February is nothing if not ambitious—in addition to Black History Month, Valentine’s Day, the Lunar New Year, the Oscars, and the Super Bowl, the shortest month of the year packs in tons of other major happenings in Seattle. Below, we’ve compiled the biggest art and comedy shows, concerts, food events, and other ways to make the most out of the next 28 days, from a Conversation with Zadie Smith to a musical comedy night with Fred Armisen, from Ja Rule & Ashanti to the opening of Jeffrey Gibson: Like a Hammer, and from Noir City 2019 to the Seattle Wine and Food Experience. If all of that isn’t enough, you can also look ahead to the rest of this year’s big events, or check out our complete Things To Do calendar.
FEBRUARY 1
COMEDY
1. Dana Gould
Dana Gould is one of the most inventive, brilliant, and respected comics in the business. He was a writer on The Simpsons for seven years, and has been closely associated with excellent TV, including The Ben Stiller Show and Parks and Recreation. More recently, he wrote an episode of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 Netflix reboot and created the IFC horror-comedy show Stan Against Evil. He’s acerbic, self-flagellating, and capable of spinning off into elaborate physical set pieces (you’ll never hear the phrase “day-old chocolate cocks” the same way again) that shock you with their dark majesty. Go see Dana Gould do live stand-up so you can know what it’s like to be in the presence of actual, uncomfortable greatness. SEAN NELSON
