Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday Thursday 23 COMIC RELIEF. The most humorless season of the year is fast approaching, but the Sweatlodge brotherhood is staging an intervention of searing wit and spine-tingling satire to help you face the heat with a light heart. Join them for the final performance of Slightly Off Center, an evening of off-kilter sketch comedy canvassing dating, "Biosphere 2000," KUAT, convenience-store shopping, the Tucson City Council, a dead guy named Bob and a truly nifty salute to Jimi Hendrix. For reasons we can't imagine, otherwise reputable KRQ radio newscaster Betsy Bruce rolls up her sleeves alongside Sweatlogians Nick Seivert, Fish Karma, Dave Fitzsimmons and Danny Boskowitz. Show time is 8 p.m. at the Southwest Center for Music, 2175 N. Sixth Ave. Tickets are $11 at the door, with a $1 discount for non-perishable donations to the Community Food Bank. Advance tickets are available at the Center and Hear's Music. Call 884-1220 for information. Friday 24 SELDOM SCENE AGAIN. You'll see some familiar faces when bouyant bluegrass rule-breakers Chesapeake take the stage tonight, but the sounds from the stage should be fresh and new. Former Seldom Scene band members Mike Auldridge (dobro), T. Michael Coleman (bass) and Moondi Klein (lead vocals/guitar) are joined by mandolinist Jimmy Gaudreau in one of the most creative unions to grace American roots rock in years. See this week's music feature for a preview of tonight's promising line-up of blues and progressive bluegrass. Show time is 8 p.m. at the Berger Performing Arts Center, 1200 W. Speedway. Advance tickets are $12, $11 for TKMA, TFTM, TBA and KXCI members, and $8 for students and seniors, available at Hear's Music, Loco Records, Folk Shop, Piney Hollow, Workshop Music and Mars-Hall Music Center. They'll cost $2 more at the door. Call 628-7471 for information. ASCEND THE LOFT. In the old days, before we all owned those fancy VCRs we're still unable to program, the only way to see a science fiction classic was to wait for a goofball theater owner to schedule a midnight showing. This Memorial Day weekend, The Loft revives that great tradition with a sci-fi trifecta. This mini-fest takes off tonight with the 1956 Forbidden Planet, a lush cosmic version of Shakespeare's The Tempest with thrilling (for the era, anyway) special effects. This tasty flick chronicles a military mission to another world in search of colonists lost years ago. You won't want to miss Leslie Nielson's performance, which is virtually impossible to take seriously these days. Forbidden Planet also features the film debut of Robby the Robot, who went on to star in many gee-whiz extravaganzas, including a lengthy stint on TV's Lost in Space. Saturday night, the action shifts back to our home planet for The Day the Earth Stood Still, director Robert Wise's 1951 tale about an alien (Michael Rennie) who comes to Washington to warn us to give up our warlike ways. If you don't already know what "Klaatu Barada Nikto" means, you will by the end of this groundbreaking epic. The festival wraps up on Sunday with a film of more recent vintage, director Ridley Scott's 1979 Alien, in which a very bad-tempered, multi-jawed bug-thing pops out of its first victim's chest and stalks the crew of an old rustbucket spaceship. Don't miss your chance to see these gems in all their big-screen glory. All films show at midnight at The Loft, 3233 E. Speedway. Tickets are $6 for adults and $3.75 for students with I.D. and kids under 13. Call 795-7777 for information. Saturday 25 DOUBLE EXPOSURE. Bero Gallery celebrates its second anniversary this weekend with a silent auction of donated photographic works from The Second Anniversary Retrospective. If there's an image that's been haunting you from the gallery's past season, stop by tonight's reception and make your bid to support a small but ambitious downtown gallery. Live music by Calexico and Queen of Congo Tasha Bundy promise a full house. The fun begins at 8 p.m. at Bero Gallery, 41 S. Sixth Ave. Call 792-0313 for more information. Regular gallery hours are noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, with extended hours on Thursday night Art Walk HAVE A BLAST. To celebrate Memorial