10 Must-See Plays During the 2013-14 Valley Theater Season

During the summer, between seeing musicals, drinking, and napping, we eagerly anticipate local theater companies’ announcements of their upcoming seasons. Shows to which performance rights have recently become available are politely competed for, actors look at their schedules and wonder what roles might suit them, and audiences keep their fingers…

Anthony Jeselnik is Coming to Phoenix

For comedian Anthony Jeselnik, offensive is the name of the game. Literally. His hit Comedy Central show is called The Jeselnik Offensive, and on it he riffs on tragic news and pop culture and says generally terrible (and hilarious) things. This fall, he’s taking his show on the road, stopping…

The Torch Theatre Is All About Community — and Fun

I’m standing out front of the Torch Theatre — an improv space in downtown Phoenix — on a recent Saturday night, asking the performers how improv has impacted their lives. I feel like I’m getting two shows for the price of one. The first was the one I just watched…

Richard Lewis Will Be the Gandhi of Comics

Oy vey. Interviewing comedian Richard Lewis is like being inside one of his monologues. The only difference is that rather than a one-sided conversation operating on a stream of consciousness level, there are breaks where questions are inserted — though those are only brief bumps in Lewis’ full-throttle comedic autobahn…

James Franco Announces Comedy Central Roast via Instagram

Getting a PhD in English from Yale is not like eventually completing a stint in rehab. You don’t have to do it in order to remain insurable in the eyes of film producers who decide whether you can work on a project that involves paying hundreds of people pulling down…

Five Summer Dance Classes in Metro Phoenix

Shaking your groove thing on a dark dance floor in the club can be intimidating enough, but in front of a mirror in a brightly lit dance studio? Well, that’s a whole different ballgame. There are scores of places where you can learn to pas de chat and pirouette, but…

Phoenix Theatre’s Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson Is Sublime

A rock musical American history lesson that commences with the line “Here’s the thing about the Indians!” then segues into a song whose refrain is “Populism, yeah, yeah!” can’t be all bad. And in its brand-new, Ron May-directed Phoenix Theatre production, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson is sublime. See also: -Space…

The Five Hottest FILFs

Father’s Day is Sunday, and because we at Jackalope Ranch can think of nothing sexier than a man willing to change a diaper, see the Wiggles, and sing “The Itsy Bitsy Spider,” we’ve compiled a list of our five favorite FILFs; fathers we’d like to… y’know. The Rocker: Josh Homme…

Broken People’s PSA Explains Bitchy Resting Face

Well all know that girl. Hell some of us are that girl — the girl whose facial default is downright bitchy. Blame it on bone structure, PMS, or the fact that she is simply not amused, but Bitchy Resting Face (or BRF) is condition that countless women are plagued by…