The Best Things to Do in Metro Phoenix This Weekend

New Times picks the best things to do in metro Phoenix from Friday, March 25, through Sunday, March 27.

Comedy on Fire
For the better part of three years, comedian Matt Micheletti has hosted Comedy on Fire, a monthly stand-up show made up almost entirely of local comics. The nights have racked up a significant following, thanks in part to a near-endless supply of known faces with a sprinkling of national talent for good measure. Now, 36 shows and hundreds of comics later, Micheletti’s celebrating this anniversary with a good ol’ fashioned house-party-style show.

Comics include headliner Gordon McKay and feature Dan Amaro, with sets from Cristin Davis, Mike Enders, Jessie Johnson, and Rob Maebe rounding out a lineup of more than a dozen standups.

Musician K Dangerous starts things off with a live set at 7:30 p.m., while laughs last from 8 to 11 p.m. on Friday, March 25, at The Firehouse Gallery, 1015 North First Street. Tickets are $5, and the event is BYOB. For details and future shows, visit Comedy on Fire's Facebook page. Janessa Hilliard

Karen Hymer
Tucson photographer Karen Hymer is, well, kind of a big deal. She’s been recognized by Phoenix Art Museum’s Contemporary Forum for her intimate, black-and-white portraits that examine the aging process, and her work can be found in the Polaroid International Collection, which basically equals cool points times infinity. So when you have a chance to learn more about just how she does it, you take it. Hymer will talk about her creative process and how photogravure factors into it from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Friday, March 25.

Be prepared to take notes on an old-timey photography process during the free lecture at Art Intersection, 207 North Gilbert Road, Suite 201, in Gilbert. Visit Art Intersection's website or call 480-361-1118. Becky Bartkowski

Twelfth Night
In the theater of Shakespeare’s time, male actors played every part. So if men portrayed all the women, then a female character disguising herself as a man was ... well, convincing, we hope, if nothing else. The Bard’s Twelfth Night has one such fun role: Viola, a woman who, upon being shipwrecked, dresses as a man for her own protection. A woman falls in love with him/her. A man is confused about his feelings for him/her. If the 17th century had had less male gaze and rape culture, and more tolerance for fluidity and transgressing the binary, things might have turned out very differently. (And not just in the play.)

Enjoy opening night of Southwest Shakespeare Company’s production at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 25. The show continues through Saturday, April 9, at Mesa Arts Center, One East Main Street. Tickets are $12.50 to $44 at 480-644-6500 or Southwest Shakespeare's website. Julie Peterson

Tempe Art A Gogh-Gogh
Do you stare at works of art while scratching your head and thinking, “How the hell did they do that?” Watching artists create in real time might help quiet those nagging questions.

Tempe Art A Gogh-Gogh is a recurring multimedia event that brings together fine artists and DJs to create side by side, under one roof. Live artists include James B. Hunt and J.J. Horner. Mix masters like DJ Smite keep the night rocking. There’s also a solo exhibition by Phoenix-based painter Dain Quentin Gore. Feed your eyes, ears, and soul at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 25, at the Yucca Tap Room, 29 West Southern Avenue in Tempe, and neighboring venues Double Nickels, Sky High, and Rocket Resale. Admission is free. Call 480-967-4777 or visit www.yuccatap.com. Amy Young

Dino Egg Hunt
Given the current trajectory of the human race, it’s reasonable — albeit slightly macabre — to speculate on which species will assume dominion over the Earth once we’ve finally snuffed ourselves out for good. Perhaps some advanced species, not so many years from now, will marvel at the shattered vestiges of humanity. Kinda like we do with dinosaurs. But for now, if you couple the thrill of the hunt with eggs from a species long extinct (not a mythical holiday bunny), you get the annual Dino Egg Hunt at downtown Mesa’s Arizona Museum of Natural History, 53 North MacDonald. In other words, it’s a very cool alternative to an Easter egg hunt, as long as you don’t ponder who might be hunting you one day. The fun starts at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, March 25. Tickets are $5 and up. Visit Arizona Museum of Natural History's website or call 480-644-2230 for details. Rob Kroehler

She Kills Monsters
Qui Nguyen is known for bringing martial arts onto the stage at off-Broadway’s Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company. There’s also plenty of fighting in Nguyen’s She Kills Monsters, which will pull you gradually into old-school geek culture. It’s gradual because protagonist Agnes likewise requires an intro to the realms, as she seeks connection with her deceased younger sister, Tilly, by playing Tilly’s Dungeons & Dragons module and meeting her friends.

