Our music critics have already chosen the 33 best music shows this week, but now it's our arts critics' turn to recommend the best events in their areas of expertise. Here are their picks in every genre—from Sovereign: Black Queer One Womyn Show Festival to the first-ever Tasveer South Asian Litfest, and from a stand-up show with Lewis Black to Chocolate and Bourbon: An Evening of Experiential Tasting. See them all below, and find even more events on our complete Things To Do calendar.

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MONDAY

READINGS & TALKS

Children of Harvey Milk: How LGBTQ Politicians Changed the World
OutRight Action International, GSBA, Equal Rights Washington, Carolina Pride Alumni Network, and Elliott Bay Book Company will present a talk by UNC professor Andrew Reynolds on the heirs to the LGBTQ rights movement in political positions. This will be followed by a panel moderated by Monisha Harrell of Equal Rights Washington with Irish Senator Fintan Warfield, State Senator Jamie Pedersen, and State Representative Laurie Jinkins.

David Shields with Ross Reynolds
What the hell is wrong with Donald Trump? Did his nanny not hold him enough as a child? Did he choke on that silver spoon in his mouth? Or does the man simply not possess any sort of inner life as we know it? UW professor and best-selling author David Shields tries to get to the bottom of this terrible mystery with his latest book, Nobody Hates Trump More Than Trump, as well as the biggest and most terrible mystery of all: Why the hell did the American electorate choose him? Tonight, he'll appear in conversation with KUOW's Ross Reynolds. KATIE HERZOG

MONDAY-THURSDAY & SUNDAY

FOOD & DRINK

Shellfish Showcase
Shellfish Showcase is the seafood counterpart to Restaurant Week, organized by Dine Around Seattle. The organization has rounded up a host of restaurants to devise exclusive menus with four items highlighting fresh local shellfish, at least two of them entrées. It’s a great opportunity to slurp some briny bivalves and scope out some hidden gems you wouldn’t otherwise try.

MONDAY-FRIDAY

VISUAL ART

Meghan Elizabeth Trainhor: Witancraeftlic
Meghan Trainhor (who bears no relation to the pop star Meghan Trainor) unites witchcraft and electricity in her sculptural portrayal of folk healing, magic, and technology, an eerie installation of bones, jars, sigils, and "familiars." The result is an unsettling yet weirdly optimistic vision of hidden feminine occult power.
Opening reception Wednesday

TUESDAY

COMEDY

Outstanding: Queer Comic Competition
Queerspace Magazine and Gutter Twink Productions will produce this live-taped evening of comedy from the PQUILTBAG set. Bobby Higley will host a lineup of Chocolate the Entertainer, Chris Ettrick, Genevieve Ferrari, Jenna Vesper, Mitch Mitchell, and Mads Gauger. Help choose which one of them goes on to the next round!

READINGS & TALKS

Thomas Kohnstamm: Lake City
I love Thomas Kohnstamm for writing a whole book set in Lake City. Someone had to. Someone had to make something of the in-between area known for its car dealerships, its strip club, its sub sandwich shop, and its couple of bars. A place that doesn't even know if it's a lake or a city or a city of lakes. In Kohnstamm's debut novel, a semi-shitty guy name Lane Beuche has fallen on hard times. He's lost his wife, he's living in his mom's house, and he thinks he deserves the life of privilege from which he's been unceremoniously banished. Watch him climb out of the hole he dug for himself, and enjoy the elegy for old Seattle along the way. RICH SMITH

TUESDAY-SATURDAY

VISUAL ART

Annual Holiday Group Exhibition
See stunning paintings, etchings, and more from the Woodside/Braseth collection, including works by the legendary African American artist Jacob Lawrence, the abstract artist Kenneth Callahan, Pacific Northwest titan Morris Graves, landscape painter Victoria Adams, and others.
Closing Saturday

