CBCTAC presents Anna Valenzuela

“Latinas make 54 cents to every white male dollar, which is why I have to take a roll of toilet paper from every business I enter for rest of my life.”

So tweeted Anna Valenzuela recently, making us spew our coffee while holding up a mirror to the privilege in our white feminism. We can expect a whole set of such darkly colorful insights, delivered with authentic warmth and much laughter, at 8 p.m., Saturday, December 7 at The O. Tickets are $5 via Eventbrite.

A legit black belt in karate, Valenzuela slayed the field with snaps on a recent Comedy Central Roast Battle. She appears regularly at the Comedy Store and The Improv and was a favorite at Second City’s Los Angeles Diversity in Comedy Festival. She also hosts two podcasts: 12 Questions, an in-depth look at sobriety, and Bruja-ja, where three Latinas dish on all things Latinx.

A Los Angelean, Valenzuela will be the first touring headliner featured in the cheekily titled comedy show series Cunts Being Cunts Taking About Cunts. Organizers Mo Urban and Steena Salido have lately shortened it to CBCTAC in print, presumably for convenience, because: Why else?

The show opens with an improv set by AllReddy, comprising Allana Erickson-Lopez of Unscrewed Theatre and Katherine Morter. The lineup also includes Phoenician Alice Valpey and Tucson comics Andrea Salazar, Chinna Garza, Em Bowen and Kathie Hedrick.

As at every CBCTAC show, feminine hygiene products will be collected for Project Period, a program of the YWCA of Southern Arizona.

Cristela Alonzo: My Affordable Care Act

Cristela Alonza performs at 8 p.m., Saturday, December 7, at the Rialto Theatre. Tickets are $19 to $36 at rialtotheatre.com.

Alonzo is comedy’s answer to Dolores Huerta, her idol. Her website, cristelaalonzo.com, devotes as much space to her causes as to her comedy. She writes, “I am a first-generation American born to an undocumented mother that taught me to love this country. I believe it is my duty to give back and fight so that everyone can get the same thing my family got: a chance.”

And then she quotes Huerta. “Every moment is an organizing opportunity, every person a potential activist, every minute a chance to change the world.”

Alonzo created her own bully pulpit five years ago with Cristela, a network sitcom that she wrote, produced and starred in herself. Soon after, she began guest-hosting the daytime roundtable show, The View. In 2017, she became the first Latina lead in a Pixar film, voicing the part of Cruz Ramirez in Cars 3. Lower Classy, her first standup special, is streaming on Netflix.

Last month a Simon & Shuster imprint published her book, Music to My Years: A Mixtape Memoir of Growing Up and Standing Up. The stories reveal her vulnerability and her challenges, like the tap shoes she made for herself with bottle caps, and how standup comedy helped her process her grief when her mother died.

When not doing comedy, Alonzo devotes her time to activism around immigration, universal healthcare, social justice, HIV AIDS awareness and prevention, reproductive rights, Special Olympics and LUPE, La Union del Pueblo Entero, founded by Huerta with César Chávez. She’s on their board.

From the struggles she sees in others and in her own life, Alonzo crafts comedy that welcomes us into her world with the light of her humanity.

Mishka Shubaly at The Wench

Comedy at the Wench breaks its open-mic format at 7 p.m. Monday, December 9, to bring us comedian and pan-genius Mishka Shubaly.

Best known as a writer and musician, Shubaly has the wits and the wit to have turned a self-made disaster of a life into a livelihood. His childhood broke his heart, youth was a struggle and he was an alcoholic by the time he graduated college at 15. Yet at 22, he received the Dean’s Fellowship from the Master’s Writing Program at Columbia.

A dissolute life ensued, yielding six record albums, one with Brooklyn’s goth, post-punk band, Freshkills. Shubaly’s six Kindle Singles all have been best sellers. In 2016, Public Affairs published his memoir, I Swear I’ll Make It Up To You: A Life on the Low Road. He also teaches writing at the Yale Writers Conference. Luckily, he got sober at 32, inspired by marathon running.

The Wench show also features Jake Flores. Not to be reductive but we’re running out of space. Flores’ website URL says it all: feraljokes.com Reservations are $5, or $10 for preferred seating in the show room. These special shows at The Surly Wench have been selling out, so we recommend reservations via [email protected] on PayPal or @wenchcomedy on Venmo.

