Comedy: Character Study

Larry the Cable Guy is not who he appears to be.

POSTED // Oct 10,2007 - There’s not much middle ground in how people perceive Larry the Cable Guy. Those who hate him think he’s a stereotypical Southern comic, riding high on the popularity of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, spewing out adolescent one-liners and shouting...

24Seven: Where it’s @ for the week of Oct. 11-17

POSTED // Oct 10,2007 - Thursday 10.11 Not all bookstores have succumbed to the Wal-Mart-ization of Big Book Business. Sam Weller’s Bookstore prides itself on presenting lesser-known authors, including those participating in the SMALL PRESS FORUM. Tonight, the forum features...

Theater: Wild, Wild Welsh

A vintage musical and a monologue “sequel” both deliver something new for local theater audiences.

POSTED // Oct 3,2007 - Talking Wales III In two previous collections of monologues for Utah Contemporary Theatre, playwright and Salt Lake Acting Company dramaturg Mike Dorrell has created vivid individual character studies drawn from his native Wales. In this third installment,...

Talks: Repeat Offender

Joe Raiola laughs at attacks on free speech in The Joy of Censorship.

POSTED // Oct 3,2007 - Joe Raiola might be bringing a potentially incendiary presentation to America’s reddest state, but you can’t scare him. He’s been to Provo. Ten years ago, Raiola—senior editor for Mad magazine—visited Utah County with his...

24Seven: Where it’s @ for the week of Oct. 4-10

POSTED // Oct 3,2007 - Thursday 10.4 Some performing-arts companies need brand spankin’ new productions to open their seasons. Repertory Dance Theatre prefers to have vintage material speak to the legacy and future of the company. ECHO revives three classic dance pieces—Blue...

Books: A Poet’s Life

Mark Strand returns to Utah to read from an impressive body of work.

POSTED // Sep 26,2007 - In the literary world, few purveyors can make a living from writing poetry. Most fall prey to the mundane distractions of everyday life that is the lot that falls to most aspiring poets. Mark Strand has made a name for himself as one of the foremost writers...

Theater: Breaking Wind

A film history footnote becomes sharp comedy in Moonlight and Magnolias.

POSTED // Sep 26,2007 - As a rule, there are few artistic endeavors more tiresome than a Hollywood writer’s insider swipe at the machinations of show biz. Equal parts self-loathing and outwardly directed loathing, these exposés purge something for the scribe, but...

24Seven: Where it’s @ for the week of Sept. 27-Oct. 3

POSTED // Sep 26,2007 - Thursday 9.27 And you thought that emptiness you felt after reading the seventh and final installment of Harry Potter would haunt you forever? Get a Harry Potter fix—or at least a version of him—at Off Broadway Theatre in the production HENRY...

Comedy: Story of My Life

Comedian Ron Shock returns to the road, continuing a unique life journey.

POSTED // Sep 19,2007 - Ron Shock has been a great many things in his 65 years. A sampling, in chronological order: student of the priesthood, car thief, member of a chain gang, jewel thief, prison inmate, vice-president of a Fortune 500 company (MacMillan Publishers), a concert-promoter’s...

Visual Art: Strange Mu-tations

Artist Amy Caron brings the science of the brain into the gallery.

POSTED // Sep 19,2007 - With some of the exhibits and performances in the area recently [see “Sound Ideas,” Aug. 23, City Weekly], local art seems to be undergoing some uncanny transformations. If you didn’t know better, you might think you were viewing the...