Celebrate Comedy, Andy Warhol and All Things Polish!

August 23, 2018

With the Denver Modernism Show in town this weekend, you can travel back in time to when Andy Warhol reigned as King of Pop Art and Americans were bedazzled with the promise of space travel! Or take a trip of another kind—to the the High Plains Comedy Festival which promises a weekend full of laughs, or to the Polish Festival for a taste of Polish food and culture!

Thursday-Saturday, August 23-25

HIGH PLAINS COMEDY FESTIVAL
The Mile High City loves to laugh! The Hgh Plains Comedy Festival promises to keep you entertained throughout the weekend with a mix of local and national comedians in venues throughout the city—with a special emphasis on the historic Baker neighborhood surrounding South Broadway. Now in its sixth year, this comedy festival has earned a reputation as one of the most talent-packed and fun-filled comedy festivals in the country!

Events range from up-and-coming comedians from all over the globe to open-mic hilarity (where you can even take the stage) to late-night after-parties and a special finale show featuring Denver’s best standup comedians! Don’t miss headliners David Cross and the award-winning podcast creators of How Did This Get Made?

Various Downtown Locations, Denver
Thurs./Fri., 6:00-11:30 p.m.; Sat., 4:00-11:30 p.m.
Tickets: $5-$45
Phone: 303-623-0106

Friday, August 24

COCO SCREENS AT MOVIE ON THE GREEN
Oscar award-winning Coco is “the definitive movie for this moment” (The New Yorker). What better way to see the magical movie where death becomes life-affirming, than in an open-air screening, sprawled out on the lawn and surrounded by your family and friends?

Don’t miss this FREE screening in Founders Green Park at Stapleton! Bring your own blankets or lawn chairs!

Founders Green Park, 29th Ave & Roslyn St, Denver
Dusk (approximately 7:30 p.m.)
Cost: FREE
Phone: 303-388-0724

DAVID CROSS HEADLINES COMEDY FEST!
Don’t miss High Plains Comedy Festival headliner David Cross, an Emmy Award-winning and Grammy Award-nominated stage and screen performer! Named one of the Top 100 Stand-Up Comedians of All Time by Comedy Central, Cross recently completed his world-wide Making America Great Again tour, including a stop at the prestigious Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal.  

Best known for his HBO sketch comedy series, Mr. Show, and his role as Tobias Fünke in the sitcom, Arrested Development, Cross has also appeared in Modern Family and portrayed Ian Hawke in the Alvin and the Chipmunks movies. 

Paramount Theatre, 1621 Glenarm Pl., Denver
8:00-9:30 p.m.
Tickets: $35-$45
Phone: 303-623-0106

Friday-Sunday, August 24-26

ANDY WARHOL’S 90TH BIRTHDAY PARTY!
Fans of modernism, this is your weekend to shine! The annual Denver Modernism Show features over 100 exhibitor booths full of vintage and contemporary modern design inspired by mid-20th-century furniture, artwork and objects. Styles include eco, retro, mod, Eames-era, and more. All from a time when the future was bright and space was the place!

This year’s theme is Andy Warhol’s 90th birthday, with events to celebrate the King of Pop Art, including a Silver Factory Party with a Velvet Underground cover band! Also included in the weekend lineup: the Miss Modernism Pageant, a tour of the Denver Modernism Trailer Park, an Andy Warhol look-a-like contest, the Retro Fashion Show, a Hawaiian Shirt Contest, Tiki Lounge Happy Hour, as well as the Motorama Car Show and Motorama Drive-In, featuring videos about space!

National Western Complex, 4655 Humboldt St., Denver
Fri.; 6:00-10:00 p.m.; Sat., 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.; Sun., 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Tickets: $10-$50; Kids under 12 are FREE
Phone: 303-347-8252

VIETGONE!
A romantic comedy with an enormous twist to match its enormous heart, Vietgone is the real-life story of two Vietnam War refugees who found each other at a relocation camp in Arkansas at the height of the Vietnam War—and managed to fall in love! Loaded with pop-culture-shock hilarity, the couple must blaze a trail together in their weird new world—a land of Harleys, hot dogs and “howdy!”

This Critics’ Pick by The New York Times, Time Out New York and LA Times is above all, “a heart-expanding love story,” says director Seema Sueko. Playwright Qui Nguyen penned the play as an ode to his parents’ unusual courtship and courageous spirit. You won’t want to miss this emotional ride for an adventure that hums with excitement as it hops across time and around the globe through the highs and lows of love!

Ricketson Theatre/DCPA,1400 Curtis St., Denver
Fri./Sat.,7:30 p.m.; Sun., 1:30 p.m.
Tickets: $30
Phone: 800-641-1222

Saturday, August 25

RADIO DAYS RECREATED!
Go back even further in time to the days before TV, when families gathered around their radio for entertainment! The Aurora History Museum presents a live performance of a classic radio broadcast, featuring news from the early days of Aurora in the 1930s! 

