Tuesday
Demetri Martin at Palm Beach Improv, 550 S. Rosemary Ave., West Palm Beach; 8 p.m.; $30; 561/833-1812 or www.palmbeachimprov.com
Tonight, hipster comedian Demetri Martin will be playing the only South Florida show on his “Telling Jokes in Cold Places” tour. Either Florida is a weird anomaly to the tour’s geographic theme, or Martin is just being ironic. The latter is probably true, because Martin is one of our generation’s top ironists, among other things. Establishing himself on “The Daily Show” as the series’ “Senior Youth Correspondent,” Martin has gone on to enjoy a prolific film and television career. Onstage, he’s perhaps the cleverest comedian to ever integrate props into his act, and he is prone to witty one-liners and malapropisms often aided with his own musical accompaniment. More varied and sophisticated than the average comedian’s, his comedy shows are like no one else’s.
Bob Newhart at Hard Rock Live, 5747 Seminole Way, Hollywood; 8 p.m.; $49 to $79; 800/745-3000 or www.seminolehardrockhollywood.com
Let’s face it – Bob Newhart was a pretty old guy 20 years ago. The fact that he’s still active at 82 is a testament to his spryness and agelessness; the fact that he’s still hilarious, still observant and still influencing countless young comedians (My favorite comic, Norm MacDonald, wouldn’t exist without Newhart’s trailblazing persona) is a testament to his brilliance. Newhart is one of the rare comedians to hold the No. 1 and No. 2 slots on the Billboard charts simultaneously, and his lengthy television career has included three sitcoms that were simply named after him – and modeled on his stammering, folksy style. Whether you know him from “The Button-Down Mind” or “Elf,” he’s a crossover star not worth missing.
Thursday
Kyle Durrie’s Roving Type Truck at FAU’s Wimberly Library, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton; 3 to 6 p.m.; free but donations requested; 561/297-0455 orwww.jaffecollection.org
FAU’s Jaffe Center for the Book Arts has found a kindred spirit in its preservation of the old-fashioned letterpress. Kyle Durrie runs Portland’s Power and Light Press, one of the top letterpress studios in the country, where she specializes in “music packaging, posters, custom stationery and inappropriate greeting cards.” Anyone who has seen the television show “Portlandia” will tell you that her establishment issoPortland. But vintage printing methods have a broad appeal, which prompted Durrie to take her passion for the forms on the road. She’ll stop by the Jaffe Center today as part of a 10-month tour of schools, art spaces, city parks and other establishments. She will present a gallery talk and slide presentation in FAU’s Wimberly Library, then open her former delivery truck-turned-mobile-print-shop for demonstrations, tours and stories.
Friday
John Prine at Coral Springs Center for the Arts, 2855 Coral Springs Drive, Coral Springs; $39.50 to $62.50; 954/344-5990 orwww.coralspringscenterforthearts.com
John Prine is one of the most consistently rewarding singer-songwriters of the past 40 years. A cancer survivor with a lyrical style as antiwar as it is agrestic, Prine was discovered by Kris Kristofferson, who famously said Prine’s songs were so good that “we’ll have to break his thumbs.” Bob Dylan, who has performed live with Prine, went on to dub his work “Proustian existentialism.” His signature songs include “Illegal Smile,” “Sam Stone,” “Christmas in Prison,” “Common Sense” and “Spanish Pipedream,” and I expect he’ll play most of them at this rare South Florida appearance.
Saturday
Opening day of American International Fine Art Fair at Palm Beach County Convention Center, 650 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach; noon to 7 p.m.; $10 to $20; 239/949-5411 or aifaf.com
Now in its 16th year, the weeklong event markets itself as “America’s premier art and antiques fair.” International dealers offer fine art from classical antiquity to contemporary, and a full schedule of daily activities will coincide with the exhibitions. A special exhibition and lecture on the House of Fabergé will feature everything you wanted to know about the jeweled eggs. Other presenters include Victoria Wyeth, daughter of legendary painter Andrew; Roger Ward, former chief curator at the Norton Museum; and Bruce Helander, editor-in-chief ofArt Economist. The event runs through Feb. 12.
Building Hope gala with Shaggy at the Polo Club of Boca Raton, 5400 Champion Blvd., Boca Raton; 6:30 p.m.; $225; 954/427-2222 ext. 6585 orwww.foodforthepoor.org
Dust off your top hats and tails for a great cause at this high-society fundraiser. Food for the Poor will celebrate its 30thanniversary at this gala, with funds benefiting Haitians still struggling with the devastating effects of the 2010 earthquake. The evening will include an extensive silent auction and reception, gourmet dinner, dancing, house rally, with proceeds benefiting the Haitian village of Olivier. The entertainment for the evening will be Shaggy, the commercially and critically acclaimed Jamaican-American reggae star and rapper whose crossover hits have included “Boombastic” and “It Wasn’t Me.” He is currently supporting his 2011 release “Summer in Kingston,” which is nominated for Best Reggae Album at the 2012 Grammy Awards.
Sunday
Conrad Tao and Jonah Kim with Orchestra at Coral Springs Center for the Arts, 2855 Coral Springs Drive, Coral Springs; $38.04; 954/344-5990 orwww.coralspringscenterforthearts.com
Tao and Kim, two prodigies of Asian heritage, highlight the Coral Springs Center’s classical music season. Tao, a Chinese-American pianist, already has a résumé at 16 that most musicians could only hope for in a lifetime. He gave his first piano recital at 4, performed on national radio programs at 10, appeared as a soloist with the Russian National Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony, and has won awards for his original compositions. Kim, hailed by a music critic at theWashington Postas the next Yo-Yo Ma, has Boca ties, having studied at the Conservatory of Music at Lynn University. The South Korean picked up his instrument at age 7 and later was accepted to the Julliard School’s Pre-College Division. He has since performed at major concert halls throughout the country. Tao will perform Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 2, and Kim will play Saint-Saens’ Cello Concerto, both accompanied by a live symphony orchestra.
Sunday and Monday
Improvised Shakespeare Company at Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach; 3 p.m. Sunday and 7:30 p.m. Monday; $32; 561/832-7469 orwww.kravis.org
The Reduced Shakespeare Company has long held the most recognized position in Bard parody with its endlessly reproduced show “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Condensed.” Now, there’s a new game in town, and the Improvised Shakespeare Company takes a different approach: It makes up a “masterpiece” on the spot, each night, based on a title suggestion from the audience. This mix of Elizabethan drama and “Whose Line Is it Anyway?” has been hailed as “staggeringly brilliant” by TimeOut Chicago. Chances are, if comedic theater can do well in the Second City, it can translate to anywhere in the country.