Arroyo Café Radio

David Fitzsimmons is having a busy weekend. Last week we wrote about his project for fellow old folks, Still Standing up. Featuring five comedians over 60, the show makes fun of things only old people know about. Take that, millennial smarty-pantses.

To recap, Still Standing Up is at 6 p.m., Sunday, December 8, at Laffs Comedy Caffe. Reservations are $10 via Eventbrite.com.

On December 7, though, at 1 p.m., Fitzsimmons hosts another epic production of his annual Arroyo Café Holiday Radio Show at the Rialto Theatre. More than 20 local celebrities perform a loosely scripted radio play around musical guests and other entertainments and surprises, Including Wilbur Wildcat.

It’s all staged in an old-time radio show format with an iconic reconstruction of a ‘40s microphone. Comedians in the cast include KXCI’s Bridgitte Thum, Mike Sterner, Josiah Osego, Elliot Glicksman, Jay Taylor, Priscilla Fernandez, David Membrila and Bobby Rich. Tickets are $20 via Eventbrite.com. Proceeds benefit three local organizations that help immigrants and Arizona Public Media, which broadcasts the show on Christmas Eve.

Lots More Comedy

Friday, Dec. 6: Standup with Geoff Asmus featuring Brian Mollica at 7 and 9:30 p.m., Laffs Comedy Caffe ($12.50 and $17.50). Improv with Improv 201 and 301 Student showcases at 7:30 p.m. and The Soapbox featuring rugby captain Kristin Pope at 9 p.m. at TIM Comedy Theatre (TIM)($5). Family-friendly improv with Not Burnt Out Just Unscrewed (NBOJU) at 7:30 p.m., Unscrewed Theater ($5 and $8).
Saturday, Dec. 7: Standup with Michael Carbonara at 7 p.m. at Desert Diamond Casino ($27.50 to $47.50) Geoff Asmus featuring Brian Mollica at 7 and 9:30 p.m., at Laffs Comedy Caffe ($12.50 and $17.50). Improv with Ugly Sweater Improv and Pilot Season at 7:30 p.m., and the 101 Student Showcase and The Dating Scene at 9 p.m. at TIM ($5). Family-friendly improv with Not Burnt Out Just Unscrewed (NBOJU) at 7:30 p.m. and musical improv with From the Top at 9 p.m. at Unscrewed Theater ($5 and $8).
Monday, Dec. 9: Standup with John Waters at 8 p.m. at the Rialto Theatre ($33 to $110) and Mishka Shubaly with Jake Flores at The Surly Wench.

Free Open Mics

Sunday, Dec. 8, 6:30 p.m., The O, and 8 p.m., Chuckleheads in Bisbee.
Monday, Dec. 9, 7 p.m., Comedy at the Wench, The Surly Wench Pub.
Tuesday, Dec. 10, 6:45 p.m., Neighborhood Comedy at The Music Box Lounge.
Wednesday, Dec. 11, 7 p.m., The Screening Room and 8:30 p.m. at The Mint.
Thursday, Dec.12, 8 p.m., Laffs Comedy Caffe and 8:30 p.m., Rockabilly Grill.

The Great Cover Up recently announced their 2019 lineup, featuring 26 Tucson-based bands performing over the course of three nights at 191 Toole and Club Congress. While it’s always a secret which local bands are covering which international acts, we do know each list:

The artists being covered: The Pixies, Stevie Wonder, Dolly Parton, Sex Pistols, Neil Young, The Doors, CCR, Janis Joplin, Daniel Johnston, Guns & Roses, The Clash, Lana Del Rey and many more.

The local artists performing: Taco Sauce, Miss Olivia & The Interlopers, Little Cloud, The Bennu, Eric Schaffer & The Other Troublemakers, Nick Prevenas, Mr. Manager and more.

For those not in the know, The Great Cover Up is a local music festival where local bands cover big-name acts. For years, The Great Cover Up has grown into a Tucson staple, and now some participating bands even dress up in costumes and include stage props along with their cover music. And even better, all proceeds from the event will be donated to a designated nonprofit. (This year’s beneficiary is 91.3 FM KXCI.)

The Great Cover Up 2019 runs from Thursday, Dec. 12 to Saturday, Dec. 14. Doors open at 6 p.m. each night, music starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $8 for one night, $12 for two, $15 for all three.

