Joe Mande
Comedian and writer Joe Mande made a name for himself trolling celebrities and corporations on Twitter, but now that he’s denounced the platform, you’ll need to seek out his sharp tongue and relatable wit through other channels. His Netflix debut, Joe Mande’s Award-Winning Comedy Special, is a great place to start, as is his work on the brilliant NBC fantasy sitcom The Good Place, but why not get acquainted in person this weekend when he swings through Helium for a full slate of shows. CHIPP TERWILLIGER
7:30 pm, 10 pm, Helium Comedy Club, $22-33
The Most Wonderful Season
As a former choir nerd, I get giddy thinking of putting on festive evening wear and stepping out to hear gorgeous choral arrangements of new and traditional holiday songs. Starting the month of December off right, the Portland Gay Men’s Chorus returns for The Most Wonderful Season, a joyous holiday event that’ll see them perform seasonal selections that celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice and the New Year. Get excited for costumes, lights, dancing, and a few surprises. JENNI MOORE
8 pm, Newmark Theatre, $18-50
The Disaster Artist
Don’t come to The Disaster Artist looking for answers. James Franco’s film about the making of The Room probably won’t resolve your biggest questions about Tommy Wiseau, the writer/director/producer/star of that infamously bad 2003 movie. Rather than craft an exposé, Franco embraces Wiseau’s inscrutability while drawing a vivid emotional portrait. At first you think it’s going to be a sniggering, get-a-load-of-this-guy takedown, but Franco’s Wiseau—while enormously funny—is given surprising depth and complexity. Despite all the jokes it cracks at The Room’s expense, it eventually becomes clear that everyone involved in The Disaster Artist has deep affection for Wiseau’s weird, wretched movie. NED LANNAMANN
Various Theaters, see Movie Times for showtimes and locations.
Del McCoury Band
Del McCoury’s band is a well-oiled machine of precisely plucked strings and high lonesome vocals that should sound positively divine bouncing around the Aladdin Theater tonight. BEN SALMON
8 pm, Aladdin Theater, $39.50-42
Portland Night Market
The Industrial District is transformed into the kind of bustling, busy, brightly lit street market you see in movies where the director wants you to know you’re visiting a strange, magical place. Except said magical place is in Portland’s Industrial District for three nights, and features a multitude of Portland’s best makers and creators, as well as some of its best food, drink, and music, too.
4 pm, 100 SE Alder, free, all ages
From Smiths to Smithereens: Portland’s Tribute to ’80s College Rock
Tonight’s show features a handful of great and diverse Portland acts paying tribute to alternative rock’s forebears: heavyweights like the Smiths and the Smithereens (obviously), but hopefully also underrated icons of the era like the dBs, Let’s Active, and XTC. The show also benefits p:ear, an organization that pledges to form relationships with homeless and transitional youth through art and education. MORGAN TROPER
6 pm, Doug Fir, $15-18
Desi Comedy Fest: Portland Edition
The annual San Francisco comedy event hits the road for a nationwide tour, and the Portland stop includes stand-up sets from some of the comedy scene’s best Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Sri Lankan performers, including Neeraj Srinivasan, Mohanad Elshieky, Samson Koletkar, Richard Sarvate, Mona Shaikh, and more.
9:30 pm, Curious Comedy Theater, $25
The Grouch, Del the Funky Homosapien, DJ Fresh, DJ Abilities
A pair of Bay Area-hailing hip-hop legends make their way to the Star Theater stage for the Portland stop on the “How the Grouch Stole Christmas” tour. World class producers DJ Fresh and DJ Abilities lend their support to the proceedings.
9 pm, Star Theater, $22
Scrooged
Richard Donner has a tendency to let the manic energy of his filmmaking slide into shrillness. Films that played as madcap hijinks on release (The Goonies, Lethal Weapon 2) are, on second viewing, just annoying noise. But 1988’s Scrooged—arguably the last great movie Donner made—is different. Rewatches reveal an underlying sweetness and patience it didn’t get credit for at the time—audiences and critics were likely distracted by its on-the-nose parodies of then-crass-but-now-quaint television programming and the evergreen joy of seeing Carol Kane swing a toaster like a mace. But Bill Murray’s expert blend of acid and schmaltz (along with the genius idea of making Bob Goldthwait into Bob Cratchit) turn what could have been a mean-spirited misfire of soured sentimentality into a Christmas gift that is both 100 percent of the decade that spawned it, and better than that decade deserved. BOBBY ROBERTS
9:30 pm, Hollywood Theatre
Bling Bling: Early 2Ks Hip-Hop Tribute
Tribute Night returns to Holocene, with DJ Ronin Roc serving up smorgasbord of early 2000’s rap gems from the likes Nelly, Ludacris, DMX, Lil Jon, Ja Rule, and more. Get nostalgic while dancing the night away to jams and accompanying visuals, and take advantage of the event’s free photo booth to help preserve the memories.
10 pm, Holocene, $10
Don’t forget to check out our Things To Do calendar for even more things to do!