Comic John Hastings. Detail of a photo by Tim Leyes.

LECTURE: Historian and storyteller Bruce Bell holds court this evening at C’est What. He’ll be telling stories of old Toronto. C’est What (67 Front Street East), 7:30 P.M., $20.

MUSIC: The Drake’s usual Elvis Mondays showcase has been postponed to Tuesday this week, in order to accommodate special guest Chelsea Wolfe, who’s in the middle of a North American tour. She’ll be playing an intimate acoustic set in the Underground, with opener King Dude. The Drake Hotel Underground (1150 Queen Street West), 8 p.m., $15 in advance.

COMEDY: Scrappy west-end stand-up showcase Laughable returns tonight, with a typically stacked roster of comics, including Alex Pavone, who just finished a four-night headlining stand at Yuk Yuk’s; cabaret curator and storyteller Paul Hutcheson; and John Hastings, who’s been making a name for himself in the U.K. Steph Tolev hosts. Unlovable (1415-B Dundas Street West), 9 p.m., PWYC.

Urban Planner is Torontoist‘s guide to what’s on in Toronto, published every weekday morning, and in a weekend edition Friday afternoons. If you have an event you’d like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you’ve got any—to events@torontoist.com.

Wade Davis speaks about his travels tonight. Photo by Ryan Hill.

COMEDY: Weekly stand-up showcase Laughable at Unlovable, with co-hosts/co-producers Nick Flanagan and Steph Tolev, has a pretty solid line-up tonight, including Gilson Lubin, Amanda Brooke-Perrin, and Fraser Young. Unlovable (1415 Dundas Street West), 9 p.m., PWYC.

MUSIC: Some big names are in town tonight. Here are a few:

• Hardcore punk legend Henry Rollins rants onstage this evening in the first of a three-night stand at the Glenn Gould Studio (250 Front Street West), 7 p.m., $30.
• Canuck rock legend Neil Young and his band Crazy Horse play the Air Canada Centre (40 Bay Street), 7:30 p.m., $53.25–$258.25.
• And rap legend in the making (partly self-proclaimed, but hey, it’s hip-hop) A$AP Rocky headlines an all-ages gig at the Sound Academy (11 Polson Street), 8 p.m., $35.50.

Urban Planner is Torontoist‘s guide to what’s on in Toronto, published every weekday morning, and in a weekend edition Friday afternoons. If you have an event you’d like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you’ve got any—to events@torontoist.com.

The Besnard Lakes open for Dinosaur Jr tonight at Lee's Palace. Photo by Chris Gergley.

COMEDY: The Just For Laughs 42 Festival is going strong, with performances around town by comics like Andy Kindler, Todd Barry, and Pete Holmes, but there’s also some independent laughs to be had without a festival pass. Laughable at Unlovable returns tonight after an extended summer hiatus. Co-hosts Nick Flanagan and Steph Tolev welcome guests including DJ Demers, Graham Chittenden, James Hartnett, and more. Unlovable (1415B Dundas Street West), 9 p.m., PWYC.

MUSIC: Tonight belongs to the “dinosaurs” of indie rock—literally. Dinosaur Jr. brings their new album I Bet On Sky to Lee’s Palace tonight, supported by past Polaris Prize nominees The Besnard Lakes. Lee’s Palace (529 Bloor Street West), Besnard Lakes at 9 p.m., $34.50 in advance ($40 at the door.)

Urban Planner is Torontoist‘s guide to what’s on in Toronto, published every weekday morning, and in a weekend edition Friday afternoons. If you have an event you’d like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you’ve got any—to events@torontoist.com.

Amy Keating and Ishai Buchbinder are preschool pals in the dark imaginary friend satire Mr. Marmalade, previewing tonight. Photo by Simon Bloom.

• Mr. Marmalade, a site-specific dark satire about a preschooler with a volatile imaginary friend who mirrors the adults and other people in her real life, was a big hit at the 2011 SummerWorks Festival. Innovative theatre company Outside The March previews the show tonight in its new real kindergarten class venue. Holy Family Catholic Church School (1372 King Street West 141 Close Avenue), 7:30 p.m., $10 $20, or $10 for those under 30.
• The Soulpepper Theatre Company brings its considerable talent to bear on David Mamet, a playwright who’s long been a favourite of Fringe companies hoping to make a splash. Their production of Mamet’s Speed-The-Plow, about slimy Hollywood dealings and set in a producer’s office, opens tonight. The Young Centre (50 Tank House Lane), 8 p.m., $32–$68 (rush tickets one hour before the show for $5–$22.)
• A fan favourite at last year’s Fringe Festival, multimedia comedy P-Dale remounts its Episode 1: Heist, with a PWYC opening tonight. Following the misadventures of a crew of hapless Parkdale ne’er-do-wells, the show sets the stage for Episode 2, scheduled for an October premiere. Unit 102 Theatre (376 Dufferin Street), 8 p.m., PWYC (all subsequent performances $15).

