This year marks the final performance of the University of North Texas comedy improv troupe Sparky, but it’ll go out in a big way. The troupe will perform in a national improv tournament. The comedy troupe consisting of UNT students Sean Byrne, Alex Wiggins, Tierney Conley, Christian Campbell and Nathan Lawrence will…
Another big name from the small and the big screens has been added to the list of celebrities for the Fan Expo Dallas in April. You first knew him as Pee-wee Herman, but you eventually learned that his real name is Paul Reubens. The star of the cult comedy film…
The Free Play Arcade franchise continues to grow this year. It has plans for two new locations: one in downtown Denton, the other a new arcade concept in Oak Cliff. The retro video game arcade chain has announced that its third arcade and first growler bar will open in spring…
Performing requires confidence and focus. And performing improvisational comedy requires extra of both because the players make up the dialogue, movements and settings on the spot based on their fellow players’ reactions. It’s basically an ordinary social interaction, but onstage. A simple conversation with a complete stranger or a close…
Dallas’ comedy community is rallying around comedian Larry Campbell, whose family lost everything in a four-alarm apartment building fire on Jan. 25. “I’m just really overwhelmed by everyone’s kindness and support,” Campbell tells the Observer over Facebook Messenger. “I knew I wasn’t a scumbag, but I had no idea that many comics…
Former DJ and morning show host Jerry Lentz loved what he did for a living. Lentz, who died at age 54 on Jan. 27, was one of the first on-air personalities for the now-defunct station The Edge KDGE-FM, and he made the job look easy. “He was extremely devoted to the…
Weddings can be stressful, money-sucking pains in the ass, but Deep Ellum’s BrainDead Brewing has a solution. If you and your future spouse are willing to go without some of the usual luxuries associated with weddings, you can get legally married at the Main Street brewpub between noon and 10…
God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs. God creates man. Man destroys God. God forgives man and gives us Jeff Goldblum. Man creates dinosaurs for a movie starring Jeff Goldblum. Jeff Goldblum appears at the Fan Expo in April. The star of such classic films as Jurassic Park, The Fly, Independence…
There are some honors that only a handful of local news anchors receive in their careers. A few examples: getting to stick the new kid with the live storm report when you’ve had one too many pops from the newsroom bar; scoring the front table at the local Emmy Awards dinner,…
The free Waze mobile app acquired by Google in 2013 helped bridge the divide between expensive GPS driving devices and web-based map applications. It delivers a pretty accurate driving app that gives great directions, shows high-traffic areas and lets users customize the look and sound. Waze even hired Liam Neeson…
The racers are at the starting line. The next three laps will determine the winner. There are no do-overs, mulligans or second chances. The only thing that matters after a long night of racing is being the first to cross the finish line under the checkered flag. The traffic light…
The first RoboCop became a bona fide and unexpected hit in 1986. Naturally, Orion Pictures wanted to make a sequel to the Paul Verhoven-directed sci-fi action film, which starred Peter Weller as a robot-human hybrid and was filmed almost entirely in Dallas. The studio commissioned the film’s screenwriters, Ed Neumeier and…
No one in the play Small Mouth Sounds, the off-Broadway comedy about six runaway strangers on a silent nature retreat, says any words to each other or to the audience. Director Rachel Chavkin says that even though writer Bess Wohl’s play presented some challenges as a production — every movement…
The Dallas Fuel eSports team’s inaugural season got off to a bad start when one of its starting players was suspended and fined for discriminatory talk about a rival player’s sexual orientation. Felix “xQc” Langyel, who serves as the Dallas Fuel’s “Main Tank” in Blizzard’s newly formed Overwatch League, received a…
The AT&T Performing Arts Center’s “Hear Here” speaker series just added another name to its list of distinguished speakers, and as they say in show business, this one’s a biggie. Former first lady Michelle Obama will be the guest of honor in a moderated speaker show March 8 at the…
Daniel Burch of Arlington loves to spend his days off taking his finely tuned 2015 Alfa Romero 4C Spider down the highway and through the streets of downtown Dallas. He doesn’t use his downtime to drive and run errands. He couldn’t if he wanted to — the tiny sports car…
A conversation about racial tension and perpetual violence easily could have focused on recent events such as President Donald Trump’s comments about immigrants from “shithole countries” and turned into a collective release of tension over the racial sentiments such words have stirred. Instead, the panel of political leaders, athletes, musicians,…
Winter is the perfect time to open a water park like Epic Waters in Grand Prairie. The chilly trek from the parking lot to the indoor water park makes the entrance that much sweeter. A greeter opens the heavy glass door, and the climate changes from bitter cold to beautiful,…
Actor Paul Taylor said his opportunity to take on the role of horror movie icon Pinhead in the 10th Hellraiser movie was “the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me in my life.” Now he’s passed a milestone that probably tops it: seeing himself as Pinhead on screen for the…
Back in December, the Rev. Donald Parish of True Lee Baptist Church of Dallas needed dads to serve as mentors for kids during a “Breakfast with Dads” event at Billy Earle Dade Middle School. He says before the event, he was worried they might not have enough dads for all…
Just across the highway from the University of North Texas’ Apogee Stadium, where UNT’s Mean Green do battle during the college football season, lies another battlefield where weekend warriors battle each other for supremacy and glory. The Battlefield in Denton on Interstate 35 West holds Nerf wars every Friday through Sunday in…
Dallas gave birth to Joe Bob Briggs and his legendary drive-in movie column, but it also killed him. John Bloom, the real-life writer behind the movie critic persona, is going to overlook that small detail, however, and make an appearance in Dallas as Briggs later this month. It will be…