Dec. 12 @ 191 Toole / Dec. 13 @ Club Congress / Dec. 14 @ 191 Toole.

Comedy magic for grownups

Forget Houdini. Magic doesn’t have to be about dark and dangerous arts. As Rod Housley tells it, all magic is about fooling people. He believes that fooling people should be fun to watch, and even more fun to be fooled.

Housley has entertained thousands at conventions and special events over the more than 20 years he’s performed as a professional magician around the country. He’s also won more than 20 awards in magic including Arizona’s Close-up Magician of the Year, Arizona’s Stage Magician of the Year, and the People’s Choice Award.

He will treat Tucson comedy fans to two unusually intimate club performances at 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday, Nov. 22 and 23 at The O. Reservations are $10 and $15 via intimatewonders.wellattended.com.

Housley began creating comedy magic as a child to cope with his sister’s death. “I kind of became the entertainer in my family,” he says. “Magic does the same thing comedy does. Telling a joke, there’s usually a left turn where you don't see it coming. It makes your brain fire in a new place. Magic creates that wonder. When you see something (surprising), people automatically laugh.”

Asked what makes him a magician's magician, Housley says his technique is like that of a standup comedian justifying the payoff to a joke. “I create a ‘why’ for every trick. Most magicians just do a trick and then they do another trick.

“I might do the trick a thousand times and then, suddenly, I'm like, ‘Oh! That's how I should present that. That will resonate with the audience’.

“I try to create magic that leaves the audience in a better place, where anything's possible and things are amazing and you're allowed to laugh. That's the childlike state of wonder that I think magic can create.”

Dreading Thanksgiving dinner?

The O’s Pre-Thanksgiving Extravaganza on Wednesday, Nov. 27 has some potential to stuff you with enough comedy that your uncle’s politics won’t give you indigestion. It’s worth a try.

Stephanie Lyonga lights up the lineup with electric energy and language unfit for reverent family holidays. Bilingual comedians Andrea Salazar and Tony Kanani Bruhn perform in English but make audience members feel at home in either language. Rounding out the show are Daryl Graves and two popular Phoenix comics, Glendon McGee and Derek McFarland.

The show starts at 7:30 p.m. and admission is $5 at the door.

What are you doing New Year’s?

Laffs Comedy Caffe is now taking reservations for folks wanting to welcome 2020 with a smile.

Ron Feingold headlines shows at 7 and 10:30 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 31. Reservations are $30 plus tax and tip. The 7 p.m. show includes dinner, and at the 10:30 show, a dessert buffet sustains revelers in the count down to the new year’s debut. May it give us all something to look forward to.

More Laughs!

Friday, Nov. 22: Politically musical Standup with Randy Rainbow at 7:30 p.m., Fox Tucson Theatre ($41.50 to $87.50). Country musical standup with Rodney Carrington at Desert Diamond Casino ($30 to $45). Standup with Greg Romero Wilson at new winter times, 7 and 9:30 p.m., Laffs Comedy Caffe ($12.50 and $17.50). Improv with Shatfan and The Lobbyists at 7:30 p.m. and The Soapbox at 9 p.m., Tucson Improv Movement (TIM)($5). Family-friendly improv with Not Burnt Out Just Unscrewed (NBOJU) at 7:30 p.m. and Fourth Friday Free Form Friday at 9 p.m., Unscrewed Theatre ($5 and $8).

Saturday, Nov. 23: Standup with Trevor Noah at 9:30 p.m., Tucson Music Hall ($47 to $93) and Greg Romero Wilson at 7 and 9:30 p.m., at Laffs Comedy Caffe ($12.50 and $17.50). Improv with Third Beats and Harold Omega at 7:30 p.m., and Pilot Season and Standup 101 at 9 p.m. at TIM ($5). Uncensored improv with NBOJU at 7:30 p.m. and uncensored Tellabration!, a nationwide event hosted in Tucson by Tellers of Tales at 9 p.m. at Unscrewed Theater ($5 and $8). High camp Retro Game Show Night, BattleMimes, at 7 p.m. at Club Congress ($12, Eventbrite).

