Above & Beyond: Fall Arts 2016

Amy Schumer at Verizon Center, Fred Armisen at the 9:30 Club, Trevor Noah at the Kennedy Center, and Bianca Del Rio at the Lincoln. It’s quite a season for comedy, topped off by Tig Notaro’s Bentzen Ball Comedy Festival and featuring visits by Second City and the Upright Citizens Brigade.

It’s not all laughs — there’s plenty of food for thought at the celebrity-studded National Book Festival, the Freedom Sounds festival celebrating the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and three food-focused events featuring celebrity chefs galore, providing credence proof to Bon Appetit‘s recent designation of D.C. as the Restaurant City of the Year.

9:30 CLUB

815 V St. NW
202-265-0930
930.com

• Adam Ruins Everything Live! — Adam Conover brings his popular truTV show to the road (9/26)
• Fred Armisen — The prolific TV funnyman, known from Saturday Night Live, Portlandia and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon (11/2)
• 9:30 — A Time and A Place Oral & Pictorial History Book — A reprise of the 9:30 Club’s 35th-year commemorative event that started the year (12/31)

AMP BY STRATHMORE

11810 Grand Park Ave.
North Bethesda, Md.
301-581-5100
ampbystrathmore.com

• Darren “DS” Sanders & Melissa Douty (9/29)
• Intern John’s Peer Pressure Comedy Show (10/7)
• John Crist & Blayr Nias — Amp Comedy Zone night (10/13)
• Mike Armstrong & Ryan Van Genderen (11/17)
• Shaun Jones & Brent Blakeney — Amp Comedy Zone night (12/1)

ARLINGTON CINEMA N’ DRAFTHOUSE

2903 Columbia Pike
Arlington, Va.
703-486-2345
arlingtondrafthouse.com

• Jon Lovitz (9/16-18)
• Sing for Your Life — A Murder Mystery Comedy Show (9/16)
• ThreeGuysOn Live Comedy Standup (9/16)
• Saturday Night Comedy Showcase (9/17)
• Cool Cow Comedy Showcase (9/22)
• David Koechner (9/22-24)
• Nick Thune (9/30-10/1)
• Ronny Chieng (10/7-8)
• Felipe Esparza (10/14-15)
• Robert Powell (10/21-22)
• Ryan Hamilton (10/28-29)
• Alonzo Bodden (11/4-5)
• Tom Cotter (11/11-12)
• Brian Posehn (11/17-19)
• Steve Lemme and Kevin Heffernan (12/2-3)
• The Second City’s Nut-Cracking Holiday Revue (12/9-10, 12/16-18)

ATLAS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

1333 H St. NE
202-399-7993
atlasarts.org

• Tom Howell — Steampunked Stories (9/16)
• Atlas Silent Film Series: Show People and Behind the Screen — The series, led by Andrew Earle Simpson, launches with a late-era silent film and the 100th anniversary of a Charlie Chaplin short (9/25)
• Holiday Cheers — “A Night of Live Music, Champagne & Interactive Fun for Grown-Ups” (12/10)
• Atlas Silent Film Series: Chaplin’s The Kid (12/11)

THE BENTZEN BALL COMEDY FESTIVAL

Various locations
brightestyoungthings.com/bentzen-ball

• Lesbian comedian Tig Notaro curates this annual four-day event. Opening Night: “The Most Very Specialist Evening with Tig Notaro & Friends,” including Aparna Nancherla (10/27, Lincoln Theatre)
• Jon Dore (10/28-29, Drafthouse Comedy)
• Bridget Everett: Pound It! — Bonus: Michael Ian Black (10/28, Lincoln)
• Picture This! — Brandie Posey, Sam Varela (10/28, Kennedy Center Millennium Stage)
• Stuff You Should Know Live — Chuck Bryant, Josh Clark (10/29, Lincoln)
• Last Podcast on the Left — Halloween Bentzen Ball Edition (10/29, DC Improv)
• John F. O’Donnell — One’Hour Stand Up Special Taping, directed by Fugazi’s Brendan Canty (10/29, DC Improv)
• Weird “Al” Yankovic, Malcolm Gladwell, Dave Hill — UHF Live Comedy Commentary (10/30, Lincoln)
• Story District: Horror Show — True Stories about the Scary, Gross and Disastrous, A Halloween Special (10/30, Howard Theatre)

