You’re in luck if you’re looking for an evening of animation, hilarity and mind-blowing 3-D video: It’s Noah Ray McMahan’s birthday, and the Beauty Bar maven is taking the party public with a two-night run of Spike and Mike’s Sick & Twisted Animation Festival, which starts around 8:30 p.m. tonight…
It’s a trick to write a funny book that’s truly funny; it’s even more of one to write a comic novel. Christopher Moore has mastered both, bringing well-wrought characters and situations together in an equally well-spun tale that dips below the surface of life in a string of hilarious, cult-enticing…
Marc Maron has been writing and doing standup comedy for more than fifteen years, but it’s his popular twice-weekly podcast, WTF With Marc Maron, that’s really allowed him to hone his brand of neurotic-comedy chops. The podcast, which boasts 160,000 listeners, is largely unscripted and has featured guests like Robin…
Spring sprung awfully early in the high country this year, but for the Keystone Slush Cup, that’s actually a good thing. “The Slush Cup is our annual pond-skimming contest, and it’s all about getting wet and having some fun in the sun,” says Keystone Resort spokeswoman Laura Parquette. “We encourage…
Although John Carter, Disney’s latest entree into sci-fi, is set to lose a record $200 million, it earns serious street cred from one name on its writing roster. With both a Pulitzer (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay) and a Hugo Award (The Yiddish Policemen’s Union) under his belt,…
If deconstructing invisible dominant power structures is your idea of a good time, you’re not alone in Denver, where a well-knit network of activists brings creative flair to community organizing. Today, the best minds in local muck-racking launch the Art of Social Justice Conference, three days of information, liberation and…
If you want to speak at the Conference on World Affairs, which takes place on the CU Boulder campus today through Friday, it’s a good idea to write a well-regarded book, or to report on a controversial war, or to have a brilliant idea that influences popular culture, business, technology…
Ivar Zeile of Plus Gallery won’t even pretend to explain what’s going on in the mind of painter Xi Zhang, the Chinese-born, Denver-based phenom whose first solo show at Plus, 11 Ceremonies, opens tonight. “This our first opportunity with Xi to present something with a distinct focus on works that…
Since Bobby Fischer trounced Boris Spassky in 1972, examples of exhilarating chess drama have been few and far between — at least in the United States. But the stage version might prove the exception: Chess, A Musical, presented by the Arvada Center, reinterprets the game of kings in a way…
More than fifty years after On the Road was released, Jack Kerouac still has a lot of local followers, in part because some of the novel was set in Denver. That makes Ed Ruscha: On the Road, at the Denver Art Museum, a must-see show for many. For this body…
Look out! You may be the next fashionista spotted on the streets of Denver. On a recent trip downtown, we found two individuals whose eye for assembling an outfit deserved special attention:…
Leigh Cabell says the reason she put off trying to be an artist for so long is that she, like other people, was intimidated by the challenge of making it. “It’s one of those things you want to do, but you’re not sure you’ll be good at,” she explains. So,…
Rapper, author, philosopher, activist, community organizer — those are just some of the many hats that Molina Speaks wears on a daily basis. But for tomorrow night’s interactive event, Future of Human Touch, he is an experiment facilitator. And what is the experiment, exactly? “In a very safe way, people…
“People are always coming up to us and asking, ‘Is this for real?’ And we tell them it is for real: we are playing Quidditch,” says Sven Ceelen, one of Denver’s biggest enthusiasts of a sport that was, up until a few years ago, confined to the fictional pages of…
The National Theatre Conservatory — a training ground for young actors, and one of the jewels of the Denver Performing Arts Complex — is closing its doors after more than 25 years. As a parting gift, the last crop of graduating students will offer showcase performances of Fahrenheit 451, which…
Half the fun of Frock Out is just getting there: The occasional fashion extravaganza hosted by the Denver Public Library Friends Foundation and Fresh City Life will return on April 19 with a romantic Titanic theme. But before that ship sets sail, you can get onboard…
This week a series of nine “Come to Life” television spots promoting Colorado tourism began airing in target markets across the country, with an emphasis on outdoor summer adventure. To get that vibe just right, the Colorado Tourism Office brought in a team including Denver-based ad agency Karsh/Hagan, photographer/Camp 4…
Boo Boo Radley took the trophy for Best Roller Derby Nickname award in our Best of Denver 2012 — but these athletes have been on a roll while picking their monikers, and Melanie Asmar came up with ten more great roller derby handles in “Denver’s eleven best roller derby nicknames.”…
Editor’s note: Westword cartoonist Noah Van Sciver paints the town like nobody else, as demonstrated in his recaps of visits to the Denver Art Museum, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and out own Westword Artopia (Make sure you read Noah’s blog for more comics and wonderment, including his…
How the presence of an official Dog the Bounty Hunter merchandise store within 3.5 miles of my home has escaped my knowledge until now, I’m not sure. I’ve always had an affinity for the show, which is unexplainable by any stretch of the trashy imagination. But, man, do I fucking…
There aren’t many actors around who can claim to have met Laurence Olivier, David Frost and Noel Coward — however briefly — or who still refer to Macbeth as Mackers, to ward off the curse associated with the play. But then, there aren’t many who bring to the stage the…
Does a beard make the man? It depends on who you ask. Historically, beards were used for warmth, intimidation of protection from enemies, but in modern times, women find beards only about two-thirds as attractive as a clean-shaven man. In Colorado, beards can be a seasonal look for the October-March…
