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,…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Fri 8/6 This is not your typical shake-ya-ass music: “Open your eyes, see eye to eye with me/Righteous lives, that’s how we try to be/No disguise, this isn’t Halloween . . .” And with that, Oddio Audwell isn’t trying to make mamasitas move in slow motion this Friday, August 6,…
7/30-8/1 Don’t hate the players — hate the game. Back in the day, all we needed was Mountain Dew, a few Snickers bars, Super Nintendo, and for our parents to leave us undisturbed for 72 hours. Nowadays, we need a full-blown gaming conference. And for what? So we can puss…
Oppressed smokers of the Valley, cheer up: Dave Attell feels your pain. Whether surviving a smoking ban or forking over a fiver to satisfy a nic fit, the 39-year-old comedian, who lights up the Tempe Improv this weekend, is familiar with the trials and tribulations of tobacco use. “In New…
Wed 7/28 What Zephryn Conte does with a beat is easily defined: anything she wants. To be more precise, Conte, who’s “somewhere between 40 and ageless,” uses her omnipotent rhythmic abilities to channel dance, song and rhyme into one performance — the Zephryn Conte Jazz/Poetry Experience, on Wednesday, July 28,…
Sun 7/25 So much for the pity. The only splash Lollapalooza 2004 made was in the toilet, but The Thrills bounced back instantly from the cancellation, booking a big U.S. tour with fellow Lolla-gaggers and U.K. rockers Gomez. Such good fortune hounds the Dublin band — get a load of…
Sat 7/17 Now that he’s pimped his own ride, Robert Aguilar will be rollin’ with his homies from Mystical Car Club to the first Car & Music Show at Audio Express, 6710 West Camelback, on Saturday, July 17. After touring his custom 2000 Chevy Silverado (pictured) to 25 car shows…
The crossover has always been the mega-event in the comic book kingdom. Fanatics easily spout off titles like Aliens vs. Predator or 1978’s Superman vs. Muhammad Ali (wait — we thought Ali was Superman). But the latest coupling from the realm of superheroes and supervillains doesn’t feature limited-edition, varied-ink chromium…
7/16-7/18 John DiResta’s got a new catchphrase he hopes will grab the nation by the balls: “How’s your cock?” asks the portly comedian and former NYPD flatfoot. So far, response has been mixed. “You’re the second person I’ve asked, seriously. The first one was my wife. She just said, ‘Fine…
