Performing Arts

Shayna Ferm, a prodigal Coloradan returned from years in the New York comedy scene, hosts and organizes a monthly show called Pump and Dump, designed to engage with young moms and provide a sorely needed evening of fun. Ferm, young mother herself, was frustrated by the lack of entertainment opportunities for new moms and created a show specifically suited to their unique needs. In so doing, she has not identified an underserved demographic, but brought cathartic laughs to many overstressed local mothers. I met with Ferm to discuss Pump and Dump, moving back to Denver and the Highlands mommy mafia.

Maria Bamford has long been a comedian of choice for those who enjoy offbeat humor grounded in absurdist, sharply observed character sketches. Over the last decade and a half, Bamford has raised her public profile with appearances on the Comedians of Comedy Tour, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!…

If I were as intensely clever as playwright Itamar Moses, author of Bach at Leipzig, and as fond of intellectual games, I would write this review first as a review, then as an analysis of the forms of the review and the ways in which my piece of writing does…

For the better part of three decades, Kathy Griffin has been performing standup — but the two-time Emmy winner may be best known for her television domination. With more than a dozen comedy specials under her belt and multiple TV series with Griffin as the star, the comedian has found…

The long-awaited autobiographical comedy Maron has finally arrived on IFC, bringing all the anxiety, self-loathing and standup comedy wisdom of this podcasting pioneer into the homes of normal folks (i.e. non-comedy nerds), who were surely forced to watch its premiere by their sycophantic boyfriends. And I gotta say…it’s not great…

The Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company has just announced its upcoming season, the eighth for this troupe, and it’s an intriguing one that includes three regional premieres and one significant capture: And the Sun Stood Still, a play about Copernicus and his struggle to publish On the Revolutions of the Heavenly…

Less than four months after it opened inside Loveland’s Suede Events Center, Wildflower Cabaret was forced to pack up its programming after a falling-out with the owner of the space. Wildflower founders John Seaberry and Sky Cash walked away with heavy hearts and a serious financial loss. But the couple…

The dancers at Wonderbound — the company formerly known as Ballet Nouveau Colorado — are breathtakingly talented, as anyone who’s seen one of their shows can attest. But dancing is just one facet of their skill. Several of the Wonderbound dancers are also interested in choreography, and the upcoming Industrial…

“Normally, whenever I’m doing a show, I like to find out what people do for a living. Should there be a zombie apocalypse — which there will be — I want to find out if their skills are applicable,” comedian Chris Hardwick told his Comedy Works audience last night after…

Let’s start with the setting, so pristine, white, minimal and tasteful: chairs with gracefully curving legs, a glass table on which art books are meticulously arranged, a vase of white tulips, nicely grouped with just one flower swaying slightly out to the side. Tall panels of white brick form a…

When it was published in 1985, Alice Walker’s novel The Color Purple was a groundbreaker — illuminating places that had been in shadow and, like most groundbreakers, intensely controversial. It described the plight of many poor, black rural women through the unforgettable voice of the protagonist, Celie, a voice that…

On Saturday night, Conan O’Brien took on hosting duties for the second time since 1995 at the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner, and apparently his years on network television have not affected his ability to skewer politicians and pundits with some unrelenting jabs at the most sensitive news of the…

Now that we’ve finally eked our way into the warmer weeks of spring (fingers crossed), it’s time to get off the couch and head out into the fresh air to get to May’s ten best comedy events. We’ve got albums being recorded, albums being released, two Latino-themed shows, nerd heroes…

Beloved Denver comedian Mara Wiles has received a heartwarming amount of support from the local comedy community in the face of her battle with lupus. Leading up to her kidney transplant last month, several benefit performances raised funds to help cover her mounting medical bills — and while everyone is…

Employing the tactic now known as the House of Cards method (after the Netflix-produced Kevin Spacey drama), Amazon has bankrolled fourteen pilots for its new Prime Instant Video service, taking a seemingly democratic twist on the TV-industry convention of letting the public decide which series ascend into multi-episode Heaven, and…

Ballet Nouveau Colorado has been putting together some of the most innovative collaborations we’ve seen — so it’s appropriate that the group is moving forward with a new name and new digs. Before the company completes its transition to Wonderbound, though, it will present one more show under the BNC…

Buntport Theater Company put several peculiar messages on Facebook before A Knight to Remember opened. These implied that the theater group — known for the creative synergy of its members — was divided on this piece about Brian Colonna’s childhood fantasies of knighthood. Erik Edborg would not be involved, the…

We’ve had a few theatrical art lessons around here recently. And not so recently. Red, at Curious Theatre Company last year, revealed Mark Rothko’s genius, insecurity and narcissism as he bullied his assistant and gave urgent instructions about how he wanted his work viewed. Then there was the Miners Alley…

At this point, it’s really impossible to overstate Louis C.K.’s cultural relevance as a comic. His imagery is as edgy as Lenny Bruce, his material as universal as Bill Cosby, and the doors of creative freedom he’s kicked open within the industry (self-produced show; self-distributed specials) will forever alter how…

As a standup comedian for over a decade in New York and Los Angeles and a weekly performer with the Groundlings, Britt Swenson has met a lot of interesting characters over the years. Those characters will be on display in her comedy show So Many Ladies, which opens at 7…

As part of Vanessa Place’s exhibition The Lawyer Is Present, opening this Friday, April 12, at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, the Los Angeles-based writer, attorney and artist wants you to confess. For the piece, which plays off Marina Abramović’s The Artist Is Present, Place will be collecting and…

With a career spanning five decades, Lily Tomlin has entertained generations of families through appearances on shows as diverse as Sesame Street, Laugh-In, Damages and, most recently, Malibu Country. But the Tony, Grammy, Emmy and Peabody award-winning actress, who got her start in standup, says that career didn’t come easily:…