Free Open Mics

Sunday, Nov. 17, 6:30 p.m., The O, and 8 p.m., Chuckleheads in Bisbee.
Monday, Nov. 18, 7 p.m., Comedy at the Wench, The Surly Wench Pub.
Tuesday, Nov. 19, 6:45 p.m., Neighborhood Comedy at The Music Box Lounge.
Wednesday, Nov 20, 7 p.m., The Screening Room and 8:30 p.m. at The Mint.
Thursday, Nov. 21, 8 p.m., Laffs Comedy Caffe and 8:30 p.m., Rockabilly Grill.

The Screening Room hosts the first Second Saturday comedy show.

With earlier sunsets on the way, Tucson’s most popular monthly downtown event, Second Saturdays, opens up to comedy in the cozy indoors of The Screening Room.

Chris Quinn, host of the weekly Wednesday open mic at the venue, will host The Second Saturday Comedy Showcase at 7 p.m., beginning November 9. The show is $5 and recommended for ages 18 and over.

Ten local comedians perform in the debut. Headlining are Autumn Horvat, Dom DiTolla and Amber Frame. Also featured are Tony Kanani Bruhn, Eli W.T., Paul Fox, Rich Gary, Tim Maggard and Stephanie Lyonga.

Dillinger Brewing Company hosts Sean Finnerty

Is this the first time Dillinger Brewing Company has hosted a comedy show? They’re getting off to a great start with Sean Finnerty and Kevin Casey White on the Craft Comedy Tour. The show is at 8 pm, Tuesday, Nov. 12. Reservations are $15 via Eventbrite.com.

Finnerty considers it his highest honor to have been the first Irish comedian to perform on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon. He was selected for Comedy Central’s Up Next competition in 2013, and in 2014 he won a competition to open for WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley. Every year since has brought ever more impressive notes to his biography, leading to his current status as the number-one ranked roast comic in NYC.

Kevin Casey White was indelibly pegged in The Chicago Tribune as “a physical expression of an exclamation point.” The Chicago Reader crowned his podcast, Arguments and Grievances, “Best Variety Show.” It could hardly be named more appropriately for our anxiety-bound era. White got his start as founder of Bare Knuckle Comedy, the longest-running indie comedy showcase in St. Louis. He recently moved to NYC.

With comedy shows at Borderlands Brewing Company, Crooked Tooth Brewery, Corbett Brewery and Black Rock Brewery, Tucson, not-surprisingly, is ahead of the curve. The Craft Comedy Tour website says its aim is to “change the comedy landscape” by providing affordable comedy in locally-owned breweries, to celebrate their success as “pillars of their communities.” Hear, hear!

KMKR launches Tucson Comedy Radio

The Clash and Black Flag aside, our personal favorite punk legacy is the DIY ethic. It’s what we love about the whole maker movement. We particularly celebrated Xerocraft, a maker space for artists, in the historic Steinfeld Warehouse.

KMKR radio, housed in a closet-sized space at Xerocraft, allows anyone to broadcast what they create. Its signal covers only the downtown area, but the station is an on-ramp for podcasting, the new must-have techno skill that allows audio artists to be heard around the clock around the globe.

On Wednesday, Nov. 6, KMKR (the MKR stands for maker. Get it?), opened a new frontier for Tucson comedy with the first episode of Tucson Comedy Presents.

Phil Gordon, the show’s founder and director, says it will be broadcast on Wednesdays from 9 to 10 p.m. He hopes to cover the 10 to 11 p.m. hour as well by the first of the year.

A rotating cast of local comedians will host the broadcast. Gordon is the founder of Laughing Liberally. Dave Margolis created and hosts the semi-monthly Casa de Comedy showcase in Marana. Roxy Merrari co-founded and hosts the Comedy the Wench weekly open mic and monthly themed showcase.

The team would like to add more hosts to the rotation. Contact Gordon via Facebook to apply.
All three hosts have local radio experience. Gordon worked as a news reporter at KCTV-TV in Wyoming and as station manager at WXAV-FM in Chicago. According to Gordon, “We’re going to feature news about Tucson’s vibrant comedy scene, interviews with local and touring comedians, and a current performance calendar. It’ll be chock full of laughs from classic comedy bits to live in-studio performances. We’re going focus on Tucson’s rich spoken word culture including stand- up, Improv and storytelling.”

More Laughs!

