Roasts, Raves, Ritchie, and More Events This Week

Author and alternative cartoonist Ed Piskor stops by the Harvard Book Store to talk about his hip-hop-meets-Marvel-comics series, “The Hip Hop Family Tree Book.” The recently released second volume (out of five) covers just 1981 to 1983 but introduces superstars like Run-DMC, NWA, the Beastie Boys, and Public Enemy. The event is co-sponsored by Harvard’s Hiphop Archive & Research Institute, so keep that in mind next time you want to make fun of Harvard. Still do it, obviously, because shut up, Harvard, but it’s pretty cool they have hip-hop scholars. (7 p.m., FREE, all ages)

Renowned writers, burlesque artists, and comics join forces to pull literary heroes down from godlike high with mighty fists of sarcasm at Oberon’s The Literary Roast. I hope someone does Charles Dickens. Did you know he was paid by the word? That’s why “Bleak House” is 800 pages and sucks. He’s like the Olive Garden endless pasta bowl of literature. Boom, roasted. (8 p.m., $10-25, all ages)

This past Friday marked the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ landmark 1964 concert at the Boston Garden — one of only two shows the Fab Four ever played in Boston — which also makes it the 50th anniversary of my Nana telling my dad to turn off what was clearly the most dirty and evil music there ever could be, performed by men with the longest hair of all time. Trident Booksellers & Cafe welcomes sociologist and first-generation Beatles fan Candy Leonard to discuss her new book, “Beatleness: How the Beatles and Their Fans Remade the World.” For one thing, without the Beatles, the Monkees wouldn’t exist, but also the Smash Mouth cover of “I’m a Believer” wouldn’t exist, so there would be one less Smash Mouth song in the universe and I’ll make that trade every day. (7 p.m., FREE, all ages)

It’s getting pretty chilly at night these days, and the best way to keep warm and look cool is to dress in layers. Many layers of delicious alcohol: A whiskey windbreaker. A scotch scarf. A bourbon blazer. Lucky for you, Saloon in Davis Square is offering a crash course in everyone’s favorite brown liquor, Whiskey 101: Bourbon, Rye, Irish & Scotch. It’ll be just like that one college class you always went to drunk, probably art history. (7 p.m., $35, 21+)

The music is funky but the clams are not at the Bella Luna’s special Chowder Fest edition of its fall live music series. Taste four different types of homemade chowder, plus six local craft beers and ciders. Did you know Charles Dickens sold his own brand of cider? His wife actually came up with the idea to add alcohol, when she wandered from pub to pub begging for “a hard Dickens cider.” Boom, roasted your wife, Charles Dickens. (7 p.m., $15, 21+)

Want to start your day with a dance party? And not just that dance you do when you get in the shower and the water’s way too hot? Awake Boston, the city’s first sober morning rave, combines art, yoga, massage, and EDM to get your energy flowing before the work day. They’ll also have snacks, coffee, and tea, but if you can wake up and dance at 7 a.m. you’re probably one of those naturally bubbly people who doesn’t need caffeine to function. (7 a.m., $16, all ages)

The ICA’s multidisciplinary artist-in-residence Matthew Ritchie comes up with a new take on the museum’s Artist’s Voice free lecture series: Instead of a one-on-one conversation, Ritchie will explore his diverse interests and influences through informal talks with collaborators and area teens, probably including one snarky kid who tells Ritchie that his Dewey Square mural wasn’t as cool as the Os Gêmeos one before it. How about using some colors next time. (5 p.m., FREE, all ages)

Photo credit: AnubisAbyss/Creative Commons

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This article was provided by our content partner, The Boston Calendar.