The two ladies of the Vis-à-Vis Society (formerly of lit-performance group the Typing Explosion) are your middle-school science-class fantasy. They dress in lab coats, give their audiences imaginative surveys, and present their data and analysis via song, dance, and overhead projector. (And they’re lovely.) Other acts at this month’s 12 Minutes Max (curated by Eric Fredericksen of Western Bridge and Betsey Brock of Henry Art Gallery) include music by the Watery Graves, BMX dancing by locust, and other lovely stuff. (On the Boards, 100 W Roy St, 217-9888. 7 pm, $7.)

Brend an Kiley has worked as a child actor in New Orleans, as a member of the junior press corps at the 1988 Republican National Convention, and, for one happy April, as a bootlegger’s assistant in Nicaragua....