15 Best Arts and Culture Events in Metro Phoenix This Week

New Times picks the best arts and culture events in Phoenix from January 18 to January 23. 

Art Night: Lamps
You’ve done BYOB. Now try BYOL. Um, that’s Bring Your Own Lamp. Before you feel completely out of touch with today’s slang, let us tell you we’re fairly certain this is a new thing made up by the bike-saving masterminds behind Bike Saviours, 1930 South Roosevelt Street in Tempe, for Art Night: Lamps. Basically, if you bring an old lamp on Monday, January 18, from 7 to 10 p.m., you can use the gang’s spare sprockets, reflectors, chains, and more to upcycle that tired light into something artfully illuminating for $10. Prepare for a night of upsetting Anchorman references and RSVP to [email protected] before scooting over to the shop. Visit bikesaviours.org or see Art Night: Lamps on Facebook. Christina Caldwell

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Protecting sources can be serious business for reporters. But not wanting to sound like a wacko when you reveal that your source is a ghost is an entirely different can of worms. Poppy, a journalist in Chelsea Quinn Yarbro’s Haunting Investigation, faces that challenge while investigating the murder of an accountant. Her lead source is the ghost of a man who’s been dead for eight years.

Yarbro — not her specter — signs copies of the ghostly thriller at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, January 19, at Poisoned Pen, 4014 North Goldwater Boulevard, Suite 101, in Scottsdale. Admission is free. Books for the signing are $27.99. Call 480-947-2974 or visit www.poisonedpen.com. Amy Young

WIZD Zine Night
If you’ve always imagined yourself in the pages of a magazine but haven’t done anything noteworthy enough to land the praise, Wasted Ink, 2121 West University Drive in Tempe, has an opportunity for you. Make sure your glitter skills are on point when you show up to the Wednesday, January 20, WIZD Zine Night, because they’re putting a twist on their typical zine-worshiping ways — by putting the art in your hands for one hour, from 7 to 8 p.m. Paint, color, and bedazzle your way to minor fame as Wasted Ink hands out pages of a handmade zine, customizable by those who attend for a $5 entry fee, which also includes a pressing of the completed works at the end of the night. Visit www.facebook.com/Wasted-Ink-Zine-Distro. Christina Caldwell

Kyle Kinane
Depending on whom you ask, Kyle Kinane is either a legend or a nobody. But odds are you’re already super-familiar with his work, whether you know it or not. His name is synonymous with the alternative comedy scene in Los Angeles, but his mainstream success is still on the verge. Comedy Central viewers know Kinane as the longstanding “Voice of Comedy Central,” lending his vocals to in-between commercial segments with his gruff, weathered monotone. Coming to the forefront of the scene with his first DVD comedy special in 2012, Whiskey Icarus, his trademark perspective is part grizzled pessimist, part self-deprecating good guy — basically the recipe for cult success in comedy.

Be won over at Stand Up Live, 50 West Jefferson Street, Suite 200, from Thursday, January 21, through Saturday, January 23. Tickets are $20. Visit www.standuplive.com or call 480-719-6100 for more information. Christina Caldwell

Durant's Never Closes
Synonymous with a great steak and an excellent martini, longtime Phoenix restaurant Durant’s has always had a storied past fit for feature film. When production began on Durant’s Never Closes last year, those big screen dreams were finally realized.

Tom Sizemore (Natural Born Killers, Saving Private Ryan) stars as Jack Durant, a man of mystery, mafia connections, and the owner of the famous steakhouse. The film follows Durant during a day in the life: from smoke-filled backroom deals near the kitchen to murder in the desert.

Following Thursday’s sold-out premiere at the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel, the film’s first screening will be at Harkins Shea 14, 7374 East Shea Boulevard. Showtimes vary, as the film runs from Friday, January 22, through Thursday, January 28. Ticket prices are $10, with discounts for children and seniors. This film is not rated. For details and tickets, visit www.durantsnevercloses.com and www.harkinstheatres.com, or call 480-948-6555. Janessa Hiliard

Calendar Girls
If you’ve looked in the mirror and concluded, “I would be adorable with better lighting,” you’ll be heartened by Calendar Girls, a play based on the British film about ordinary women posing for provocative photos to fundraise for a good cause. The real-life Yorkshire group set out to raise enough to buy a sofa (honestly) and has since raised £3 million for cancer research.

