Palin's Going Rogue at the Fishtank: Now with video!

As we've thoroughly documented here, last night Kansas City's favorite performers gathered to declaim from Sarah Palin's new book, Amelia Bedelia Runs For Office. This time, Amelia's literal-mindedness accidentally destroys the Republican Party for a whole generation!

Also, she tries to teach herself to fly and goes kerplump on an Alaskan boardwalk full of Alaskan history and decency. Here are highlights from the first three readers, Ron Megee (in the ascot), David Wayne Reed (with the glasses) and Gail Bronfman Bunch (with both her knees scraped).


Dying camera batteries prevented me from capturing the epic and bosomy performance of Janet Henry, but, really, if I had, Tea Partiers might have drafted her impersonation as a third-party candidate. So it's probably for the best.

Going Rogue at the Fishtank: KC theater folk read and befoul the book of Palin

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Janet Henry goes full Palin.
The big news this week is that photogenic real American Sarah Palin has kinda/sorta written a Young Adult book about why everybody should quit their jobs. But books are hard and take time to read! Understanding the dilemma Going Rogue presents to non-elitists, local theater people last night performed the public service of reading Palin's book aloud at the Fishtank Performance Studio at 1715 Wyandotte.

There several dozen Crossroads types packed in a tiny room whose aluminum foil wall-paper suggests either '50s sci-fi or what life is like for a baked potato. A two buck donation was good for a can of Hamms. Organizer Lisa Cordes explained the rules: She'd edited the book down some, but promised "We did try to maintain the spirit, flavor and narrative of the tale." Also, we had to drink any time Palin:
  • Mentions Ronald Reagan
  • Uses folksy language
  • Bashes the media
  • Writes "Dang," "Give me a break" or "Bullcrap."
  • Refers to any of the following children and/or potpourri flavors: Piper, Trigg, Track, Tripp, Willow or Bristol
Low comedy and much drunkenness ensued.

Trans-activist Kate Bornstein will make you question your gender

Kate Bornstein leans back in her chair, legs spread, teal-painted fingernails and tattooed hand partially covering the girly design on her baby-tee top. A black and white wrist cuff with anarchy symbols and a gigantic, silver watch peek out under a sheer white sleeves. The 61-year-old, male-to-female transsexual writer and performance artist is surrounded by framed photographs of local leaders in the still-empty Alumni Room at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. But she's grinning about a different set of trailblazers.

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Kate Bornstein (left) with a TransFest organizer, Wick Thomas
"I was just at a drag king extravaganza in Tucson and I had my mind blown," she says, eyes sparkling behind glasses with pink, plastic frames, her lip piercing shifting as she chuckles.

Not that Bornstein hasn't blown some minds herself. Her 1994 book, Gender Outlaw -- a witty retelling of her own journey from man to woman and wry attack on the binary that shackles us all to male or female -- has become required reading in many college classes. In the intervening 15 years, she's appeared on talks shows and stages around the world, making people question the construct of gender. And this week, Bornstein is in Kansas City, adding some spice to UMKC's TransFest, a series of events put on by the college's Queer Alliance.

Honestly, I arrived at UMKC yesterday with a neat set of questions for a Q&A. But, I should have known better. Bornstein isn't the type of gal who answers inquiries in a few sentences. She slides backwards, hands on her head, and answers in a deliberate but mischievous tone, like she's sensuously sucking on a piece of candy. Talking to Kate Bornstein, I discovered, is like an intellectual strip-tease you don't want to cut off.

Staged reading of Reservoir Dogs to benefit man slashed in face

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About a week ago, Paul Burns' face was slashed in an argument with a man over parking.

Fox 4 interviewed Burns, who showed off his scar and said he needed 150 stitches to sew his face back together again.

Now, Burns has medical bills.

Lucky for him, his friends are trying to help him pay them off, starting with a staged reading of the Quentin Tarantino classic Reservoir Dogs tonight (Monday) at the Westport Flea Market.

The show starts at 7:30 p.m. with a suggested donation of $5. 

So if you can't remember what fate befell the six, colorfully named diamond thieves, drop in.

Slideshow: Turn On The Heat fundraiser

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Photos by Nicole Reinertson
Performance from Vesuvius Tribe

Just in time for the first truly dreary, winter-foreshadowing weekend of the fall, the Arts Incubator made several hundred fans feel all warm and cozy Saturday night.

