BOOKS & TALKS

Jeff Johnson
7:30 p.m. Thursday, Powell's City of Books, FREE
Drug abuse. PTSD. A half-breed werewolf. Pirated software. Rain. Kirkus called Johnson's new Portland-set noir, Everything Under the Moon, "a briskly paced, splatter-filled crime novel."

Naomi Pomeroy
7:30 p.m. Friday, Powell's City of Books, FREE
The first thing you’ll notice about Naomi Pomeroy’s maiden opus, Taste & Technique: Recipes to Elevate Your Home Cooking, is that it is not a restaurant cookbook. The Beast chef says she wanted "to make a cookbook for home cooks." What you will find: 380 pages of gorgeous, rustic food pornography; genuinely delicious recipes (here's how to make her ballsy French onion soup); and quick dips into classic technique.

Liars' League PDX
7 p.m. Saturday, The Studio at Literary Arts, FREE
Portland’s newest storytelling event traffics in fiction, skewed toward Northwest writers, which is peddled onstage by professional actors. Read more about it in our preview.

COMEDY

Wanda Sykes
7:30 p.m. Thursday, Keller Auditorium
The Curb Your Enthusiasm favorite (and voice of Granny, Ice Age’s elderly ground sloth) brings her sharp-tongued stand-up to the Keller Auditorium.

Whose Live Anyway?
8 p.m. Friday, Newmark Theatre
The big dogs of improv take over the Newmark for a spinoff on Whose Line Is It Anyway? Veteran comedian Ryan Stiles, who has been with Whose Line since 1989, takes the stage with members of the popular TV show for a night of song, laughs, and audience participation. Introverts be warned—you may be asked to join in for an act.

Riley Silverman
9:30 p.m. Saturday, Curious Comedy Theater
All Jane, the annual festival featuring some of the sharpest and funniest women in the comedy world, kicks off a new video project with this live taping of Riley Silverman. Silverman, who's appeared twice at All Jane, is biting and incisive—just check out this bit on traveling while trans—with a silly streak. 

FILM

Portland German Film Festival
Various times Friday–Sunday, Cinema 21
Local cultural organization Zeitgeist Northwest takes over Cinema 21 for five days of German-language cinema. Past installments of the fest have included art-house flicks, restored East German films, and grubby documentaries about what Austrians do in their basements.

Drive-In at Zidell Yards
7:30 p.m. Thursday–Sunday, Zidell Yards
Last chance for alfresco cinema: the NW Film Center tosses up a huge screen in the shadow of the Ross Island Bridge for five nights of movies (the action continues through Monday). The bill features The Big Lebowski, Goldfinger, Space Jam (!), Say Anything..., and Cool Hand Luke.

MUSIC

Northwest Hesh Fest
8 p.m. Thursday–Friday and 7 p.m. Saturday, Dante’s
Calling all stoner metal fans! Local shredders Red Fang perform on Thursday as part of the Northwest Hesh Fest, their last home show before their new album Only Ghosts drops. Also look out for homegrown Witch Mountain, showcasing new singer Kayla Dixon. The fest continues with England's Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats headlining Friday, while black metal band Deafheaven closes the three-day event.

St. Paul & the Broken Bones
8:30 p.m. Friday, Roseland Theater
The Alabama-based soul-meets-rock ‘n’ roll band hits town for a one-night stand. Their sophomore record, Sea of Noise, features 13 tracks of a deeper and broader sound, plus smooth lyrical finesse.

Chris Mitchell
8 p.m. Saturday, Winningstad Theatre
The Grammy-nominated saxophonist is back in town. Bring your dancing shoes for Mitchell’s Latin jazz tunes, or just have your snapping fingers ready for the romantic bossa nova head-nodders from his latest album, I Found Forever.

Bluebeard's Castle
7:30 p.m. Saturday–Sunday, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
The Oregon Symphony launches a new series called SoundSights, with programs featuring work by Northwest visual artists. First up: Béla Bartók’s eerie short opera about a homicidal duke, with hulking glass sculptures by famous Washingtonian Dale Chihuly. We've got more on the show and series.

Art Garfunkel
8 p.m. Sunday, Revolution Hall
The famous duo’s curly-haired half unleashes his lilting countertenor.

THEATER

OPENING How I Learned What I Learned
7:30 p.m. Thursday–Friday and 2 p.m. Sunday, Portland Playhouse
Since 2010, Portland Playhouse has produced six works by landmark black playwright August Wilson, who died in 2005. Now it’s landed the rights to his autobiographical solo show, which traces Wilson’s life as he comes of age in Pittsburgh, confronts the injustices of racism, and develops his powerful, poetic voice.

Trevor
7:30 p.m. Thursday–Saturday and 2 p.m. Saturday–Sunday, Artists Repertory Theatre
Remember Travis the chimp? Back in 2009, the pet primate—who’d starred in Coke and Old Navy commercials and could sip wine from a stemmed glass—mauled and blinded his owner’s friend. Nick Jones’s absurdist play, presented by Artists Rep, leaps from that gory incident into an exploration of fame, fear, and the frustrations of communication.

The Graduate
7:30 p.m. Thursday–Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, Venetian Theatre
Hillsboro’s Bag & Baggage takes on a stage adaptation of the classic ’60s tale of seduction and alienation.

VISUAL ART 

Conny Purtill
11 a.m.–5 p.m. Thursday–Saturday, Adams and Ollman, FREE
The Boston-based creator shines the spotlight on fellow artists in The Ground. Purtill prepares a canvas—the titular ground—with 11 alternating layers of gesso and a tinted gesso and India ink mixture, and then passes off these slates to fellow artists to do with as they wish.

Potency of Process
11 a.m.–5 p.m. Thursday–Saturday, PNCA Swigert Commons, FREE
Breast cancer survivors Martha Banyas and Deborah Horrell use art to tell their story, from diagnosis to treatment to recovery. Banyas has created a dozen wall structures, while Horrell has crafted glass vessels and abstract bird images.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Fashion Collective Designer Tour
1 p.m. Saturday, meets at 811 E Burnside
Former fashion columnist Marjorie Skinner helms a five-stop bus tour to some of Portland's most talented designers’ boutiques and maker spaces. For more, check out our preview.

Opening Day at Portland Meadows
Noon Sunday, Portland Meadows
Looking for that elusive Old Portland? You'll find it watching the horse races at Portland Meadows. Plus, we've got more on our city's iconic track.