Continuing through Saturday, Nov. 9: Tucson Comedy Arts Festival featuring improv, standup, improv for kids and improv in Spanish at TIM Comedy Theatre ($5 each show). Visit tucsonimprov.com/tcaf for the complete schedule.

Friday, Nov. 8: Standup with Daniel Tosh, 8 p.m., Tucson Music Hall ($47-$77), and Sid Davis with DJ Sandhu, 8 and 10:30 p.m., Laffs Comedy Caffe ($12.50 and $17.50). Family-friendly improv with Not Burnt Out Just Unscrewed (NBOJU) at 7:30 p.m., and uncensored Freeform Friday at 9 p.m., Unscrewed Theatre.

Saturday, Nov. 9: Standup with Sid Davis, featuring DJ Sandhu, 8 and 10:30 p.m., Laffs Comedy Caffe ($12.50 and $17.50); Carcajadas: Una Noche de Comedia (todo en español), 7:30 p.m., TIM Comedy Theatre ($5) and Kristine Levine and Friends presents Butch Lord, 10 p.m., Circle S Saloon. Improv at 6:00 p.m. with Unscrewed Theater Family Hour featuring Comic Chaos and From the Top followed at 9 p.m. with NBOJU Uncensored at Unscrewed Theater ($5 and $8)

Free Open Mics
Sunday, Nov. 10, 6:30 p.m., The O and 8 p.m., Chuckleheads in Bisbee.
Monday, Nov. 11, 7 p.m., Comedy at the Wench, The Surly Wench Pub.
Tuesday, Nov. 12, 6:45 p.m., Neighborhood Comedy at The Music Box Lounge.
Wednesday, Nov. 13, 7 p.m., The Screening Room and 8:30 p.m. at The Mint.
Thursday, Nov. 14, 8 p.m., Laffs Comedy Caffe and 8:30 p.m., Rockabilly Grill.

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Pairing Dinner. Sullivan’s Steakhouse is ranging from white to red at this specialty four-course wine dinner, perfect to warm you up on a November evening. The dishes begin with shrimp and butternut risotto paired with Aveta Sauvignon Blanc; then moves onto an avocado salad with crab, shallots and crème fraiche paired with a Karia Chardonnay; the main course is a smoked filet mignon in parsnip puree and roasted Brussels sprouts paired with the Artemis Cabernet Sauvignon; dessert closes things out with a pumpkin panna cotta paired with the Hands of Time Red Blend. 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7. 1785 E. River Road. $120. Information.

Bordeaux on a Budget. Maynards Market and Kitchen is hosting a tasting series of Bordeaux wines that won’t break the bank. But what is a Bordeaux wine, anyhow? Well, it’s wine produced in the Bordeaux region of France, obviously. These wines can range from red to white, and are some of the most revered and imitated in the world. And you get to try them out on a budget! 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7. 400 N. Toole Ave. Wine tastings are $12 or free for Maynards Wine Club members. Information.

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Samurai Champloo. Casa Video is offering two great treats from Asia: an evening full of the beloved anime TV series Samurai Champloo, plus curry courtesy of the Curry Pot food truck. Samurai Champloo follows three strangers in the Edo Period of Japan, but subverts common medieval tropes by infusing the world with modern elements such as graffiti and hip-hop. (This also accounts for the incredible soundtrack by producer Nujabes.) It’s a sword-fightin’, rhyme-spittin’ good time! 6 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7. 2905 E. Speedway Blvd. Information.

Excellent

Robert Eggers, the man who gave us The Witch, a gesture for which I’m eternally grateful, returns with this trippy, gothic sailor’s yarn about two very strange men (Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe) working a difficult shift in a lighthouse in the late nineteenth century. It’s close quarters for the two, with every fart being heard loud and clear, and every glitch in each other’s personalities grating on the sensibilities. As the trippy drama plays out, paranoia degrades into delusional mania, then straight on into psychopathic actions (or not, depending upon whether or not you view the whole thing as a fucked up dream). Shot in black and white with a scope that reminds of old silent movies, the two actors start in a truly intense place, and they ratchet it up from there. Dafoe is all strains of incredible as the weathered sailor restricted to land duty, and possibly in the game of driving his employees crazy, one right after the other. Pattinson matches him every step of the way, with a performance that reminds of early Brando. That’s right, I just compared him to Brando. Eggers is two films in, and this guy can direct with the best of them. Both of his films are like nothing I’ve ever seen before. The man is a true original, and these actors take the chance to work with him to the hallucinatory stars. I’m still not entirely sure what happened, but I know it disturbed the living piss out of me, and it contains two of the year’s best performances.