The annual Turn On the Heat fundraiser, which banks money to keep the collective's artists from freezing in their warehouse workshops during the frigid months, was certainly part sizzle. Ceiling-dangling acrobats from Voler aerial fabrics! Fire-breathing jesters from Vesuvius Tribe! Bizarre cheerleaders in, uh, psychotic Easter bunny outfits!

But the packed event was decidedly chill, as well. Under a canopy of Christmas lights, patrons cradled giant mugs of gourmet chili and crunched on freshly fried, delectably thick-and-greasy tortilla chips. They chatted with artists and indulged in the open bar. They grinned and joined toddlers dancing to banjo stylings and flamenco guitar.

For those who missed it, click here for a slideshow.

Talkin' 1937 and KC labor history with Bill Clause

Ask Bill Clause, of good-hearted nonprofits KKFI 90.1 and CrossCurrents Culture, how he came to write 1937: A Helluva Year, a musical steeped in the history of Kansas City and the labor movement, and he can't help but start time-lining. "When you look back at history, there are certain watershed years," he explained to The Pitch this week.
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Then, like any good student of history, he showed his work, starting with 1848, the year of Marx's Communist Manifesto and Elizabeth Cady Stanton's women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York. Then 1917 gave humanity the Russian Revolution and World War I.

And then there's 1937, when the watershed was here.

"It's not as well known, because labor history is not as well known," Clause says. "But in 1937 A. Philip Randolph -- the president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters - came to the Paseo Baptist Church to sign the first collective bargaining agreement with an all-black union. Randolph would later be a significant organizer of Martin Luther King's march on Washington that led to the 'I Have a Dream' speech."

The surprise success of an all-black union after a 12-year strike is just the first of the great labor victories chronicled in 1937's stories and songs by a cast of almost 20. (Judy Clause directs.)

'I just got back from Ike Skelton's office and lemme tell ya'

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Kit Bond
A new book written by Missouri Senator and inveterate head tilter Kit Bond held Jon Stewart's interest for three-and-a-half minutes before the Daily Show host moved on to a more interesting subject.

Yesterday Bond sat across the table from Stewart to discuss the tome he's written with former Time reporter Lewis Simons, The Next Front: Southeast Asia and the Road to Global Peace With Islam. Bond advocates the use of "smart power," which sounds a little like the foreign-policy equivalent of saying you're a social liberal and a fiscal conservative.

In the edited interview, Bond talked about terrorism and nation building before Stewart shifted the discussion to health care. The two giggled about the lower house of Congress' scruffier elements. Stewart compared the U.S. House to the Delta Tau Chi fraternity house immortalized in Animal House.

"I went to Washington 23 years ago thinking I didn't understand the House of Representatives," Bond quipped. "Now I know I don't."

Kit Bond on The Daily Show tonight

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Kit Bond
Missouri U.S. Sen. Kit Bond is scheduled to be in the hot seat tonight on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (hat tip to Mike Mahoney's blog).

The show preview says Bond will "talk about the spread of Islam into Southeast Asia and a new way to fight global terror." There's also this helpful link to Bond's new book (with Lewis M. Simons) The Next Front: Southeast Asia and the Road to Global Peace with Islam.

Too bad he's not pimping A Taste of Missouri: Bond Family Favorites.

More Tuesday.

WWE pay-per-view coming to Sprint Center

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John Cena
The Sprint Center hosted a live broadcast of World Wrestling Entertainment's Monday Night Raw and a taped-for-television SmackDown event in 2009.

2010 may be even better for Kansas City wrestling fans.

WWE has tentatively scheduled a pay-per-view event for July 18 at the Sprint Center.

If memory serves, the last WWE pay-per-view event in Kansas City was 2007's New Year's Revolution at Kemper Arena.

Nothing is set in stone, and tickets are not on sale yet. But Wikipedia lists the name of the event as the "King of the Ring," a tournament last won for William Regal in 2008.

It's no WrestleMania, but it's bigger than Raw and SmackDown.

Go See This: Tom Stoppard's Arcadia at UMKC

UMKC's production of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia closes this Sunday, before our next issue goes to press. Because it's a fine production of a play touched with greatness, we're running a review here, now. Also, the review doesn't mention lights or sound or costumes, which all were fine, because, Christ, have you ever tried to summarize Arcadia?

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Kristi Lewczenko
Zachary M. Andrews and Anna Safar
Just a year or so back, when UMKC's Graduate Theatre Department often outdid the Repertory Theatre with which it shares a building, no theater event would get me worked up as much as the department's annual visit of faintly notorious director Barry Kyle of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

These days, the Rep is at last boxing in its weight class, but a Kyle show remains an event, a rousing education not just for his grad students but for anyone who appreciates ambitious theater.