Day weekend, the Tucson Toros are setting off a whole mess of fireworks following tonight's ballgame against the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. Is there a better way to welcome summer than lying down in left field with a belly full of beer and hot dogs and watching bombs explode overhead? We sure can't think of one. The game starts at 7:30 p.m. at Hi Corbett Field in Reid Park. Tickets are $3 to $6. For more information on the Toros' latest homestand, see our listings section or call 325-2621. Sunday 26 MUSIC UNDER THE STARS. Reid Park's DeMeester Outdoor Performance Center goes into a state of suspended animation tonight as the Tucson Pops Orchestra pulls a few strings to present a family concert under the stars featuring selections from The Lion King, Pocahontas and Beauty and the Beast. Lawn chairs and blankets are recommended. Admission and parking are free, with performance beginning just after sundown. SUPERJAM. Jazz lovers from all walks will be clamoring at the gates for tonight's Superjam, a tri-set showcase of more than 50 of Tucson's finest jazz musicians. The show opens at 7 p.m. with a straight-ahead set with featured performances by Mike Eckroth, Fred Hayes, Tom Ervin and Cass Preston. Following at 8:30 p.m. will be funky rhythm and blues with Carl Cherry, Rene Camacho, Art Rodriguez, Xavier Marquez, Greg Armstrong and vocalists Mary Baker and Ada Redd Austin. The Tucson Latin Jazz Orchestra, Robin Horn and guitarist Ismael Barajas finish off the evening with stylish Latin jazz. Best of all, ticket sales will support the Tucson Jazz Society's education fund, which awards scholarships to local high school and college students. Community support never sounded so good. Gates open at 6 p.m. at St. Philip's Plaza, 4380 N. Campbell Ave. Walk-up tickets are available for $8, $4 for TJS members. Call 743-3399 for information. Monday 27 ROCK FOR Rainer. Folk artist Greg Brown returns to Tucson for a single performance to pay tribute to fellow musician Rainer Ptacek, whose ongoing battle against lymphoma continues to gnaw at the hearts of musicians far and near. Brown, well-known for his intimate audience rapport, powerful songwriting and diverse fabric of gospel, blues, rock, calypso and jazz, is sure to be in rare form for this heartfelt Tucson benefit. Phoenician Hans Olson and Howe Gelb and Mystic 13 open the show at 7 p.m. at the Berger Performing Arts Center, 1200 W. Speedway. Tickets are $15 and $20, available in advance from Loco Records, Workshop Music, Zip's, Hear's Music and the Folk Shop. To charge by phone call 881-3947. Tuesday 28 HOCUS POCUS. Laffs Comedy Caffé, 2900 E. Broadway, makes all its comedians disappear for a night to make room for the Twisted Magic of Norm Marini, along with illustrious illusions by veteran Tucson magician Bruce Martin and a brave new generation of magic makers like Steve Lee and Don Hendrix. Willingly suspend your disbelief starting at 8 p.m. Tickets are $6 at the door, no coupons. Call 323-8669 for reservations. Wednesday 29 PLANETARIUM THEATER. There's no cooler way to enjoy the great outdoors in air-conditioned comfort than to take in a laser show or planetarium presentation at the Flandrau Science Center, centrally located on the west side of the UA mall. The Center offers hands-on science exhibits and a 16-inch telescope for free public viewing of the night sky from 8 to 10 p.m. every Wednesday through Saturday. Stretch your neck with Through the Eyes of Hubble, recent images from outer space, with evening performances at 7:30 tonight through Saturday and matinees at 2:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Additional shows include Illusions: An Adventure in Human Perception and Under Arizona Skies. Call 621-STAR for information and show times. Admission to exhibits is $2, free with purchase of a theater ticket. Up to four children are free when accompanied by a paying adult. Theater ticket prices range from $3 to $4.50. City Week includes events selected by Calendar Editor Mari Wadsworth. Event information is accurate as of press time. The Weekly recommends calling event organizers to check for last-minute changes in location, time, price, etc.

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