Cedric the Entertainer
Comedian Cedric the Entertainer began his career in the late ’80s, but got a boost a few years later when he started hosting It’s Showtime at the Apollo. That show set the foundation for showcasing his comic chops, but it was his appearance as the very quotable barber Eddie Walker in the 2002 movie Barbershop, starring Ice Cube, that earned him a giant and loyal fan base.
Catch his opening night performance at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, May 25, at Stand Up Live, 50 West Jefferson Street, followed by two shows on Saturday, May 26, and one on Sunday, May 27. Friday admission is $42.50 for 21 and older. Attendance requires a two-drink minimum. Call 480-719-6100 or check out the Standup Live website. Amy Young
Bad Buddhist: A Trip Through The Divine & The Absurd
Ain’t no party like a film-debut party, right?
It’s Storyline SLAM host Dan Hoen Hull’s birthday, and for the special occasion he will be debuting his one-hour film Bad Buddhist: A Trip Through The Divine & The Absurd. The film explores Hull’s attempts at becoming a Zen Buddhist. Head to Changing Hands, 300 West Camelback Road, for movie snacks, a Q & A with Hull, and, of course, birthday cake.
The screening starts at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 25. Visit the Facebook event page. Lindsay Roberts
Laurel and Hardy Go to Heaven
Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were the Key and Peele or Poehler and Fey of their day, getting their start in the 1920s. In Laurel and Hardy Go to Heaven, you’ll see writer Paul Auster’s absurdist take on what happens to the humorous duo after they leave this mortal coil for a trip upward to the biblical paradise. Locals Dennis Frederick and Phoenix New Times contributor Ashley Naftule star as the funny dudes, while Ernesto Moncada directs.
See what a heavenly journey looks like for the classic comics at 8 p.m. on May 25 at Space 55, 1524 North 18th Avenue. Tickets are $10. Visit the Space 55 website. Amy Young
Up, up, and away.
Courtesy of Aerial Solutions, LLC.
The Arizona sky is generally awesome at sundown. Load it up with colorful balloons of multiple sizes and different designs, and its eye-candy value skyrockets. At the Cave Creek Balloon Festival, you can ogle these floating hot-air-filled beauties. When you’re not giving your neck a workout, this balloon party offers plenty of other enjoyment. Live music, for one, with acts like singer-songwriter Madison Holmes, and The Josh Roy Band.
Fun on the ground and in the air happens from 5:30 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, May 26, at the Rancho Manana Golf Club, 5734 East Rancho Manana Boulevard. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for kids 12 and younger, and free for kids 2 and younger. Discounted and VIP tickets are available online. Visit the Cave Creek Festival website. Amy Young
Sing Your Face Off Karaoke
Do you like karaoke but hate it when a wannabe who should know better keeps heading up onstage to sing another Shania Twain song? It has happened to all of us, but drag diva Pandora DeStrange has found a way to keep the poseurs from ruining the evening. At Sing Your Face Off Karaoke, you’re invited to step up to the microphone and give it your all. There is a catch, though: If the crowd doesn’t think you’re up to snuff, for a small charitable donation someone can gong you off the stage.
Get pitchy at 10 p.m. on Saturday, May 26, at Crescent Ballroom, 308 North Second Avenue. Admission is free. For more information, visit the Crescent Ballroom website. Jason Keil
Robert Indiana's iconic LOVE sculpture at Scottsdale's Civic Center Mall is a popular place for pet portraits.
Lynn Trimble
Put a new twist on walking the dog as Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, 7374 East Second Street, presents Dog Days @ SMoCA. It’s a guided walk around Scottsdale’s Civic Center Mall, an outdoor space adjacent to the museum and Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts.
It’s home to several works of public art, including an iconic LOVE sculpture by Robert Indiana, which makes a delightful backdrop for pet portraits or selfies. The walk starts at 6 p.m. on Saturday, May 26, and culminates with sunset sky-gazing inside James Turrell’s Knight Rise. Tickets are $10. Visit the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art website. Lynn Trimble
The Barbra Seville Show
One of Phoenix’s favorite drag queens, Barbra Seville, is bringing her very dry humor to the stage at The Rock Phoenix this Saturday, May 26.