Taking on Arcadia, Tom Stoppard's heady stab at a theory of everything, Kyle forgos his grand flourishes and instead contents himself with setting in motion a little galaxy. His cast circles about debating truth and beauty, thought and feeling, order and chaos, sometimes reckless and human but by the end waltzing along like the spheres of the ancients.

For all his daring and the relative lavishness of his productions, Kyle distinguishes this show by force and clarity of movement, by the way each stride or pause is a small revelation.

Clips from Willie Aames' Broke & Famous now online

If you missed Willie Aames' turn on VH1's Broke & Famous last night, clips are now online, including footage of Aames' Johnson County garage sale (see it below and read about it here and here). The show airs again today at 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on VH1.

Also, if you need financial advice, who better to advise you than a guy who's squandered his fortune and is on the rebound, right?

Sneak Peek: Independence Events Center

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Workers will be putting in long hours in the next few days preparing the Independence Events Center for its opening weekend.

The building holds 5,800 for hockey. Its principal tenant is the Missouri Mavericks, who are 2-5 in Central Hockey League play. The team practices in an adjacent rink that's open to the public when large, skilled Canadians are off the ice.

In addition to hockey, the events center is vying for concerts too big for the Uptown but not quite worthy of the Sprint Center. The Zac Brown Band and Tech N9ne perform this month.

A ribbon cutting and open house take place on Saturday. At 2 p.m. on Sunday, varsity high school teams representing Independence and Rockhurst will play in the main arena. (The game is free.)

The road-weary Mavericks play their first home game on Friday, November 13, at 7:05 p.m.

Click here or on the photo for a slideshow.


Cool video of the day: T2's Massacre in the Crossroads

Yeah, Halloween's over. But this video by T2 is too sweet not to share.

The video was "written, produced and executed by T2" and shot October 2 at Studio Dan Meiners.


There's also an extended cut. Just wait for the drill. It's pretty gruesome.

Via Hallmark's Cre.A.Tiv.I.Ty blog.

Broke-ass Willie Aames' JoCo garage sale on VH1 Thursday

Willie "Bibleman" Aames' new and humbling television show, Broke and Famous, airs on VH1 Thursday night, and according to Entertainment Tonight, the former Charles in Charge star's Johnson County garage sale -- filmed for the VH1 show in March -- will be featured on the show.


I was there with the Pitch Action News Team -- read about it here and here -- and it was really uncomfortable. Fawning housewives picked over the former Eight is Enough star's possessions and sang the Charles in Charge theme. Aames just sat there haggled over prices for mounted animal heads, DVDs and a Teen Beat, which the Crap Archivist bought for $3 (read all about the transaction in Studies in Crap and see Aames reminisce about touring with Hall & Oates after the jump). And here's the day in photos

I knew it was bad, but I didn't know how low Aames had sunk -- until Rugg asked to use the restroom.

Slideshow: Halloween in the P&L District

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Pitch
photographer Scott Spychalski survived Halloween night at downtown's Power & Light District. As to the fate of the folks in his photos ... we're not so sure. Click the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man for a slideshow (and look out for Luke Skywalker riding a tauntaun).

Talkin' zombies with Maul of the Dead director Ron Megee

28 days after Zombieland, "zombie" is hardly even a noun anymore. It's gone adjective, especially when it comes to costume time: the Coterie at Night's show Maul of the Dead boasts a zombie nun, a zombie Girl Scout, a zombie ballerina, and Cody Wyoming as a zombie punk-rock guitar hero whose riffs will shred your brains before he even has a chance to eat 'em.

Up against such awesomeness, who in their right mind will dress up this weekend as a mere plain-jane, vanilla-yogurt, one-size-fits-all zombie?

For zombie advice, we turned to Ron Megee, the director of Maul of the Dead and a world-class wrangler of the undead.


Megee's Maul of the Dead is a splattery blast. It runs through Halloween night at Crown Center's Off-Center Theatre (Friday and Saturday at 7, 9 and 11 p.m.).

See our review here, and visit the Coterie Theatre's Web site for tickets.

John Hodgman: A conversation with a famous writer and minor television personality

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Author and minor television personality John Hodgman might best be known to your mom and dad as the charming portrayer of PC in Apple's funny, iconic Mac/PC advertisements, but you probably know him as The Daily Show's "Resident Expert" and the author of two totally unresearched, totally untrue almanacs of fake trivia: The Areas of My Expertise and its direct continuation (as proven by the page numbering), More Information Than You Require.