These stories have been borrowed from the Aurora Democrat newspaper, which reported the happenings in Aurora and around the nation from 1909 to 1955. This performance is based on the Easy Aces Script, Jane’s Mother Comes to Visit.

Aurora History Museum, 15051 E. Alameda Parkway, Aurora
11:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Cost: FREE

HOW DID THIS GET MADE? – LIVE ON STAGE
Who hasn’t watched an epically bad movie and wondered how in the world it ever got made? A talented trio of comedians took this observation and ran with it! Paul Scheer (The League, Veep), Jason Mantzoukas (The League, The House) and June Diane Raphael (Grace & Frankie, New Girl) are experts in the best of the worst of cinema. On each episode of their award-winning podcast, How Did This Get Made?, they gather with their funniest friends and subject themselves to a cinematic nightmare and report back with the results.

As one of the headlining acts for the High Plains Comedy Festival, the three hosts take the stage to present a live breakdown of the Travolta “classic,” Look Who’s Talking Too. Don’t miss the hilarity as they dissect every miserable minute of it!

Paramount Theatre, 1621 Glenarm Pl., Denver
7:00-8:30 p.m.
Tickets: $45
Phone: 303-623-0106

AN EVENING OF DANCE UNDER THE STARS!
Poetic and inspiring, an evening of dance under the stars is the perfect way to end your summer on a high note! The Colorado Ballet performs excerpts from classical and contemporary favorites, as well as audience-favorite Brief Fling by choreographer Twyla Tharp. 

One of Tharp’s best-known pieces, Brief Fling references both the traditional Scottish dance and a short-lived romance. Isaac Mizrahi’s tartan costumes divide the dancers into clans of blue, red, green and off-white in a story reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet. The score by Michel Colombier intersperses Percy Grainger’s sunny interpretations of traditional melodies from the United Kingdom with an ominous electronic score.

Arvada Center, 6901 Wadsworth Blvd., Arvada
7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $15-$46
Phone: 720-898-7200

Saturday-Sunday, August 25-26

POLISH FOOD FESTIVAL
Poland is best known for its hearty food and cheerful folk music—and this festival has plenty of both! Don’t miss authentic Polish food, beer and pastries for purchase while you enjoy live Polish folk dancers and singers, a pierogi-eating contest, and a concert of traditional Highlander songs. Each night, the festival closes with a lively dance party featuring live music!

Polish food for sale includes pierogi (Polish dumplings), gołąbki (stuffed cabbage rolls), Bigos (hunter stew), placki ziemniaczane (potato pancakes), kiełbasa (Polish sausage), kaszanka (blood sausage), and more!

Saint Joseph Polish Church, 517 E. 46th Ave., Denver
Sat., 12:00-9:00 p.m.; Sun., 12:00-7:00 pm.
Tickets: FREE
Phone: 720-504-6199

Sunday, August 26

FLEA MARKET AND FARMER’S MART!
Bring home some beautiful treasures from a visit to this farmers’ market! The South Pearl Street Farmers’ Market features a flea market in its midst, with tables full of antiques, collectibles and all kinds of must-have junque and curiosities!

Peruse the best collectibles in a lovely, traditional outdoor flea market setting. Featuring one-of-a-kind vintage items as well as handcrafted arts, this is the ideal way to end summer in the city!

South Pearl Street between Buchtel Blvd. and Evans Ave., Denver
9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Tickets: FREE
Phone: 303-734-0718

MÉXICO EN EL CORAZÓN 2018
No need to travel to Mexico to be immersed in its culture—this interactive performance from Mexican artists brings the heart and soul of Mexico directly to you! Authentic Mexican culture, song, dance and folklore come to the stage at Boettcher Concert Hall in this performance by México en el Corazón, featuring a thirteen-piece band and more than a dozen dancers and singers!

These artistic expressions allow for a greater understanding of Mexico’s traditions and generates greater identification among Mexican migrants, while reinforcing community recognition of the great contribution and presence Mexican art and culture has in the United States. This presentation does NOT include a performance with or by members of the Colorado Symphony. This event is a free community concert, but tickets are required for admission.

Boettcher Concert Hall/DPAC, 1000 14th St. #15, Denver
2:30 p.m.
Tickets: FREE
Phone: 303-623-7876

Late Summer in Southshore

The master-planned community of Southshore, so near the 800-acre water wonderland of the Aurora Reservoir, is also close to all sorts of entertainment options! Stop in to the amazing models offered by Toll Brothers, Century Communities , and Richmond American Homes. These ranch and two-story models in the amenity-rich community are priced from the upper $300s to the $700s.