It’s been another crazy-ass week in the ol’ US of A. Decompress (or at least attempt to) with weekend events from the Seattle Cherry Blossom & Japanese Cultural Festival to Cutie Fest and from The 37th Annual Best of the Northwest Spring Show to Southgate’s 15 Year Anniversary Party. Find more suggestions in our top picks of the week.
FRIDAY
COMEDY
Small Town Problems
I am still gutted about the passing of Catherine O’Hara. That absolute diva blessed us with so many important pop culture moments: from Delia Deetz in Beetlejuice to the mom in Home Alone, to semi-crazed dog lover Cookie Fleck in Best in Show, and, most importantly to me, Moira Rose in Schitt’s Creek. If you too now feel like you could laugh to the point of tears at “folding the cheese in,” a) you know exactly what I mean, and b) you should definitely check out Small Town Problems. On paper, this production feels quite on brand with the kind of comedy O’Hara perfected: big personalities, small stakes, and the most trivial situations spiraling out of control. It’s a fully improvised show that drops audiences into a town where bake sale drama and rogue posters somehow become life-or-death affairs, channeling the chaotic charm of Schitt’s Creek meets Parks and Recreation. It’s messy but also heartfelt. Probably not an event to cry at, but if they in any way reference O’Hara, I might have to shed a tear or two. LANGSTON THOMAS
(Jet City Improv, University District, $0-$18)
