5 Things to Do for $5 or Less in Metro Phoenix, January 27 to 29

Talk is cheap, people. And so are a few choice happenings this weekend. For $5 or less, you can take in a local comedy show, geek out over YA novels, and experience the Japanese art of flower arrangement. (Looking for more? Here's a guide to more of this week's best events.)

"Minds on the Move"
Dance legend and ASU professor Liz Lerman discovered several years ago the joys of walking and talking with interesting people. So, she’s got a pair of treadmills set up in the ASU Art Museum, where she holds conversations with various members of the ASU community about whatever they happen to find most curious, urgent, troublesome, or baffling.

The conversations are videotaped, then projected in a gallery for ongoing viewing by museum visitors as part of “Minds on the Move: The Treadmill Tapes,” which you can see between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Friday, January 27, at ASU Art Museum, 51 East 10th Street in Tempe. Admission is free, which is more than we can say for the local cycle bar. Visit ASU Art Museum's website for more. Lynn Trimble

The Storrs Objection
Matt Storrs is both a local comedian (known for the Sonoma LaughFest and Cinder Block Comedy Festival) and a guy with some legal experience. He couples these two backgrounds to present The Storrs Objection — a monthly comedy show taglined as “aggressively accurate comedy” — as part of Phoenix Educational Programming.

Storrs sits not-idly by as comedians do their set, and interjects with results of his simultaneous fact-checking. Storrs is ready to object from 10:30 p.m. to 12:15 a.m. on Friday, January 27, for The Storrs Objection: Patriarchy at Space 55, 636 East Pierce Street. Meredith Howell (of Overtly Sensitive and When Myers Met Briggs fame) joins the show this month as co-counsel.

Cost is $5. Visit PEP's website for more details. Lauren Cusimano

YAllapalooza
Could anything be better for book lovers than an event that brings together several of their favorite authors? Yes; that same event, with pizza.

YAllapalooza, a literary extravaganza for fans of teen and tween literature, offers that and more. Meet the writers, chow on pizza, and get copies of signed books. Authors include Paul Mosier, whose Train I Ride finds main character Rydr on a trip to live with an unknown relative, and Abagail Johnson, who penned If I Fix You, about Jill, a girl trying to figure out life by helping a reckless boy. The wordy mixer happens from 4 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, January 28, at Changing Hands Bookstore, 300 West Camelback Road. Admission is free; book prices vary. Call 602-274-0067 or visit the Changing Hands website. Amy Young

After Orlando It’s been 231 days since Omar Mateen killed 49 people and wounded 53 others in Orlando, Florida’s Pulse nightclub. As an outlet and forum for grief, outrage, and confusion in the face of this event, Caridad Svich solicited short-short scripts from 70 playwrights to create After Orlando: An International Theatre Action. Theaters nationwide have been curating and presenting readings from the collection since last fall.
The Phoenix installment, featuring plays by Israel Horovitz, Neil LaBute, and local writers, unfolds at 6 p.m. Sunday, January 29, at Phoenix Theatre, 100 East McDowell Road. Arizona legislator Daniel Hernández Jr., an LGBTQ and gun violence activist credited with saving U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ life after her 2011 shooting, will deliver a keynote address. RSVP for the free event on Facebook. Julie Peterson

Ikebana Exhibit
Sure, you’ve mastered the art of combining three Trader Joe’s bouquets into a pretty okay center piece. But your DIY ventures have nothing on the eighth annual Ikebana Exhibit at the Japanese Friendship Garden. Presented by the Sogetsu Ikebana Study Group, the showing spotlights the art of Japanese floral arranging that dates back to the seventh century. Which is why you can expect to leave (ahem, no pun intended) feeling inspired by “the way of the flowers.” Experience ikebana from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, January 29, at 1125 North Third Avenue. Tickets are $5. See details at the Japanese Friendship Garden website or call 602-274-8700. Becky Bartkowski