Set in 1995 Ohio’s basement-based universe, She Kills Monsters presents many foes on whom to draw one’s sword, including regret, feat, guilt, grief, and weird costumes. It presents brief partial male nudity as well, which, if accurate, will reflect pre-manscaping standards.

The play continues through Sunday, April 3, at the Paul V. Galvin Playhouse, 51 East 10th Street on ASU’s Tempe campus. Showtimes are 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 26. For tickets, $8 to $16, visit www.filmdancetheatre.asu.edu/events or call 480-965-6447. Julie Peterson

Suns vs. Celtics
As twilight falls on an epic disaster of a season for the Phoenix Suns, Valley sports fans would do well to start looking for some silver lining. Heaven knows it’s been cloudy. Enter rookie guard Devin Booker. The babyfaced sharpshooter is not only the youngest player in the league, he’s one of the most promising. Thanks to an injury-depleted backcourt and no hope of a playoff berth, Booker has been the beneficiary of an unexpected spike in floor time, giving Suns brass an extended look at their 2015 first-round pick. And what a look it’s been.

See for yourself when the Suns host the Boston Celtics at Talking Stick Resort Arena, 201 East Jefferson Street, at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 26. Tickets are $16 and up. Visit www.suns.com or call 602-379-2000. Rob Kroehler

Meet the Caterpillars
We might be distracted by all the snowbirds, but the Desert Botanical Garden has a different kind of seasonal springtime visitor: caterpillars. The caterpillars and chrysalises on display have been collected throughout the Garden, giving the public the perfect opportunity to witness this part of the butterfly life cycle. Other butterfly-related experiences include a naturalist-led walk around the garden, as well as ongoing workshops and adult or family-oriented classes. (The Garden’s Butterfly Pavilion closed last May, but is slated to re-open next spring.)

Check out the crawly critters before they become beautiful butterflies from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 26, along the Center for Desert Living Trail at Desert Botanical Garden, 1201 North Galvin Parkway. “Meet the Caterpillars” will remain on view Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays through Saturday, May 14, and is included in the price of general admission, $22 for adults. Call 480-941-1225 or visit www.dbg.org. Janessa Hilliard

Glengarry Glen Ross
Just so you know, the entire ranty Alec Baldwin scene from the film version of Glengarry Glen Ross isn’t in the original stage script. Both were written by David Mamet, who is not just some mook who likes to write his own screenplays — he’s an Oscar-nominated mook. The dialogue famously sports more F-bombs than a dozen muffins have blueberries, and it’s spoken by sweaty, desperate real estate salesmen struggling for leads in gritty ’80s Chi-town. One of the hustlers inspired the creation of The Simpsons character Gil Gunderson.

Desert Stages Theatre presents the Pulitzer-winning play through Sunday, May 15, at 4720 North Scottsdale Road in Scottsdale. Showtime on Sunday, March 27, is 2 p.m. For tickets, $22 to $25, visit Desert Stages Theatre's website or call 480-483-1664. Julie Peterson

Diamondbacks vs. Rockies
Well, it’s here already: the final weekend of spring training. Just one more chance to watch the D-Backs at their seasonal home before they migrate back to Chase Stadium. Just one more opportunity to sip an oversized beer on cool grass in perfect weather while our boys play the Colorado Rockies, who they’ll face during their home opening series. They’ll be doing it with a split squad, meaning half the team will be over in Surprise taking on the Texas Rangers, but who cares? After this game, you’ll have to watch baseball inside an actual stadium, with a roof blocking out your sunshine and nowhere to lay down a blanket or nap in the grass. Yuck.

Soak up the last of spring training at 1:10 p.m. Sunday, March 27, at the Salt River Fields, 7555 North Pima Road in Scottsdale.Tickets start at $15. Visit dbacks.com/spring for more. Zach Fowle