WEDNESDAY-SATURDAY

PERFORMANCE

Sovereign: Black Queer One Womyn Show Festival
Sovereign is back for another round! This year, the multidisciplinary festival of solo performances features hot burlesque from Briq House, equally hot music from Patience Sings—one half of the Peace & Body Roll Duo BOOMscat—and challenging and humorous and kinda sad performance art from Tyisha Nedd. Hopefully Aishe Keita, who impressed Brendan Kiley at the Seattle Times with her portrayal of "young Maya" in Book-It's production of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, will show off her classical chops with a powerful monologue. And while I do not normally endorse "healing sound artists," I can testify to the recuperative qualities of Naa Akua's performances. Akua will likely offer up some suggestions on healing a queer black soul from her new solo show, Akwaaba. And if there's a god in heaven, she'll rap a few bars from her album Odd(s) Balance. RICH SMITH

VISUAL ART

Daniel Carrillo: Daguerreotypes
Check out Carrillo's mysterious photographic impressions, which focus in part on the paraphernalia and tools of visual artists like Kimberly Trowbridge, Kelly Bjork, Jeffry Mitchell, and Paul Komada.
Closing Saturday

Fay Jones and Robert C. Jones: In Tandem
Fay Jones is known for her monumental Westlake Station mural, for her Joan Mitchell Grant in 2013, and for her evasion of overt symbolism in favor of playful figurative allusions. Her husband Robert C. Jones, who passed away on December 23, was another titan of the Seattle art scene: His colorful gestural abstractions are embedded with Matissean black lines, and are a pleasure to look at.
Opening Wednesday

Thuy-Van Vu and Samantha Scherer: New Work
Seattle-based artists Thuy-Van Vu and Samantha Scherer seem like an intuitive pairing for a gallery show. Presenting new work at the G. Gibson Gallery, both artists get at the tender underbelly of their subjects. With Vu, inanimate objects like typewriters, quilts, and piles of wood take on a human, alive quality in a rather quiet way. Scherer’s watercolor subjects seem to just surface against the background—craggy, aching, and vulnerable. Whatever these two artists put out is thoughtful, contemplative, and a “don’t miss” in every way. JASMYNE KEIMIG
Closing Saturday

WEDNESDAY-SUNDAY

PERFORMANCE

Hollywood & Vine
Enjoy a vintage and magic-filled tribute to Tinseltown with the 20-year-old circus troupe Teatro ZinZanni as they perform in their new Woodinville space.

Wonderland
There are few cuter Seattle nights than those spent at the Can Can. Divided into three short acts that make up a brisk 90-minute show, each part of the Can Can’s wintertime cabaret Wonderland gets progressively naughtier, although the most scandalous thing you’ll see is a jock-strapped ass and bare tits covered by pasties. The show has danger, but it’s often found in the cancan lines that occur mere feet from audience members’ dinner salads. I once saw an athletic duet at Wonderland nearly knock over a birthday girl’s wine glass. But it didn’t. Everyone whooped. Pro tip: Get the beignets. CHASE BURNS

THURSDAY

FILM

The Magic Lantern of Ingmar Bergman
Swedish visionary film director Ingmar Bergman would have been 100 this year. His deeply introspective, unabashedly emotional, despairing yet strangely life-affirming oeuvre will once again be on-screen at Seattle Art Museum (in association with the Nordic Museum). Oh, hey, and they’re showing one of the most traumatizing movies about relationships ever made, Cries and Whispers, on Valentine’s Day. Happy coincidence? Tonight's film is Sawdust and Tinsel. JOULE ZELMAN

FOOD & DRINK

Jester King Tap Takeover
Jester King Brewery produces some of the country’s most influential farmhouse ales from their 200-acre ranch in central Texas and on Thursday they will be taking over the beer taps at The Masonry in Fremont. This Austin, Texas, brewery is known for using wild yeast, fresh fruit, and old-world techniques to create beers that stand as singular pieces of art as much as alcoholic beverages; or as the Masonry said on Instagram put it, “they fucking rule.” Thursday’s tap takeover features 19 different beers, including multiple vintages of the same styles as well as SPON, the lambic-inspired beer that earned the brewery a profile in the decidedly beer-unaware New York Times Food Section. The beer won’t be cheap but it will be fantastic. LESTER BLACK

READINGS & TALKS

Noir at the Bar
Seattle crime writers will gather in the Pike Place pizza spot Alibi Room to drink whiskey and read from their latest murder-filled, hard-boiled releases. The lineup features Renee Patrick (Design for Dying), Bethany Maines (Bulletproof Mascara), Reb MacRath (The Big Bopper), Ashley Erwin (A Ballad Concerning Black Betty), Brian Thornton (Suicide Blonde), G.G. Silverman (The Redvale Zombie Prom series), Scotti Andrews (Blind Date), and Nick Feldman (Asshole Yakuza Boyfriend).

