Photo By Jim Gaffigan

Gaffigan Is Guided By Voices
"I'm not against recycling, but there's a certain sense of inconvenience," says comic and actor JIM GAFFIGAN. "My wife might ask if I rinsed out a soda can. I'll be like, 'I haven't even showered today. I should probably clean myself up before I start washing the garbage.' "

While that joke gets a laugh from the audience, Gaffigan's "inner voice" might feel compelled to comment on it out loud.

"Oh, he doesn't understand the Kyoto agreement," he'll say in a soft voice, almost under his breath. Indeed, it's the "inner voice" that seemingly makes his already hilarious set that much funnier. It's something people zero in on when they talk to him about his comedy routine.

"Initially I used to always say we all have voices in our heads that are saying things," explains the Indiana native. "People would be like, 'Well, not really.' But I think (with) most creative people there is this inner critic that is kind of with you when you're writing."

Photo By Human Race Theatre

Gaffigan has been receiving critical acclaim for his stand-up comedy since making the leap from advertising to show business. Having cast himself in a few spots while working at an ad agency, Gaffigan still gets recognized from the national work he did for ESPN, Saturn and others. David Letterman's World Wide Pants Productions developed a sitcom for him a few years back, Welcome to New York, but while critics lauded the program viewers didn't jump on board fast enough to save it.

Currently he's a regular on the TBS original comedy My Boys, and he's again drawing praise. Now it seems as though the masses are coming around as Gaffigan currently tours the country and sells out theaters. In several cities, extra shows have been added to satisfy the demand.

Yet after 15 years of doing stand-up, Gaffigan feels he's still growing.

Photo By Cedars

"After 10 years I realized that I didn't want to rely on irreverence or cursing to get laughs," he says. "You get a lot of mileage out of a curse word with an audience, and it's not that I don't think dirty comics are funny. It's just that there are certain tricks you can do in the performance to get the audience on your side, whether it's acting or comedy, and I just try to weave those things in."

Gaffigan performs at the Taft Theatre at 8 p.m. Saturday. $34.75. 513-721-8883. (See Onstage.) -- P.F. WILSON

WEDNESDAY 17 THURSDAY 18
It's a pleasure to have UC's College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) in our midst, offering regular opportunities to see presentations of classic works of musical theater. But equally exciting is the fact that new works sometimes originate from this program. (Stephen Flaherty, who created Ragtime, is a CCM grad, as is Richard Oberacker, whose musical Ace was staged at the Cincinnati Playhouse last fall.) There's a new musical comedy, SPIEGEL AND SON, getting on its feet for the first time this week in CCM's Cohen Family Studio Theater. The music has been composed by Brian D. Hoffman, a candidate for a Ph.D. from CCM; the book and lyrics are by Gary and Victor Levey. The cast has been selected from CCM's musical theater department for two performances. If you'd like to get in on the ground floor of this new work, you need to send an e-mail indicating the date you'd like to attend (Jan. 17 or 18) and how many free tickets you need. They'll be held at the door. spiegelshow@gmail.com. (See Onstage.) -- RICK PENDER

Photo By Tom Joynt

FRIDAY 19
While there's plenty of theater in Cincinnati to keep you occupied, you should be aware that a favorite actor frequently seen on local stages is performing the one-man, award-winning play I AM MY OWN WIFE at Dayton's Human Race Theatre. It's Bruce Cromer, known to many for playing Ebenezer Scrooge in the Cincinnati Playhouse's A Christmas Carol in 2005 and 2006. Cromer is a fine performer (he teaches drama at Wright State University, and he's been seen onstage with Cincinnati Shakespeare and Ensemble Theatre locally), and he's directed in this production by CCM drama chair Richard Hess. That's a winning combination for a moving play about a German transvestite who survived in Berlin under the Nazis and the Communists. It runs through Feb. 4. 937-228-3630. (See Onstage.) -- RICK PENDER

SATURDAY 20
The Cincinnati Art Museum, the University of Cincinnati College of Design, Art, Architecture and Design (DAAP) and the Hamilton County Public Library have come together to establish a new film and lecture series, ART:21 -- A CINCINNATI FIVE-WAY. Based on the PBS series Art:21, the Cincinnati series will run a different episode of the documentary five separate times, beginning this weekend with Consumption and Power, which features the work of contemporary painter Michael Ray Charles. Charles' work largely focuses on the visual stereotypes of the African-American people, those images and characters that have remained a ubiquitous message of bigotry throughout American history: "characters" such as Aunt Jemima, Sambo, the Mammy and Uncle Tom. Join the group at DAAP on Saturday to view the first in this exceptional Cincinnati series. Stay to discuss the work, theories as well as contemporary art and political issues as a whole with Tarrance Corbin, professor of fine art at DAAP and Angelene Jamison-Hall, professor of African-American studies at the University of Cincinnati. Free, but reservations required. Call for reservations. 513-556-1319. (See Art.) -- LAURA JAMES

