Weekend arts forecast: Variety mix at the Palladium

There’s a rich history of comedians whose Jewishness is a cornerstone of their observational humor, from Shelley Berman and Jackie Mason to Richard Lewis and yes, even Jerry Seinfeld.

When they’re really, really good, the audience gives them a standing oy vey-tion.

(Come on, it was funny.)

Add to this list David Glickman, who’s bringing his show To Laugh, to Laugh, L’Chaim to the Palladium Theater’s Side Door Cafe Sunday. He’s a veteran standup, a song parodist (with his own strap-around-the-shoulders piano) and one of those guys who brings a kosher perspective to everything.

“To me, making a room full of strangers burst out laughing, that’s my definition of funny,” the 66-year-old bay area resident recently said to the Jewish Press of Pinellas County.

Formerly the grand poobah of a string of South Florida comedy clubs, Glickman is also a keynote speaker (there are certifications for things like that) who uses humor – Jewish and otherwise – to entertain and educate corporate clients and their employees.

To Laugh, to Laugh, L’Chaim, he told the newspaper, is one hundred percent family-friendly. “I just can’t do a dirty show. Carnival Cruise Line fired me because my late night adult show wasn’t raunchy enough. I tried dropping in bad language and it just didn’t work … just wasn’t me.”

Find tickets here.

The David Glickman performance starts at 7:30 p.m. Sunday. That afternoon at 2, upstairs in Hough Hall, it’s the six classical musicians of St. Pete Baroque, playing baroque music from women composers.

The ensemble: The 14-stringed viola d’amore, played by Artistic Director Dan Urbanowicz; baroque violin, played by Sarah Shellman; soprano Hein Jung, viola da gamba, played by guest artist Sarah Biber from Colorado; theorbo, by guest artist David Dolata from Miami; and the harpsichord, by guest artist Webb Wiggins from Fort Lauderdale.

Find tickets here.

Acclaimed blues guitarist Jose Ramirez returns to the Palladium Friday with his band, in support of their latest, Major League Blues. The Side Door show begins at 8 p.m. (tickets here).

At 620

Friday at thestudio@620, St. Pete Youth Farm director Carla Bristol continues her community podcast, Connect with Carla B., with a live, audience-is-welcome interview with Dr. Kanika Tomalin – they’ll be turning the tables, with Bristol, a community activist and pubic speaker, on the receiving end of the questions. The 7 p.m. event, which includes a reception, is free. RSVPs are respectfully requested, here.

Of course, thestudio@620 is part of Saturday’s edition of the monthly Second Saturday ArtWalk – it’s one of 40 or so studios, galleries and artist enclaves open for visitation from 5 to 9 p.m. On the walls there now is Ghetto Gods, the latest exhibition from the astonishing young painter Jabari Reed-Diop (aka iBOMS). Here’s the map for the Saturday event.

Wednesday’s Catalyst included a story about the ArtWalk, with other news from St. Pete’s visual arts world. ICYMI, check it out here.

On theater stages

While Chester Gregory’s A Motown Celebration is going at full steam at freeFall Theater, two new shows arrive this weekend: Every Brilliant Thing, a poignant one-man drama starring Dylan Barlowe at The Off Central (read all about it here), and at Ybor City’s LAB Theater Project, the world premiere of the bittersweet farming drama Drift (read all about it here).

Billy Currington has landed 11 No. 1 country hits. Publicity photo.

Concerts

It’s another multi-show pileup at the Mid-Florida Credit Union Amphitheater, with country’s Sam Hunt tonight (Thursday, Sept 7); EDM duo Odesza Friday; hard-rocking Godsmack Saturday. Tickets for all shows are here.

Saturday at The Sound (amphitheater) in Clearwater, it’s a country music double-bill, with Billy Currington (“Must Be Doin’ Something Right,” “Do I Make You Wanna”) and Jessie James Decker (Southern Girl City Lights). Decker and her football-star husband Eric starred in a reality TV series on E!. Find tickets here.

The Weekend arts forecast appears every Thursday in the Catalyst. 

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