March 10-13
Nicholas Anthony
Comedy Caravan
1250 Bardstown Road • 459-0022
$8-$12; various times
This weekend, Nicholas Anthony will be headlining at Comedy Caravan. He appeared as a finalist on two seasons of NBC’s “Last Comic Standing” and is Comedy Caravan’s youngest regular headliner. Raised in Minneapolis, Anthony relocated to Louisville because it was a central location for a young comic who needed access to several major markets. He has since fallen in love with the city (even though he’s usually on the road 25 days out of a month), and last year he submitted “The Nihilist,” a WWI short film he wrote, in the Louisville International Festival of Film. “In L.A., I don’t see people wanting to get better. I see people wanting to get famous. I see people wanting to get rich. But I just want to get better at stand-up comedy … Louisville lets me do that.” Read our full interview with Nicholas Anthony at www.leoweekly.com. —Brent Owen
March 11-14
Java Men reunion
Zeppelin Café (March 11, 7 p.m.)
Nachbar (March 12, 10 p.m.)
Zanzabar (March 13, 10 p.m.)
Monkey Wrench (March 14, 7 p.m.)
Louisville’s iconic Java Men called it quits a number of years ago and have sporadically gotten back together for one-offs and mini-tours — well, they’re doing it again and are referring to this one as “one last grueling tour.” They will perform four shows starting tomorrow and running through Sunday; the first three will feature the original lineup of Craig Wagner, Ray Rizzo and Todd Hildreth, while Sunday’s gig will include “the later years lineup” of Wagner, Hildreth, Chris Fitzgerald and Paul Culligan (with Rizzo sitting in on percussion). For the uninitiated, the Java Men started in 1992 as a jazz-based trio with influences ranging from Chick Corea to Frank Zappa. All three of the original members were at one time part of King Kong, while Rizzo also was a veteran of Lovesauce & Soulbones. The Java Men released several albums and played around the region to a loyal following before (mostly) moving on to other things. —Kevin Gibson
March 11-21
‘As Bees in Honey Drown’
Henry Clay Building
604 S. Third St. • 216-5502
$15-$17; 7:30 p.m.
“Both the celebrity and the car have changed all our relationships with each other, and ourselves.” This is what J.G. Ballard claimed after his seminal novel “Crash” hit the shelves and disturbed the American psyche, exposing the dangerous power of fame. Fame can be an interesting lure, and other than Ballard, not many have explored its sinister pull. In “As Bees in Honey Drown,” fame is exactly what draws Evan Wyler, an aspiring writer, into the folds of conspiracy and violence. After getting the once-in-a-lifetime chance to write a biography for celebrity Alexa Vere de Vere, he soon discovers he is not the first nobody to be drawn in by her fast-talking, glamorous lifestyle, and that his desire for fame may lead to his greatest downfall. The play is being put on by Pandora Productions, a company dedicated to going “beyond Broadway” to ensure otherwise unnoticed and bizarre theater has the chance to transform as many audiences as possible. —Pawl Schwartz
Friday, March 12
Pilobolus Dance Co.
Brown Theatre
315 W. Broadway • 584-7777
$25-$45; 8 p.m.
I just tripped over my cat and twisted my ankle, all the while reading how the dancers in Pilobolus bend their seemingly unboned bodies into convoluted forms. It’s only fitting. Pilobolus is a modern dance company known for its optical illusions, weight-sharing and silky movements. Started in 1971, it became an overnight sensation in the non-dance world when the troupe appeared on the 2007 Academy Awards. The dancers rolled and morphed themselves into various shapes, including the Oscar statue. They also have stories to tell, occasionally accentuated with shadows and puppets. The 100-plus works in their repertory, sometimes performed in the nude, illustrate their personal brand of dance, athleticism and grace. What’s up with that name? It’s a fungus found in dung. —Jo Anne Triplett
March 12-13
Dinner with Joel Salatin
Clifton Center
2117 Payne St.
$75; 6:30 p.m.
