission is free; visit the Ratio Comedy Facebook events page to learn more.
Family Science Night
Thursday, May 18, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
North High School
Supplement your children's education without boring them to tears at North High School's Family Science Night, an event for learners of all ages. Conduct kid-friendly experiments such as an egg drop, a squid dissection or a make-your-own-ice-cream exercise while rotating through North High's science department. Admission is free (and there's even a free dinner from 5:30 to 6 p.m.), but pre-registration with North High is required.
Bacon, Lettuce, Comedy
Friday, May 18, 8:30 p.m.
Snarf's DU
Have a couple larfs at Snarf's when the Bacon, Lettuce, Comedy show returns to the local sandwichery's DU location. Hosted and curated by comedian/store employee Roger Stafford (or one of his goofball friends), BLC welcomes some of Denver's funniest mirth merchants to entertain the sandwich-scarfing crowd on the third Friday of every month. May's lineup includes openers Dylan Dean, Priscilla Spangler and Zach Welch, followed by headliner Harris Alterman (winner of the 2017 Comedy Works New Faces Contest). Visit Bacon, Lettuce, Comedy's Facebook events page to find out more.
Know of a great event that deserves a spot on a future list? Email information to [email protected].