Following last week's debate between George W. Bush and our next president, don't you feel a whole lot better? Me, too! So this week, there will be no suicide hot lines in Eight Days—just art because life is beautiful, and comedy because I feel like laughing. "alt+ctrl" is your first one. I'm not sure what it is exactly, but the goodly folks of the UC Irvine Beall Center for Art and Technology never disappoint. They're always cool and future-y! Opening reception, 6-9 p.m. Free. UC Irvine, W. Peltason & Pereira, Irvine, (949) 824-4339; beallcenter.uci.edu.
Fri
It's nice that Bill Cosbyis headlining this fund-raiser benefiting UC Irvine's Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine. Wouldn't it be even nicer if he stopped attacking poor folk? Boycott the Cos! 8 p.m. $100-$125. Irvine Barclay Theater, 4242 Campus Dr., Irvine, (949) 824-1089.
Sat
Okay, so art, comedy and a peace rally. Same thing, except I've been to very few funny peace rallies. They're always kind of earnest and full of drums. Well, get your groove on (if'n you catch my drift) and head over to UCI (again!). There, you don't just have to listen to speakers Jonathan Schell, author and correspondent for The Nation; Chris Hedges, New York Times war correspondent; Rama Vernon, global peace diplomat and founder of the Center for International Dialogue; and a bunch of other, more hippy-dippy ones!You can also watch the taiko and Arabic drumming, Vietnamese folklorico dancers, a bluegrass band, Topanga Mountain Treeo, poets and singers, and jazz/funk band Mimensis. Yay! 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Free. UC Irvine, Physical Sciences Plaza, Aldrich Park, Irvine; www.citizenpeacebuilding.org.
Sun
Gothic performance troupe The League of Vampiric Bards features "live" performances by Michael Bloom, Mark Webb, Michelle Cross and Sterling Knight. Please note that I am refraining from any "bite" puns. It's because I love you. 6 p.m. Free. Ipso Facto, 517 N. Harbor Blvd., Fullerton, (714) 525-7865; www.ipso-facto.com.
Mon
Well, we'll see if it's true that Allah Made Me Funny. We do know, however, that their publicist is a giant lump of sugar. We love her! We do! 8:30 p.m. $20. 18+. Brea Improv, 120 S. Brea Blvd., Brea, (714) 482-0700; www.improv.com.
Tues
Real theater folk are too cool to love Hairspray and Rent and Cats and stuff. I am also cool. But since I've never seen any of 'em, I won't hate. I'm fair like that.
And you know what? I bet Hairspray is superfun, and like all John Waters' and the Farrelly Bros.' best works, it has a moral. And lots of dancing fatties. 8 p.m. $23-$71. Orange County Performing Arts Center, Segerstrom Hall, 600 Town Center Dr., Costa Mesa, (714) 556-2784; www.ocpac.org.
Wed
When Christopher Titus talks about his sumbitch alky dad and his schizophrenic mom, you know it's funny because it's true! Also, he once got folks in Irvine all pumped up about the U.S. being the wrestling jock who slams nerds into lockers—before any of them realized it wasn't a compliment. I kiss him! 8:30 p.m. $22. 18+. Irvine Improv, 71 Fortune Dr., Ste. 841, Irvine, (949) 854-5455; www.improv.com.
Thurs/Oct 14
Go be a cultured kind of person! See "Subversive Acts," large-scale paintings and intimate charcoal drawings by Sherie Franssen that "create a dynamic of both contradiction and tension." Now, I don't know about that—you'd be amazed what artists think their work means—but isn't the title alone worth your attention? You bet it is! 1-5 p.m. The Office: An Art Space, 5122 Bolsa Ave., Ste. 110, Huntington Beach, (714) 767-5861.