Sharon H Chang: Hapa Tales and Other Lies
Hapa Tales and Other Lies is a meditation on colonization, Native sovereignty, stereotypes of Hawaii and Hawaiians, Asian American and mixed race identity, and activism. 

Words, Writers & West Seattle with Claudia Castro Luna
If you've never had the pleasure of hearing a live reading from Washington State Poet Laureate and former Seattle Civic Poet Claudia Castro Luna, tonight's your chance. 

VISUAL ART

Capitol Hill Art Walk
Every second Thursday, rain or shine, the streets of Capitol Hill are filled with tipsy art lovers checking out galleries and special events. In January, check out the gallery show/art market Scream for Queer Art!

THURSDAY-FRIDAY

COMEDY

Yes Anderson
Run out of Wes Anderson movies to watch? Scratch that quirky itch with a brand-new "film" acted out by improv performers.

THURSDAY-SATURDAY

PERFORMANCE

Alonzo King LINES Ballet: Figures of Speech
Alonzo King's latest creation meditates on extinct and vanishing languages. With the help of slam poet and linguistic preservation activist Bob Holman, King's flawlessly graceful dancers will respond physically to the sounds of indigenous poetry.

THURSDAY-SUNDAY

COMEDY

John Hastings
Canadian comedian Hastings was called "truly inspired" when he performed for the sixth time at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August, and he's also been enthusiastically received at the Melbourne Comedy Festival and Just for Laughs Montreal. His press materials also brag that he "was briefly a viral sensation after Dennis Rodman heckled him in Los Angeles."

FRIDAY

COMEDY

Queer/POC/Femme Comedy
Ask your cool friend where to find this discreet comedy show starring queer, femme, and POC comedians worth seeing: The fearless Vee Chattie, the charmingly sardonic Andy Iwancio, the self-deprecating Dallas-bred Thomas Nichols, and up-and-comers Dylan Blair Bass and Llynn Marks. Smuggling Croissants will bring the tunes. Hosted by Mycole Brown.

FILM

'Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes' Screening with 'A Brief History of Propaganda'
After the screening of Alexis Bloom's infuriating, fascinating documentary about disgraced Fox News titan Roger Ailes, art historian Emily Pothast will give a run-down of the history of propaganda from the Reformation on.

FOOD & DRINK

Chocolate and Bourbon: An Evening of Experiential Tasting
If your insides are in need of warmth, an evening dedicated to consuming chocolate and bourbon should do the trick. Local chocolatiers indi chocolate and local distillery Noble Oak will partner up to bring you "an evening of experiential tasting." Without leaving Pike Place Market, you'll taste samples from cacao regions throughout the world, as well as sips from distilleries across the country.

Friday Night Po'Boy Pop-Up
Estelita’s Library on Beacon Hill is an exciting community hub, library, and bookstore owned by community organizer and activist Edwin Lindo, and it's packed with titles related to social justice. At this Friday night pop-up, you can scarf po’boys—the legendary Louisiana sandwich served on fluffy, crunchy-crusted New Orleans–style French bread—stuffed with your choice of catfish, shrimp, or oysters. Round it out with a side of homemade crinkle-cut garlic fries and sangria while you take in some live music. JULIANNE BELL

FRIDAY-SATURDAY

VISUAL ART

Didier Hamey: Les Bonshommes
There’s something about Didier Hamey’s figures—or perhaps it’s better to call them entities—that’s a bit mystic but also very beautiful. These beings seem to inhabit several different planes all at once, taking forms that blend leaves, animals, and human heads to create something almost outside recognition. Inspired by the tradition of carnival across the world, in Les Bonshommes, the French artist works in his favored medium of drypoint etching to create a new cast of carnival characters. The results are a little haunting and also dreamlike, a true testament to Hamey’s expansive imagination. JASMYNE KEIMIG
Opening Friday

