Go Out This Week: Stooges Brass Band, 'The Black Power Mixtape,' Memphis Comedy Festival, etc.

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It's warming up a bit this week, so of course you'll be wanting to get out of the house. Here are a few weekday recommendations from our GoMemphis writers and editors.

By Mark Richens l March 02, 2015

1. Stooges Brass Band, Thursday: Going strong for nearly 20 years, top-flight New Orleans R&B/funk/jazz ensemble Stooges Brass Band headlines a concert at Lafayette’s Music Room. Led by founder Walter Ramsey, the outfit has been working on a follow-up to their 2012 effort Street Kings. The group’s new LP, It’s About Time, is slated for a release later this year, and a track from the album, "Wind It Up," appears on the soundtrack of the new Will Smith caper movie "Focus." — Bob Mehr

9 p.m. 2119 Madison. No cover. For more information, go to

lafayettes.com/memphis.

2. "The Black Power Mixtape, 1967-75," Thursday: In partnership with the Memphis Urban League Young Professionals, the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art brings back the 2011 documentary “The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975” for another screening. Directed by Göran Hugo Olsson, this portrait of black America during a “revolutionary” era of politics, art and culture was compiled from rarely seen footage captured by Swedish television journalists examining the U.S. “Black Power” movement. Stokely Carmichael, Angela Davis, Huey P. Newton, various Black Panthers and numerous non-celebrity citizens of Harlem and Oakland are among those who appear in the vintage film clips, while Erykah Badu, Questlove and others participate in new interviews to lend context to the footage. — John Beifuss

7 p.m. Tickets: $9, or $5 for museum members and students. Visitbrooksmuseum.org.

3. Memphis Comedy Festival, opens Thursday: As theMemphis Comedy Festival gears up for its fourth year, co-founder and producer/director Katrina Coleman quotes an old saw she hopes bodes well for the event: “The first time it’s a fluke, the second time it’s an anomaly, and the third time it’s a thing.” They pulled out a few more stops for this year’s festival, which runs from Thursday through Sunday, March 8, spanning eight venues in Downtown and Midtown for live stand-up and improv shows, screenings of filmed sketches, a comedic debate show, open-mic nights and workshops. Another addition is the festival’s first national headliner, Penny Wiggins, who worked for years as Psychic Tanya, assistant to Las Vegas comedy/magic fixture The Amazing Johnathan. Read more of my interview with Coleman in last week's GoMemphis. — Mark Richens

Starts Thursday: Sponsor appreciation and art show (invite only), 5 p.m.; “Don’t Be Afraid of the Shorts” (short films submitted from around the country), 7 p.m., Playhouse on the Square; Open Mic, 9:30 p.m., P&H Cafe. Continues through March 8 at venues including TheatreWorks, P&H Cafe, The Brass Door, Hi-Tone Cafe, Kudzu’s, Dru’s Place, Co-Motion Studio and Studio on the Square. “All You Can Laugh” weekend pass, $40. Individual ticket prices: TheatreWorks shows, $7; satellite shows, $5; Penny Wiggins headliner show, $15. For a full schedule and to purchase tickets, visitmemphiscomedyfestival.com.

4. Benefit for CJ "Superstar" Morgan, Monday: The Memphis Music Commission’s Memphis Music Monday series at the Hard Rock Café hosts a benefit to raise funds for CJ “Superstar” Morgan, a morning radio host on gospel station WLOK-AM 1340 who has suffered a series of strokes. Performing will be ProBeat DJs, R&B singer Bodae, gospel act Vincent Tharpe and Kenosis, and Lady Sax. — Richens

6 p.m. 126 Beale. $10 donation at the door. For more information, call the Memphis Music Commission at 901-576-6850.

5. “Memphis: Movie Hub of the Mid-South,” opens Monday:A series of lectures and panel presentations will be held each Monday night in March at Memphis Heritage headquarters at Howard Hall. The series begins with "A Theater Near You’ - Memphis at the Movies, 1930-1960,” a presentation by local movie historian, memorabilia collector and longtime Malco employee Vincent Astor, who will guide listeners on a nostalgic tour of the neighborhood movie houses of Memphis past. — Beifuss

7 p.m. 2282 Madison. Series registration: $65, or $50 for Memphis Heritage members. Tickets to individual talks are not available. Call (901) 272-2727, or visit memphisheritage.org/preservation-series-2015.