::The Kids in the Hall at Verizon Wireless:: Annoying Boy: "How much would my head cost if it were veal?" Annoying Boy: "I'm not selling." Butcher: "Too bad." If this made you spit coffee all over your computer screen, you're probably of the population who has been pining for Kids in the Hall, the Canadaian sketch comedy troupe, to make it's return since the show went off air in 1995. Not even 1996's Brain......

Neil Hamburger is “America's Funnyman” not by reputation, but rather by self-determination. In fact, Hamburger is often considered the world's worst stand-up comedian. Making another stop in Houston this weekend, Hamburger is rarely booked by comedy venues like The Improv or Laff Stop; we gather his brand of humor is hard to sell to the masses demanding Dane Cooks and Carlos Mencias. In fact, if there is an antithetical personification to either Dane Cook or......

So you've done enough shopping and the relatives are driving you crazy -- take an hour away from that insanity and go see some extremely fresh theater. In a Jar...at the Smithsonian, written and directed by Crystal Jackson, is running Thursday through Saturday at DiverseWorks. Six pieces of absurdist comedy (3 monologues, 3 one-acts) and none of them have to do with Santa, reindeer, chimneys, dreidels, or caroling -- thank God! In a Jar...at the......

In 2003, Detroit's Electric Six effectively made it okay for heterosexual males to sing about gay bars to fellow heterosexual males without opening the door for a sexual harassment lawsuit or nursing a bloody nose. Newly armed with their latest and release, I Shall Exterminate Everything Around Me That Restricts Me from Being the Master, Electric Six is ready to blow Houston's mind one more time. "I Shall Exterminate Everything Around Me That Restricts Me......

Spent all your cash on girlie drinks and shattered dreams again this weekend, didn't you? No worries - Thriftster gives you the lowdown on cheap stuff to do until Paycheck Friday. Monday: Start the week out on a socially responsible note with the Houston Grand Opera at the Museum of Fine Arts Brown Auditorium (1001 Bissonnet St.). The event is honoring writer Leah Lax and who interviewed hundreds of Houston immigrants from around the globe......

Houstonist loves good pop music. We’re not talking about Britney, or anything else you’d hear on local pop radio for that matter. We’re talking about good indie-pop. Catchy melodies, clever lyrics, and overall sophisticated (yet, fun). Well, that basically describes Chicago-based Office. Office (not to be confused with the popular TV shows) originated in 2001, but Office leader Scott Masson didn’t get serious about it until 2004 – that’s when he left his job waiting......

Houstonist digs foreign comedy films because we don't always get all the jokes and sometimes that is more funny than the joke itself. Tomorrow night the MFA will be presenting Drained - the second, and final, film in its short Brazilian Film Series. What's that? You say you're an MFA member but didn't see this on the film calendar. Yep, "new shit has come to light." And, Houstonist is here to help you out. Winner......

As part of HBO’s The Comedy Festival, a contest known as The Lucky 21 was created. The premise of the contest is to spotlight the upcoming comedians from around the country. Tomorrow night the Southwest Regional finals will take place for The Lucky 21 at the Houston Improv, after which you can vote for your favorite comedian. Think of it as seeing a reality TV show in person. Voting for the comedians begins on October......

::Open Mic Night at the Laff Stop:: We gotta admit, we are a little curious how a smoky, comedy club will, ahem, "stand-up" without, well, the smoke. Isn't that kinda, like, part of the ambiance? Is it unhealthly to call smoke ambiance. Hell, whatever. Since the smoking ordinace was passed (and half-ass enforced) on Sept 1st, we've noticed a few changes in some of our usual haunts. I mean, who is used to seeing 3......

Houston is very under-rated compared to a lot of cities, however when it comes to live stand-up comedy we get some of the best acts around. In this new Houstonist feature we hope to provide some insight to great live comedy (and 2 drink minimums) around town. This week’s acts include: Stand Up for Peace at Fitzgeralds [9/21]. Local Houston comedians take the stage for a ‘Comic Relief’ about the situation in Iraq. Comedy......