Head to 4129 North Seventh Avenue, for wisecracking jokes, plenty of drinks, and your fill of the fabulously funny Seville. The show begins at 10 p.m. Cover for this 21-and-up event is $5. Call 602-248-8559 to make a reservation. Visit the Facebook event page. Lindsay Roberts
Sheila Earley and Friends
The Sheila Earley and Friends show at The Nash on Saturday, May 26, will not only feature a nationally renowned drummer, but a movie star as well. And both are named Sheila Earley. The University of Arizona grad co-starred in the award-winning 2017 independent film Sugar!, about the wife of a Republican U.S. Senate candidate who forms an all-female jazz band. Earley, you might have guessed, played the band’s drummer, Cindy. Talk about typecasting.
Earley has been playing since she was 8 years old and has performed at top jazz venues around the country, including The Blue Note and The Village Vanguard. Saturday’s show will feature Renee Grant-Patrick, vocals; Mary Petrich, sax; Joaquin Rosales, trumpet; Nicole Pesce, piano; and Ben Hedquist, bass. The Nash is located at 110 East Roosevelt Street. Tickets are $10 and up. Visit the Nash website. Stuart Warner
Refik Anadol's Infinity Room uses mirrors to set viewers in a shifting landscape.
Courtesy of Refik Anadol
“Mirror, mirror on the wall.” It’s a famed fairy tale expression, but today it sounds pretty old-school. That’s because contemporary artists like Refik Anadol are making mirrors do things the Brothers Grimm never imagined.
The Turkish-born, Los Angeles-based artist merged light, sound, and technology with mirrored walls to create an installation called Infinity Room, which sets the viewer within an ever-shifting visual landscape created with projection mapping. The installation premiered in Istanbul, Turkey in 2015. Basically, it’s an immersive, kinetic environment meant to shift viewer perceptions of place, and their own position within space. Museum materials describe it as “an imagined environment that attempts to merge the space between the physical and the virtual.”
See it at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, 7374 East Second Street, from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, May 27. Admission is $10 for adults. The exhibition continues through Sunday, September 30. Visit the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art website. Lynn Trimble
Phoenix Queer Girl Launch Party
Local DJ Cristy Lawrence, also known as Jewelz, will be headlining the Phoenix Queer Girl Launch Party at BS West. If you are not familiar with Queer Girl, they are an event company dedicated to working with entertainers and performers in the lesbian community to put on a party that reflects the values of the queer-female audience. This bash is all-inclusive. Anyone of legal drinking age is invited to the celebration, which will include beer pong tournaments and go-go dancers.
Get on the floor from 3 to 8 p.m. on Sunday, May 27, at 7125 East Fifth Avenue, in Scottsdale. Admission is $15 in advance and $20 at the door. For more information, visit the Queer Girl Events website. Jason Keil
Enter the snake pit.
Bruce Young
Arizona football fanatics who follow the NFL but don’t give the Indoor Football League (IFL) any love, it might be time for you to change up your game. Attend the Arizona Rattlers versus Nebraska Danger game to see if our home team keeps up its winning streak; so far this season, our desert snakes are killing it with a 9-1 record. It’s not a fluke, either: They lead the league with six world championships.
The home team tackles the midwestern visitors at 3:05 p.m. on Sunday, May 27, at Talking Stick Resort Arena, 201 East Jefferson Street. Tickets start at $19. Visit the Arizona Rattlers website. Amy Young
Helio Basin Brewing Company
We have spilled ink previously on some of the wild food being cooked by Tamara Stanger, chef at Helio Basin Brewing Company, 3935 East Thomas Road. The food is wild in that barrel-cactus semifreddo ice cream is crazy stuff. It’s also wild in that Stanger snips and plucks ingredients from the land. Her Sonoran style of cooking will be on full display at Helio Basin from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 27.
A family-style meal co-hosted by Localist Program will incorporate desert ingredients like mesquite, chiles, and gourds. Stanger will kick things off by leading a “sensory exploration.” There will then be taco and beer pairings. $25 for localists, $40 for non. Visit Eventbrite.com. Chris Malloy
