Arts & Culture

National Comedy Theatre hosts an all-ages bash from 9:30 p.m. to midnight featuring catered grub and a comedy-show competition. Fri., Dec. 31, 9:30 p.m.-midnight, 2010…

If the New Year’s Eve block parties in Tempe and Scottsdale strike you as — waaaaait for it — “lamestream” alternatives to true ring-out-the-old revelry, why not try a little punk? The pride of Mesa’s Westwood High will headline a five-band show on the year’s biggest party day, presumably executing…

Though Andy Warhol famously stated that everyone gets 15 minutes of fame, Z-List personality Kato Kaelin has been attempting to squeeze out a few extra minutes over the past decade and a half. His latest gig? Serving as host of the Comedy Spot’s New Year’s Eve laugh-fest, which will feature…

The Valley’s nightlife landscape was as tumultuous and volatile as ever in 2010, as more than a dozen bars and clubs came and went over the past 12 months. But while heavy hitters such as Club Rain or Forbidden blinked out of existence, downtown Phoenix’s Bar Smith, 130 East Washington…

Objectively speaking, is this eight-years-running New Year’s Eve party in Collagen City really the “ultimate”? Well, if your vision of “ultimate” has room for Rx Bandits and two skilled tribute bands, then, yes, it totally is. Born from the same SoCal ska-punk primordial ooze that yielded Sublime and Reel Big…

You and everyone else in the United States aims to shed a few pounds in 2011. Predictably, you’ll talk about it the week after New Year’s Eve, go for one jog around the block, realize that exercise hurts, and then never make another move. Until the first week of 2012,…

Instead of reveling in your own traditions this holiday season – like arguing at the dinner table, getting plastered in front of your grandparents, and banging a stranger on New Years Eve – you could try immersing yourself in the traditions of those who inhabited this country before Santa became…

Going back to work on the Monday after a holiday is always a bit rough. Imagine how brutal it is for the wrestlers of the WWE to get back to their grind. Monday Night Raw will beam live across the nation with your favorite sports entertainers in donnybrooks straight from…

Still nursing that hangover? We’ve got the perfect cure: suds and pigskin. Yes, you know that a couple hours of sipping some brewskis and getting lost in the game will make you feel like a human being again, so belly up to the bar at The Rose & Crown Pub’s…

New Year’s Eve is one of the biggest party nights of the year. So it’s likely you’re going to want to spend all New Year’s Day in your pajamas. If you still want to go out but want to stay comfy, don your jammies for the Adventures in Hangovers party…

Haaaappy Newww Yeeearrrr! It’s time to make some serious improvements. Hmm, where to start? The case of the mysteriously missing shoe? Check prices on steam-cleaner rentals? Figure out who that trans-gendered monkey with an eye patch belongs to? Sounds like you’ve got one heck of a resolution list. Lucky for…

Former Live frontman (and all-around sensitive New Age guy) Ed Kowalczyk will headline the New Year’s Eve spectacular taking place at CityScape, 1 East Washington Street. Expect the alt-rock troubadour, who launched his solo career after Live broke up last year, to shed a tear or two as he strums…

See what Sister is up to this year as she makes her fifth annual holiday performance. Dec. 21-23, 7:30 p.m.; Fri., Dec. 24, 8 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 26, 2 p.m.; Dec. 28-30, 7:30 p.m.; Sat., Jan. 1, 8 p.m.; Sun., Jan. 2, 2 p.m., 2010…

“I don’t care what you suffer from, menudo cures it all,” says actor and comedian Paul Rodriguez. “Menudo’s made out of parts of the pig the pig doesn’t want back.” Over a career that’s spanned more than two decades, Rodriguez, one of the first “Latin kings of comedy,” has appeared…

After four years of riding the pine for the Connecticut Huskies, the once highly-touted quarterback looked like a disappointment. In his last chance to make an impact, however, the senior signal-caller made his mark by leading the Big East champions to their best season in school history and a spot…

The season isn’t over, but it’s looking like the Phoenix Suns aren’t going to repeat the deep playoff run they made last season. Without Amar’e Stoudemire – and with Steve Nash and Grant Hill each another year older – the Suns have spent the bulk of the season looking exactly…

Junk drawers filled with things like extra keys are the packrat middens from which future generations will reconstruct our society. Archaeologists yet unborn will assign totemic significance to this folderol and they won’t be far wrong. After all, unless you’re a time traveler, why hold on to so many old…

When we say we’re excited about our city “going green,” we mean it in more ways than the recent development of the Valley Metro Light Rail. Here to get us high on Phoenix-area life is yet another green object. Namely, Shrek The Musical, which is scheduled to visit Gammage Auditorium…

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to forgetting who the godfather of folk music is, Arizona Theater Company stages a musical that honors the man’s legacy. Woody Guthrie’s American Song charts both the folk singer’s life and Guthrie’s deep fondness for his country while spinning a…

A bunch of photos of saguaros. Booooring! Right? Wrong, friend. Like, super wrong. The images of the iconic cactus on display at “Arizona Icon” will actually rock your world. We know it’s tough to believe, but we’d put money on it. Trace the twisting, writhing arms of these octopus-like cacti…