Hodgman also contributes to McSweeney's and edits the humor section of the New York Times Magazine. He played minor parts in Tina Fey's Baby Mama, Ricky Gervais' The Invention of Lying and Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Battlestar Galactica. Hodgman will be in town for a reading at Unity Temple on the Plaza on November 6, and The Pitch spoke with him by phone this week. After the jump, MORE INFORMATION THAN YOU REQUIRE about John Hodgman:

Slideshow: Ailey II performance at The Folly

On Friday night, the Folly Theater was full of men and women in tuxedos and ball gowns, sipping wine and greeting each other with kisses on the cheek. The audience for Ailey II was a who's who of city elite: Congressman Emanuel Cleaver; Tom McDonnell, CEO of DST Systems; Kansas City City Manager Wayne Cauthen.

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Photo by Nicole Reinertson
But those weren't the VIPs at this performance.

Up in the balcony, the back rows of the renovated venue were packed with kids in jeans and parkas, all students in the Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey dance programs. Because of KCFAA's unique ties to the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City, local kids get an unprecedented chance to see and study with some of the nation's most talented young dancers. While the slate of Ailey II performances, which raised more than $180,000 for local youth programming, started on Thursday, the professionals spent plenty of time off stage and in the community.

Tyrone Aiken, KCFAA's executive director, says the dancers visited not only area schools, like Cristo Rey, but also traveled to Lansing Correctional Facility to perform for the prisoners. Later in the week, more than 3,000 children packed into the Folly for mini-performances that, Aiken says, had students dancing in their seats. On Friday, the show had a similar effect, bringing the audience of movers and shakers -- and wide-eyed students -- to their feet for a standing ovation.

Click here for a slideshow of the stunning performance.

Velvet Dog celebrates 15 years this weekend

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Chris Seferyn
The Velvet Dog, Martini Corner's flagship establishment, will celebrate its crystal anniversary this weekend. I sat down with Chris Seferyn, owner of the VD (400 East 31st St.) and Mint Ultra Lounge (334 East 31st St.), to discuss what it takes to keep things rollin' in Midtown for 5,475 days.

The Pitch: So what's been your secret to keeping the business going for 15 years?

Chris Seferyn:
I believe that a good bar is a community service and every town needs good bars. And it's up to people like myself to pay attention to what's going on, listen to people and figure out how to design something that people will enjoy so when they go out, they have places to go.

I noticed you don't book any bands or have any regularly scheduled entertainment. Is there a reason for that?


The Velvet Dog is a lounge. A lounge could be a lot of things. It could be a torch singer. It could be a jazz band. It could be a DJ. Anything. The Dog was never really about live music, per se. The first five to seven years we were open, all the other people that played music at all the other places, hung out here when they weren't performing. It's just a chill spot with really good music, eclectic vibe, retro feel. It's not necessarily about entertainment, although we do have some DJs, and I'm going to start expanding the flow and make the Dog more of a DJ lounge. Part of this anniversary party is kind of the end of the old Dog and the beginning of the new Dog.

Are these costumes racist?

After some complaints from groups such as the United Farm Workers, Target and Toys R Us have stopped selling this "illegal alien" costume.

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The United Farm Workers' Web site says:

The extra terrestrial creature perpetuates racism and discrimination in an already hostile environment and during a period of time when the debate on immigration reform is increasingly hateful and divisive.

Apparently Amazon doesn't see a problem with it; you can buy the costume -- if you want to take your chances on getting popped in the face -- for $68.95. (Walgreens is offering the same one for $39.99.) But that's not all. Amazon is also selling a "Sexy Border Patrol costume" ...

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and this illegal alien mask ...

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and this "Mexican costume" ...

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and this "Hey Amigo costume."

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Is this all just hyper-sensitive political correctness rum amok? Or are these truly offensive? Cast your vote now.




Stephen Lynch @ the Midland postponed!

Comedian/singer Stephen Lynch was supposed to be at the Midland on Thursday night but the show has been "postponed due to a personal emergency."

A make-up date has already been announced for Saturday, December 12. So hang on to your tickets. And if you want a refund, you gotta go back to where you bought your tix.

Here's something to tie you over (and in the spirit of the season).

Film documents downtown KC's rebirth

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The Next American Dream
Part history lesson, part infomerical, a 60-minute program about downtown Kansas City's rebirth aired for the first time on KCPT-TV last night.

