Other Stuff Search – Recommended
Karaoke
Sat., May 18, 9 p.m.Parties
What's the point of knowing every word of 2Pac's "Troublesome '96" if no one knows you know? Make people know how well you spit other people's lyrics (but don't get spit on the mike) at Rap Karaoke at Jerry's, hosted by Psalm One (9 PM, 1938 W. Division, free). Or maybe you're rhyme impaired, in which case Beauty Bar hosts Queerer Park Presents: Spring Cleanin' with DJs Shaun J. Wright (Hercules and Love Affair), Black Gold, and Big Business (10 PM, 1444 W. Chicago, $3). The choice is yours.
Randolph Street Market
Sat., May 25, 10 a.m.Other Stuff
Everybody's into Gatsby these days, including the Randolph Street Market, the city's best source for fabulous antiques, which reopens for the season with an old-school garden party. There will be carnival games, a fashion show, and a beer garden. The games and threads are vintage; the beer, fortunately, is not.
Beerfly Alleyfight
Sat., May 25, 12 p.m.Parties
Few things go together as well as drinking and writing. That, at least, is the guiding principle of Drinking & Writing Theater. In celebration of Craft Beer Week, they've decided to expand to other arts. In the Beerfly Alleyfight, home-brewed beers will be matched with homemade food, and then each pair will be interpreted by a homegrown artist.
$40
(Best) Prom You Never Had
Sun., May 26, 9 p.m.Parties
It might make you feel pretty bad to think about all the teenagers running around having a sexy prom season, meanwhile you're old. Buck up! The (Best) Prom You Never Had is way cooler than any of the dumb dances for the kids. Proof: Girl Group, a 20-piece orchestra made up of local ladies in mod dresses, is performing, along with the Pretty Flowers; Chances Dances DJs spin.
$12
International Mr. Leather: Black & Blue Ball
Mon., May 27, 9 p.m.Parties
Nothing says summer's here like a bunch of hairy guys in leather hats, chaps, and codpieces. Following a weekend (5/24-5/26) of parties, seminars, and leather markets, some lucky fella has already been crowned International Mr. Leather, but there's one last hurrah tonight, the Black & Blue Ball with DJs Matthew Harvat and Ralphi Rosario.
$40
Irish Fest
Through 5/27: various timesOther Stuff
It's an established fact that the only true Irish in Chicago are the south-side Irish. Celebrate them this weekend at Irish Fest with a wide range of traditional activities: beer drinking, sausage eating, step dancing, music playing, Connemara horse petting, freckle counting, and, of course, Sunday mass. $10-15 daily, $27 four-day pass
The Magic Cabaret
Open run: Wed 8 PM,
773-404-7336Theater & Performance, Halloween
P.T. Murphy and David Parr's show continues to "take the 'ic' out of magic." Classic bits involving card tricks and swallowed needles blend with anecdotes about Chicago's history as a magic capital and Murphy and Parr's own youthful obsessions with the craft. The two deliver a bombast-free evening of chamber illusions, bantering easily with each other and the audience in a spare and intimate setting. A chilling interlude invoking H.H. Holmes, the serial killer immortalized as the "devil in the White City," reminds us that no amount of prestidigitation can reveal the motivations of monsters. --Kerry Reid $20, no one under 13 years old admitted
Diggin Dusties
Fourth Wednesday of every month, 8 p.m.-2 a.m.Other Stuff
If their aim was to capitalize on burned-out Record Store Day shoppers, Dusty Groove and Maria's have timed the launch of their "Diggin' Dusties" series perfectly. Peruse DG's new releases in the comfort of your own drunkenness days after wrestling that greedy asshole for the last Lana Del Rey single. —Asher Klein
