Ben Roy, the subject of this week’s cover story, has worked hard to establish himself as a unique voice in the growing Denver comedy scene. We recently spoke with several local comics who have a relationship with Roy both on and off the stage, some of whom were there at…
Reading theater reviews in the New York Times, you often find yourself suffering intense pangs of envy for those friends living there. You’ll never see this fiercely confrontational drama or that hilarious but profound comedy, you think wistfully. Everything exciting is going on miles and miles away. But year after…
When River Phoenix died, in October 1993, he was three weeks from completing his performance in Dark Blood, an $8 million indie film that had already seen five weeks of shooting on location in southern Utah. In this lurid modern film noir, Phoenix was cast as “Boy,” a mysterious part-Hopi…
Some rock docs work because they document an important part of musical history. Some work because they tell a compelling, unique story. And some work just because their subjects are so completely and totally unhinged that you can’t look away. When all three come together, as they do in the…
Most people who got called “nerd” in high school probably didn’t get a lot out of their prom experience, but Bop Skizzum’s second annual Nerd Prom offers a chance for sweet redemption. Nerds can don their best garb — whether it’s that slick jacket with the Dungeons & Dragons patches…
The Denver Art Museum’s Untitled series is always an adventure in art appreciation, with its imaginative slates of hands-on cultural activities, demonstrations, entertainment and downright silliness. But until now, we don’t think it’s ever been dominated by a people-generated American Idol vibe. That’s about to change when Untitled #54: Turf…
After a tarot reading in the early 1990s in San Francisco that she calls “mind-blowingly amazing and accurate,” Hoa Nguyen became interested in the mystical art of divination. Now the world-renowned poet, founder of poetry journal Skanky Possum and current teacher at Ryerson University in Toronto will be traveling to…
We here at Westword really don’t mind telling you that Artopia is dazzling. There’s nothing else in town quite like the annual arts circus put on by ours truly at multiple Golden Triangle venues every February; the affair throws together the city’s best in random performers, live music and DJs,…
Ladies and gentlemen, grab your scorecards: It’s time for the third annual Caveau/New Genesis Oscar Viewing Night. Guests won’t need a tux or a Vera Wang gown, though, says Denise Newman, of New Genesis, a transitional housing program that will benefit from the event. “You don’t have to get super-dressed…
It’s not every weekend you get the opportunity to learn dance moves from some of the very best genre-specific instructors in the country — or see those same instructors in action, for that matter. But that’s what happens every year at the Rocky Mountain Balboa Blowout, a swing-dance spectacular hosted…
Offering a weekend of up-close-and-personal interactions with cycling enthusiasts and custom-made-bicycle artisans from around the world, the North American Handmade Bicycle Show fits right into Denver. “I think we were wondering why the heck we didn’t go to Colorado earlier,” says Paul Skilbeck, spokesman for the exhibition, which has traveled…
Obscene/Courageous Theatre is known for its offbeat, entertaining and sometimes disturbing productions. But the company’s newest show is a little different. “It’s a really cute play; it’s a love story,” says Sarah Crockarell, co-artistic director for Obscene/Courageous. “There’s no horror, nobody gets stabbed. It’s really based on slapstick and irreverent,…
Late last year, a collective of local artists shared the stage for an exhibit, Stuff(ed), which focused on the subject “soft.” Inspired by the writings of Félix Guattari that explore how shape and medium can make art more approachable, the group, led by Pirate co-op member Theresa Anderson, enlisted curatorial…
Artist Tracy Tomko thinks Michael Benninghoven’s little Love Gallery could use some extra attention, but she still couldn’t believe that the February slot was actually open there when Benninghoven — who even works under the tagger’s name “Love” — invited her to curate a show. “When I heard it was…
James O’Hagan Murphy had several reasons to audition for the title role in Jack Holmes’s play RFK — A Portrait of Robert Kennedy: He’d been wanting to work with director Terry Dodd; he’d never done a one-man show before; and he liked Vintage Theatre’s intimate playing space. And then there…
The idea of a black Odyssey, inspired by Homer’s ancient Greek yarn, isn’t a new one: One version, a modernized drama, just hit the stage as a dramatic reading at the Denver Center Theatre Company’s New Play Summit. But veteran Denver poet SETH’s version, a new poetic memoir called A…
Comedy roasts are full of cruelty, irreverence and line-crossing, but at their heart, they’re meant to show sincere love for the guest of honor. In the case of POTroast, taking place tonight at Comedy Works South, the object of deep affection is marijuana — which will get a good grilling…
In the spare yet grand Happy People: A Year in the Taiga, co-director and tour guide Werner Herzog talks us through one season cycle in the life of a not-of-this-century trapper in the Siberian town of Bakhta, population 300. We follow Anatoly Soloviev through the forested vastness and puttering over…
The Burton U.S. Open Snowboard Championships will be in Vail today through March 3, marking the end of a thirty-year run in Burton Snowboards’ home state of Vermont and the start of a new chapter in snowboarding history. That move came as a surprise to many, but Burton’s roots in…
When it comes to fashion, there are trends and then there are trendsetters. Trends are often derived from the runway, and they trickle down to more accessible department stores. One local trendsetter we spotted this week is tattoo artist Airen VanDiggelen, who was rocking two-tone leggings: one white and one…
If you haven’t checked into The Narrators recently — or ever, for that matter — there’s never been a better time. Over the past six months, Andrew Orvedahl’s storytelling showcase, which tasks local artists, writers, comedians and other creatives with telling true-life stories centered on a loose theme (and earned…
Chad Kultgen is the epitome of everything that is lewd in this world. His work is dirty, offensive and polarizing (see: The Average American Male). He makes a living transcribing explicit sexual fantasies with the women who frequent your local fitness center, and could give a rat’s ass about how…