BLACK CAT

1811 14th St. NW
202-667-4490
blackcatdc.com

• Ten Forward Happy Hour — One episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation and drink specials every Friday
• Postcards from the Vag — A storytelling event, subtitled “Hilarious Stories from People Who Bleed from Their Wherevers,” featuring Lizz Winstead, Sarah Thyre, Chelsea Shorte, Joyelle Johnson and MJ FLores (9/17)
• Dr. Who Happy Hour — One episode of Dr. Who and drink specials every Saturday
• Story League: DC Finale — Comedians and storytellers compete for a special prize as the funniest story (10/15)
• Andrew W.K. — “The Power of Partying: 50 State Speaking Tour” (11/17)

THE BIRCHMERE

3701 Mount Vernon Ave.
Alexandria
, Va.
703-549-7500
birchmere.com

• Raven’s Night — “Celestial Bodies” is the theme of the annual Halloween burlesque (10/22)
• Kyle Cease — A night of standup from Comedy Central’s 2009 Comedian of the Year and winner of its Stand-Up Showdown (10/26)
• Paula Poundstone (11/11-13)
• Suzanne Westenhoefer (11/19)
• A John Waters’ Christmas (12/20)

CAPITAL HOME SHOW

Dulles Expo Center
Chantilly, Va.
capitalhomeshow.com

• DIY Bath Crashers host Matt Muenster and HGTV House Counselor host Laurie March headline this show featuring more than 300 exhibitors, seminars, home remodeling projects, including a Make-it, Take-it DIY Station, a free hands-on workshop sponsored by IKEA (9/23-25)

DRAFTHOUSE COMEDY

1100 13th St. NW
202-750-6411
drafthousecomedy.com

• Josh Wolf — Cute comedian known from his work on Chelsea Lately (9/15-17)
• Dirty Laundry — D.C.’s Only Late Night Dirty Comedy Show (9/17, 9/24)
• Matt Braunger (9/22-24)
• Vent! — An Interactive Happy Hour and Comedy Show (9/23, 10/7, 10/21, 11/4)
• Joel Kim Booster (9/30-10/1)
• Flula Borg (10/7-8)
• Brody Stevens (10/13-15)
• Jackie Kashian — Dork Forest Podcast Live (10/16)
• Beth Stelling (10/21-22)
• Jon Dore (10/27-29)
• Ricky Velez (11/3-5)
• The Crab Feast Stand Up Show — Featuring Ryan Sickler and Jay Larson (11/10)
• Johnny Pemberton (11/10-12)
• Joe Mande (11/17-19)
• Kurt Metzger (11/25-26)

 

EAST CITY BOOKSHOP

645 Pennsylvania Ave. SE
202-290-1636
eastcitybookshop.com

• Ed Luce — Wuvable Oaf comic series author (9/16)
• Charles Free — Bygone Days: My Family’s Six Generations in the Nation’s Capital, an illustrated look at local history (9/17)

FORD’S THEATRE

511 10th St. NW
202-397-7328
fords.org

• An Evening with Mark Russell — Ford’s Theatre Society presents the magnificent, piano-playing political satirist (9/19)
• History on Foot Walking Tour: Detective McDevitt — An actor portraying a detective investigating the Lincoln assassination leads a weekend morning tour through downtown (Now-October)

FREEDOM SOUNDS: A COMMUNITY CELEBRATION

Washington Monument Grounds
17th St. & Constitution Ave. NW
844-750-3013
nmaahc.si.edu

• The National Museum of African American History and Culture opens in grand fashion, with a Dedication Ceremony featuring President and First Lady Obama on Saturday, Sept. 24. It’s all part of a three-day festival with dance, spoken word and oral history activities, plus food concessions, and musical acts including Living Colour, Public Enemy, The Roots go-go band Experience Unlimited, Meshell Ndegeocello, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Stax Music Academy, Dom Flemons, Jean Carne, the McIntosh County Shouters, Morgan State University Choir, the Dixie Hummingbirds, Sonia Sanchez, Sweet Honey in the Rock, and the National Hand Dance Assocation (9/23-25, Washington Monument Grounds)

GALA HISPANIC THEATRE

3333 14th St. NW
202-234-7174
galatheatre.org

• Fifth Annual Film Festival — Five days of films from Mexico, Argentina and El Salvador, with a focus on contemporary films by emerging and young directors (10/26-30)
• Celebracion de los Reyes Magos – GALA’s traditional bilingual Three Kings celebration features the Magi, members of the Nativity scene, live animals, performances from local Latin American musical groups, and a walk through the neighborhood (1/1)

