Events Search
The Planetary Defense Force: Rise of the Dinosaurs
Mondays, 8 p.m.Theater & Performance
Easy communication and a sharp wit may be the foundations for good improv, but if you want to see what a troupe is really made of, take a look at how they handle a shaky premise. Having watched cast members sustain this Links Hall/Chicagoland Games show while rolling around in Nerf gear to avoid a tyrannosaurus rex made of PVC pipe, I'm pretty sure they've got it. Amiable host Aaron Amendola ushers an audience member through a series of onstage challenges geared toward overcoming a megalomaniac hell-bent on ushering in a dino-apocalypse. The obstacles—which may involve brushing a Wiffle Ball off somebody's shoulder—are too slight to provide any real stakes. It's clear, though, that this crew has the crowd and stage skills to create something special. —Dan Jakes $5
773-281-0824Todd Barry
Wed., Jan. 23, 9 p.m.Stand-Up
Barry performs a set based solely on crowd work. C.J. Toledano opens.
$14
Sera Cahoone, Ryan Jeffrey
Sat., Jan. 26, 7 p.m.Rock, Pop, Etc
Sera Cahoone named her recent third solo album, Deer Creek Canyon (Sub Pop), after a park near where she grew up in Colorado; in the mid-90s she moved to Seattle, where she still lives, and played drums in Carissa’s Wierd, Band of Horses, and other groups. Almost every song on Deer Creek Canyon expresses a longing for home, familiarity, and companionship, whether she’s literally yearning for a place (on the title track) or struggling with the pull of romantic nostalgia (on “Rumpshaker” she sings, “But now that I’m here I don’t know why I came at all”). As with her previous records, Cahoone’s sometimes wispy, sometimes twangy folk-rock flirts dangerously with ethereal fluff a la Sarah McLachlan, but she saves her songs with the directness of her writing and the leanness of the arrangements. —Peter Margasak Ryan Jeffrey opens.
$10
Period Piece
Through 1/29: Tue 8 PMTheater & Performance
A musical comedy about menstruation and time travel. $5
The Social Takeover
Wed., Jan. 30, 8 p.m.Theater & Performance
Local comedians C.J. Sullivan, Sean Flannery, Mark Larimer, and Clark Jones present this interactive stage show in which the performers hijack and audience member's Facebook page. $20-$30
The Social Takeover
Through 1/30: Wed 8PMImprov/Sketch
Chicago comedians take over an audience member's Facebook for one night in this improv show at the Laugh Factory. $20-$30