Phoenix Theatre’s assembled a panoply of local stars whose ages and curves cut a wide swath of womanhood, visually and otherwise, for its production, which runs through Sunday, February 7. Showtime Thursday, January 21, is 7:30 p.m. at 100 East McDowell Road. Tickets start at $30 to $75 (prices may rise based on demand) and are available at 602-254-2151 or www.phoenixtheatre.com. Julie Peterson

Zsa Zsa Ganesh
Local fashion shines in the spotlight during Zsa Zsa Ganesh, hosted by noted downtown artistic director Jen Deveroux, who’s presented everything from peepshows to DJ nights.

This fashionable night out highlights creations from eight local designers, featuring Modifiedminds, Moral Fiber Art, Pink Moon Prophecy, Xappaland, and Looks Good An-Ya Fashion. Collections also include dark, brooding designs from Torture Couture, Japanese streetwear-inspired pieces from Haus x Stardust, and a unique take on the hat game from Bri Bridge.

Throughout the night, live art will be created by tattoo artists Ernie ServOneRoja and Tariq Sabur, and graffiti artist Carlos Rivas, while DJ Jared Alan takes to the turntables — keeping the party going long after the models have stepped off the runway.

Show starts at 10 p.m. on Friday, January 22, at The Pressroom, 441 West Madison Street. Tickets for the 18-and-over show are $15. For details, call 602-396-7136 or visit www.thepressroomaz.com. Janessa Hilliard

The Storrs Objection
Hecklers are undoubtedly the worst part of the stand-up comedy experience. Whether the comedian opens themselves up to ridicule with a bummer of a set or gives the heckler a smack down, heckling can still put a damper on the night. Although, when a comedian’s premise is totally not based in fact, we absolutely understand the urge to shout “WRONNNG!”

Don’t do that. Instead, live vicariously through local comedian Matt Storrs, the namesake of The Storrs Objection, on Friday, January 22. Each month, Storrs calls out comedians in the middle of their sets, fact-checking information on the spot at Space 55, 636 East Pierce Street, during a night of raucous interruptions at 10:30 p.m. Visit www.space55.org. Tickets are $5. Christina Caldwell

16th Annual Mesa Historic Home Tour
It’s time to indulge your nosey side. If you’ve ever wanted to walk through the doors of some of Mesa’s most famous neighborhoods, now’s your chance. The 16th Annual Mesa Historic Home Tour is back with some of its most exciting homes yet on Saturday, January 23.

The self-guided, walkable tour will grant access to homes in the the Robson, West Second Street and Evergreen neighborhoods, stopping by historic spots like the Sirrine House, Antique Wedding House, and more, as well as the Arizona Historical Museum and all of its exhibits.
It all starts at the Sirrine House, 160 North Center Street. Tickets are $20 online and at the Sirrine House the day of the tour, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Visit www.valleyhistoryinc.com. Christina Caldwell

The Color Run 5K
We’re not complaining but this winter got chillier than expected. While we’re not quite pining for summer, we wouldn’t mind a warm breeze. Leave it to running enthusiasts (run-thusiasts?) who like to get messy to bring the islands to us. The Color Run 5K brings its Tropicolor World Tour to Tempe where the finish line & Rainbow Beach await fun-runners. There’s nothing like splatters of paint to turn your morning jog into a spraycation.

On Saturday, January 23, The Color Run Tropicolor World Tour breezes through Tempe Beach Park, 80 West Rio Salado Parkway, with the starting line party at 7:45 a.m. and waves of runners beginning every few minutes through 8:45 a.m. Visit www.thecolorrun.com/tempe. Jose Gonzalez

Jim Norton
From the mean streets of North Brunswick, New Jersey, comes Jim Norton, a comedian who’s had his setbacks, including an arrest related to a transparent bus full of topless women cruising Manhattan. However, tits are legal in NY. And POTUS Clinton traveled the same route later the same day. All in all, had to be one of Giuliani’s worst days ever, speaking of setbacks.

