THE ESSENTIAL A&E PICKS FOR FEB 13 - 19 

• Courtesy photo

Jim Jefferies: Son of a Carpenter Tour
Comedian, writer and actor Jim Jefferies is multi-talented man who rose from the ordinary while raised in his native Australia: His mother served as a substitute teacher, and his father was a cabinet maker and maintenance worker (hence the cheeky title of his current tour). Jefferies initially studied musical theatre and classical music before dropping out of college to pursue a comedy career—which, he claims, was his goal since age 11. Despite being attacked onstage early on, he managed to persevere and find success with the FX comedy series Legit (which he co-wrote, produced and starred in), his Comedy Central series The Jim Jefferies Show, high-profile festival appearances (the Just for Laughs Festival honored him as Stand-Up Comedian of the Year in 2019), various film roles and 10 stand-up specials, including his most recent, 2023's High & Dry on Netflix.

Nevertheless, he hasn't forgotten his humble roots. That said, the topics of his monologues are thought-provoking, as well as ironic and unlikely. He ponders the lazy habits of koala bears, the injustice of dealing with male pattern baldness, airplane etiquette, pride in being an atheist, his conceived boredom of spending an eternity in heaven, allowing Satan to have his say and why he believes Swedes are the worst people on earth. Taken in tandem, it makes for curious contestation.

Jim Jefferies brings his Son of a Carpenter tour to Delta Hall at the Eccles Theater (131 S. Main St.) on Thursday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. Tickets for the 21 + show cost $30.75 - $90.75 at saltlakecountyarts.org. (Lee Zimmerman)

• BW Productions

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical @ Pioneer Theatre Company
In the history of pop music, Carole King's story stands as one of the most uniquely fascinating. After more than a decade as a behind-the-scenes hitmaker—writing or co-writing some of the most iconic tunes of the 1960s—King became a star in her own right after the 1971 release of her debut solo album, Tapestry, one of the best-selling albums in American music history. Yet the story behind that story is even more compelling, which made it a natural fit for Carole King's biography to become Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, a jukebox celebration of her legacy.

The story opens in 1958 Brooklyn, with a teenage Carole determined to head to Manhattan to try her hand as a songwriter. She eventually meets Gerry Goffin, who becomes both her boyfriend and her professional partner, and the two find themselves among the industry giants in the legendary "Brill Building." But while their star rises with a series of hits, the couple faces personal tensions that may ultimately separate them, and force Carole to figure out whether her solo voice is enough. Along the way, we get a soundtrack of absolute bangers—from vocal-group classics like "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" and "Up On the Roof" to the solo hits like "It's Too Late," "So Far Away" and "I Feel the Earth Move."

Pioneer Theatre Company's production of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical comes to the Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre (300 S. 1400 East) Feb. 14 – March 1, dates and showtimes vary. Tickets are $57 - $88 at pioneertheatre.org. (Scott Renshaw)

• Courtesy photo

Adam Ray is Dr. Phil Live
Comedian Adam Ray had already established quite a successful career for himself—as a YouTuber, stand-up performer and voice-over actor—when, in 2019, he came upon an idea for an impression based on "Dr. Phil" McGraw for a comedy pilot he was developing. In a May 2024 interview with Deadline, Ray described what he found interesting about the character: "You look at Steve Carell in The Office or Alec Baldwin from 30 Rock, guys that are a little delusional, but also just unapologetic about looking at life through their set of goggles. ... I love those guys, where you almost feel bad for them, even if they are a little too cocky at times. They just don't know any better." 

The persona really took off when Ray continued revisiting "Dr. Phil" during the 2020 pandemic lockdown for YouTube videos with his friend and fellow comedian, Jeremiah Watkins. Ray ultimately decided to develop a live version of the show that he workshopped at Los Angeles' famous The Comedy Store, and later became a recorded performance that debuted on Netflix in 2024. It was there that a broader audience got to see Ray's Dr. Phil as a talk-show host conducting celebrity interviews with the likes of Patton Oswalt, Saturday Night Live alum Jay Pharoah ... and even the real Dr. Phil McGraw himself.

Adam Ray brings Dr. Phil Live to the Eccles Theater (131 S. Main St.)—for mature audiences only—on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $55 - $184.50; visit saltlakecountyarts.org for tickets and additional info. (SR)