SATURDAY 20
Like much of his work, Andy Warhol's 1964 film EMPIRE is a polarizing creation, leaving some viewers fascinated and others completely baffled. If conventional cinematic techniques are your thing, you best look elsewhere: Empire is minimalism bordering on the surreal, an eight-hour silent film featuring one fixed-perspective shot of a single image -- yes, the Empire State Building. "Empire is an un-Hollywood film," says Andy Marko, who'll deliver live commentary at 2 p.m. Saturday when the film is screened as part the CAC's ongoing The Long View series. "It's simple, direct and almost painterly. The viewer must intend to engage the work. Empire also fits in well as suitable subject matter for Andy Warhol. He was obsessed with celebrities and the Empire State Building was certainly a national cultural icon. The ESB was the tallest building in NYC at the time. And, unfortunately, it is again." Empire was the culmination of Warhol's often overlooked silent film period in which he would focus his camera's gaze on seemingly mundane subject matter for long periods of time. The effect was transcendent, shifting one's view of a physical object into something to be pondered on a philosophical level. Or maybe it's not so deep: Warhol often maintained it was the easiest way to make a movie. Free. 513-345-8400. (See Art.) -- JASON GARGANO

Photo By MOMA

SATURDAY 20
On the recent EP, Another Season (recorded with T.J. Lipple of Aloha and Chad Clarke of Beauty Pill), Washington, D.C.'s CEDARS convey a sweeping, majestic sound loaded with the kind of emotive spaciousness and layered atmospherics that would appeal to fans of bands from The Cure to Doves. The band began life as Cartel (legal concerns caused the name change) and their first EP, 2004's Safety In Numbers, spawned a successful U.K. single, positive domestic radio play and press raves, and gigs with the likes of Editors, Lake Trout and Stellastarr*. Friday, the band will make a quick pit stop in Cincy (before a gig in Dayton at the Nite Owl) to perform a live set for woxy.com's "Lounge Act" series at 4 p.m. (WOXY has been one of the band's strongest airplay allies). Saturday night at the Northside Tavern, the group performs with area band The Paper Airplane and Pittsburgh Indie crew Shade, who are doing their own "Lounge Act" on woxy.com Friday at 2 p.m. 513-542-3603. (See Music.) -- MIKE BREEN

SATURDAY 20
Find your way to the WESTON ART GALLERY, which, in conjunction with its newest exhibitions, offers the Gallery Talks series, this time featuring artist Chuck Webster. Webster will delve deep into his background, and provide insight into the inspiration for the spontaneous yet laborious process of creating his abstract works. These pieces, which make up his current exhibition, Working Groups: Paintings & Works on Paper, are currently on view in the East Gallery. Webster's drawings and paintings engage viewers in his spellbinding process, one of experimentation and self-reaction. The gallery talk, which takes place 2 p.m. Saturday, is free and open to the public. 513-977-4165. (See Art.) -- JACQUELYN VAUGHN

SUNDAY 21
Racial segregation didn't happen only in the American South. From 1938 to 1965 three segregated high schools succeeded in giving African-American students in Greater Cincinnati an excellent education that prepared them for a sometimes hostile world. STRENGTH WITHIN: EVALUATING EDUCATION IN AMERICA looks back at the teamwork, dedication and perseverance that marked Lockland Wayne, DePorres and Lincoln-Grant high schools. The schools were known for athletic excellence as well: Lockland-Wayne High School won two state basketball championships in the 1950s. In fact, the exhibit resulted from a suggestion by Tony Yates, the celebrated point guard on the national champion University of Cincinnati team of the early 1960s. The exhibit, which includes yearbooks, report cards, photographs and oral history, is at Cincinnati Museum Center through March 18. 513-287-7000. (See Attractions.) -- GREGORY FLANNERY

WEDNESDAY 23
JILL CONNER BROWNE, (pictured) Boss Queen of the Sweet Potato Queens and author of all SPQ books, is full of good advice. She insists that you never wear panties to a party; that you sometimes wear a sparkly green dress, pink majorette boots and a behemoth red wig; and that middle-aged women are always entitled to greatness. And it's not just middle-aged women, but women of all ages, all around the world, who subscribe to Browne's Southern-fried philosophy of love, laughter and play. But her latest book isn't an extended advice column, it's a work of fiction. When Jill and her friends meet Tammy, a buxom, bouncy redhead with tiny feet, their lives change forever. They go from being outcasts to outrageous and, in an act of self-preservation, form the club that becomes The Sweet Potato Queens. Browne will be signing The Sweet Potato Queens' First Big-Ass Novel (Stuff we didn't actually do, but could have, and may yet). 7 p.m. Wednesday at Books & Co. in Dayton. 513-396-8960. (See Literary.) -- MAIJA ZUMMO