A couple of concerts original scheduled this week were either canceled or postponed. The "Smooth Groove Tour," featuring Cameo, Morris Day and others has been postponed. If you have tickets, check the Reliant Arena website soon for the new date. If you had tickets to see American Idol Taylor Hicks, you can get a refund, but you won't get a chance to see the premature gray-haired Idol. His show was canceled due to bad......

You may recognize Judah Friedlander as Frank Rossitano on 30 Rock or as “The Hug Guy” from the Dave Matthews Band video, but anyway you look at it, he is a winner (and you won't get any disagreement out of him). Judah is in town this weekend (Thurs. – Sun.) performing at the Improv. Houstonist was able to speak with the self-proclaimed “World Champion of the World” and to be expected he had us......

This week is a musical Smorgasbord of live acts in town. Early in the week some good regional musicians (Carol Fran or The Troubadours for example) play around town. If you like Bob Schneider, you have two opportunities to catch him live (Friday and Saturday). Also, later in the week the once brit-pop giants Travis will be performing at the Verizon Wireless Theater along with Alabama’s John Paul White. Or if you feel like......

The Voice Behind Harry Potter Makes Apperance & Tape-Signing So you spent all weekend ravenously getting through the final chapter in the Harry Potter series. Still hungry for more? Jim Dale, the narrator of all seven Harry Potter audiobooks will put on a performance and will be available to sign copies of the audiobook tonight at Memorial Drive United Methodist Church. Jim Dale became "The Toast of Broadway" [NY Times 1981] when he created......

Today’s Photo of the Day comes from flickr user and Houstonist photo contributor Triplettenator who shares with us his love for manholes. Remember if I fall into a manhole, it's tragedy; if you fall into a manhole, it's comedy. If you have a passion for Houston and photography, consider joining over 320 of Houston's best photographers in the Houstonist Flickr Photo Group. If Houstonist uses your photo for Photo Of The Day, submit it......

Houston, are you having the BEST Wednesday ever? Well, if not, maybe Christian Finnegan can help. The VH1 hit gossip round up "Best Week Ever" comedian will be performing tonight at the Laff Stop on Waugh, through Saturday. Besides his star-bashing behavior on BWE, he currently is the host of TV Land’s interstitial game show “Game Time.” You also might have caught him on Comedy Central’s “Chappelle’s Show” playing “Chad,” the only white roommate in......

Dark Matter: 5 Gothic Horror Tales of Horror Appropriately enough for the rain and gloom (going on week 6--yes, we are counting), today opens a new series of gothic horror by Don Nigro at the Midtown Art Center. Presented by Mildred's Umbrella Theater Company, these five short plays take the audience on a journey to the dark side of romance. Beginning today, the plays run at 8:00pm each night July 5th-14th, 16th, 19th-21st (7:30pm on......

So we survived the iPhone frenzy over the weekend. As we mentioned before, some people who waited in long lines to purchase their new fruit from the Apple tree we’re even more frustrated when they had trouble activating the phones. But, just think how frustrated you’d be if you just walked out of the store with your new iPhone, only to accidentally drop it on the sidewalk? Well, that’s what happened to a guy named......

If her friends could see her now! As TLC's Trading Spaces bubbly host, Paige Davis, made her Houston debut (her first performance with the travelling show was last week in San Antonio) as "Charity Hope Valentine" in last night's Opening Night of Sweet Charity, we couldn't stop wondering,...would Vern have used that color on the walls? Frank, maybe, but Vern? Being this was our first time seeing the Tony-Award winning musical, we weren't sure what......

Houston-area congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul will appear on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report tonight. Paul has quickly distinguished himself from other Republican candidates with his libertarian views and his now infamous exchange with Rudy Giuliani in a debate last month. Paul asserted that the 9/11 attacks were triggered by American involvement in the Middle East, to which Giuliani replied, "That's an extraordinary statement, as someone who lived through the attack of September 11,......