It's back. Night of the Living Fest 2019 is three nights of music. Featuring The Melvins, Kikagaku Moyo, Steve Roach, Good Morning, Red Cross, Minami Deutsch, Toshi Kasai, PPL MVR, Tsushimamire y un chingo mas. At Hotel Congress and Mercado San Agustin Annex. All proceeds to benefit All Souls Procession. See nightofthelivingfest.com for all the details...

Originally forming in Prescott, Arizona, these music festival favorites mash together dance, funk, improvisation, rock and beams of light. Aiming at creating a mood altering experience, they push the boundaries of what a jam band can be. Everything Falls Into Place for Spafford at 191 Toole...

These Celtic rockers songs—"Caroline" and "(I Don't Think I'll) Love Anymore"—have been featured on biker noir series Sons of Anarchy. The Young Dubliners wrestle with moral dualism when they kick off the annual Tucson Celtic Festival along with Celtic-punks The Tossers. At Rillito Raceway Park. Representing women's voices in Celtic rock, the fire breathing Eldritch Dragons and Celtica open the show...

Part of Night of the Living Fest, Los Rakas and Making Movies "Roll Up" for a special edition of El Tambó. Resident badasses Sonido Tambó, DJ Ethos, PSYPIRITUAL and Los Esplifs spin sides. On the plaza at Hotel Congress...

Gathering to commemorate lost loved ones through music and dance, Casa De Los Muertos will takeover Beatz & Sweetz. DJ Nic and guests—Alias, Tega, Lunarfluxx, J Armand—will be spinning tribal, Latin and Afro house all night. At Batch Cafe & Bar...

Empowering local artists on the rise. Locals Only Fridays features sets by Richard "Da Bartender" Lee, Variable, The Life of Moor, DP (aka Donny Cashflow), Mimi Marie and City Boyz. Mr. Head's Bar is the spot...

"Come for the Snatch, stay for the O." In their debut performance, Snatch Sabbath pairs with Miss Olivia and the Interlopers. Chaos will ensue. At Saint Charles Tavern...

With songs about "Stripper Poles" and "Cherry Pop Tarts," Funky Bonz have been "Making It Funky" since 1993. At Thunder Canyon Brewstillery...

With proceeds to benefit Tu Nidito—a local non-profit organization that helps children and families dealing with death or serious illness—Mosh for Mental Health 2019 features The Abstract, Evasion, Despair, Old Fashion Assassin, Corky's Leather Jacket, Pretty Ugly and Blacklidge. At The Rock...

In much the same way that menudo is doled out after a hard day's night of drinking, Pedro y Los Líricos return to Exo Bar to serve up flavorful rancheras, cumbias y norteñas, caliente y picante... In the spirit of The Dead Milkmen, hyper-econo helium punks, microdoser bring the Sunshine on the Graveyard Tour to Sky Bar. With the Logan Greene Whatever and Elephants Gerald...

Resident DJs W3$T Friday and Elektra Tek host some of the Old Pueblo's top and up-and-coming turntablists. Funk Yo House Fridays goes off at Irene's Holy Donuts...

The Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block is taking it to the streets with Crush Party 2019. In addition to the fine wines, spirits and noshables, Street Blues Family and Santa Pachita supply the music...

Saturday, Nov. 2

Summer Walker, called "unequivocally the hottest female voice in R&B," is at the Rialto Theatre. Rising Harlem rapper MELII helps to warms things up...

Emerging from the borough of Staten Island in 1993, their debut album, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), regarded as one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time, changed the game forever. Wu-Tang Clan rolls the 36 Chambers 25th Anniversary Celebration Tour into the AVA Amphitheater...

Pop songstress Belinda Esquer is at Tucson Hop Shop...

Inspired by soul, folk and rock, Adam Townsend Band performs in the courtyard at Mercado San Agustin...

Barely Bi-Pedal provides the music for artist/musician Ryen Eggleston's Art Party: All You Can Eat is a show that "perfectly reflects the arrogance and gluttony of the culture of capitalism." At How Sweet It Was...

