Night & Day Events

24 Thursday
Chuck Digby wants to talk about the weather, and not just as a desperate last resort while attempting to make conversation with a stranger. Digby serves as coordinator of emergency communications for KCTV Channel 5, where his duties include coordinating weather spotters and tracking storms. He’s also a member of the Dowsing Society of Kansas City, a group that investigates the possibility of tapping into psychic powers using a dowsing rod. The combination of psychic and meteorological skills that Digby possesses makes him a unique weather resource. Tonight at 8 he explains the weather from a variety of perspectives and encouraging everyone at the Dowsing Society of Kansas City’s office, 6000 Lamar, to “tune in” to what he’s saying. And when members of the Dowsing Society tune in, they don’t reach for a remote control. They’re searching for the weather radar maps within, using dowsing rods as antennae. Admission is free. For more information, call 816-313-1012.

Fred Phelps is planning another protest. In the case of the Kansas and Missouri MAINstream Coalition forums, however, it’s hard to figure out why. The intent of the forums is to educate citizens on the legislative process and give people a sense of the importance of local politics. Legislators Marsha Campbell, Meg Harding and Cathy Jolly will all be attending tonight’s Missouri Forum. Since we can’t imagine that Phelps opposes educating people about the political process, we’ll assume that he needed an excuse to use the sinfully alliterative phrase “MAINstream _ mongrel messengers of Sodom at All Souls Dog Kennel” in the fax announcing his protest. Phelps is a bit confused, though. The “mongrels” will be speaking not at “All Souls Dog Kennel” but at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 4501 Walnut. The fun begins at 7. For more information, call 913-649-3326.

25 Friday
Since the improv group W.I.T. Pending doesn’t debut until tonight, we can’t say for sure that the group will have audiences falling out of their chairs with laughter, but as their name clearly indicates, they aren’t looking for that kind of guarantee, nor are they about to make empty promises. They might be witty. They might not. But based on the originality of the name alone, we’ll make a wild guess and say they’re going to be funny, smart and unassuming. Audience members and performers alike will be able to say for sure after tonight’s 8 o’clock performance at the Westport Coffee House Theater, 4010 Pennsylvania. Admission is a noncommital $5. For more information, call 816-756-3222.

26 Saturday
A lot of guys think they’ve got good moves, but tap dancer Cholly Atkins knows it. He is, officially, “The Man With the Moves.“ The guy who choreographed tap routines for The Temptations, The Supremes, Aretha Franklin and other Motown bands will happily teach a few of his famous moves to Kansas City tap dancers this morning as part of the Master Tap Class at The American Jazz Museum, 1616 E. 18th Street, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in honor of National Tap Dance Day. The rest of the teaching panel is equally impressive, with Fayard Nicholas of the famed Nicholas Brothers and Martin Tres Dumas joining him for the workshop. But it’s Atkins alone who can, literally, make you move like Aretha. There’s a participation fee of $20. For more information, call 816-333-7935.

27 Sunday
Seattle is a cool city. It’s certainly more temperate than Kansas City, and by this time of year, the snide remarks we like to make about the relationship of their drizzle to their bouts of depression don’t roll off the tongue so easily. So far this weekend, the Seattle Mariners have been enjoying evening games, the sun setting compliantly as they step up to the plate. But as the Royals gear up to play the Mariners in a midday baseball game at Kauffman Stadium, the heat might prove advantageous. The game starts at 1:05 p.m. Sunscreen may be in order, and today isn’t the day to complain. For more information, call 816-931-3330.

28 Monday
Remember how Fozzie Bear was always getting tomatoes thrown at him on The Muppet Show? If your friends have started keeping their own stockpile of projectile tomatoes on hand, it’s time to take the next step in your comedy career: open mic night. Stanford and Sons, 504 Westport Road, has a weekly open mic night starting at 8:30, giving amateur comedians a chance to test their jokes on strangers who haven’t yet learned to wield produce. Everybody’s got to start somewhere, and the dinner table happens to be a bad first performance venue. Not only does Stanford and Sons have the advantage of not providing audience ammunition, it’s a better place to get noticed than your own home. For more information, call 816-753-JOKE.

29 Tuesday
All nü-metal might be starting to sound alike, but it’s impossible to fault the route to success its groups have chosen: constant touring, with an emphasis on concerts for the kids. The latest all-ages showcase introduces curious young pliable-minded hard-rock fans to Stereomud, a quintet notable for having five members with goatees as well as for boasting former members of Life of Agony and Stuck Mojo; Endo, which made an area appearance last month in a warm-up slot before the mighty Hatebreed; and Spike 1000, one of the lamentably few heavy bands that features a female vocalist. A KQRC 98.9-sponsored event, this “Pain and Suffering” tour stop at El Torreon, 31st and Gilham, costs just 98 cents. Call 816-419-7278 for more information.

30 Wednesday
If the reviews that New Orleans-based Pistol Pete and Popgun Paul have inspired are any indication, tonight’s show at Davey’s Uptown Ramblers Club, 3402 Main Street, should be pretty offbeat. A Watermark critic has called them “the best thing to come out of New Orleans since plastic beads,” and a review in The Memphis Flyer calls them a “weird, weird fusion band” — that’s not just one “weird” but two. Tribe Magazine has suggested that potential concertgoers “picture a gay Everly Brothers.” Meanwhile, Impact News says they’re a “homocore reincarnation of Simon & Garfunkel.” The duo baffles and entertains crowds everywhere. For more information, call 816-753-1909.