GW LISNER

730 21st St. NW
202-994-6800
lisner.org

• Erik Santos & Angeline Quinto: King & Queen of Hearts (9/16)
• 2016 NEA National Heritage Fellowships Concert — A celebration of traditional artists in music, dance, crafts and more (9/30)
• David Sedaris — The gay sardonic humorist returns (10/14)
• The Sultan and the Saint — A docudrama about Muslim-Christian peace (11/12)

HILL CENTER

Old Navy Hospital
921 Pennsylvania Ave. SE.
202-549-4172
HillCenterDC.org

• The Trouble with Hitchock: The Lady Vanishes (9/16)
• Overbeck Lecture: Capitol Hill’s Rainbow History (9/19)
• Oktoberfest: Beer + Charcuterie Pairing (9/22)
• The Trouble with Hitchcock: Alfred Hitchcock Presents (9/23)
• Chef’s Table: Chef Gerard Pangaud (9/23, 10/15, 11/18)
• The Trouble with Hitchcock: The 39 Steps (9/30)
• Talk of the Hill with Bill Press: Election 2016 (10/24)
• Alexander Shepherd: The Making of Modern Washington — Overbeck Lecture Series (11/7)
• Erica Skolnik: Thanskgiving Pies (11/17)
• Bonnie Benwick: Holiday Cookie Baking (12/10)

HILLWOOD MUSEUM & GARDENS

4155 Linnean Ave. NW
202-686-8500
hillwoodmuseum.org

• Gardener’s Focus: Fall Seasonal Design — Highlighting the fall seasonal plantings (10/6-7, 10/11, 10/13-14)
• Gardener’s Focus: Specialty Mums at Hillwood (10/18, 10/20)
• Spooky Pooch Howl-o-ween Celebration (10/22)
• Russian Winter Festival (12/10-11)

THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

Carnegie Library
801 K St. NW
202-393-1420
dchistory.org

• Making DC History Awards and After-Party — Five Washingtonians and D.C.-based organizations will be recognized for their contributions to the community (10/7)
• Preserving the Records of D.C.’s LGBT Communities — The Rainbow History Project, the D.C. Public Library, GW Libraries, and the National Archives’ Stonewall group co-host an afternoon discussion of the personal papers, institutional records, protest posters, and other historic collections pertaining to LGBT communities of D.C. (10/15)

THE HOWARD THEATRE

620 T St. NW
202-588-5595
thehowardtheatre.com

• DC District Trivia (9/17)
• The Moth StorySlam (9/19, 10/17, 11/14)
• Judge John Hodgman Podcast Live — “Fake legal wisdom” from a former Daily Show with Jon Stewart regular and his “bailiff” Jesse Thorn (9/21)
• DC Record Fair — Record dealers from up and down the East Coast bring their finest offerings in all genres (9/25)
• Dina Martina (9/26)
• Dick Gregory & Paul Mooney (10/1)
• The Sweet Spot DC: Red Light Edition — Pop Erotica burlesque (10/8)
• HennyPalooza (10/21)
• Jackie Mason — “Equal Opportunity Offender” (10/22)
• Heather McDonald — Former Chelsea Lately regular (11/19)

HRC CHEFS FOR EQUALITY

Ritz-Carlton
1150 22nd St. NW
chefsforequality.org

• What started as a fundraiser for marriage equality five years ago will continue as a benefit for the Human Rights Campaign Foundation in general, particularly its work fighting recent anti-LGBT political developments at the state level. Many of the region’s top chefs, bakers and mixologists will prepare food and mix libations as well as offer their wares through various auctions. The event ends with an after-party at Kapnos (10/26)

KENNEDY CENTER

202-467-4600
kennedy-center.org

• Ben Gleib (9/20)
• 2016 Peace Corps Storytelling Contest (9/24)
• Trevor Noah — A night of stand-up by Jon Stewart’s successor at The Daily Show (10/7)
• Unelectable You: The Second City’s Completely Unbiased Political Revue (10/14-15)
• The 19th Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor: Bill Murray (10/23)
• Igudesman & Joo: And Now Mozart — A mix of music, pop culture, and pure zaniness (11/10)
• The Second City’s Twist Your Dickens (12/9-31)

