Fox gets first laugh: Paula Poundstone
Here’s a new show just booked into the Fox Theater: Comedian Paula Poundstone on Feb. 22.
Poundstone won an American Comedy Award in 1989 as Best Female Stand-Up Comic, and briefly had her own show on ABC.
She is currently a regular guest on public radio’s “Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me” and “A Prairie Home Companion.”
She’s a funny, funny woman. Watch for an on-sale date within the week.
‘Spokane Aviation’
Looking for a last-minute, intensely local gift idea?
Tornado Creek Publications has just issued a book titled “The Spokane Aviation Story, 1910-1941,” by James P. McGoldrick II.
This 242-page book is loaded with great pictures of Spokane’s old-time aviation events, including the National Air Races held here in 1927.
It’s also full of information about and photos of the region’s air pioneers, including John T. (Jack) Fancher, Nick Mamer and James Buell Felts.
It will bring you back to the days when aviators were dashing heroes and an airplane flight was a once-in-a-lifetime thrill, as opposed to a tedious march through airport security.
McGoldrick has had his pilot’s license since 1939 and has flown all over the continent. He was also at Felts Field in 1927, at age 10, to greet Charles Lindbergh when he flew in to Spokane.
The book costs $29.95 and is available at Auntie’s Bookstore, Hastings on the South Hill or Barnes & Noble, or direct from the Tornado Creek Web site (www.tornadocreek publications.com).
‘A Family Holiday’
Just a reminder: “A Family Holiday,” filmed in Spokane by North by Northwest, has its second airing on the Lifetime Channel on Christmas Day at 3 p.m.
It features Dave Coulier (“Full House”) and a number of local actors, including Lonny W. Waddle.
CenterStage schedule
CenterStage, Spokane’s dinner theater and all-around entertainment/cabaret venue, has announced its lineup for the next two months:
•Dan Cummins, Jan. 11: The nationally known comic from, yes, Millwood will do two shows, at 8 and 10:30 p.m.
•”Forever Plaid,” Jan. 17-Feb. 3: The Lake City Playhouse production of this tune-filled 1950s musical revue.
•Charlotte Carruthers, Her Brothers and Others, Feb. 9: Featuring pianist father Arnie and brothers Bill and Don Carruthers, as well as jazz singer Charlotte.
•”The Great American Song Book, Vol. 1,” Feb. 14-March 15: A revue featuring the music of Cole Porter and the Gershwins (among others).
Call (509) 747-8243 for tickets and information.
An Olmsted alert
A series of lectures relating to the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture’s “Olmsted Brothers: Designing Spokane Landscapes” will take place in a month at the museum.
Here’s the schedule:
•”The Olmsted Brothers Firm,” Jan. 24, 7 p.m., featuring historian Joan Hockaday and MAC history curator Marsha Rooney.
• “The Olmsteds and Spokane’s Parks,” Jan. 31, 7 p.m., featuring Spokane researcher and Olmsted authority Sally Reynolds.
• “Olmsted-Designed Residential Landscapes,” Feb. 7, 7 p.m., featuring landscape designer Kerstin Martell and Rick Hastings and Mike Terrell of the Friends of the Falls.
Registration for the lecture series is $30 each for MAC members or $35 for nonmembers, or $12 and $15 for single lectures. Call (509) 456-3931 to register.
Todd Snider at the Bing
Folk/alt-country singer and satirist Todd Snider has been booked into the Bing Crosby Theater on Feb. 9, 8 p.m.
Snider is known for his wry, humorous songs, including the “Talkin’ Seattle Grunge Rock Blues.”
Tickets are scheduled to go on sale Monday through TicketsWest outlets (509-325-SEAT, 800-325-SEAT, www.ticketswest.com).
Symphony box office
Speaking of tickets, the Spokane Symphony’s box office has moved to the lobby of the Fox Theater, 1001 W. Sprague.
It’s open Mondays through Fridays, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and, of course, prior to concerts.
This is also a full-fledged TicketsWest ticket outlet. Go in through the Sprague entrance.
The symphony’s business offices remain at 818 W. Riverside, Suite 100.
‘Vesta’ in Seattle
“Vesta,” by Spokane playwright Bryan Harnetiaux, will have its first professional Seattle production from Jan. 18 to Feb. 3 at the Capitol Hill Arts Center.
Seattle actress Megan Cole (“Seinfeld,” “ER”) stars as Vesta, a woman facing imminent death from cancer.
The play, which deals with end-of-life issues, was first performed at the Spokane Civic Theatre, where Harnetiaux is the playwright in residence.
Call the Capitol Hill Arts Center at (206) 261-5064 for ticket info.
Lon Gibby in ‘Chipmunks’
If you go to the “Alvin and the Chipmunks” movie, keep an eye out for a shot of a poster with a kid riding a skateboard and playing a Fender guitar.
That poster, from 1963, features Lon Gibby, now the head of Spokane’s Gibby Media Group.
The movie producers paid Gibby a $2,500 royalty check for the use of his image.
“They worked hard to track me down,” he said.
‘Improbable Pop’ on hiatus
“Johnson’s Improbable History of Pop” on KPBX-FM (Spokane Public Radio, 91.1) is on indeterminate hiatus because its host and producer, John Johnson, is absorbed in a work commitment for his day job.
So after his 601st episode next week, the Saturday 9 p.m. time slot will be filled by a show featuring new pop-rock-alternative-indie music, hosted by Tina Bjorklund.
Johnson’s show will return whenever his work schedule allows.