COMEDY: Unlovable still hasn’t opened its doors following a NXNE-related, City-enforced shutdown, so producer-hosts Nick Flanagan and Steph Tolev have temporarily relocated this month’s Laughable stand-up showcase to the Comedy Bar. Guests on tonight’s bill include Gilson Lubin, Evany Rosen, and Dom Pare. Comedy Bar (945 Bloor Street West), 9 p.m., $5.

MUSIC: Mississippi native Dent May is best known for his ukulele strumming, but his latest video “Home Groan“, using iPhone footage shot by himself and director James Alexander Warren, shows the musician is much more than a one-trick pony. Dent will make his Toronto debut tonight, with openers Sam Coffey & The Iron Lungs. The Shop under Parts & Labour (1566 Queen Street West), 9 p.m., $7 in advance, $8 at the door.

Urban Planner is Torontoist‘s guide to what’s on in Toronto, published every weekday morning, and in a weekend edition Friday afternoons. If you have an event you’d like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you’ve got any—to events@torontoist.com.

Sketch troupe She Said What (pictured here in their 2011 Fringe show) present a night of new comedy, with host Dave Merheje and special guest Gavin Crawford.

• The four funny women of She Said What are presenting a night of new sketches tonight. The evening is titled She Said What, Who, Where, Why, When?!; Dave Merheje hosts and Gavin Crawford is a special guest. Comedy Bar (945 Bloor Street West), 8 p.m., $12.
• The Monarch Tavern was a hotspot over NXNE for several (very) late-night comedy showcases. Tonight, for the first time, the tavern is hosting an instalment of Nick Flanagan and Steph Tolev’s now monthly Laughable stand-up showcase, with guests like Rob Pue, Jillian Thomas, and Zabrina Chevannes. The Monarch Tavern (12 Clinton Street), 9 p.m., FREE.

THEATRE: Scrim for Rent Productions is putting on Morris Panych’s two-hander Lawrence & Holloman, starring veteran performers Jerry Schaeffer and Trent McMullan. The black comedy about two losers who meet over drinks is staged in the Winchester Kitchen, and you’ll be able to have a drink yourself as you watch the proceedings. Winchester Kitchen & Bar (51A Winchester Street), doors at 7:30 p.m., show at 8:30 p.m., $15–$20.

MUSIC: Not quite ready for the North By Northeast Festival to end? The good news is that there are any number of great shows to tide you over, and two in particular we’re highlighting. To wit:

• There were plenty of veteran established acts at NXNE, and if you want to see another, Scottish post-rock outfit Mogwai is the big ticket draw in town tonight. Phoenix Concert Theatre (410 Sherbourne Street), doors at 8 p.m., show at 9 p.m., $29.50 in advance at Rotate This or Soundscapes.
• If you’re looking for an out-of-town act on the rise, Washington, D.C.’s Les Rhinocéros, who fuse ambient, jazz, world music, and more into their own style, are headlining tonight, with openers Many Arms and BBC3. The Rhinos are most closely associated with John Zorn, being signed to his label Tzadik. The Tranzac Main Hall (292 Brunswick Avenue), 8 p.m., $8.

Urban Planner is Torontoist‘s guide to what’s on in Toronto, published every weekday morning, and in a weekend edition Friday afternoons. If you have an event you’d like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you’ve got any—to events@torontoist.com.

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LECTURE: Elizabeth Diller, the lead architect for the phenomenally popular High Line Park in Manhattan, is speaking tonight as part of the Daniels 2011-2012 Public Lecture Series. Diller and her firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro were also involved in renovating New York City’s Lincoln Center For the Performing Arts. She’ll be speaking about the hows and whys of her and her firm’s work. Since it’s a free lecture, best to get there early if you want a seat. University of Toronto Architecture Building (230 College Street, Room 103), 6:30 p.m., FREE.

THEATRE: Studio 180 Theatre Company has its first preview tonight of their production of American playwright Bruce Norris’s Pulitzer Prize–winning Clybourne Park, which looks at race relations in a neighborhood in 1959, and compares them to relations in 2009. Since it’s being put on in conjunction with Canadian Stage, they’ll have PWYC tickets available on Monday nights. Berkeley Street Theatre (26 Berkeley Street), 8 p.m., $22–$49. (Limited PWYC tickets available day-of, in person at box office, starting at 10 a.m.)

