No need to sweat the rising temperatures: Your next kid-tastic adventure is just a fountain away. That’s right, the Denver metro area boasts some of the coolest, child-friendly fountains known to man, most adjacent to day-trip-worthy family attractions — and all free. What are you waiting for? Grab the kids,…
Lions and dragons and boats took over Sloan’s Lake Park this past weekend as thousands braved the heat to eat, shop and play at the 2014 Colorado Dragon Boat Festival. The culture of the Philippines was showcased this year, but entertainment included everything from Japanese taiko drumming and martial arts…
Most people think of the annual Colorado Renaissance Festival — or any Ren Faire, for that matter — as a medieval Comic-Con. But when we visited this annual blast from the past in Larkspur, we found the Renaissance Festival an ideal place for a strapping fellow to bear witness to…
Kelly Shortandqueer has been a staple in Denver’s creative community for over a decade. As a co-founder of the Denver Zine Library, a square dancer with the Rocky Mountain Rainbeaus, a victims’ advocate for the Colorado Anti-Violence Program and, most recently, an award-winning drag queen, he has no shortage of…
You can find art all over town — not just on gallery walls. In this series, we’ll be looking at some of the local artists who serve up their work in coffeehouses and other non-gallery businesses around town. Summer is… sunshine, sweet tea and watermelon salad. Water, of course. Hiking,…
The weather is hot, but your bank balance is not. Chill! There are many cool activities around town this week that don’t cost a cent — everything from discussions to physical games to head games, as OhHeckYeah closes up shop. Go to the Westword calendar for a complete line-up of…
This weekend’s openings are in a range of venues, everything from project spaces in living rooms and storefronts to boutiques to tried-and-true co-ops. And just as the galleries themselves scream variety, so do the shows. See also: Ween Machine: Irreverent Eclectic…
As Denver comedy fans gear up for next month’s High Plains Comedy Festival, Sex Pot comedy is there the whet their appetites with another weed and jokes pizza party at the Oriental Theater to kick things off. The lineup, which Sex Pot has has finely curated each month, is packed with crushers from start to finish. Sex Pot host Jordan Doll and comics Sean Patton, Ashley Barnhill, and Ian Douglas Terry join headliner Aparna Nancherla for an evening promises to be a greasy slice of laughter pie.
Nancherla is a fast-rising star on the alternative comedy scene whose absurdist perspective informs a wide-ranging act that can range from the gross combo of orange juice and toothpaste to imperialism within the same five minute set. Nancherla has appeared on Conan and @Midnight and contributed several memorable segments as a performer and staff writer on the pre-maturely cancelled Totally Biased with Kamau Bell. Westword caught up with Nancherla to chat about about Sex Pot, Australian audiences, and avoiding the dregs of twitter.
On this week’s Voice Film Club podcast, we hear from L.A. Weekly film critic Amy Nicholson, who’s intrigued by the bizarre universe of Pixar’s Planes movies. We also hear about the film critic’s background and how she became interested in the movies by way of subliminal advertising and photography…
Summer’s starting to fly by — we hope your money’s not flying away with it. To help you survive the season with a soft landing, we’ve compiled a list of nine (possibly ten) events this weekend that won’t cost you a dime — but are still rich in entertainment value…
Recently there have been signs of life in the old Temple Emmanuel building at 24th and Curtis streets, a Frank Edbrooke structure that’s stood vacant and boarded-up for years after serving as home to three consecutive Jewish congregations. And while the Temple, as it’s now called, is already being occupied…
Anarchist playwright Benjamin Turk sees theater as more than entertainment. He believes plays can spark dialogue, transform community and attack systems of violence: capitalism, the police and prisons. Steeped in the work of Bertolt Brecht and Augusto Boal, who both resisted the idea that stories should help audiences connect with…
As you walk from northeast Park Hill across Martin Luther King Boulevard into Park Hill, the sidewalks narrow — when they exist at all. Shrubs jut out, tripping pedestrians and reminding them that the members of Park Hill’s gentry want to keep people off of their green, green lawns. See…
Jumping for joy with the Uganda Project. #67: Andrea Moore As a creative, Andrea Moore can’t be categorized: She works in words and action, embracing poetry, performance, photography, visual art and the less definable art of self-discovery — not just as a form of expression, but as a way of…
Forty years ago, one of the most infamous horror movies of all time was released. Tobe Hooper’s grimy, lo-fi The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was filmed on a small budget — reports differ, but no more than $300,000 by any account — and went on to gross $30 million at the…
Most comedy nerds are already familiar with Marc Maron’s biography. He rose to prominence in the 90s alt-comedy scene before floundering through a few TV and radio gigs that never felt like a perfect fit. Despite racking up over 40 appearances on the various incarnations of Conan and never leaving the airwaves for long, Maron’s career was at a low point when he started the WTF podcast in his garage. In addition to the in-depth interviews with comedians, musicians, and the occasional movie star featured on WTF, Maron’s chronic over-sharing gets plenty of mic time as well. Though off-putting at first to some listeners, his rambling engenders a more personal connection with his legion of listeners, who have flocked to his shows. Currently starring in the final few episodes of the second season his IFC sitcomMaron, he’ll also be headlining this weekend at Comedy Works Larimer Square. Westword caught up with Maron to discuss patent trolls, Denver’s drunk crowds, and his attempts at a spiritual experience in the dessert.
New York-based filmmaker Bill Morrison had already made two short films using Bill Frisell’s pre-recorded music, but Morrison wanted to work with the well-known jazz guitarist on a longer project. That effort would become The Great Flood, a documentary that they started collaborating on a few years ago and released…
Decades ago, Dahlia Square was celebrated as the nation’s largest African-American-owned shopping center, a vibrant hub in northeast Park Hill, the poorer — and definitely blacker — counterpart to integrated, upscale Park Hill. But starting in the ’70s, businesses kept closing their doors, quitting for good or moving to other…
Wish I Was Here, the movie that actor and second-time director Zach Braff partially funded with money raised through Kickstarter, isn’t nearly terrible enough to satisfy all the grumblers who are hoping to see it fail. When Braff couldn’t secure traditional financing for the film, he appealed to the fans…
In contemporary, genre-splashed Indiewood, the task is often simple but bedevilling: You have an HD camera and a modest house in the L.A. hills; now what do you do? Shane Carruth, among others, has proven that you don’t need much more — just add ideas. Call it Home-Based Sci-Fi; from…
Legend has it that after not cutting it as a probation officer, Shep Gordon dropped some acid and stumbled into Hollywood, whereupon Janis Joplin punched him in the face and Jimi Hendrix said to him, “Are you Jewish? You should be a manager,” and then Gordon showed them a drawer…
Jamie Wollrab works in Los Angeles as a director, actor and acting coach, but he grew up in Boulder and loves Colorado. “My family lives here,” he says, “and they don’t often get to see my work.” That’s why he and a couple of professional colleagues decided to bring Rajiv…