COMEDY

Jackie Kashian
A Wisconsin-bred veteran stand-up comic, Jackie Kashian dispenses quick-cadenced observations about familiar topics (dating, marriage, parents, pets, etc.) that are eminently relatable yet possess a deceptive sting. On her latest album, I Am Not the Hero of This Story, she talks about not doing political jokes—until Trump “won.” Turns out she excels at those, too. A favorite of Conan O’Brien (for one), Kashian also hosts The Dork Forest and The Jackie and Laurie Show podcasts, which reveal her obsession with people’s obsessions and the comedy biz’s inner workings, respectively. Tonight’s performance will include an hour of new material that will likely appear on Kashian’s next album. DAVE SEGAL

PERFORMANCE

14/48: The World's Quickest Theatre Festival
True to its name, the 14/48 Festival turns around 14 brand-new, theme-based, 10-minute plays in two days. The high-pressure nature of the event produces an evening of surprising theater for audience members, who arrive in their seats charged with expectation and anxiety for the performers. Though there are always a few experiments that don't quite come together, it's endlessly fascinating to see the way one theme filters through the minds of several very different theater artists. Expect shit to get weird. RICH SMITH

FRIDAY-SUNDAY

FOOD & DRINK

Little Fish Takeover
Little Fish, the highly anticipated forthcoming Pike Place restaurant and seafood craft microcannery from chef Zoi Antonitsas and Bryan Jarr, will take over Vashon Island restaurant Gravy each weekend this January while owners Dre Neeley and Pepa Brower vacation in Italy. Diners will get the chance to preview brunch and dinner dishes from the Little Fish menu, including oysters with grapefruit mignonette, Dinah's Cheese from Kurt Timmermeister's Vashon-based Kurtwood Farms with grilled persimmon and chicories, Neah Bay sea urchin risotto, salt cod brandade croquettes, and tinned seafood, which will be available for purchase from Little Fish's microcannery when it opens.

PERFORMANCE

B
The letter "B" stands for "bomb" in this 90-minute thriller by Chilean playwright Guillermo Calderón. Two young, nonviolent female anarchists consort with a veteran anarchist named Jose about the best way to disrupt a capitalist system that has led to rampant economic inequality, giving us a look into the personal motivations that drive violent political action. Jay O'Leary (who previously staged Welcome to Arroyo's) directs this production from Washington Ensemble Theatre. RICH SMITH

READINGS & TALKS

Tasveer South Asian Litfest
Earlier this year, the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods gave a $60,000 matching grant to Tasveer, a local org focused on celebrating and disseminating South Asian art around Seattle—and now we have all these great writers coming to town for a whole bunch of readings and workshops! Amitava Kumar, author of a terrific collection of essays called Lunch with a Bigot, but more recently a lovelorn and witty novel called Immigrant, Montana, will be visiting from New York. Harvard University Press editor Sharmila Sen will read from Not Quite Not White, about the relationship between race and American-ness that press materials describe as "part memoir, part manifesto." Some local favorites will be featured as well. Sonora Jha, former prose writer-in-residence at the Hugo House, will read from her upcoming novel. And Shankar Narayan will have the room laughing and thinking hard about "proximity, intimacy, identity, violence, and diaspora." RICH SMITH
Also be sure to check out the Panel on Race, Gender, and US Publishing on Saturday

SATURDAY

COMEDY

Lewis Black: The Joke's on Us Tour
The old, white, alpha-male ranter is a familiar figure in comedy, stated Captain Obvious. But Lewis Black might be the paragon of this tradition, perhaps the last such über-curmudgeon we’ll ever need (although probably not, seeing as how the world’s going). Looking like a more brutish Al Franken, Black bellows in a baritone a litany of insults and outrages to his sensibilities. From the most minuscule mundanities to the horror show of politics to the most cosmic injustices, Black pinpoints their infuriating truths—laced with a powerful arsenal of profanity. Incredible catharsis ensues. DAVE SEGAL

Minority Retort with Neel Nanda
In an interview I conducted with Central Comedy Show co-host Isaac Novak, he observed that most comedy bills in Seattle still consist of about 80-percent white males. One imagines that is also the case in Portland—or perhaps it’s even greater, seeing as the Rose City’s population has a higher Caucasian percentage than the Emerald City’s. With this statistic in mind, Portland-based stand-up comedy event Minority Retort offers a platform to redress this imbalance by championing comics of color. DAVE SEGAL