The Next American Dream
is essentially a story about suburban sprawl, peppered with pretty images of the Sprint Center and First Fridays. Funded by the Greater Kansas City Area Development Council, Dream paints a portrait of a city a bit more dynamic and progressive than it really is. But by the end credits, even cynics of the way business gets done in Kansas City will feel excited by what's taken place over the last five to 10 years.

The program is beautifully photographed and uses an interesting mix of experts. In addition to the ghosts of Kansas City CEOs past (Gary Forsee, Mark Ernst, Peter Brown), the filmmakers interviewed Bob Berkebile, the environmentally conscious architect, and Christopher Leinberger, an urban land strategist affiliated with the Brookings Institute. Leinberger does an excellent job of explaining the postwar suburban flight that left urban centers in decay. At one point, Leinberger chides the U.S. politicians and planners for throwing out the knowledge ("what the ancients knew instinctively") accrued over 8,000 years of city building.

KC Rep offers free show to public service employees

Pitch theater critic Alan Scherstuhl tells me that "Into the Woods" is the best show he's ever seen at the Kansas City Rep. So if you're a public service employee and you're free Wednesday at 7 p.m., the Kansas City Repertory Theatre has a great deal. You can see the show for free.

Here's the full details: If you're a solider, police officer, firefighter, EMT, ambulance driver or a city or county worker in Jackson, Johnson, Wyandotte, Clay or Platte counties, then you're eligible for free tickets to the show at the Spencer Theatre in the James C. Olson Performing Arts Center on the campus of the University of Missouri-Kansas City. There is a limit: Four tickets per family.

For tickets, call the Rep's box office at 816-235-2700 or e-mail your request to info@kcrep.org (don't forget the promo code "thankyou"). Include your name, address, phone number and the number of tickets you want to reserve.  Also, don't forget to bring your employment ID when you pick up your tix.

Not sold? Check out this preview:


Chris Stigall interned for David Letterman, but he didn't see any cheating

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Chris Stigall
KCMO 710's flaming conservative pundit Chris Stigall apparently interned for David Letterman.

Check out this interview with Bottom Line Communications for stories of working for Dave, but don't expect any tawdry details.

Stigall didn't see a thing.
"It isn't as though he's running around the office like Benny Hill," Stigall told Bottom Line. "There are literally just four to five people in a staff of dozens that have any regular contact with him. Most people who work for that show seldom ever speak to or see him."
Last night, Letterman admitted affairs with staff members.

Today, prosecutors charged Robert J. Halderman, a CBS employee, with trying to extort $2 million from the late night talk show host.

Weekend Distractions

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"Sacred Heart" by Trenton Matthews
Tonight, an art show at Mood Swings Salon asks "What the Fuck is Wrong With this Kid?"
1. Do the art thing. It's already First Friday again. (While you're in the Crossroads, head over to Union Station, for the opening night of Andy Warhol Portfolios: Life and Legends. Get a free beverage if you arrive between 5 and 9 p.m.)

2. Get some culture in Lee's Summit. Today and Saturday, the Longview Campus of Metropolitan Community Campus is holding a literary festival with workshops, readings and lectures. Nearby, today through Sunday, there's also the Longview Art and World Music Festival.

3. Shop for unexpected treasures. Urban Mining Homewares -- which is open every First Friday, Saturday and Sunday -- is celebrating its fifth anniversary.

4. Ogle some hot cars. KCI Cruise Night is a car show (that actually happens during the day on Saturday, from 3 to 8 p.m.) near Kansas City International Airport.

5. Pick out a pumpkin! It being October and all, there are now would-be-jack-o-lanterns aplenty at City Market. The pu kin patch is open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

6. Root on the Chiefs. KC's underdog football team takes on the New York Giants this Sunday.

For more ways to spend your weekend, see The Pitch calendar.

What constitutes an illegal taxicab?

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You won't be able to catch an Atlas Cab between 5 a.m. October 20 and midnight October 29. Regulated Industries suspended Atlas' permits for 10 days. So Atlas' cabs won't be running for 10 days.

The city's press release said that the suspension was due to "violations of multiple City ordinances, including operation of illegal taxicab vehicles in Kansas City, Mo."

Illegal taxicabs?

Jim Ready, assistant manager of the Regulated Industries Division, explains that an illegal cab is one that isn't properly permitted in KC. Maybe it's missing a required sticker in the window or the lettering on the side of the cab isn't the right size. Or maybe the cab is permitted for KCK, not KCMO.

Whatever the case, Regulated Industries' investigators busted Atlas for running the illegal cabs.