Their new album, Long Time Comin'—plainspoken with alt-country grit and the Braun brothers' signature harmonies—cements their place in Austin's roots rock scene. Micky & The Motorcars play The Rock. With the red dirt country of Drew Cooper and The Cole Trains...

Vocalist Diane Van Deurzen and pianist Lisa Otey perform boogie woogie, blues and torch songs. In the tasting room at Sand-Reckoner...

DJs NoirTech and Tommy Defekt present Electro-Boom: An audiovisual EDM experience. At the Surly Wench Pub...

An ofrenda to the dead. In an intimate All Souls themed performance, Little Cloud and Oscar Fuentes are at Saint Charles Tavern...

Featuring impassioned, reverent and insightful performances by Chelsea Lee Trejo, Paul Amiel, Mamma Coal and Buddy Woodward, Hannah Yeun, Barely Bi-Pedal, Ryen Eggleston, Vicki Brown, Amy Rude and Doug Smith. Songs About Death will be sung at Exo Bar. Proceeds to benefit No Mas Muertes...

Sunday, Nov. 3

Is it a bird? Is it a frog's croak? "When The Fire Comes," Londoner indie poppers Kero Kero Bonito will be there. At the Rialto Theatre. With the ethereal club pop of Negative Gemini...

These new wavers emerged from a surrealist theatrical troupe who supplied the music for Richard Elfman's Forbidden Zone (1980) and other film projects, but got bored waiting around for the completion of the film and started gigging around L.A., and got signed to I.R.S. Records in the process. Former members of Oingo Boingo carry on. At the Fox Theatre...

Dance With Me? Legendary California punk rockers T.S.O.L. extend a hand. At The Rock. Local punks The Besmirchers, Bleach Party, USA, Los Diablos Gordos, Gutter Town and The Dead Beat Hymns kick out the jams first...

Acclaimed Americana singer-songwriter/storyteller Kevin Pakulis and his band create a front-porch vibe. In the taproom at Borderlands Brewing Company...

Dedicated to preserving America's original music, Tucson Jazz Society presents The Phil Davis Jazz Band. At Brother John's Beer, Bourbon & BBQ...

New! New! New!

Nationally prominent comedian Bobby Slayton, known as The Pitbull of Comedy, headlines Stand-Up for Humanity at the PCC Center for the Arts on Friday, Oct. 18. It’s a charity event that introduces a first-time producer, Rene Valdez, and inaugurates the Center for the Arts as a comedy venue. Tickets for the 18+ show are $24 or $35 VIP via Eventbrite.

The ambitious project includes food trucks and a raffle in which show-goers exchange non-perishable food items for a chance to win prizes including a two-day resort package. The food goes to the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona.

Ticket Proceeds benefit the Esperanza Dance Project and the Forgotten Children Foundation. “My childhood was pretty awesome,” Valdez says. “That’s why I'm deeply saddened about children who are robbed of their childhood. This show is my best effort to help them. Bobby was (my choice) to headline due to his charitable nature and because he was Leonard Cornfeathers on my all-time favorite TV show Family Guy.”

Slayton, often described as intense and energetic, has played more than a dozen such memorable characters. He played Joey Bishop in The Rat Pack, but he was also cast in Ed Wood, Get Shorty and two Woody Allen films, among many others. He’s seen and heard frequently on Sirius FM and HBO.

Valdez filled out the bill with popular Tucson comics Vicente "V" Trejo, Nicole Riesgo, Charles Ludwig and Monté Benjamin. “Hopefully this event will give everyone a small break from the everyday stresses of life.”

Comedians Who Aren't men

Ellen Doyle observes incidentals of daily life and imbues them with twisty, edgy humor. She says she owes her unique outlook to navigating Los Angeles as a Northeast Pennsylvania native. Doyle’s performed at some of the most respected venues in the U.S. as well as the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland.

At 7 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 19, she’ll headline the bimonthly Planned Parenthood benefit, Comedians Who Aren’t Men, at The O. Hosted by producer Autumn Horvat, the lineup includes Savannah Hernandez, Magghie O'Shea, Ashley Tappan, Mariah, Andrea Carmichael, Emma Stephens and Danyella Renae. Reservations are $5 and $10 via theoracle2000.com/events.

