COMIC STRIP: If you had a bad week, then you need a big, bad comedy show: The Black and Brown Comedy Get Down is a veritable who’s who of comedians at Tampa's forum. Features Cedric the Entertainer, Eddie Griffin, George Lopez. AmalieArena.com. In Pinellas, fierce female comic Kathleen Madigan will elicit laughs with her casual demeanor and sharp timing. $52.75-$62.75. Sat., Jan. 24, 7:30-9:30 p.m. Capitol Theatre, 405 Cleveland St., Clearwater. 727-791-7400. atthecap.com.
GASPARILLA FUN: Two events usher in the Gasparilla season. The Children’s Gasparilla Parade entertains the little ones and their parents (somewhat) Sat., Jan. 24, 3:30-6 p.m. Starts on the north at Columbus Statue Park and ends at Gandy Boulevard. If that's too hectic, duck out at the Tampa Bay History Center’s new exhibition, The Art of Piracy: Pirates in Modern Culture. The collection examines the role of art in shaping the popular and iconic images associated with 17th and 18th century pirates in our region — including our favorite metrosexual icon Bucco Bruce. (Pictured: Rick Reeves’ “No Quarter.”) Jan. 24-April 26, 801 Old Water St., Tampa. TampaBayHistoryCenter.org.
IT'S EKPHRASTIC! Keep St. Pete Lit and Soft Water Studios's The Fantastic Ekphrastic gets its inspiration from Ekphrasis (n): a literary description of, or commentary on, a visual work of art. The unique melding of the visual, performance and literary arts features 16 visual artists’ pieces interpreted by 16 writers and presented in dramatic readings by local performers. The audience will give their two cents and vote on the performance they enjoyed the most. There are two showings on Jan. 24. Tickets are available online and must be purchased in advance. All proceeds will go to Keep St. Pete Lit. Sat., Jan. 24, 5:30-7 & 8-9:30 p.m. $20.
SC-MINUS TV: Chicago’s legendary sketch comedy troupe The Second City invades Largo Cultural Center with their greatest hits of the past two years. The company changed the way we enjoy scene-driven humor, that catapulted the careers of Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray and many more will perform favorite sketches, songs and improvisations from its 55-year history. Some material may be ripped from the morning headlines and others might offer classic gems from SC’s archives — all performed by what just may be the next generation of comic legends. Pictured, from left, John Sabine, Jamison Webb, Kelsey Kinney, Jasbir Singh, Casey Whitaker and Blair Beeken. Jan. 25, 7 p.m., at 105 Central Park Drive, Largo. Tickets are $24.50-$39.50. largoarts.com.
CUSACK FAVE: Writer-director Savage Steve Holland’s 1985 exercise in absurdity Better Off Dead is one of “young-era” John Cusack’s less widely acclaimed movies. Cusack plays Lane Myer, who decides to off himself after his girlfriend dumps him for a hunky ski jock. Unfortunately for him and fortunately for the audience, he keeps getting distracted — by his loser friend Charles; by a beautiful French exchange student; by a vengeful paperboy; by drag-racing Asian twins; by his mother’s cooking; and more. It’s a hilarious, chaotic blast. (Text by Scott Harrell.) $10. Sun., Jan. 25, 3 p.m., Tampa Theatre. tampatheatre.org.
GET THEE TO THE THEATAH: Plays galore this weekend. See Jobsite's Twelfth Night or freeFall's Buffalo Kings, two four-star plays according to CL Theater Critic Mark E. Leib. A couple of more options include TRT2's Bethany at Silver Meteor or Job-side's From Within at the Straz.
THESE FREAKS RULE: 20 Penny Opera is back and performing at the Improv. Read Scott Harrell's feature on this accomplished circus-style act. The pair's first touring show inspired rave reviews all over the country; now, they've got a brand-new second act ready to go, and will be road-testing it for one night only for a hometown crowd this Sunday, January 25 at the Improv in Ybor City. "It's entertainment for people with questionable tastes," says Tyler Sutter, one half of the duo.
This article appears in Jan 22-28, 2015.