Hedwig and the Angry Inch

(TRANSSEXUAL TRIBUTE) Inspired by Wig in a Box: Songs from and Inspired by Hedwig and the Angry Inch, a charity album for the Hetrick-Martin Institute, The Stranger's David Schmader and contributing writer Hannah Levin present Seattle's own Hedwig tribute with Nick Garrison, Purty Mouth, Ms. Led, Josh Feit, Erin Jorgensen, and special guests. (Sunset, 5433 Ballard Ave NW, 784-4880, 9:30 pm, $6.) KATHLEEN WILSON

FRIDAY OCT 24

The Hanging Man

(PERVY THEATER) The Improbable Theatre Group--the folks behind 2001's much-loved Victorian spectacle Shockheaded Peter--return to Seattle with another dose of dark-witted, Goreyesque theatrics. The Hanging Man finds the Improbables pondering the big issues--heaven and hell, life and death, architecture and nooses--with their trademark pervy Victorian vibe. (Improbable Theatre Group at Moore Theatre, 1932 Second Ave, 628-1414, Wed-Thurs at 7:30 pm, Fri at 8 pm, Sat at 2 and 8 pm, Sun at 2 and 7 pm, through Oct 26, $24-$43. ) DAVID SCHMADER

SATURDAY OCT 25

Stella

(CULT COMEDY) Eight years after its cancellation, MTV's critically reviled sketch comedy series The State is forgotten lore to most--assuming you were ever cognizant of its existence in the first place. The series and its offspring (most notably, 2001's feature-length Wet Hot American Summer) remain the semiprivate jokes of a privileged minority, and I gather that that's just the way the cult of The State would have it stay. As the most active sect of the State mafia, the esoteric sketch trio Stella have been performing and producing video shorts in New York for the past six years (www.stellacomedy.com)--with tonight marking their West Coast debut. Sorry, all--I guess the secret's out. (Graceland, 109 Eastlake Ave E, 262-0482, 6 pm, all ages, 9:30 pm 21+, $15. ) ZAC PENNINGTON

Tony de los Reyes, Ken Fandell

(KIND OF WEIRD ART) Here are two artists working in two distinct media and two distinct traditions, linked only by the color blue. But that may be coincidental (or else cleverness on Billy Howard's part). Los Angeles artist de los Reyes focuses on what seem to be frivolous details of Rococo and Baroque architecture and painting, wetly rendered in the blue and white of Delftware; Chicago artist Fandell focuses on the sky, photographing it over the course of a few days and then making a montage of the images, with results that are grand, Godlike, painterly, and kind of weird. A happy pairing of talents. (Howard House, 2017 Second Ave, 256-6399, opening reception Sat Oct 25, 6-8 pm, shows through Nov 29.) EMILY HALL

SUNDAY OCT 26

'Nothing So Strange'

(WACK "DOCUMENTARY") This is a film, directed by Brian Flemming, that tells the twisted "truth" behind the 1999 assasination of Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Think you know the whole story? Trust me, you don't. (Consolidated Works, 500 Boren Ave N, 381-3218, Fri Oct 24-Sun Oct 26 at 8 pm, $7. ) BRADLEY STEINBACHER

MONDAY OCT 27

Sandra Cisneros

(CRAZY WRITER) Sandra Cisneros, here to give a talk for Seattle Arts & Lectures, is the spicy and award-winning author of The House on Mango Street, which is required reading in most public schools (I read it in high school, at least, and I remember being saddened and exhilarated by it), and, more recently, the novel Caramelo, among other books. She's feistier than perhaps you would expect, and on stage she is a force. She has a huge tattoo on her arm and wears really heavy earrings and lives in a bright purple house in San Antonio, Texas, with five dogs, three cats, and two parrots. She is, in short, crazy. But I love her. I want to move into her house. (Benaroya Hall, 200 University St, 621-2230, 7:30 pm, $9-$23.) CHRISTOPHER FRIZZELLE

TUESDAY OCT 28

Del Tha Funkee Homosapien

(REAL HIPHOP) Bay Area rapper Del is preoccupied with the everydayness of being--the daily bits and pieces that make up most of our realities. The gangsta world is charged by the dramatic presence of a loaded gun; Del's is chilled by common things, like toothbrushes, or casual experiences, like sleeping on a couch. In fact, in gangsta rap, the fantastic or the spectacular (a drive-by shooting, a drug deal gone horribly bad, and so on) is reflected by a precise mirror, by clear rhymes; whereas for Del, the ordinary is refracted by a fantastic mirror, by the spectacle of his rhyme skillz. (The Showbox, 1426 First Ave, 628-3151, 8 pm, $18, all ages. ) CHARLES MUDEDE

WEDNESDAY OCT 29

'Poltergeist'

(SATANIC THEATER) There's a lot to be learned from Ian Bell's Brown Derby Productions, which tonight offers the final installment of its hugely successful Satan's Bitch! series with a reenactment of Steven Spielberg's haunted-house classic, Poltergeist, which back in the summer of 1982 made all of America scared to go into the television. Brown Derby Lesson #1: Camp plus talent plus booze equals fun fun fun. Brown Derby Lesson #2: Scheduling theatrical events for Monday, Tuesday, and/or Wednesday is an E-Z way to up your chances of getting a Stranger Suggests. Routinely casting Nick Garrison never hurts, either. (Re-bar, 1114 Howell St, Mon-Wed Oct 27-29 at 8 pm, doors at 7 pm, $10, 21+ w/ID.) DAVID SCHMADER