Strip Smart

Sun 10/17 While men fantasize about the seductive third-date strip tease, women dread the nuances that come with the nerve-racking experience. What music do I play? Where does one find an industry-standard strip pole? Can granny panties ever look sexy? Who will hold my boobs up while I dance? How…

Ball Busters

Thu 10/7 Naysayers might’ve dismissed kickball as an elementary sport meant for sports washouts like yourself. But it was your only shot at playground immortality back in the day. Remember how your awesome 6-4-3 double play helped turn the tide in the epic Shirts vs. Skins war? You never worried…

Unusual Suspects

10/7-10/31 By now, we’ve been inundated by so much rigmarole surrounding “Decision 2004,” we’re more likely to pull a trigger come November than a voting-booth lever. Since we’re facing (at least) another month of political Bushwhacking, we’ll Kerry on to “Word on the Street: Politics Unusual,” a collective exhibition by…

Ball Games

Nothing fully arousing your artistic interests? Come find a little, uh, release at the Blue Ball on Saturday, September 25, at the Alwun House, 1204 East Roosevelt. Self-proclaimed “Master of Hoopla” David Salcido has extended an open invitation to embrace the eccentric and indulge in excess. The Blue bill combines…

Closet Case

Sun 9/26 So much for not speaking ill of the dead. Whenever celebrities head to the great beyond, vicious rumors tend to fly (see Hudson, Rock). To wit: Gadabouts have speculated for years on the sexual orientation of Rudolph Valentino and his second wife Natacha Rambova, alleging their “lavender marriage”…

Secret Agent Ham

9/24-9/26 Austin Powers can switch himself off, because when it comes to spy send-ups, there was none better than Get Smart. Maxwell Smart (a.k.a. Agent 86) never needed pinkie-biting evil doctors or midget clones to get the big laughs, and we’ll bet you yearned for your very own shoe phone…

Non-Toxic Avengers

Sun 9/26 For the athletes competing in the fifth annual Firebird Triathlon, this Sunday, September 26, the waters of Firebird Lake may present a formidable obstacle. After all, whole flotillas of speedboats have raced through its waters over the years, possibly leaving gallons of petroleum (not to mention whatever bodily…

Puff Riders

9/17-9/22 Democrats might have halcyon memories of JFK and Camelot, but we’re betting you cigar aficionados think ol’ Jack can just cram it. When the 35th president put that trade embargo on Cuba back in ’61, he kept you from the love of your leaf. Just ask Richard “Mick” Connors,…

Tongue and Groove

Wed 9/22 Gene Simmons ain’t got nothing on Count Smokula. While both showmen are face-painted night crawlers with ungodly long tongues, the Smokula’s more of a vaudevillian-style villain and musical comedian, who’ll fire off one-liners in machine-gun fashion when he bites into The Trunk Space, 1506 Grand Avenue, on Wednesday,…

Skags to Riches

Say you’re some hotshot Hollywood producer who wants to churn out the next big, edgy drug flick. You’ve already gone the logical route and cast Johnny Depp, but the script to your nascent narco movie feels pretty white-bread and smacks more of Go than Blow. Whaddaya do? If you’re across…

Booty Call

Sat 9/11 Avast ye landlubbers, just a week in advance of “International Talk Like a Pirate Day,” those bilge-sucking sons-of-biscuit-eaters at the Paper Heart, 750 Grand Avenue, will be busting out like Blackbeard at “Mermaids and Martinis” on Saturday, September 11. This “undersea fantasy fund raiser” for iTheatre Collaborative is…

Low Life

9/4-9/5 Danny Ochoa has a secret identity he wants to keep on the down low. As a judge for Lowrider Magazine, the 37-year-old isn’t worried about any potential diss he may have dealt at any of the 16 events he visits every year, but he’s been on the receiving end…

We Believe They Can Fly

8/27-8/28 It’s dawned on us — while pondering this weekend’s Vans Triple Crown of Freestyle Motocross at America West Arena –that there is much in this world of considerable irrelevance, pardon the contradiction in terms. Case in point: tires on a dirt bike at AWA, 201 East Jefferson, on Friday,…

Ghouls on Film

Fri 8/27 Adult puppetry is all the rage these days, but the folks at Skeleton Puppetry Theatre don’t think the genre’s sexual innuendo or macabre humor would have any appeal outside the nightspots of downtown Phoenix. “This stuff is more for late-night crowds,” says puppeteer Nathan Greene. “It’s definitely after-dark…

Bush Bash

Sat 8/28 Silver-tongued politicos love speaking in glittering generalities, spewing their easily digestible catch phrases like, “I’m reporting for duty,” or, “Moving America forward.” Local activist Jeff Falk has another catch phrase, one that communicates the message behind the “Farewell Party for George W,” on Saturday, August 28, at the…

Bum Deal

Hell hath no fury like a wanna-be filmmaker scorned. After being left in financial ruin by a Nashville investment banker nearly 18 years ago, Dan Wilkins dreamed up a multitude of elaborate revenge fantasies to get even with the man who did him wrong, many of which would’ve landed him…

Mano-a-Mono

Thu 8/19 Radio drama? These days, there isn’t much, unless Rush Limbaugh’s bout with OxyContin counts as dramatic fare. But there was a time — in the 1930s and ’40s — when live electronic entertainment came solely via radio, with War of the Worlds and Arch Oboler’s Lights Out leading…

Caught on Film

Fri 8/20 What if Spider-Man 2 or The Bourne Supremacy had skipped out on Phoenix movie theaters? Madness would take to the streets. Yet fans cope as independent films regularly bypass silver screens around the Valley. Beginning Friday, August 20, one of six indie flicks will premi’re each week exclusively…

Pak’ed House

Sat 8/14 Things get pretty dead around these parts during the dog days of summer, especially when it comes to nationalistic celebrations. After getting hammered by the one-two punch of July 4 and Bastille Day, patriots and expatriates alike have to wait until the Labor Day weekend for frenetic flag-waving…

School of Jock

Scheduling the Phoenix Mercury’s annual clinic to coincide with the Summer Olympics is a slam-dunk way of cashing in on all the, uh, hoopla surrounding USA Basketball’s expected march to the medal stand. True, a chunk of the WNBA’s roster is already in Athens. But c’mon, is there a better…

Photo Finish

8/12-8/31 Jen and Scott Sanders, owners of the Paper Heart, 750 Grand Avenue, pride themselves on providing something for everyone. So any pop-cultural pimp worth his or her weight in Hot Topic gear will find something of interest at the joint, be it Argentinean tango lessons or alt-rock shows. Similar…

Wild Stallions

Troy Tinker sounds exasperated as he explains why the World Famous Lipizzaner Stallions Tour would be of interest to discerning hipsters. It’s almost as if his horse sense was tingling, anticipating the question before it was asked. “I know where this is going,” says Tinker, the emcee of the show…