Tiny Meat Gang

Don’t you hate those smartasses who quit their jobs, start a podcast, attract millions of fans overnight, then tour the biggest comedy venues in the country? They’re supposed to come up through 30 years of the traditional grind.

Twenty-first-century brats Cody Ko and Noel Miller, AKA, Tiny Meat Gang, used to be software engineers. They have high-paid experience in disrupting things. They promise to be “pretty decent comedians” at The Rialto Theatre, Saturday, Oct. 19 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $32 to $45, $140 includes a meet and greet, at rialtotheatre.com

You want comedy with that?

Tony’s New York Style Italian Deli hosts a third helping of Italian buffet and comedy at 7 p.m., Saturday, Oct.19. The night’s lineup includes Jarrod Martin, Roxy Merrari, Andrew Scott and Kev Lee. Tony Bruhn hosts. Tickets are $15 via outlaw-comedy.ticketleap.com. Our favorite part is the patio seating that makes the show feel like cousin Sofia’s wedding dinner.

Don’t get mad, get even. VOTE!

Comedian Jamie Kilstein (Joe Rogan, Conan, Showtime, CNN) milks the news for all the best jokes to soothe our shattered nerves and screaming consciences. His daily headline snarking can inoculate us from the real thing but also prepare us to dodge landmines around the office party.
Kilstein performs at Borderlands Brewery at 7 p.m., Monday, October 21 with Phil Gordan, Alex Kack and me. Tickets are $5 at the door. Jamie Kilstein, Podcast Misfit, is available via Patreon, Stitcher and Spotify.

More Laughs!

Friday, Oct. 18: Standup with Augie Smith, feat. Alphonso Ochoa, at 8 and 10:30 p.m., Laffs Comedy Caffe ($12.50 and $17.50). Improv with 201 Student Showcase and The Lobbyists at 7:30 p.m. and The Soapbox with Wailing Banshide Investigations at 9 p.m.; standup with Veterans and Beginners at 10:30 p.m., at Tucson Improv Movement(TIM)($5)Family-friendly improv with Not Burnt Out Just Unscrewed (NBOJU) at 7:30 p.m. at Unscrewed Theatre ($5 and $7).

Saturday, Oct. 19: High camp monthly event Retro Game Show Night features “It's a Spooky $9.95 Pyramid” at 7 p.m. at Club Congress. ($12, Eventbrite). Standup with Zeneth Nevers at 8 p.m. at The O ($5 - $10). Improv with The Game Show Show and Laugh Tracks at 7:30 p.m., followed by the Tarot-based Seasons Readings, Choice Cut and Triple Indemnity at 9 p.m. at TIM, ($5). Family-friendly improv with NBOJU at 7:30 p.m. followed by House Team Double Feature at 9 p.m. at Unscrewed Theater ($5 and $8).

Sunday, Oct. 20: Standup with The 5th Anniversary Estrogen Hour benefit for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society at Laffs Comedy Caffe ($15 via TinyURL.com/Estrogen5).

Free Open Mics

Sunday, Oct. 20, 8 p.m., Chuckleheads in Bisbee.
Monday, Oct. 21, 7 p.m., Comedy at the Wench, The Surly Wench Pub.
Tuesday, Oct. 22, 6:45 p.m., Neighborhood Comedy at The Music Box Lounge.
Wednesday, Oct. 23, 7 p.m., The Screening Room and 8:30 p.m., The Mint.
Thursday, Oct. 24, 8 p.m., Laffs Comedy Caffe and 8:30 p.m., Rockabilly Grill.

Time to get schwifty!

The Rickmobile is coming back to Tucson this month to bestow exclusive merch and photo opportunities upon diehard fans of Adult Swim's "Rick and Morty."

The mobile store, shaped like our favorite foul-mouthed, intergalactic scientist, will be coming to the Sky Bar, 536 N. 4th Ave., parking lot on Oct. 23 from 6 to 9 p.m. 

While it's there, fans can line up to purchase exclusive show merchandise, like pins, shirts, coffee cups and more. The cost of the different collectables varies, with an $8 pin proving to the most thrifty option.

The event is free to attend but be sure to bring your credit/debit card as cash and checks won't be accepted.

The Rickmobile's stop in Tucson is part of the Don't Even Trip Road Trip, which concludes on Nov. 10 in Atlanta.

For more information on the Rickmobile, visit Adult Swim's website here.