Lucky for Atlas that its cabs will be back on the streets in time for Halloween.

Q&A: David Cross

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David Cross hasn't been to Kansas City since suffering the drunken mindfuck he describes at length on his Grammy-nominated first album, 2003's Shut Up, You Fucking Baby. Launching into his tale of how he came to be undone by booze and the medium-lousy band Harlow, he says he started the night alone because he had no friends in Kansas City. "And good for my friends," he says.

That cheap shot hasn't stopped Cross fans here from quoting lines from that bit most of this decade. If you're reading this, you probably know someone who has affected a low, nasal voice and told you to "answer your telephone" -- or you've done it yourself.

Still, knowing that all the liquor in Westport wasn't enough to endear KC to the comedy hero of Mr. Show, Arrested Development and the upcoming Channel 4 show The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret -- well, that's disappointing. Cross is showing a segment of that new show, which he has co-written, to some audiences on his new tour, which stops tonight at the Midland downtown. (The show's at 8; Todd Glass opens.) He won't run into any acts from VH1's Bands on the Run, so the way seems clear for him to like us this time.

The occasion for Cross' tour is I Drink for a Reason, his new book of short essays, lists and tangents. It's his first book, and at this writing, it's holding at No. 32 on the New York Times hardcover best-seller list.

I talked to Cross for a few minutes last week as his tour got under way. I blame the flop-sweat inferiority complex induced by a quick refresher with the Harlow-Kansas City track from Shut Up for some weak questions. So if Cross still thinks KC is lame, it's probably all my fault.

So, uh, you're coming back to Kansas City ...

I'm sorry. I can only apologize so many times. No, seriously, I just remembered that the airline lost my luggage coming into Kansas City for that show, so I had to wing around 20 minutes that I normally would have had stuff.

Slideshow: Kansas City Renaissance Festival 2009

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The Kansas City Renaissance Festival celebrates the gaiety of Anglo civilization's rebirth with more than 500 costumed characters on 13 stages and 16 acres of shaded lanes in Bonner Springs. Pitch Clubs Editor Berry Anderson caught some of the hot, dusty action, which continues through October 18. Click the photo for a slideshow.

Weekend Distractions

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Flickr: Britt Selvitelle

1. Take back the streets -- on a Schwinn! It's the last Friday of the month, and that means it's time for Critical Mass. Bicyclists gather at the Sun Fresh Market in Westport at 6 p.m.

2. See a black and white war in color. A new exhibit at the National World War One Museum presents the bright uniforms and other eye-catching elements of the Great War, which could not be captured in photographs from the period.

3. Laugh it up with comedienne Jennie McNulty, who's performing Saturday night at a benefit/poker tournament to support local women's sports teams.

4. Check out a goalie. The Kansas City Wizards take on the Colorado Rapids on Saturday at Community America Ballpark.

5. Get your face painted. That's one of the many activities offered during the Western Wyandotte Arts Festival on Sunday at Hollis Renewal Center in KCK.

For more ways to spend your weekend, see The Pitch calendar.

Weekend Distractions

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Flickr: 0595
1. Ogle some very buff, mostly naked men. Chippendales dance at VooDoo Lounge tonight.

2. Sniff out a good-for-nothin' train robber. Hold Up on Dead Man's Creek is an interactive murder mystery in production at the Hollywood Room downtown every Thursday, Friday and Saturday through Halloween.

3. Experience the steampunk version of Alice in Wonderland. Bellenwhissle Productions has put a trendy twist on its theatrical production of the Lewis Carroll classic, opening tonight at the Off Center Theatre in Crown Center.

4. Witness the percussive mastery of Tool drummer Danny Carey. He's participating in a drum clinic sponsored by Explorers Percussion at Shawnee Mission South High School on Saturday afternoon.



5. Take in an old movie. Gary Cooper stars in Sergeant York, screening for free at the National World War One Museum at 1 p.m. Saturday.

6. Appreciate the prettiest insects. There's butterfly festival happening at the Mr. and Mrs. F.L. Schlagle Environmental Library all weekend.

7. Get hot for burlesque dancers. The Kansas City Society of Burlesque performs Saturday night at West Bottoms bar Korruption.

8. Be a big spender -- for a good cause. Plaza Pzazz, the annual fundraiser for Ronald McDonald House features food, music and evening wear at Country Club Plaza on Sunday from 6 to 10 p.m. Tickets are $75.

For more ways to spend your weekend, see the online Pitch calendar.
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