EVERY WEDNESDAY: TRIVIA NIGHT AT MECONI'S
Wednesdays, Rev. Colin hosts the best trivia in town at Meconi's Pub & Eatery. Best known as a legendary local karaoke host and curator for the Tacoma Cult Movie Club, Rev. Colin is a fount of knowledge, and his trivia nights are as challenging as they are wonderfully absurd. Even if the night didn't offer cash prizes for the top three competing teams, it would be worth it for the spirited gameplay and the left-field questions.
The key to a great pub quiz is to combine general knowledge questions with intuitive questions and ridiculously difficult ones. Rev. Colin has mastered this mix and emerged with a trivia night that is as infuriating as it is addictive. On several occasions he has threatened to bring back a particularly unpopular category in which he gargles a tune and asks you to name it. Pray that you don't find yourself at Meconi's when that happens.
TRIVIA NIGHT, 8 p.m., Wednesday, Meconi's Pub & Eatery, 709 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, no cover, 253.383.3388
SATURDAY, NOV 30: SING-A-LONG-A GREASE
There once was a dark period (commonly referred to as the 1990s) where movie musicals were relegated to the outskirts of Hollywood, banished from bringing smiles to the faces of nerdy film-lovers everywhere. Gone were the days of brightly colored bubblegum confections such as Grease. Finally, Moulin Rouge and Chicago came along to help repopularize movie musicals, and Glee sealed the deal.
"Wait a second, turns out we love musicals!" exclaimed a fickle and easily influenced movie-going public.
As a movie, Grease has always been a breezy and charmingly empty-headed thing. It's like a big, goofy dog that wants nothing more than to run and circles, chase cars and slobber all over your face. As such, it's particularly suited to the phenomenon known as a sing-a-long. Come in costume, sing along to "Sandy," and experience what could quite possibly be the most wholesome act ever committed by man - which only gets more wholesome with the 68th Annual Holiday Tree Lighting, which immediately follows the film. It's enough to give you cavities.
SING-A-LONG-A GREASE, 3 p.m., tree lighting follows, Pantages Theater, $18-$26, 901 Broadway, Tacoma, 253.591.5890
THURSDAY, DEC. 5: RIFFTRAX LIVE: SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS
There's a whole generation of comedy nerds who were raised on the rapid-fire joke machines of The Simpsons, Monty Python and - for those of use who woke up early on Saturdays - Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Partially responsible for creating an entire genre of laughing at bad movies, the guys of MST3K explored film's dusty basement and emerged with an absurdly high quality of jokes per minute. Though MST3K eventually went off the air, Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett continued their quest to make fun of C-movies with projects like Cinematic Titanic and, most recently, RiffTrax.
In celebration of the holidays, RiffTrax will beam into theaters around the country to eviscerate one of the mothers of shabby movies: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. This '60s film is a classic of bad movie aficionados everywhere, and it lands firmly in the wheelhouse of the RiffTrax fellas.
RIFFTRAX LIVE: SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS, 8 p.m., Century Olympia, Westfield Capital, 625 Black Lake Blvd. SW, Olympia, $12.50, 360.943.0769
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