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‘Sex Tips,’ Joel McHale, Shonen Knife and more stuff to do this week

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Rodriguez and Wilkinson share Sex Tips onstage.
Photo: Courtesy
    • Epicurean Affair at Palazzo Pool Deck

      Nearly 80 local restaurants, bars and clubs will show their stuff at this annual stroll-and-feast to benefit the Nevada Restaurant Association’s education and scholarship programs. Be sure to sample bites from Toddy Shop, Le Pho, Beauty & Essex and especially Sugarcane—Chef Timon Balloo is hosting this year. May 25, 7 p.m., $115, nvrestaurants.com. –Brock Radke

    • Shonen Knife at Beauty Bar

      Charm is neither a typical nor ideal attribute for a punk band, but Shonen Knife has had it in spade since emerging from Osaka, Japan, 36 years ago. Balancing—though not dulling—its unfussy, garage-style riffage is its keen sense of melody and playfulness, from the Ramones-esque “Twist Barbie” (off 1983 classic Burning Farm) to the nostalgic guitar swirl of “Cotton Candy Clouds,” on last year’s Adventure. During its current American tour, the band aims to film its experiences eating at each city’s notable ramen restaurants. We bet you’ll find Shonen Knife spooning it up at Monta before Thursday’s gig. May 25, 8 p.m., $15. –Mike Prevatt

    • Superbloom Release at Crafthaus

      A floral desert superbloom is quite the schlep from Vegas, but this CraftHaus provides the beer equivalent. On Friday, the Henderson brewery introduces its rare, fruity, Belgian-style Superbloom White IPA, which you can pair with offerings from Olay’s Thai Express Las Vegas food truck. May 26, 5-11 p.m., Free admission, 7350 Eastgate Road, #110. –Mike Prevatt

    • Fatal Jamz at the Griffin

      A former Weekly staffer now based in LA pointed us to this free, back-room performance by SoCal underground hero Marion Belle. And indeed, a spin through latest album Coverboy—which veers sonically from Marc Bolan glam to Psychedelic Furs New Wave—and a YouTube viewing of a charismatic, band-fronting Echo Park performance from October suggest this could be something memorable. May 26, 9 p.m., With Von Kin, DJ Fish; free. –Spencer Patterson

    • Joel McHale at Treasure Island

      Late of Community, late of The Soup and late of the freshly cancelled The Great Indoors, McHale proves you can fail and be considered successful. Even his stand-up walks that line; he once told Conan O’Brien that he actively tries to get live audiences to hate him. Yet McHale continues to fail vertically, probably for two reasons above all: He’s legitimately charming and funny. His humor is knowingly sardonic; basically, he builds up a douchebag persona and destroys it at the same time. And, dammit, Community was brilliant, and he was brilliant in it. May 26, 9 p.m., $48-$76. –Geoff Carter

    • Summer Exhibits at Barrick Museum

      Celebrating its 50th anniversary, UNLV’s Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art is undertaking a “meaningful investigation of our human civilization and the landscape that surrounds it.” ... So much for an intellectually lazy summer. This ambitious exhibition is comprised of four individual shows scattered throughout the venue’s various spaces. Eight artists, all of whom have a connection to Southern Nevada, offer a variety of media, including drawing, sculpture, film, installation and more. For example, in Astronomy of the Asphalt Ecliptic, Katarina Jerinic uses maps and photography to “chart constellations of visible and invisible phenomena” surrounding Las Vegas. Playing off the idea of the Nevada Test Site, the group show Tested Ground features Andreana Donahue, Alexa Hoyer, Joan Linder, Jenny Odell and Nicholas Shake. The effect is inspiring and haunting. Get instant art immersion by attending the opening reception on May 26, from 5 to 8 p.m. May 26-September 16, $5 suggested donation. –C. Moon Reed

    • Pink Talking Fish at Brooklyn Bowl

      The jams don’t stop when Dead & Company heads offstage at MGM Grand earlier in the night. Scamper a few blocks north for this hybrid Pink Floyd/Talking Heads/Phish tribute act and hear the stuff of setlist—and song-segue—dreams: “Girlfriend Is Better” into “Dogs” into “The Wedge.” “Harpua” into “Echoes” into “Psycho Killer.” “Fearless” into “Prince Caspian” into “Cities.” (That last one’s pretty meta, since Phish also covers Talking Heads’ “Cities.”) It’s geeky, but it’s fun, too—potentially even more so since the quartet is promising to mix in some Grateful Dead chestnuts for the occasion. May 27, Midnight, $15. –Spencer Patterson

    • Sex Tips for Straight Women from a Gay Man

      The blonde motions with an onion ring as she talks. Just in case there’s any confusion, she says, “This is not a sex toy.” In what world might fried food be mistaken for anything other than lunch? That would be the SPI Entertainment offices, where reality star and former Playboy Playmate Kendra Wilkinson gives interviews promoting her stage debut, Sex Tips for Straight Women from a Gay Man. The gay man is Queer Eye for the Straight Guy alumnus Jai Rodriguez. Wilkinson will test her acting chops as Robyn, a “bookish and demure host of a university author’s forum.” The author (Rodriguez) and a mysterious hunky assistant will help Robyn, and the audience, “embrace their naughtiest instincts.” Believe it or not, Wilkinson has learned a thing or two from the script, which she practices with her husband, Hank Baskett. “I’ve been married for nine years now. Thank God for this opportunity,” the outspoken star of We TV’s Kendra on Top says. “We’re about 10 pages in, and we’re already having sex.” May 27-August 2019, Thursday-Tuesday, 7 p.m. (and 11 p.m. Friday & Saturday); $42-$102. –C. Moon Reed

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