Sasheer Zamata is a woman of many talents. While she gained prominence as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, she is also an accomplished writer, actress and stand-up comedian. On March 30-31, she will perform both her stand-up and her variety show, Sasheer Zamata’s Party Time, at the Dallas Comedy…
Terrance M. Johnson describes the seven men and seven women who make up his eponymous dance company as ambassadors. Dancers don’t audition for the Terrance M. Johnson Dance Project but are invited, and they must serve the community with their talent and be willing to help him on his mission…
After the Gamergate controversy in 2014, the harsh realities of being a female nerd became the topic of endless think pieces. The harassment campaigns targeting women made it easy to spot issues of misogyny in video game culture, but what about more subtle, everyday name-calling or exclusion? Even in the age…
A bad day at work is never fun. At a typical 9-to-5, a bad day could involve being forced to stay late, getting into a fight with a co-worker or visiting to HR after they looked at your browser history. For a stand-up comedian, a bad day at work is…
FCC, the first and only all-black sketch comedy troupe in Dallas, is here to give audiences an irreverent dose of sketch comedy you won’t see on censored late-night TV. FCC (the meaning is a mystery to anyone outside the group — the troupe has never gone on record with any…
The Dallas Opera presented the U.S. premier Friday night of Sunken Garden, a modern one-act opera first performed in 2013 at the English National Opera. The innovative composer Michel van der Aa collaborated with novelist David Mitchell, who wrote the libretto, to create a multimedia dramatic performance that is part opera…
Sex and power are stripped down and put on full-frontal display in GiANT Entertainment’s production of Terry Johnson’s Hitchcock Blonde — a pitch black, dark comedy timed perfectly for the era of Harvey Weinstein and Donald Trump. “GiANT Entertainment started last year,” says the play’s producer, Ryan Matthieu Smith, “and…
Michel van der Aa and I have a bad connection. We’re chatting through Facetime to sidestep international calling fees, but my tech reality isn’t equal to the Grawemeyer Award-winner’s. He’s explaining how he created, composed and filmed the world’s first 3D opera, Sunken Garden, which gets its U.S. debut in…
Performance night for the Mavericks ManiAACs, the all-male dance team that has spent the last 16 years shaking their exposed guts for adoring crowds at American Airlines Center, starts long before the ref throws the opening jumpball. At last Wednesday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the ManiAACS’ duties began as…
Passion, satire and professionalism collided when Day of Absence cast members met in the basement of Oak Cliff’s Arts Mission this week for rehearsal. “The play is a reverse minstrel show,” says director Aaron Zilbermann, “which means it has an almost entirely black cast that is made up in white…
On Saturday night, audience members packed themselves to standing-room-only capacity at Full City Rooster to watch a comedy show. Throughout the night they heard heartbreaking tales of loss, isolating periods of self-doubt and tearful recollections of moments that forever defined a life. They also laughed hard. These are the sharp…
It’s difficult to describe a comedy act like Tape Face, but comedian Sam Wills, the real name of the man behind the strip of electrical tape, says that going into one of his shows cold enhances the bewilderment and surprise he wants his audience to feel. “The less you know,…
For the last year, local emcee and broadcaster Devin Pike has been battling throat cancer. This is Pike’s second time fighting a cancer diagnosis. Scratch that. This is Pike’s second time beating a cancer diagnosis. Two weeks ago, Pike received the good news from his doctors that the tumor in his…
Tucked out of sight of the bars and restaurants on Greenville Avenue sits a nondescript building with a bright “4” glowing on top of it. It was once a church, and now it’s the new home of Four Day Weekend East, the second location for the popular improv troupe that…
At some point you’ve watched a stand-up comedian perform and thought to yourself, “I can do that.” And you can. Right now. Like, quit your job right now and go do it. The DFW area has more spots to perform stand-up than ever before and the opportunities are growing. Although…
The performing arts are in trouble. Go to a live performance at any theater, and you will likely see an audience dominated by an older generation. These are the people who fill the seats and support the arts financially. The news reminds us daily that the United States is in…
If you found yourself alone on Valentine’s Day, you’re not alone. The whole city is full of people who think there’s no one out there in this big, ugly world who’s just for them. They are out there waiting for you to walk up and say, “Hiya.” Maybe you’re a…
If comedian Joshua Fischer saw you perform a set, he’d be your biggest supporter no matter how well you did. “You could bomb, and he would tell you that you did great,” said comedian and friend Lawrence Rosales. “When you needed it, he was there.” Fischer didn’t just aspire to…
Within a few steps in Dallas you’ll be barraged with the abrasive orange, green or yellow of ride-share bikes. They’re everywhere. They’re an eyesore, and we’re looking for a way to have fewer of them. It’s not unlike how Dallas once felt about streetwalkers. (We still do, presumably, but there…
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…
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…
Pocket Sandwich Theatre doesn’t take itself seriously. And that’s why, of all the theaters in Dallas, it’s the one you’re most likely to appreciate even if you don’t like the theater. This Dallas institution has called the corner of Mockingbird and Central Plaza home since 1980. On Thursday nights, when Pocket…