KRAMERBOOKS

1517 Connecticut Ave. NW
202-387-1400
kramers.com

• Jeff Chang — We Gon’ Be Alright offers an incisive and wide-ranging look at the recent tragedies and widespread protests that have shaken the country (9/19)
• Marisa Silver — Little Nothing (9/20)
• Alexander Maksik — Shelter in Place (9/21)
• Jack Hamilton — Just Around Midnight: Rock and Roll and the Racial Imagination reveals the interplay of popular music and racial thought that was responsible for making rock seem like a white man’s preserve (9/27)
• Eka Kurniawan — Beauty Is a Wound is an epic novel and the English-language debut of Indonesia’s rising star (9/28)
• Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz — TV (The Book): Two Experts Pick the Greatest American Shows of All Time, in conversation with Linda Holmes of NPR (9/29)
• Jane Alison — Nine Island is an intimate autobiographical novel set in Miami Beach (10/4)
• Metropocalypse Live! with Zachary Schrag — A live recording of the WAMU podcast, discussing the degradation of “America’s subway” (10/5)
• Pati Jinich — Mexican Today, written by the host of the PBS series Pati’s Mexican Table (10/9, FreshFarms Dupont)
• James Boice — The Shooting (10/10)
• Roy Scranton — War Porn (10/17)
• Jan Fedarcyk (10/18)
• Tim Wu — The Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads is a look at the rise of “attention harvesting” and subtle advertising from the author who coined the term “net neutrality” (10/24)
• Maria Goodavage — Secret Service Dogs: The Heroes Who Protect the President of the United States (10/26)
• Margaux Bergen — Navigating Life: Things I Wish My Mother Had Told Me (11/2)
• John Hudak — Marijuana: A Short History (11/14)
• Yudhijit Bhattacharjee — The Spy Who Couldn’t Spell tells the thrilling, true-life account of the FBI’s hunt for traitor Brian Regan (11/15)

LINCOLN THEATRE

1215 U St. NW
202-328-6000
thelincolndc.com

• The 31st Annual Mayor’s Arts Awards (9/22)
• Jim Norton — Mouthful of Shame Tour (10/7)
• Patti Smith in conversation with Seth Hurwitz — The 9:30 Club co-owner leads a discussion about Smith’s best-selling memoir, M Train (10/12)
• The Creative Time Summit DC — Occupy The Future (10/15)
• Dylan Moran — A night of standup from the Irish comedian (10/20)
• Bianca Del Rio — A night of insult comedy from the RuPaul-crowned drag superstar (10/22)
• Henry Rollins — Election Night Spoken Word from a longtime LGBT champion (11/8)

LOGAN FRINGE ARTS SPACE

Trinidad Theatre
1358 Florida Ave. NE.
202-733-6321
capitalfringe.org

• Throwback Theater — Enjoy music videos from a decade ago, all while sipping drinks and eating snacks outside in the Fringe Arts Space (9/24)
• Fringe POP: Short Film and Play Festival — The juxtaposition of public vs. private space, recorded film vs. live performance, is the focus of an event featuring short films and plays questioning what is public and what is private (10/6-9)
• Trinidad Crafting Salon — An event designed to boost handiwork skills (10/10)
• Clown Cabaret — Workshops teaching various forms of clowning, from classic to circus, commedia to slapstick (10/10)
• Alain Nu: Odd Universe — “The Man Who Knows” leads an evening of “mind-magic” and mysticism, including mind-reading exercises and ordinary spoons mysteriously bending and twisting (10/13, 12/15)
• 43 1/2 — A revamped re-mount of a Capital Fringe Festival work focused on the guts, glory and violent moments from Shakespeare’s best tragic deaths (10/20-11/13)

METROCOOKING DC

Washington Convention Center
801 Mt. Vernon Pl.
202-249-3000
MetroCookingDC.com

• Tom Colicchio, Jacques Pepin, Duff Goldman, David Guas, Richard Sandoval, Peter Chang, Scott Drewno, Tim Ma, Eric Bruner-Yang, and Victor Albisu are the star chefs who will cook and chat at “the Ultimate Food Lovers Weekend,” moved to December to make it even more of a holiday treat and shopping preserve, with hundreds of specialty food vendors in addition to a RAMW Grand Tasting Pavilion with samples from over 50 local restaurants (12/3-4)

NATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL

Walter E. Washington Convention Center
801 Mt. Vernon Pl.
202-249-3000
loc.gov/bookfest