Then there are Norton’s two years with Colin Quinn – oh, wait, that’s our nightmare. You’re sure to hear about more obstacles when you attend Norton’s Mouthful of Shame tour, making an 8 p.m. stop on Saturday, January 23, at Scottsdale’s Talking Stick Resort, 9800 East Talking Stick Way. Tickets to the 21-and-over show are $35 to $125 at www.talkingstickresort.com or 480-850-7734. Julie Peterson

Barrett-Jackson
If you see a barrage of classic cars on the streets of Scottsdale this week, don’t worry. You haven’t traveled back in time. It’s that time of the year again. The high rollers have packed their wallets and headed out to WestWorld of Scottsdale, 16601 North Pima Road, for the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction, the company’s largest event of the year. And every year it keeps getting bigger. This year’s Barrett-Jackson will feature the standard auction block, but will also include plenty of opportunities for grease monkeys to get up-close and personal with world-famous vehicles used in film, television, and driven by celebrities, or just your standard, gorgeous, perfectly-kept classic worth $1 million.

But you don’t have to have bags of cash to get in on the action from Saturday, January 23, through Sunday, January 31. Tickets are $17 for opening day and an all-weekend pass can be purchased for $175. Visit www.barrett-jackson.com. Christina Caldwell

Beethoven's Symphony No. 7
The Phoenix Symphony is bound and determined to convince us we should absorb classical music, sometimes by pandering to our pop tastes (hey, you gotta make a living), sometimes by presenting dizzyingly diverse programs of straight-no-chaser tuneage both familiar and not. Friday, January 22, brings Francis Poulenc's masterful 1961 choral work Gloria, featuring big-time opera singer Ah Young Hong, and a rare treat: Unstuck, a new work by Pulitzer-shortlisted composer Andrew Norman. The headliner, as it were, is Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, a perky favorite of Ludwig himself (and audiences).

The orchestra’s squat continues through Saturday, January 23, at Symphony Hall, 75 North Second Street. Combine highbrow with fun starting at 11 a.m. or 7:30 p.m. Call 602-495-1999 for tickets, $39 to $59, or visit www.tickets.phoenixsymphony.org. Julie Peterson

Tempe Library Comicon
Libraries are secretly every comic book fan’s Fortress of Solitude. Every budding superhero needs a place to quietly absorb some graphic novels and power up for their next challenge. The Tempe Public Library gets grand in its celebration of comics, graphic novels, sequential art, and all things pop culture with the second edition of its Comicon. The folks from Phoenix Comicon will be on hand for with passes to one of the summer’s biggest homegrown events and other goodies as prizes for the costume contest. In addition to welcoming all fanboys and girls, there will be appearances by artists and writers like Dr. Oblivion’s Guide to Teenage Dating’s Jeff Pina and Sheri Fink, author of the bestselling children’s title The Little Rose. 

The Tempe Public Library Comicon is Saturday, January 23, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.tempe.gov. Jose Gonzalez

Perô, or the Mysteries of the Night
Perô, or the Mysteries of the Night, Childsplay’s latest offering, is a puppets-and-people play for audiences 7 and older. The troupe’s collaborator, Speeltheater Holland (Rock Paper Scissors), developed the production based on a 1979 children’s book by Prix Goncourt-winning French author/philosopher Michel Tournier. With big guns like that on deck, you don’t quibble about the title, even if it does sound like a series of erotic VHS tapes.

The storyline is a romance that employs some of the characters and situations of commedia dell’arte, but it’s intimate, dreamlike, and not too mushy. The staging is also visually brilliant and funny in that silly way kids (okay, and the rest of us) like. The play is presented at 1 p.m. Sunday, January 24, and continues through Sunday, February 7, at Tempe Center for the Arts, 700 West Rio Salado Parkway. Tickets, $12 to $26, are available at www.childsplayaz.org or 480-350-2822.