FRIDAY:
>> Palace of Wonders is celebrating its one-year anniversary with a literal circus of performers both tonight and Saturday. Acrobats, burlesque performers, magicians, freaks and rope trick artists are just some of the acts that will take the stage, and fortune tellers will be on hand near the bar. Tickets are $15 in advance (click here), and $20 at the door. 7 p.m. to midnight tonight, 7 to 2 a.m. on Saturday. We recommend watching the shows perched against the railing upstairs, as it’s a better view and the downstairs is often too crowded. (Trixie Little and the Evil Hate Monkey, pictured right, will also perform).
>> You can be sure the craze of indie rock bands covering video game theme songs that was all the rage in the early aughts is officially over when the National Symphony Orchestra ventures into the same territory. The NSO performs two nights of Video Games Live™ at the Kennedy Center tonight and Saturday, 8 p.m., tickets are $25 to $45.
>> There’s a few tickets around on craigslist for Bill Cosby’s sold-out stand-up performance tonight at Wolf Trap. Or you can just hang around Ben’s Chili Bowl all weekend and wait for him to show up.
SATURDAY:
>> Warehouse celebrates the opening of Art in Heat, an exhibition which “explores D.C.’s spin on the widespread art movement referred to as Post Pop, Lowbrow, Pop Surrealism, or Outsider Art.” Get there early and have time to catch one of the two Lobster Boy Revue performances — they regularly sell out — at 8 or 11 p.m. The reception starts at 7 p.m. and is free, the revue is $12.
>> Black Cat‘s monthly electro-indie dance night, Bliss, will feature a live performance by Brooklyn/Berlin’s upbeat experimental garage rock outfit the Boggs and guest DJs JDH and Dave P. $10, 9 p.m.
>> It’s easy to dismiss The Polyphonic Spree as gimmicky, but their gimmick sure works awfully well in a live setting, and probably best in a venue the size of 9:30 Club, where they’ll be donning their latest matching outfits (which have morphed from gospel robes to sort of punk black janitor uniforms). With Jesca Hoop, doors at 7 p.m., $25.
SUNDAY:
>> Prolific Portuguese director Pedro Costa finally broke out on the international scene after a lifetime of making thoughtful films with his 2006 hit, Colossal Youth, which continues his examination of Lisbon slum life. Costa will be in person to introduce this screening at the Freer Gallery’s Meyer Auditorium, part of the film series “A Weekend with Pedro Costa.” 1 p.m., free.