Need to know just a little bit about something? Ask a dilettante. My husband and I went out to dinner last night. The restaurant was valet only, and it cost $6. We didn’t really mind until we watched the attendant park the car just a few feet from where we were standing. Then, after dinner, we had to give a different valet guy a few dollars for a tip when he retrieved our car. Seems......

Jerry Seinfeld at Jones Hall What's the deal with Jerry Seinfeld? He's part of the brains behind Seinfeld, TV Guide's greatest TV show of all time, and Wikipedia reports that he's earned more money for the portrayal of a single character than any actor ever. Not bad, for a show about nothing. The man himself, Jerry Seinfeld, will grace Jones Hall with his presence this evening for two stand-up comedy shows at 7 and 9:30.......

Rudz Comedy Workshop So you didn't know Houston had an underground Comedy Troupe? Where have you been? (Probably the same place we've been because we didn't know either.) But the important thing is we do now, and we can't wait to check it out. Every Tuesday, or as the website so honestly reads "almost every Tuesday" the Underground Comedy of Houston descends (or ascends) upon the upstairs room at Rudyard's for a night of jeers,......

And now for something completely.. the same. Well, not exactly. It's no secret that Spamalot is "lovingly ripped-off" from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but who can blame Eric Idle? The movie is extremely popular with everyone from British humor fans to nerdy teenage boys, and Spamalot tweaks the story just enough to keep the audience riveted, and also in stitches. We wouldn't say that the musical is exactly riding the coattails of......

Get Spammed: Monty Python Opens Spamalot @ Hobby Center Tonight The Tony Award-winning Best Musical of 2005, Monty Python's SPAMALOT, will make its Houston debut for a limited four-week engagement at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts May 22 - June 17, 2007. Lovingly "ripped-off" from the internationally famous comedy team's most popular motion picture, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Monty Python's SPAMALOT is the winner of three 2005 Tony Awards including......

Preview Performance & Reception: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum Happy Hump Day, Houston. Need something to get you through to the weekend? How about a little wine, a little cheese, and a lotta Roman farce? "Tragedy tomorrow, comedy tonight!" A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum takes comedy back to it's roots, combining situation from the time-tested 2000-year-old comedies of Roman playwright Plautus with the infectious energy......

The Missed Connections Poets Society is at it again. Houstonist is just a caveman...er caveperson, and we're baffled by your rambling stanzas of superfluous prose. Get it on with it already. Mr. Lynch... - w4m When your kids graduate, can the two of us play school?We'd like to accept on behalf of our client, Mr. Lynch. Ballys Steamroom - m4m Looking for the two guys who took advantage of me in the steamroom, I'm......

First Will Smith, then CSI, and now Reno 911!. Maybe it's time to bring back Miamist. The Comedy Central hit show makes the leap to the big screen with Reno 911!:Miami. Scion is sponsoring a free preview at Alamo Drafthouse tonight. Admission is free, but you'll need to RSVP in advance and plan on showing up earlier rather than later as it's first-come, first-serve. DJ Brotha Jibril sprinning from 9pm-10pm. -------- When: Friday, February 23rd,......

Texas is thawing, the Northeast is freezing, and a sort of natural order seems almost restored to the Ist-A-Verse. Almost. Londonist HQ—that is to say, the city of London—was battered by heavy winds, making it a bad time to be a twelve-meter (nearly forty-foot) tall snowman. Still, not everyone decided to keep warmly covered. Meanwhile, back indoors, the Big Brother racism is now causing all kinds of headaches for international diplomats, and Londonist got into......

So you still haven't checked out A Night at the Museum...at the museum? Only 3 weeks left to see it on the big, uh BIG, screen. In the ultimate case of art imitating life, the Houston Museum of Natural Science brings A Night At The Museum to the Wortham IMAX Theater. Finally, a chance to see Ben Stiller's head true size. Adapted for the screen by Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon (of MTV's The State......