Stranger Genius shortlister Ed Skoog is a brilliant reader of his own work. He brings poems to life with a thoughtfulness that assures you that every single word is important. And his riffs in between poems—where he talks about jazz, sex, New Orleans, and anything else that skitters across his big, beautiful brain—are kind of improvised poems in themselves. Tonight is the launch of Skoog’s long-awaited second book of poetry (and first book-length poem), Rough Day, with musical performances by the Gloria Darlings and Jon Pontrello & Kevin Murphy. Plus: booze! (Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, hugohouse.org, 7 pm, free)