ARTS Pick: Herron’s Entertainment Comedy Night

If laughter is the best medicine, then consider Herron’s Entertainment Comedy Night a health class from out of town. Composed of emerging comedians from New York City, these missionaries of hilarity dish out gut-busting tropes that are certain to heal frowny face outbreaks. Bent Theatre partners in the mad merriment by adding local stand-up to […]

Pumpkin spice everything must mean it’s fall

By Sam Padgett Fourteen years ago, the pumpkin spice latte crashed into our lives when Starbucks introduced it into its seasonal lineup. And this beverage has gone from a niche fall drink to being ubiquitous enough to warrant its own acronym: PSL. Pumpkin spice fever has become something of an epidemic, and its sheer popularity […]

Chef Tyler Teass leaves Brasserie Saison

By Erin O’Hare and Sam Padgett Eater’s digest Chef Tyler Teass is leaving his post as head chef at Brasserie Saison in order to spend more time with his wife and young son. “We are parting with him as friends, and wish him all the best,” says the Downtown Mall restaurant’s general manager, Will Curley, […]

ARTS Pick: Floom

Maxx Katz won a SOUP grant in 2016 that became instrumental in launching her project Floom, leading indirectly to Sunday’s release of Multi-Voice of the Immensity, a 38-minute track of flute, doomy guitar and voices. “If a performer rings their heart like a bell, it starts ringing everyone else’s,” Katz told C-VILLE after the win. […]

ARTS Pick: Songwriters in the Round

Ben Arthur is so taken by the creative process that it informs his art in a literal sense. Whether he’s responding to Kurt Andersen’s story of Puritan settler Anne Hutchinson with a modern answer in song, or co-writing with notable author George Saunders, Arthur stays busy crafting his own subgenre through collaborations. He hosts the Emmy-nominated […]

ARTS Pick: The United Nations of Comedy Tour

The United Nations of Comedy Tour returns with a fresh new lineup of gut-busting comedians, including Funnyman Skiba, Irene Morales, Brendan Sagalow and headliner Mike Cannon. From television to radio and podcasts, comedy is a way of life for Cannon, who riffs on smoking pot with cats, fear of marriage and life in New York […]

ARTS Pick: Carbon Leaf

In order to work around ownership issues, Carbon Leaf has been rerecording its past albums, the most recent being Nothing Rhymes With Woman. With the new recordings, band members took the opportunity to address things they didn’t like and squeeze some perfection out of the older material, all to the delight of fans who supported […]

Wavyleaf menace: A culprit in the ‘rambunctious garden’

By Mary Jane Gore Of all of the invasive plant species in Virginia, a new one has risen to No. 1, according to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation in Richmond. Wavyleaf grass was introduced in Virginia only in the past 15 years, with its earliest spotting in Shenandoah National Park, says Kevin Heffernan, […]

In brief: Smear season, Kessler’s farewell and more

Big John’s run Fewer than two weeks before the November 7 election, veterans advocate John Miska launched a write-in campaign for Albemarle supervisor in the Rio District, where Dem Ned Gallaway is uncontested. Miska says he’s running as a conservative because he hates to see just one person on the ballot. “Call me Don Quixote. […]

Magic bullet: Trademark issues halt Harry Potter event for a spell

By Natalie Jacobsen This year’s Halloween was supposed to mark the fourth, and predictably largest, Harry Potter festival Scottsville had ever hosted. But the magic was quelled with a phone call from Warner Bros. Entertainment citing trademark infringement. The town’s spellbinding transformation, including businesses and their owners, has transfixed children, students and adults alike. “Halloween […]