COMEDY: No gimmicks or tricks for tonight’s Laughable at Unlovable stand-up showcase, with hosts Steph Tolev and Nick Flanagan. Nope, just a really strong line-up, including Ryan Belleville, Evany Rosen, Adam Christie, and more. Unlovable (1415-B Dundas Street West), 9 p.m., PWYC.

Urban Planner is Torontoist‘s guide to what’s on in Toronto, published every weekday morning, and in a weekend edition Friday afternoons. If you have an event you’d like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you’ve got any—to events@torontoist.com.

Regina TheGentleLady calls balls at Hipster Bingo tonight. Photo by Jeff Harris.

THEATRE: Last summer’s Fringe Festival hit, Kim’s Convenience, about a Korean quick stop corner store and the family that runs it, opened a second run last week to repeat rave reviews—including one from us. The first original production for Soulpepper Theatre, you’ll want to line up very early this evening if you want to snag one of the limited same day rush tickets available for tonight’s performance one hour before the show. The Young Centre (55 Mill Street), 8 p.m., $32–$68.

BINGO: The Garrison is launching a new bingo night, which in proper tongue-in-cheek fashion they’ve titled Hipster Bingo, with re-usable bingo cards at two bucks for the night, and “hipster” prizes up for grabs. MC-ing the eventing will be Regina TheGentleLady, the willowy lead singer of Light Fires. The Garrison (1197 Dundas Street West), 8 p.m., $2.

COMEDY: The tiny underground bar Unlovable’s Laughable comedy night, co-hosted and co-produced by Nick Flanagan and Steph Tolev, continues to pull great bills together, and tonight’s no exception. Stand-ups Jason Rouse and Kathleen McGee, who are busy performing away from Toronto these days, are both scheduled to drop by, and great local acts like Amanda Brooke Perrin and Laugh Sabbath’s James Hartnett round out the bill. Unlovable (1415-B Dundas Street West), 9 p.m., PWYC.

DESIGN WEEK: Toronto Design Week 2012 runs from January 23-29, and has a multitude of related events under its loosely defined umbrella. The Toronto Design Offsite Festival collects many of them together on their site, including events at the Design Exchange and Gladstone Hotel; Do Design 2012 has events along Dundas Street West from January 26-29, and the week climaxes with the Interior Design Show 2012 from January 26-29. Design Edge Canada has many of the week’s highlights listed here.

Urban Planner is Torontoist‘s guide to what’s on in Toronto, published every weekday morning, and in a weekend edition Friday afternoons. If you have an event you’d like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you’ve got any—to events@torontoist.com.

Comic Rhiannon Archer and others will present slice-of-life comedy at Laughable at Unlovable tonight. Photo by Dusko Jocic.

LECTURE: As an introduction to their “Capacity 2011” exhibit that opened last Thursday at the Design Exchange, the 10 Toronto-based female designers whose work is being exhibited (including Kirsten White, Arounna Khounnoraj, Michelle Ivankovic, and more) are taking part in a PechaKucha-style panel discussion entitled Design and Gender? to explore how their sex is relevant (or not) to their industrial and product-design work. Design Exchange (234 Bay Street), 6:30 p.m.–8:30 p.m., PWYC (RSVP at noa@dx.org).

POLITICS: Why Should I Care?  is a new grass-roots, local, non-partisan “civic engagement project,” aimed at getting voters and politicians alike communicating and consensus-building more effectively. Gearing up for the upcoming provincial election, they’re holding an early all-candidates debate for the ward of Trinity-Spadina and have invited candidates Tim Grant, Rosario Marchese, and Sarah Thomson to talk about issues affecting the area (RSVPs are strongly recommended.) Duke of York Pub (39 Prince Arthur Avenue), 7 p.m.–9:30 p.m., FREE.

FILM: Summer Movies in Christie Pits is a new neighbourhood initiative spearheaded by Emily Reid (with the support of the Revue Film Society) to get people “escaping” to the park to watch some classic heist films with friends and neighbours. Tonight’s film is the classic Hitchcock thriller North By Northwest. Christie Pits Park, event starts at 7:30 p.m., screening begins at 8 p.m., PWYC.

COMEDY: Nick Flanagan and Steph Tolev‘s weekly stand-up showcase in the west end, Laughable at Unlovable, welcomes very funny guests like Tim Gilbert, Rhiannon Archer, and Michael Balazo to the stage this evening. Trust us—these people are so funny, you won’t be tempted to try the free pinball until well after they’re done (or at intermission). Unlovable (1415-B Dundas Street West), 9 p.m., PWYC.

Urban Planner is Torontoist‘s guide to what’s on in Toronto, published every weekday morning, and in a weekend edition Friday afternoons. If you have an event you’d like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you’ve got any—to events@torontoist.com.