Almost two hundred Tucsonans are going to laugh their way in to the New Year. "Laughing is the cheapest form of therapy," Dobie Maxwell said in a early Sunday morning interview. Maxwell is performing two shows tonight at Laffs Comedy Cafe, 2900 East Broadway.

Maxwell, 50, was performing at Zanies Comedy Club in Chicago last New Year's Eve. "I love Tucson because the people are laid back and come to laugh. It's a lot of fun," Maxwell added, "I love coming here because there's an In-and-Out Burger, Waffle House and Wiener Schnitzel all in the same town. As a comic, you become a fast food connoisseur."

When Maxwell isn't performing comedy he's teaching standup comedy classes in Chicago. "When I started out there weren't a lot of people that helped me at all. The headliners would just want to drink or hit on the waitress, and all I wanted was just five minutes of their time," Dobie said. "Not everyone was like that, but a large percentage that could have been nice weren't."

“My grandpa told me “It’s nice to be important, but it’s important to be nice.” It’s corny and sappy, but it means the world to me. I’ll live by that until I die.”

Maxwell promised his grandfather that he would get a civil service job before entering show business. “I kept my promise and got a civil service job for one day as a clerk typist for the Milwaukee Police department. The only thing I typed was my resignation,” the comedy lifer said. "I knew I wouldn't like it, but I had to keep my promise."

Maxwell has been working in comedy clubs since he was 20 years old. “I sat people, emceed shows and then I went on the road full time when I was 22,” the 50 year-old comedian said.

Dobie has a lot of self-deprecating material in his act. He often refers to himself as “Mr. Lucky.” “The first time I came to Tucson, it rained three out of the four days I was here. I’m always in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Mr. Lucky said. “People that know who I am come up to me and say “I had a ‘Mr. Lucky Day’ the other day.” It makes me feel so good when I hear that.”

“15 years ago my best friend robbed two banks and tried to blame it on me,” Maxwell said. “I had to wear a wire for the government and get him to confess that he did it.” Dobie finally got his childhood friend to admit the truth after seven years of surveillance. The 25 year comedy veteran is hoping to adapt this story into a novel and have it completed by the end of 2014.

• Image courtesy of the Facebook event page.

Dan Hernandez has the night off, so he got some friends together and decided to throw a New Year's Eve party at Plush, 340 East Sixth St. Hernandez and four of Tucson DJs are going to mix the night away. The party starts at 9 p.m. with the Weekly's Dewtron. Following Casey will be Plastic Disease, Danh, Herm and E_Rupt will close the show.

There will be a celebratory toast at midnight, so don't forget to bring someone to kiss and stuff.

Tickets are only $5.

• Photo courtesy of the Rock's Twitter account.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson revealed that he had a meeting with Warner Bros. during his #RockTalk Twitter conversation today. Johnson said that he's going to team up with DC Comics in 2014, but he didn't give any details. This is exciting news considering the bipolar responses regarding the Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot casting controversy that has surrounded the Man of Steel sequel.

We just had a big meeting w/ Warner Bros CEO re: @DCComics 2014 we will partner up and create the cool bad assery. #RockTalk @ActionTilson
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) December 31, 2013

Here are five DC roles that I think would best fit The Rock:

5. Bizarro: The Rock is a gentle giant, just like Superman, you can't fool his naivete for weakness. Johnson has wore the red cape on his first SNL appearance. I don't know if the world is ready to see Bizzaro Superman on the big screen, but he would make a comparable and refreshing new adversary for the Kryptonian.

the rock is SUPERMAN

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4. Black Manta: Black Manta is one of the coolest and underrated rogues in the DC Universe. We don't know much about the character, and Johnson take this character in any direction.

1. Behind the Candelabra

The best movie of the year didn’t play in theaters. Rather, this biopic on legendary flamboyant schmaltz-entertainer Liberace premiered on HBO back in May. Fitting in a year when television — conventional (cable) or otherwise (Netflix) — kicked film’s ass with quality series’ such as Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, House of Cards, and Orange is the New Black. Hollywood studios deemed Steve Soderbergh’s biopic “too gay” and HBO smartly picked the project up. Michael Douglas gives the best performance of his career playing the closeted performer, and Matt Damon is brilliantly cast as his assistant and lover. However, Rob Lowe just about steals the film as a plastic surgeon/Dr. Feelgood who’s been under the knife one too many times. The film is a comedy at times, a tragedy at others, and Soderbergh is the perfect director to balance both.

2. The Wolf of Wall Street

Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio are receiving a lot of undue flak about this unforgiving, three-hour stage dive (it’s really the most punk rock financial film ever made) into the world of predatory brokers, drugs, and material excess in the go-go 80s. Take a look back at Goodfellas and Casino, the Scorsese films that The Wolf of Wall Street mirrors the most: both films place an anti-hero upfront who barely makes it out alive before the credits roll, while all those who have surrounded him are either destroyed or had the good sense to duck out when they should have. It’s a classic Scorsese move, and the symbiosis between star and director finally clicks on this one, their fifth collaborative film. Scorsese is 71-years-old, but if the take-no-prisoners attitude he displays with this one is any indication, he may still have his best work ahead of him.

