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9 to 5 and Steel Magnolias will screen as part of Dolly Parton Weekend at the Redford Theatre.

Select events happening in metro Detroit this week. Submit your events to metrotimes.com/calendar.

VegBash

Thursday, 11/4: Man, have we come a long way from the limited selection of bland Boca brand meat-free burger patties and the once-elusive soy milk. Being vegan — which means not consuming any animal products including seafood, eggs, milk, and, for some, things like honey, collagen, or gelatin products, because hooves — is no longer considered a dietary fad that, like, actually originated a long time ago with the earliest adopter of the vegan philosophy being an Arab poet al-Ma'arri somewhere around the year 1,000. Fast forward and the number of vegans in the U.S. has grown by 600% between 2014 and 2018 and, in 2021, the options for vegan fare is becoming more and more accessible, affordable, and has even infiltrated the fast food industry. Whether you're curious, dabbling, or a full-blown plant-based devotee, Royal Oak Farmers Market's VegBash is a great introduction and extension of local vegan offerings. The event, which has two timed ticket options, will feature food concessions, food trucks, plant-based fare inspired by international cuisine, as well as vegan baked goods, products from local vendors, and a cruelty-free shopping bazaar. There will be entertainment, too, and exhibits from animal charities. Each attendee will be given a $5 food voucher as part of their ticket price that will go toward their initial food purchase from vendors. —Jerilyn Jordan

Amy Miller

Friday, 11/5 & Saturday, 11/6: Comedian Amy Miller might not be a household name but, as she points out in one of her most popular bits in response to fatphobia in which an unhoused man scolds her for eating an ice cream cone in public, calling her fat, Miller actually has a house where she eats food she buys with money she has. Too harsh? Well, buckle up, bitches. As a brave, plus-size woman living in L.A. with the face of a second grade teacher who is admittedly sexually attracted to those 12-foot lawn skeletons and identifies as dill havarti (cheese), Miller has earned her house/food/money/comedy stripes thanks to her uncompromising musings on navigating the world as someone who is both funny and wishes to point out the world's bullshit. In 2018, Miller was recognized as one of Comedy Central's up and comers. Want more? She's been featured on Viceland's Flophouse; stunned judges Roseanne Barr and Kenan Ivory Wayans on her run on season nine of Last Comic Standing (making a joke about police brutality that was, according to Wayans, one of the "fiercest jokes" he's ever heard); was voted Portland's Funniest Comedian in 2013 and 2015; and, take it from us, her Twitter is worth a follow. Miller's set will feature support by Estaban Touma and hosts Conner Meade and Alex Bozinovic.

—Jerilyn Jordan

Dolly Parton Weekend: 9 to 5 and Steel Magnolias

Friday, 11/5-Saturday, 11/6: In a world where we are divided in our opinions on everything from politics, vaccinations, and pizza to reproductive rights, cancel culture, fracking, and, for some reason, the 14-year-old finale of The Sopranos, it's rare that we can collectively agree on something. That something, rather, someone, is none other than 75-year-old Tennessee-born legend Dolly Parton, whom we do not deserve, like, at all. A self-described "backwoods Barbie in a push-up bra and heels" who literally wrote two of her biggest hits, "Jolene" and "I Will Always Love You," in the same damn day, Parton has become a savvy businesswoman, literacy warrior, intergenerational phenomenon, LGBTQ+ ally, and a huge reason as to why we have a COVID-19 vaccine. (Parton donated $1 million toward vaccine research at Vanderbilt University's medical center — which developed the Moderna vaccine.) While we may never get to pay Parton back for the music, philanthropy, or for providing a reliable cleansing of our vile social media timelines, we sure as hell can celebrate the the buxom blonde's acting chops with a Dolly Parton Weekend at the Redford Theater, including 1980's shockingly relevant 9 to 5, in which Parton stars alongside Detroit native Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda. Then there's Steel Magnolias, featuring Shirley McClain, Sally Field, Daryl Hannah, and Parton, who plays Truvy Jones, a small town beauty shop owner. Need a pick me up? In the words of Mrs. Parton herself: "If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain." —Jerilyn Jordan