• The Library of Congress takes over the Convention Center for a free celebration of writers and readers that runs all day and into the evening. Stephen King kicks things off, followed by readings by several celebrity authors, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shonda Rhimes, Bob Woodward, Salman Rushdie, Ken Burns, Juana Medina, Nadia Hashimi, Calvin Trillin, Jabari Asim, Anne-Marie Slaughter, Diane Rehm, Susan Jacoby, Jeffrey Toobin, Colson Whitehead, Newt Gingrich, Geraldine Brooks, Carl Hiaasen, Joyce Carol Oates, Richard Russo, Jacqueline Woodson, Adam Gopnik, Sarah Vowell, Margo Jefferson, Douglas Brinkley, Joby Warrick, and Mary Roach (9/24)

NATIONAL ZOO

3001 Connecticut Ave. NW.
202-633-4800
nationalzoo.si.edu

• ZooFiesta — Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month (9/18)
• Autumn Conservation Festival — The one time each year the zoo’s unique breeding and research facility is open to the public (10/1-2, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute Campus)
• Boo at the Zoo (10/21)
• Night of the Living Zoo — Friends of the National Zoo’s annual adults-only Halloween party (10/28)
• ZooLights (11/25-1/1)

SIXTH & I HISTORIC SYNAGOGUE

600 I St. NW
202-408-3100
sixthandi.org

• Maureen Dowd — The Year of Voting Dangerously: The Derangement of American Politics traces the psychologies and pathologies of this year’s presidential election from the New York Times columnist (9/20)
• Norm Macdonald — The former SNL Weekend Update anchor will talk with the Washington Post‘s Geoff Edgers about his new memoir, Based on a True Story (9/22)
• Andy Zaltzman — “Satirist for Hire” in this unique satirical stand-up show (9/24)
• Alan Cumming — You Gotta Get Bigger Dreams: My Life is Stories and Pictures (9/26)
• Ta-Nehisi Coates — Reflections on American culture, race, and politics from The Atlantic correspondent (9/27)
• Joshua Foer, Dylan Thuras and Ella Morton — Atlas Obscura: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Hidden Wonders is the focus of a conversation led by David Plotz (9/29)
• Jessica Bennett — Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace (10/5)
• Cathi Hanauer — The Bitch is Back is a collection of personal essays from the author, who will discuss the book with husband Daniel Jones (10/10)
• W. Kamau Bell — Socio-political comedian known for his new Showtime series Semi-Prominent Negro (10/13)
• Abbi Jacobson — Carry This Book from the co-creator and co-star of Comedy Central’s Broad City (10/27)
• Mock The Vote: Pre-Election Comedy Showcase — Lee Camp, Leah Bonnema and Brian Parise offer a night of political comedy, hosted by Andrew Knox as Donald Trump (10/29)
• Maynard James Keenan — A Perfect Union of Contrary Things (11/12)
• Upright Citizens Brigade Touring Company (11/13)
• Andy Cohen — Watch What Happens: Live (12/8)
• Jillian Michaels (12/15)

SMITHSONIAN FOOD HISTORY WEEKEND

National Museum of American History
1400 Constitution Ave. NW
202-633-1000
americanhistory.si.edu/events/food-history-weekend

• Culinary leaders, researchers, practitioners, and scholars lead discussions and tastings at the second annual event, intended to boost understanding about the history of food in America. Opening Gala — Food, drinks, and speeches from Jose Andres and Scott Simon, with presentation of the 2nd Annual Julia Child Award to Rick Bayless (10/27)
• Roundtables — A free day-long symposium with political discussion, from food to farm labor to food labeling regulations (10/28)
• Dine Out for Smithsonian Food History — Select restaurants will feature a special dish inspired by American food history (10/28)
• Festival — A day of free activities around the museum, from demos to book signings to film screenings, though no tastings (10/29)
• After Hours: The Great History of American Brewing (10/29)

VERIZON CENTER

601 F St. NW
202-628-3200
verizoncenter.com

• Amy Schumer — Peabody- and Emmy-winning comedian brings her incisive, no-holds-barred tour to D.C. (9/23)
• The Comedy Get Down — Cedric the Entertainer, George Lopez, D.L. Hughley (10/1)
• David Jeremiah — Stand Up America (10/20)
• Washington International Horse Show (10/25-30)
• 2016 Kellogg’s Tour of Gymnastics Champions (11/10)

WASHINGTON IMPROV THEATER

Source
1835 14th St. NW
202-204-7770
witdc.org

• POTUS Among Us — WIT’s fourth quadrennial satire of the presidential election process where audiences help decide who becomes the next president (10/12-11/6)