3. Room 237

“There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.” Rod Serling would have loved Room 237. This journey into the hidden meanings and conspiracy theories concerning Stanley Kubrick’s 1979 film The Shining is not just a tribute to his genius and meticulous attention to detail, it’s also a moving tribute to the joys and wonders of cinema itself. Using footage mostly taken from The Shining and other Kubrick films (horror buffs will swoon over the inclusion of Lamberto Bava’s Demons), the documentary oozes with genuine bone-chilling mystery and chuckle-inducing crackpot musings.

Tucson is the most cost effective place to party this New Years Eve.

I'm grateful that I don't have to sink as low as paying $375 to attend a NYE bash at Applebee's. Thankfully, The Loft Cinema is infinitely more cooler than the chain restaurant because they are hosting a free NYE preparty at 9 p.m. in Mooney's Backlot behind screen three.

Bridgette Thum is inviting some of funniest friends and various hosts from the other Loft Happy Tuesday shows. Thum answers postcards people write her and responds with a witty, insightful thought following a viral video, but tonight she is sharing the best letters and videos of the year. There will be live musical performances, beer and wine.

The Loft is screening the cult classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail at midnight. There will be NYE party favors and hor d'oeuvers available during the pre-show at 11 p.m.

Nothing lasts forever.

Tonight is the last in-store concert at 7 p.m. at Toxic Ranch Records, 424 East Sixth Street.

There will be a live performance by Lenguas Largas, The Resonars and Discos. $3 cover for this all ages show. Toxic is offering 30% off all non-local discs through Jan. 6.

I walked in to Toxic Ranch Records for the first time seven years ago. I was a freshman at Tucson High School and I was very ignorant when it came to the local music (and everything under the sun). The only bands I knew personally were guys I went to school with. I knew some of the guys from Cool Shades and various bands that don't exist any more. But Toxic was the place where I discovered a whole new world of punk and local comic scene.

• (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, David Kadlubowski)
• "A wildfire burns homes in Yarnell, AZ, on June 30, 2013."

It's been six months since 19 brave firefighters were taken in the horrific wildfire in Yarnell Hill.

The Weather Channel® and weather.com published an original documentary and long-form article called “America Burning: The Yarnell Hill Tragedy and the Nation’s Wildfire Crisis. They hope to continue the dialogue and address the growing concern and the contributing factors such as climate change, property development, drought and other problems that go widely ignored.

Watch this extensive and in-depth documentary by Weather Films below:

America Burning: The Yarnell Hill Fire Tragedy and the Nation's Wildfire Crisis from Weather Films on Vimeo.

On June 30, 2013, 19 firefighters from the Granite Mountain Hotshots were killed battling a wildfire near Yarnell, Arizona. Huge questions remain about the last moments of their lives. Why did they move out of a safe area in their final minutes of life? Why did the fire move so quickly? Could their deaths have been prevented?
The tragedy also raises a crucial environmental issue: Has the very act of fighting wildfires made our forests more dangerous?

Everyone knows Doug Stanhope for his offensive comedy, history of drug abuse and medical problems. But underneath all that is a man with a gold heart that gets off on pissing off Christians. Stanhope was inspired to raise money for Rebecca Vitsmun after confessing she was an atheist during her interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer while they were standing in front of her demolished home that was taken by a tornado.

Stanhope admired Vitsmn's courage to openly admitting her lack of faith in a bible belt state on national television. "Saying 'I'm an atheist' in Oklahoma is like screaming 'Jihad' at airport security," Stanhope said in the clip Charlie Brooker's 2013 Wipe he posted Sunday. The outlandish Bisbee comedian started a IndieGogo campaign called "Atheist Unite." After two months, Stanhope crowdfunded $125,760 for Oklahoman.

"I did it simply to be a prick to her Okie-Christian neighbors, hoping that they were still eating off of FEMA trucks when someone drove up and presented Rebecca with a giant cardboard check."

• Photo courtesy of the Facebook event page.

Today is the last day to get $5 off your ticket for the NYE Burlesque Bash that is taking place at Playground Bar and Lounge, 278 East Congress St.

Pisa Cake and eight of Arizona's finest burlesque entertainers are hosting two shows in one night. The headliner is Phoenix's "Purrr-fect Ecdysiast," Kitty Victorian. There will be performances by Lela Rose, Crystal Kiss, Pearl Necklace, Robin Harts, Luna De Lumbre, Wanda Pout and Fifi Fiesta.

We are all excel at something, but Etibar Elchyev "sticks" to what he's good at.

The 41 year-old former Georgia kick-boxing coach set a new world record on Saturday by using his ability to attract metal substances to his skin.

Elchyev broke his previous record by sticking 53 spoons to his chest and back.