You know what’s harder than writing a book? Writing a good one. You know what’s even harder than writing a good book? Writing one in a foreign language. Well, if you have aspirations of writing, you can get ready to feel much worse about yourself because Bosnian-American author Aleksandar Hemon…
Bo Burnham taped his first of two Comedy Central specials four days after his 18th birthday. Four days after turning 18. That made him the youngest performer to tape a Comedy Central special and therefore public enemy number one to my former high school self. Then I watched his stand-up…
Two words are not foreign to Kelly Kroener: community and collaboration. In the few years that the Cincinnati-born artist has lived in Dallas, she’s co-founded multiple artist initiatives and invested time and energy into her adopted neighborhood, The Cedars. With a background in painting, sculpture and fashion, Kroener will exhibit…
No one who goes to a Lisa Lampanelli show has the right to complain that they were offended by her material. Her numerous TV specials offer plenty of warnings that her material isn’t for sensitive viewers or people who enjoy writing angry letters to PR people. That would be like…
He’s been called many things in his career: the King of Queens, a mall cop, that guy who was on “The King of Queens” and that guy in that movie about that mall cop. But before he earned all of those titles, Kevin James got his start the way most…
For kids, spring break is a time of possibility: a week respite from the drudgery of homework and bedtime routines. It’s a rallying cry for those whose spirits have been dampened by the cold days of February — a harbinger of fun that doesn’t concern itself with layers of puffy,…
There is nothing more relaxing than spending a Saturday strolling through a selection of quirky goods from vintage shops and crafters, especially when you know that you’re supporting people who love making their very own kind of art. The Dallas Flea is one of the city’s most comprehensive shopping experiences…
Cultural experiences don’t get much more intimate than Eve Ensler’s Vagina Monologues. No longer the shocking, controversial hot-button compilation of dramatic monologues that it was when it was first staged in the 1990s, the piece has become a full-fledged movement thanks to its association with V-Day, an anti-violence organization that…
Comparisons with Office Space are inevitable, but Buzzard lacks the romanticism of Mike Judge’s comedy classic about sticking it to the man. Things Buzzard also lacks: a moral center, warm fuzzies, redemption. What it does have in spades is a lead character so punk rock, so amoral, so emotionally bereft…
Any book-turned-movie that originated as Twilight fanfiction has got to be laughable. And probably not intentionally. Fifty Shades of Grey has done way more than give middle-aged women something to obsess over. It’s inspired a string of celebrity readings, plenty of parodies and a ton of jokes. So if you’re…
How do you usually celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? You probably put on a lot of green, drink as much as you can, boot and rally, then eat something that’s been boiled in a pot for two days. Technically, the 2015 North Texas Irish Festival is a week too early to…
In the good old days of dance — any dance, mind you — movement was paired with music. We don’t mean a recording, we mean actual music, from actual instruments, played by humans right in front of you. Avant Chamber Ballet hopes to reverse this trend, and also to give…
An artist’s process starts long before he picks up a paintbrush, or in the case of HG, a can of spray paint. In her latest video, Kathy Tran stops by the studio to see what Dallas-based street artist HG is up to, capturing him as he tries things out, brain…
Cutie & The Boxer Artists Noriko and Ushio Shinohara earned international acclaim for their 2013 documentary Cutie and the Boxer, which was nominated for an Academy Award. The film explored the couple’s relationship and their artistic practices, following the way they’ve intertwined life and careers as Japanese artists living in…
The world is a terrible place. That’s the uncompromising truth with which Tina Fey and Robert Carlock begin Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix), their follow-up to the under-seen but culturally monumental 30 Rock. The very first scenes of Unbreakable’s first season, which will be released in its binge-able entirety on March…
At a brisk 55 minutes, Mike Bartlett’s four-character one-act Bull is just the right length. A minute more and the heightened tension in this piece might cause spontaneous human combustion. It’s that hot, that fierce. And that good. Second Thought Theatre’s production of the brutish British drama, directed by Christie…
Years ago, my love for theater was my entry point into journalism. A poetry student dog paddling in the social tsunami that was Southern Methodist University campus life, I signed on to write a few articles for the student newspaper about theater. Next thing I knew I was taking journalism…
Kinky Boots, now playing at Music Hall at Fair Park, is a size 6 show in a size 13 production. What a minor piece of musical theater, blown up and spread out on a big stage. And what a major disappointment for a show that won Tony Awards in 2013…
There are five reasons why Fox’s Empire has become a breakout hit, and on this week’s Voice Film Club podcast, we run down why the show, introduced as a mid-season replacement, has surged to nearly 14 million viewers an episode by its eighth week. Joining Voice film editor Alan Scherstuhl…
Big idea if there’s ever another Dallas Festival of Ideas: Don’t have it in February. The lousy weather last week put a crimp in the weekend’s schedule of idea-generating events in the Arts District. What was supposed to be a daylong series of panels, group discussions and performances by local…
For better or worse, I eat this stuff up. Dark, depraved, macabre, mysterious in that delicately frightful manner, I delight in music that takes me somewhere else, especially if that somewhere is both alien and shadowy. I’m not alone. There’s a particular legion of listeners–largely social outliers, closet weirdos, lifetime…
After the snow, ice, rinse, and repeat, cabin fever has slowly creeped into Dallas. It strikes when you least suspect it, even during those epic House of Cards marathons, and urges you to get out of bed, put pants on, and do something with your life. Now that the snow…