JPEGMAFIA

Saturday, 11/6: "Everything's great. Everything's cool. Everything's perfect. Everything's good. Everything's kosher." No, this isn't what we repeat to ourselves while staring in the mirror knowing damn well nothing's great, cool, perfect, good, or kosher. This is how innovator and alternative hip-hop's secret weapon JPEGMAFIA kicks off his latest glitch-heavy and delightfully chaotic record, LP!, which was released last week. "My time in the music industry is over because I refuse to be disrespected by people who aren't [behaving] respectably in the first place," JPEG, born Barrington Hendricks, posted on the album's Bandcamp page. While we know this is his last release with EQT and Republic, we have no idea what's next for the 32-year-old pioneer who, on LP!, was released in two versions: Online and Offiline, a move that only someone as unboxable as JPEG could pull off. On the record, JPEG reimagines Britney Spears' hit "Baby One More Time" and solidifies himself as a shapeshifting artist who makes "triumphant introvert music." Maybe everything really is great as long as we stay in JPEG's world. —Jerilyn Jordan

Patton Oswalt

Saturday, 11/6: If there is one piece of advice we can give you, it is do not fuck with Patton Oswalt, the godless comedian, deadly serious cereal-eater, and voice of the most famous Pixar rat who once claimed he wanted to "be a robot that helps wolves have sex" in regard to his Lexapro dosage. At least don't try fucking with him on Twitter, because, as evidenced by recent beefs with Trump-supportig "actor" Scott Baio and Sen. Ted "not the Zodiac killer" Cruz, Oswalt can destroy egos the same way Kentucky Fried Chicken's "Famous Bowl" destroys one's bowels. "Both of his fans were disappointed," Cruz tweeted in response to news that Oswalt had canceled tour stops in Florida and Utah after venues refused to comply with the comic's COVID-19 safety protocol. Oswalt? Take it away. "Not as disappointed as Texas was when you cut your Cancun vacation short and came home."; "Ted, you Tweeted this at 1am. Put the phone down and return to liquid form for a few hours."; "I'm so flattered you took time from your porn scrolling for this, Ted." Boom. It's safe to say the last five years have been a rollercoaster of loss and triumph, as comedy's favorite nerdy atheist tragically lost his former wife and true crime writer Michelle McNamara — and released her unfinished novel, I'll Be Gone in the Dark, which helped lead to the capture of the "Golden State Killer." Oswalt has since remarried to Meredith Salenger, voiced Marvel super villain M.O.D.O.K. in a Hulu animated series, and is starring in the upcoming Starz series Gaslit about the Watergate scandal alongside Sean Penn and Julia Roberts. —Jerilyn Jordan

Ledisi

Wednesday, 11/10: Many of us hyperbolize when we say a musician/band saved our lives. For 49-year-old soul and jazz singer Ledisi, it's real life. The New Orleans' native was contemplating leaving this Earthly realm after two decades of making music and had been struggling with bills, a divorce, and hating where she lived in East Oakland, California. She felt, at that point in 2003, that she had been placed in a box by an industry that failed to embrace her and wasn't growing as a person or as an artist and if she wasn't growing, then, to her, what was the point? Just as she had come to this tragic conclusion, Nina Simone's "Trouble in Mind" busted through the radio like a hug or a slap. "Trouble in mind, I'm blue/ But I won't be blue always/ 'Cause the sun is gonna shine/ In my backdoor someday," Simone sang. It was then that Ledisi knew she was going to make it through this and anything else that came her way. Look to July of this year when Ledisi finally got to pay homage to the woman who saved her life when she released Ledisi Sings Nina, covering a selection of the late singer's most beloved tunes like "Wild is the Wind" and "Feeling Good." The release follows Ledisi's first Grammy award, which she won for Best Traditional R&B Performance and a few major successes from 2020: the creation of her record label Listen Back Entertainment and the release of her second book, Don't Ever Lose Your Walk: How to Embrace Your Journey. "Our life as a whole is important, all of it," she said of the book. "The highs, the lows, the challenges, and everything in between. In all of it, there is a lesson." Kenyon Dixon is also on the bill.

—Jerilyn Jordan

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