Attention all foodies: Sustainable farming guru Joel Salatin is coming to the Clifton Center to kick off the Community Farm Alliance’s Second Annual Food Summit. Salatin — whose own Polyface Farm has become the poster child for holistic, organic animal husbandry — will open a dialogue with Louisville residents to discuss their most pressing food concerns, comments and queries over dinner catered by the green-minded Proof on Main. The CFA Food Summit kicks off the following evening at Meyzeek Middle School, where the dialogue will be continued, and the resulting information funneled into Metro Public Health & Wellness to (hopefully) better irrigate the city’s plethora of urban food deserts. If you don’t feel like shelling out $75, though, just rent “Food, Inc.” and buy a homeless person some free-range chicken. —Jonathan Meador
March 12-June 27
‘Most Famous People in the World’
Speed Art Museum
2035 S. Third St. • 634-2700
Legendary photographer Yousuf Karsh (1908-2002) was able to effortlessly capture the spirit of the person posing for the portrait — whether it was your Average Joe or Winston Churchill. “My desire was to photograph the great in spirit, whether they be famous or humble,” he said. The Speed Art Museum opens a new exhibit of Karsh’s photos on Friday. “The Most Famous People in the World: Karsh 100” represents a visual biography of Karsh’s work and features some of the 20th century’s most well-known faces, including Mother Teresa, Jacqueline Kennedy, Audrey Hepburn, Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol. There are many events and lectures planned for the exhibit, which runs through June 27. Check the website for details. —Sara Havens
Saturday, March 13
Michael Franti & Spearhead
Freedom Hall
937 Phillips Lane
$30.50-$66; 8 p.m.
Michael Franti and backing band Spearhead have mixed hip-hop, reggae and rock for two decades, and this hybridization has led to thrilling live shows and critically acclaimed albums. Among them was last year’s All Rebel Rockers, which spawned the Top 40 hit “Say Hey (I Love You).”
They fill the opening spot on John Mayer’s tour stop at Freedom Hall Saturday. An alum of the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy who loves playing music in the street, Franti and crew will surely leave it all onstage and let Mayer bat cleanup. Read LEO Weekly’s complete interview with Franti at www.leoweekly.com/music. —Brent Owen
Saturday, March 13
Celtic Crossroads
Bomhard Theater, Kentucky Center
584-7777
$22.50-$27.50; 8 p.m.
Matthew Perry once poked fun at Irish dance when he noted on “Friends” that Michael Flatley “scares the bejeezus” out of him. “His arms and legs flail about as if independent from his body,” Perry’s character Chandler said. Nice. But the truth is, Irish dance is about as respected as any art form — it is steeped in history and tradition, which carries on Saturday at the Bomhard Theater with Celtic Crossroads. The show’s name recalls a time when neighboring communities in Ireland would meet at the crossroads between towns and villages to socialize. Seven world-class musicians will play more than 20 different instruments, and some of Ireland’s most respected dancers will join them to create a memorable Celtic spectacle. So where the heck is Matthew Perry these days anyway? He really should see this. —Kevin Gibson
Monday, March 15
David Ford
Zanzabar
2100 S. Preston St. • 635-ZBAR
$10; 7 p.m.
David Ford’s third album, Let the Hard Times Roll, came together “by any means necessary,” the British songwriter says on his way to perform on WXPN’s “World Café Live.” With no budget, Ford journeyed to an industrial warehouse in a “suburb of a suburb of England,” tracked in a Warrensburg, Mo., hotel room and mixed on a kitchen table in New York. “The fact that it had to fight to even exist, its will to be makes it strong.” A YouTube sensation — his video for “Go To Hell” has netted more than 600,000 hits — Ford’s solo shows thrive on abandon, backing tracks a la Andrew Bird, and that dry-as-a-bone British wit. Brooks Ritter opens. —Mat Herron
Through March 19
‘Dowry’ by Vadis Turner
Green Building Gallery
732 E. Market St. • 561-1162
Artistic anatomy lessons are the oeuvre of Vadis Turner. She creates lungs, hearts and kidneys using discarded jewelry, mixing traditional women’s crafts with a good splash of feminist commentary. Don’t be shocked to find tampons and pantyhose mixed in with the doilies.
“A collection of heirlooms is really a dowry, and a dowry is really an offering of culturally valuable goods to socially advance a woman through marriage,” said Turner in an interview in the May 2009 Vanity Fair. “It’s basically masking this person in a collection of goods. You forget there’s a human being traded off. To make those organs out of jewelry, which has a universal value, was to make a connection between the human and the goods.” —Jo Anne Triplett