Sebastian Maniscalco: Stay Hungry Tour
Sebastian Maniscalco has been doing stand-up since 2005, and he’s pretty good at it. His observations cover a range of topics, from the people who shop at Whole Foods to the bizarre trusting culture of using Uber (“It’s like hitchhiking with your phone”) and Craigslist (“Strangers are going to come to your home to look at your stuff? What are you, nuts? This is an invitation to get murdered.”). Though he was born in a Chicago suburb and currently lives in Los Angeles, his perspective is straight-up cynical New Yorker. LEILANI POLK

FOOD & DRINK

Second Saturday Wine Nights - Ancient Varietals, Beautiful Wines
Have you ever read an ancient historical text, stumbled across the name of a grape used to make wine, and said to yourself, "I would like to taste that wine"? Here's your chance—this tasting will highlight rare grape varietals, some of which are "nearly extinct," made into wine using thousand-year-old methods.

READINGS & TALKS

Till Chapbook Release Reading
The alumni of the 2018 Till Writing Residency—Anastacia-Renee Tolbert, Sierra Nelson, Arne Pihl, Ramon Isao, and Tessa Hulls—will read in celebration of the release of their chapbook. Hear work by Seattle stars, have some snacks, drink at the donation-based bar, and learn about next year's residency in June.

VISUAL ART

Georgetown Art Attack
Once a month, the art scene of the tiny airport hamlet of Georgetown ATTACKS all passersby. In more literal terms, it's the day of art openings and street wonderment. If the westerly locations are too far, there's a free Art Ride! In January, check out Sarah Norsworthy's paintings on repurposed-wood panels and a Tom Van Deusen book release party.

SATURDAY-SUNDAY

FILM

Whidbey Island Film Festival: Femme Fatales of Film Noir
Catch up with those crafty dames in classics like Gilda, tonight's film in which Rita Hayworth infamously sings "Put the Blame on Mame" while stripping off her opera gloves.

PERFORMANCE

Il Trovatore
Giuseppe Verdi's Il Trovatore is famous for one of the silliest plots in all of opera—no mean feat—but also for its rousing choruses, gorgeous coloratura arias, and heroic numbers. The production involves a love triangle, a long-simmering revenge arc, and an old witch who's accidentally thrown her own baby on a pyre.

SUNDAY

COMEDY

Let’s Go Halfsies / Camp / Bloody Little Milkshake Boys
The Latino American players of improv trio Let's Go Halfsies will perform on-the-spot material about their multi-faceted cultural identities; queer troupe CAMP will "[tap] into their queer cosmic connectedness"; and duo Bloody Little Milkshake Boys' Samantha Demboski and Sophie Schwartz will perform their unrehearsed shenanigans.

FOOD & DRINK

Pop-Up Mimosa Bar
Spend your Sunday mornings sipping mimosas with Chateau bubbles and your choice of juice. 

Themed Sunday Brunch: Vegas Buffet
If what happens at this Vegas-style brunch stays at this Vegas-style brunch, we guess you'll have to refrain from telling your friends how much you enjoyed Chef Eric Rivera's late-morning buffet spread. 

READINGS & TALKS

National Geographic Live: When Women Ruled the World
With a record number of women entering Congress this January (plus a majority of women entering the Washington State House), it makes sense to review the legacy of female rule. Do women govern differently than men? If so, how? Or is the question too loaded with sophistry and essentialism to take seriously? But even if it is, what's the answer!? Professor and Egyptologist Kara Cooney says she has one. In a spectacular NatGeo Live event, Cooney takes us back to ancient Egypt, where women like Cleopatra, Nefertiti, and Nerusobek led one of the most advanced civilizations of antiquity. "When there was a political crisis, the ancient Egyptians chose a woman time and again to fill the power vacuum—precisely because she was the least risky option," she writes in National Geographic. "For the ancient Egyptians, placing women in power was often the best protection for the patriarchy in times of uncertainty." Find out how these women navigated those uncertain times, and learn what they have to teach us about surviving our present political moment. RICH SMITH