Need a laugh tonight? 3 acts to choose from
The Equinox has passed, meaning spring is officially underway and seeds are finally allowed to germinate. (Seeds adhere to a rigid, bureaucratic timeline.) If pollen doesn’t reduce you to a swolleneyed sneeze factory, you can take in the season’s growth with the Spring Bloom Festival Walking Tours at Bok Tower Gardens (tours at noon and 2 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, 1151 Tower Blvd., Lake Wales, $5-$15, boktowergardens.org).
Once you’ve gotten a sense for how they look in the ground, pick up some blooms for your home at the Florida Wildflower & Garden Festival (9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Downtown DeLand, West Indiana Avenue, free, mainstreet deland.org). It’s nice when nature events work in harmony like this.
Women’s History Month moment
You have a nearly infinite
number of opportunities to celebrate women every day, but there are at least two scheduled events for this purpose this week.
On Sunday, author Kimberly Voss offers a lesson on how women have shaped news itself in Celebrating Soft News: ReEvaluating Women’s Page Journalism in the
Post-WWII Era (2 p.m., Orlando Public Library, 101 E. Central Blvd., Orlando, free, ocls.info). Voss looks at the classic “women’s pages” as forces for recognizing coming changes.
Then, continuing the connection between women and words, there’s She
Steps to the Mic (6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Hiawassee Branch Library, 7391 W. Colonial Drive, Orlando, free, ocls.info). This interactive program examines women’s roles in rap and hip hop, from the rise of the genre in the 1970s to the success of such figures as Beyoncé today. (I am assuming they mention Queen Bey because I am assuming the Beyhive will have words if they don’t.)
Just for laughs
Orlando is always a funny town, but you’re getting a few extra reasons to laugh this week.
Friday kicks things off with your choice of three acts. Over at the CFE Arena at UCF, comedian Mike Epps will headline the
Funny As Ish Tour (8 p.m., 12777 Gemini Blvd., Orlando, $52-$79, cfearena.com). The show will be hosted by Sommore of the Netflix special “Chandelier Status,” and feature Earthquake, Rick Smiley and DC Young Fly.
Moving toward downtown, YouTube sensation
Tiffany Jenkins takes over The Plaza Live with This Show Is Awkward AF (8 p.m., 425 N. Bumby Ave., Orlando, $29-$40, plazaliveorlando.org). The video blogger delves into motherhood and her struggle with addiction.
Or, if you’re a huge fan of old New York Life Insurance commercials, you can catch their spokesperson
Demetri Martin in his Wandering Mind Tour (8 p.m., Hard Rock Live, Universal CityWalk, 6050 Universal Blvd., Orlando, $35-$45, hardrock.com).
But if you regret that you can only make it to one of these shows, then head back to the CFE Arena on Wednesday for the woke comedy of Amanda Seales (8 p.m., $20, cfearena.com).
Me? I laugh enough at myself as it is.