#50: Mara Wiles Mara Wiles broke into comedy doing improv with Denver’s Impulse Theater, but soon made the shift to standup, becoming an integral member of the comedy scene and a regular attraction at local clubs and comedy nights. As a testament to her collaborative spark and likability, you’d be…
This weekend, you can survey the art of mourning and found objects, revel in grand strokes of pure color or see what’s gone under the radar in the local videography community. For more options, check out Westword’s gallery listings; read on for sketches of a few of our favorites. See…
Mommy humor appears to be the going thing: From its modest beginnings in Denver’s Highland neighborhood, Shayna Ferm’s Pump and Dump comedy show for frantic mothers desperately in need of some grown-up entertainment and mama-raderie continues to grow, seemingly with each and every show. On the heels of a national…
The Chicano Humanities and Arts Council always gets a jump on local Day of the Dead festivities with El Dia de los Muertos: A Celebration of Life! Tonight’s special opening reception will include a mash-up of DOTD traditions, from a candlelit street procession to live Aztec dancers to a taste…
You might not know Guinevere Turner by name, but her appearance tonight as part of the Color Commentary series at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, which features live commentary during selected film screenings, is not likely to disappoint. “Guinevere is a really wonderful screenwriter, actress and filmmaker,” says Alamo programmer Keith…
The Athena Project, which supports women in theater and the rest of the arts, spends the entire year getting ready for its spring festival — and that includes fundraising, because, well, the show must go on, and that’s how the nonprofit makes sure that it does. Now in its third…
Actor, dancer, playwright and t’ai chi ch’uan master Maria Cheng of Theatre Esprit Asia performed her one-woman show Spirits and Sworded Treks all over the world before landing in Denver and helping to found TEA, the region’s only strictly Asian-American company. The tour de force opened TEA’s inaugural season last…
In Chris Mohr’s world, chocolate and Halloween go together like peanut butter and jelly. That’s why Choctoberfest, Mohr’s public paean to all things chocolicious, will also feature a side trip of zombie-related fun, including costume contests for children and adults (Westword geek reporter Cory Casciato will be judging the grownups);…
Take a wild ride with the dysfunctional family from hell, revisit the legacy of Robert F. Kennedy and begin following a three-part serial sitcom at Denver theaters this week. Read on for the details. See also: Vox Phamalia: Pity Pity Bang Bang at the Avenue Theater…
#51: Kristin Rand Kristin Rand is one of Denver’s funniest people. You can catch her in the act at comedy nights and clubs all over town, because she’s also a hardworking gal. Your best bets include https://www.westword.com/locations/syntax-physic-opera-2443702/”>Moxie!, her monthly sketch revue with fellow comic Mara Wiles at Syntax Physic Opera,…
Paint the town read! A couple of bestselling authors will discuss hot-button issues and their work in Denver this week, and a controversial figure will be here to set the table for a celebration of the 75th year of her iconoclastic life. Read on for all the lit-pick details. See…
Visit worlds both fantastical and familiar this weekend at gallery shows that plumb the miniature and the infinite and everything in between. And you don’t even need to leave Denver for this visual vacation! Read on for all the details. See also: Got Oil? Lauri Lynnxe Murphy: Lament at Leon…
#52: Taylor Gonda When it comes to popular culture, Taylor Gonda talks a great game. As co-host of the local podcast These Things Matter, she chats about music, movies and other obsessions with celebrities both local and sometimes national. But there’s more to Gonda than These Things Matter: A regular…
In a post-apocalyptic world, what remains from the past as a new culture begins to form among the survivors? That’s the question answered in Anne Washburn’s Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play, a gently hilarious look at a world obsessed with Britney Spears and The Simpsons. Amanda Berg Wilson of Boulder’s…
All it took was a hammer and nails and a recycled pallet to convince Kenny Fischer to start the urban DIY-upcycling celebration PalletFest, an innovative new street festival. “I live in the San Luis Valley. Life is a little slower out there,” he says. “And one day, while I was…
A family on the move, another troubled clan scrutinized by television cameras and an uprising of the undead will all take local audiences for a wild ride this weekend. Keep reading to learn more. See also: Taking Aim: Happiness is a Warm Gun…
#53: Kevin O’Brien A fixture in the local standup scene, Kevin O’Brien takes that scene a step or two forward every time he takes the mic. He’s also served as the host of Arguments and Grievances, one of Denver’s cleverest comedy nights, for nearly four years, and with fellow pop-culture…
This week you can cheer on performance poets or listen thoughtfully to the literary variety; if you prefer novels to poetry, you can hear the author of one runaway bestseller discuss his next book. Keep reading for details. See also: Mountain to Mountain Author Shannon Galpin on Bicycles and Violence…
Anything goes on First Friday, and in October, some of the goings-on take a spooky turn for the witching season. Whether you’re looking for highbrow or lowbrow, we’ve got a selection that covers both; keep reading for details. See also: Albert Chong: The Photomosaics/Mark Amerika Book Release…
An opera star for the ages, funny family dynamics and Shakespeare — as well as stage innovations, from unusual venues to free admission — are all part of this weekend’s theater openings. Keep reading to learn more. See also: Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play…
While the Denver Art Museum is taking a break from the blockbuster treadmill this summer, it’s not going to sleep. Rather, the season will be taken up by several weighty smaller exhibits, including Daniel Sprick’s Fictions: Recent Works, a tribute to a Colorado-based repre-sentational favorite, whose crystal-clear, super-realistic paintings have…
The David B. Smith Gallery will be loaded with talent tonight as it unveils Joel Swanson’s XYZ, which explores the artist’s continuing fascination with the art and symbolism of text. Swanson’s obsessive drawings of endless ampersands — similar to the entire wall of 25,000 of them that he drew in…
