5 Things to Do for $12 or Less in Metro Phoenix, November 18 to 20

Black Friday's just around the corner, and the pennywise among us know that means one thing: The holidays are coming, and they are expensive. But that doesn't mean you have to sit at home solo to save up for everyone on your nice list. Quite the opposite, in fact. For $12 or less, here's a look at Phoenix's best cultural events this weekend. For more options, spend a few minutes perusing New Times' calendar.

Guerrilla Girls Take on Arizona
As far as decades-old anonymous arts groups go, the Guerrilla Girls are certainly one of the most badass. They are officially defined as “a group of female artists, writers, performers, and other arts professionals who fight discrimination through humor, activism, and the arts,” and they are coming to Arizona State University.

During Guerrilla Girls Take on Arizona, a founding member will lecture on activism, politics, and the arts from 7 to 9 p.m. on Friday, November 18. Head for Room 101 in Murdock Hall, 450 East Orange Street, on ASU’s Tempe campus.

The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, the Herberger Institute School of Art, and the ASU Art Museum present the talk. The event is free, and walk-ins can enter on a first-come, first-served basis, so arrive early. Visit smoca.org or facebook.com/events/853732384726246. Lauren Cusimano

"Inferior Mirage"
Given the prevalence of lush lawns and golf courses in the Valley, you might think water is plentiful in the desert. But that’s something of a mental mirage, created within a culture more focused on consumption than conservation.

Artist Laura Spalding Best gets it. She set about creating three new bodies of work, including oil paintings of desert landscapes on found objects such as vintage silver platters and a companion guide showing the folly of it all through a satirical map of artificial waterfalls in Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Tempe.

See her “Inferior Mirage” exhibition from 6 to 10 p.m. on Friday, November 18, at Chartreuse Gallery, 1301 Grand Avenue. The free show, which includes nearly 200 works, continues through Sunday, November 27. Visit chartreuseart.com. Lynn Trimble

Phoenix Tonight
The Carsons and Conans, Lettermans and Lenos have long dominated the post-primetime hour with monologues, interviews, weird stunts, and plenty of laughs. And though the cameras aren’t rolling, Phoenix Tonight borrows a page or two from that same playbook.

The ninth episode of the live-action late-night-talk-show-style performance takes the stage at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 19, at Space 55. Ease into the transition from election fever to Turkey Day with a number of jokes from host Russ Kazmierczak alongside interviews with storyteller Jessie Balli, co-producer of the Chatterbox series; Brodie Hubbard, author and co-creator of PHX Zine Fest; and award-winning slam poet (and shark conservationist) Bernard Schober.

Admission is $5 at the door at 636 East Pierce Street. See facebook.com/phoenixtonight or space55.org for details. Janessa Hilliard


Pie Social
It’s that time of year again when you loosen your belt a notch and prepare for all the delicious meals that come along with the holidays. And like any fine skill, the Olympian level of eating you’ll do requires practice. Enter Pie Social 2016. For the seventh year in a row, Roosevelt Row CDC and New Times will present downtown’s best holiday primer from 2 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, November 19, at Phoenix Union Bioscience High School, 512 East Pierce Street. Arrive in your stretchiest pants and sample pies from 15 celebrity chefs vying for the people’s-choice vote. Maybe take this opportunity to try out your newest pie recipe, too. If you bring two pies, you’ll get five tasting tickets. Otherwise, it’s $12 for five tasting tickets. Take in live music, shop the artisan market, and most important, pig out on pie. For more info, see facebook.com/events/729582340513684. Evie Carpenter

A Very Javelina Holiday
What makes the Three Little Pigs little? Pigs are rather large animals, really — they’re just tipped down onto the horizontal axis, unlike us upright-walking freaks of nature. Perhaps the pigs were little as in “young,” despite their precocious construction skills. The pigs are definitely children in the popular kids’ book The Three Little Javelinas by local author Susan Lowell.

The peccary siblings’ tripartite saga continues in A Very Hairy Javelina Holiday, brought to us by Childsplay in a musical stage version through Sunday, December 24. The play is recommended for people 5 and older.

Get ready to squeal at Tempe Center for the Arts, 700 West Rio Salado Parkway. Tickets start at $12 at childsplayaz.org or 480-350-2822. Showtime on Sunday, November 20, is 1 p.m. Julie Peterson