The standup scene in Phoenix has been booming over the past few years, with comedy nights spreading like wildfire. It’s only natural considering that everyone seems to need a good laugh these days — especially with all the craziness that constitutes Valley culture. The comedians of FilmBar’s Standup Comedy Night…

Like it or not, jukebox musicals have become a staple of modern theatre. The undisputed dancing queen of said genre, which enjoyably grafts bombastic pop songs into narrative form, is most undoubtedly Mamma Mia! For nearly a decade, the smash hit has dominated Broadway, with its cast of dozens bringing…

In a recent edition of his Week in Review video blog, comedian Carlos Mencia expressed shock and awe at the annual Easter reenactment of Jesus’ crucifixion by fanatical Filipinos. The caustic and controversial comedian, who’s never one to back off from hot-button topics, jokingly (and ironically) channeled the frustration of…

We’re not certain why people dread the start of the workweek so much. True, the weekend may be over, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the feting and festivities have to stop. Such is the thinking at Zuma Grill, 605 South Mill Avenue in Tempe, which extends the weekend party spirit…

It’s a little known fact that Perfect Strangers actor Bronson Pinchot based the character of Balki Bartokomous on villagers he encountered while on a Greek vacation. That’s the sort of obscure Greek-related trivia that you’d only hear being discussed over gyros at this year’s A Taste of Greece Festival on…

As any cipher will likely tell you, DJing is the most vital of the four elements of hip-hop. And when it comes to Valley vinylists who understand the importance of providing a head-nod heavy soundtrack for rappers, breakers, and graf artists, Tricky T is one of the best around. As…

Anyone can be a bestselling author these days. Writing talent is an entirely optional requirement for getting your title on the New York Times’ list of book blockbusters, as evidenced by the success of the recent tome by Snooki from Jersey Shore. When it comes to Nikki Sixx, however, we’re…

Artist Andres Serrano has mad respect for Pablo Picasso. Not only did the father of cubism influence the notorious photographer’s early works, one of Picasso’s more famous quotes (“Art is dangerous. Where it is chaste, it is not art.”) has seemingly been the hallmark of Serrano’s career. Because, believe us,…

In 1996, a Michigan word geek laid down the highest-scoring single play in documented Scrabble history: “craziest.” That particular rack-clearing superlative stretched over a double-letter-score multiplier and two triple-word-score spaces (known as the elusive “triple-triple”) to become a 311-point bomb. Before you aspire to such decimation, you might want to…

When it comes to the seemingly never-ending debate over immigration, Alonzo Bodden is able to nimbly cut through both the hype and hate surrounding the ultra-contentious SB 1070: “If you look like an illegal alien, they can stop you and ask for papers, and they say that’s not racist,” Bodden…

Just in time for the Halloween season, Chandler’s San Tan Brewery will be screening all sorts of horror flicks and scary cinematic experiences during its weekly Movie Night Monday event during October. First up is the 2005’s blood-soaked black comedy Feast, where the patrons of a rural bar must fend…

In the past few years, street art in Phoenix – whether legal, commissioned murals or surreptitiously spray-painted burners – has finally gotten the recognition it deserves as an urban art form. Among the artists in the city, local graffiti king DOSE might be the most respected. It’s not uncommon to…

Social media has been a blessing and a curse to dating. For every coupling that’s come about via Twitter or Foursquare, there are an equal number of relationships that have gone south after a paramour discovered their partner “poking” an ex, either IRL or online. Such is the subject matter…

In 1997, loathed and loved soft jazz musician Kenny G made his mark in the Guinness World Records for using circular breathing to hold a note on his saxophone for 45 minutes and 47 seconds. While that might be impressive to some, we favor the Jester’Z Improv group’s ability to…

Nowadays, we’re lucky when we go to a show and the musicians are the only performers in the room. Between people texting, tweeting, and making (and taking!) calls, almost every electronic device in the vicinity is putting on a show of its own. That’s one reason why we find the…

Spring is here, which means for a few scant weeks we’ll be able to walk outside without feeling like we’re drowning in lava. As a result, we plan to live it up at the 10th annual m7 Street Fair and Classic Car Show. The Melrose Curve is already easily walkable,…

Comedian Bill Maher has never held his tongue with regard to his thoughts on the world, politicians, corporations, and American life – and he’s not starting now. After tackling every form of media from radio to cinema, the political comic returns to his original form of broadcasting – stand-up comedy…

Harland Williams is the kind of perennial goofball whose schtick can squeeze laughs out of thin air. With a career in film spanning nearly two decades, Williams doesn’t need to do stand up, as he will this weekend, as much as he enjoys it as one of his many creative…

As old school comedian George Gobel joked, “If it weren’t for electricity, we’d all be watching television by candlelight.” Thus, the dilemma of what to do during the occasional blackout. Downtown Phoenix stalwarts, Backwards Theater, make good with battery-operated illumination during their show. In Flashlight, the experimental theater performance revolves…

Robots aren’t supposed to have emotions, but don’t expect Red Hot Robot’s final show in their current space (nestled between Stinkweeds Records and Smeeks) to be without its outpouring of feelings. Since 2007, Red Hot Robot has been one of the few outlets dedicated exclusively to designer art toys in…

For the knuckleheads that keep insisting that there’s no history in Phoenix, we like to point to the Alwun House. The 40-year-old institution has weathered nearly every upside and downturn of the Phoenix art scene. This is Alwun’s 27th year of spicing up things with their “Exotic Art” show and…

Everyone’s in a rush to get somewhere and we think it would behoove those movers and shakers to get lost. Literally. Michael P. Berman’s photographs make us want to ditch our GPS-enabled phones to head outside the reach of cities. He earned an MFA in photography from ASU in 1985…