COMEDY
HEATHER MCDONALD
GOODNIGHTS COMEDY CLUB, RALEIGH
FRIDAY, OCT. 10–SATURDAY, OCT. 11
If the reports are true and Chelsea Handler doesn’t bring most of the writers from her now-defunct E! talk show Chelsea Lately over to her new Netflix show next year, that’s OKthey’re accomplished enough that they’ll do just fine on their own. Like their boss, most of Handler’s writers are both working comics and bestselling authors, and that includes Heather McDonald, author of the comedy memoirs You’ll Never Blue Ball in This Town Again: One Woman’s Painfully Funny Quest to Give It Up and My Inappropriate Life (Some Stories Not Suitable for Nuns, Children, or Mature Adults). McDonald is the latest Handler stafferfollowing Jen Kirkman and Sarah Colonna earlier this yearto visit the Triangle for stand-up performances. She’s at Goodnights for four shows with Shaun Murphy, hosted by Rusty Haynes. 7:30 and 10 p.m., $20$22, 861 W. Morgan St., 919-828-5233, www.goodnightscomedy.com. Craig D. Lindsey
MUSIC
STEVE GUNN, MARY LATTIMORE & JEFF ZEIGLER
THE PINHOOK, DURHAM | FRIDAY, OCT. 10
Instrumental improvisations for acoustic guitar will only take you so far in this world, you know? After a sterling string of such records, and a pair of beautifully parched blues albums with drummer John Truscinski, Philadelphia’s Steve Gunn decided to test his chops within the context of proper folk-rock songs. While last year’s Time Off seemed to be a hesitant transition, the new Way Out Weather brims with atmosphere and urgency. Closer “Tommy’s Congo” is a trance-like tangle of guitars and drums, an open-ended figure that you might wish lasted for days. Blissful but charged, “Milly’s Garden” is a No. 1 pop hit in an alternate universe of easy living and pastoral psych. In the spirit of the city of brotherly love, Gunn is touring with two fellow Phillies, harpist Mary Lattimore and multi-instrumentalist Jeff Zeigler. Their quixotic instrumentals are economical and intriguing, like thought bubbles that burst before you can get bored. Durham’s WowolfoL opens with a solo set. 9 p.m., $10$12, thepinhook.com, 117 W. Main St., 919-667-1100. Grayson Haver Currin
FLYING LOTUS, THUNDERCAT
CAT’S CRADLE, CARRBORO | SUNDAY, OCT. 12
“He’s in a purgatory of sorts,” wrote Andy Beta in a recent Fader cover story, “too big to remain in the underground, too strange an innovator to gain acceptance in the mainstream.” The subject was the 30-year-old Los Angeles producer Steven Ellison, or Flying Lotus. It’s almost impossible to imagine how Ellison’s obsessive work ethic and reputation as an experimental, sophisticated beatmaker could induce suffering. Why all the fuss for mainstream acceptance when jazz luminary Herbie Hancock lends keys to your new You’re Dead!? What’s suffering when you can broker a deal with rap commander-in-chief Dr. Dre to get rap’s top brass, Kendrick Lamar, to wax about outer body experiences on You’re Dead!? Such suffering shouldn’t be visible live, when Ellison joins good friend and collaborator, the renowned session bassist Thundercat. His own recent album, last year’s Apocalypse, delivered another batch of beautiful musical risks. 8 p.m., $28$32, catscradle.com, 300 E. Main St., 919-967-9053. Eric Tullis
N.C. SYMPHONY’S SOUNDBITES
HUMBLE PIE, RALEIGH | MONDAY, OCT. 13
If you missed Grammy-winning vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth in Chapel Hill last week, you get another chance to hear the work of wunderkind composer and violinist Caroline Shaw. Now based in New York, the Greenville native became the youngest-ever winner of the Pulitzer Prize for music last year for her Partita for 8 Voices, which also garnered a Grammy for Roomful of Teeth. Perforated by spoken text, the piece surges and warps, alternately sounding like it’s being played from a passing train or in a cathedral.
A selection of North Carolina Symphony musicians serves Shaw’s Entr’acte for String Quartet, along with a Beethoven string trio, in a cozy restaurant setting for the “Soundbites at the Pub” series. The program aims for intimacy and enjoyment over formalityplus a multi-course meal included with the ticket.6 p.m., $67, ncsymphony.org, 317 S. Harrington St., 919-829-9222. Chris Vitiello
FILM
THE WALKING DEAD SEASON 5 PREMIERE
MISSION VALLEY CINEMA, RALEIGH | SUNDAY, OCT. 12
Do you love The Walking Dead but wish you could share the experience of the very talkative TV show with a very talkative capacity crowd in a movie theater? Mission Valley is making your dreams come true. Starting with this season premiere, the theater is showing every episode of the fifth season of AMC’s popular zombie survival show on the big screenfor free. Where will we find our heroes, led by the conflicted former deputy sheriff Rick, as season five begins? After last season’s cliffhanger at Terminus, a reinforced camp that promised safety but hinted at cannibalism, how long will it be before we learn the gruesome truth? This ticketed event has a first-come first-serve policy to prevent overfilling. Don’t miss this opportunity to watch alongside equally enthused fans as Rick and company fight off certain death, garnished with a cast Q&A, behind-the-scenes footage and more. 9 p.m., free, 2109 Avent Ferry Rd., 919- 834-2233, www.ambassadorcinemas.com. Isaac Weeks
DANCE
IT’S A RAD RAD REVOLUTION
MOTORCO MUSIC HALL, DURHAM
SATURDAY, OCT. 11
Left, up, left, down, freeze right, up, down: It’s been 15 years since Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution first introduced competitive dancing to coin-op arcades across the world. This weekend, Durham’s Renay Aumiller Dances (the RAD of the title) makes the famous game a collaborator in choreographer Aumiller’s latest evening of off-center dance and music. As computerized cues spill from oversized screens, movement by dancers Amanda Floyd Beaty, William Commander, Austin Dixon, Stephanie Paige and Stacy Thomas Wolfson comment on living in “a virtually oversaturated world.” Commentary of a presumably different sort will be provided in a special guest appearance, via phone, by Siri. If you’re feeling “Marvelous” (Dance Dance Revolution’s highest rating), feel free to show up in your workout gear and join in the game. 8 p.m., $10, 723 Rigsbee Ave., 919-901-0875, www.motorcomusic.com. Byron Woods
