events
Urban Planner: December 9, 2011
In today's UP: women in games, film, and media at the TIFF Nexus Conference, and in the ring at Girlfight; Rez Sisters closes, and Lupe opens; Todd Barry returns to Comedy Bar; The War On Drugs returns to TO; and Dan Burke's rocking birthday show.
The TIFF NEXUS Conference today focuses on "women in games, film, & new media." Photo by Jag Gundu.
CONFERENCE: The TIFF Nexus Conference, designed to give Ontario storytellers a leg up in using new technology, is focusing on the portrayal of women in its fields of interest (games, film, television and new media) and how those can be improved and increased. Nora Young, host of CBC’s Spark, will be joined by a raft of leaders in these fields—predominantly (but not exclusively) women—to engage with conference attendees in workshops, lectures, and more. TIFF Bell Lightbox (350 King Street West), 1 p.m.–7 p.m., $30–$99.
SPORT/FUNDRAISER: Local fierce femme blog Pink Mafia is producing another card of Girlfight tonight, in support of Nellie’s, a shelter for women and children. Six sanctioned bouts of female K1 Thai kickboxing will be interspersed with music from Steve Rick and Fawn B.C. The Great Hall (1087 Queen Street West), 6 p.m., $20 in advance/more at the door.
THEATRE: With holiday entertainment like Soulpepper’s Parfumerie and Lupe Dominguez‘s Very Lupe Xmas arriving (both opened last night), non-holiday shows are wrapping up their runs. Praxis Theatre’s short run of Jesus Chrysler closes this weekend at Theatre Passe Muraille’s Backspace (16 Ryerson Avenue, 7:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 2:30 p.m. matinees, $15–$20), while over at Factory Theatre, both their production of The Rez Sisters in the Mainspace and Optic Heart Theatre’s production of Crush in the Factory Studio wrap up with Sunday matinees. Factory Theatre (125 Bathurst Street), 8 p.m., $15—$45.
COMEDY: Funnyman Todd Barry, one of Comedy Bar’s favourite stand-up guests to date, returns to the underground venue tonight for two performances. The late show’s already sold out, so a third show has been added for Saturday at 10:30 p.m., but if you want to be the first to see Barry, you should pick up your tickets (online) for this evening’s first set straightaway. Comedy Bar (945 Bloor Street West), 8 p.m., $20.
MUSIC: The War on Drugs returns for their third and final show of 2011 in Toronto tonight, headlining at the Horseshoe Tavern with guests Andre Ethier and Arc in Round (370 Queen Street West, doors at 9 p.m., $13.50). In a strange coincidence, the man who wrote The War On Drugs’ excellent Pitchfork review for Slave Ambient, Stuart Berman, also headlines a show tonight, too; his band The Two Koreas are playing legendary local booker Dan Burke’s birthday show, along with Powers, Sports (the band), and Planet Creature. The Silver Dollar (486 Spadina Avenue), doors at 9 p.m., $7.
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 [email protected].