Arts & Entertainment

Calendar: Dec. 23

Parties, services, concerts and more through Dec. 29

Published

15 years ago

December 22, 2011

Mallory Lewis, daughter of Sheri Lewis, will be appearing with Lamb Chop as part of a Holiday Vaudeville performance at the Kennedy Center on Thursday. (Photo courtesy Kennedy Center)

TODAY (Friday)

Trixie and Monkey’s seventh annual “Holiday Spectac-U-Thon” is tonight at the Patterson at 8 p.m. The neo-burlesque show will feature acrobatic antics, trapeze and more. Tickets are $22 for general admission and $17 for Creative Alliance members. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit creativealliance.org.

Black Cat (1811 14th St., N.W.) presents “Bro Ho Ho: A Holiday Music Spectacular” featuring Jessie Elliott, of these United States, Revival, John Bustine, Brandon Butler and more. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased online at blackcatdc.com. Doors open at 9 p.m.

Basement Batman plays Red Palace (1212 H St., N.E.) tonight at 9 p.m. with Ravenous and ACME. Tickets are $8 and available day of the show. Doors open at 8 p.m.

DJ Dirty Hands spins tonight for “Pop Fridays” at Ultrabar (911 F St., N.W.) from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. Also spinning will be resident DJ Geometrix and DJs Suelto, Enemy and Bomba and Kid Lucky.

Phase 1 (525 8th St., S.E.) is having a “Ugly Holiday Sweater Party” tonight. Everyone wearing a festive sweater gets $3 drink specials. There will also be a contest for the ugliest sweater and the winner will received a $50 bar tab. Contest begins at 11:30 p.m. For more information, visit phase1dc.com. Doors open at 9 p.m.

Ladi Lenore and Maxine Blue present “The Empire Christmas Party” tonight at Remingtons (639 Pennsylvania Ave., S.E.) at 10 p.m. with a buffet, show and more.

The Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.) presents “Messiah” sing-along tonight at 8 p.m. with guest conductor Barry Hemphill leading the Kennedy center Opera House Orchestra, a 200-voice choir, professional soloists and the audience. This is a free event. Tickets are required and will be distributed today starting at 6 p.m. in the Hall of Nations, limit one per person.

Saturday, Dec. 24

K&C Productions presents “Grown & Sexy Saturdays” at Club Mova (newly reopened at 2204 14th Street, NW). No cover and doors open at 10 p.m. Party goes until 3 a.m. A new year’s eve grand opening edition is also planned.

The East Coast Boyz present “Twas the Night Before Christmas” at Tabaq Bistro (1336 U St., NW) tonight from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. Prizes and drink specials will be held. Dancers will provide entertainment.

Black Cat’s (1811 14th St., N.W.) weekly Hellmouth Happy Hour will feature a special holiday screening of the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” movie starring Luke Perry and Kristen Swanson. This is a free event and doors open at 7 p.m.

U Street Music Hall (1115 U St., N.W.) has its “U Halliday Party” tonight at 10 p.m. featuring King Tutt, Obeyah, Keenan Orr and more hosted by Marcus Dowling and Reed Rothchild. Tickets for attendees 18 to 20 are $10 and must be purchased in advance atustreetmusichall.com. The party is free all night for those 21 and older.

The Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.) presents its production of “Billy Elliot: The Musical” (see our review on page 32) directed by Stephen Daldry and featuring music by Elton John, today at 1:30 p.m. Tickets range from $25 to $150 and can be purchased online atkennedy-center.org.

With most of the NFL’s games moved to today, Nellie’s (900 U St., N.W.) will be showing the Baltimore Ravens take on the Cleveland Browns and the Washington Redskins take on the Minnesota Vikings at 1 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 25

The Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.) presents an All-star Christmas Day Jazz Jam featuring Chuck Redd, Robert Redd, Lenny Robinson, James King and Tom and Delores King Williams tonight at 6 p.m. This is a free performance. For more information, visit kennedy-center.org.

Black Cat (1811 14th St., N.W.) presents its third annual James Brown “Death-Mas” holiday bash featuring Soul Call Paul. Tickets are $5 and available night of the show. Doors open at 9 p.m.

Ultrabar (911 F St., N.W.) presents “No Nice, All Naughty Sexy Santa Bash” tonight from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. with free admission all night for women dressed in sexy Santa costumes. There will be drink specials all night as well as a rail open bar from 10 to 11 p.m.

Monday, Dec. 26

Busboys & Poets presents Monday night open mic poetry hosted by Drew Law tonight at 8 p.m. at its Shirlington location (4251 South Campbell Ave., Arlington). Wristbands are $4 and will be on sale starting at 10 a.m. in the Global Exchange store until sold out.

SAGE Metro D.C. is celebrating the New Year with a party at the D.C. Center (1318 U St., N.W.) tonight at 6:30 p.m. with food and music. For more information, visit thedccenter.org or sagemetrodc.org.

Tuesday, Dec. 27

Riot Act Comedy Theater (801 E St., N.W.) presents its weekly trivia night, hosted by Ashley Linder and Lauren Zoltick tonight at 8 p.m. in the upstairs bar. There’s even bonus question worth three extra points online at riotactcomedy.com.

The Chesapeake Squares are having a mainstream-through-advanced club night tonight at the Waxter Center (1000 Cathedral St.) in Baltimore from 8 to 10 p.m. For more information, visit chesapeakesquares.org. The Squares are a gay square dancing group.

Busboys & Poets presents Tuesday night open mic poetry hosted by Henry Mills tonight at 9 p.m. in the Langston room of its 14th and V streets location (2021 14th St., N.W.). Wristbands are $4 and will be on sale starting at 10 a.m. in bookstore until sold out.

Wednesday, Dec. 28

The Lambda Bridge Club meets tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Dignity Center (721 8th St., SE — across from Marine Barracks) for duplicate bridge. No reservations needed; newcomers welcome. Visit lambdabridge.com if you need a partner.

Emmy Award-winning actress Holland Taylor comes to the Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.) with her one-woman play “Ann” tonight at 7:30 p.m. The show tells the story of Ann Richards, the second female governor of Texas. Tickets range from $54 to $95 and can be purchased online at kennedy-center.org.

Busboys & Poets is having its monthly book club meeting at its Shirlington location (4251 South Campbell Ave., Arlington) from 7 to 9 p.m. discussing Rebecca Skloot’s book, “Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks,” which tells the story of a woman who’s cells were taken without her knowledge and have been used in several major medical developments.

Thursday Dec. 29

D.C. Lambda Squares, a local gay square dancing group, has its advanced and challenge club night tonight from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at National City Christian Church (5 Thomas Circle, N.W.) with Bill Harrison as the caller. For more information, visit dclambdasquares.org.

Cajun cellist Sean Grissom hosts “Holiday Vaudeville” at the Kennedy Center (2700 P St., N.W.) tonight at 6 p.m. with Mallory Lewis, daughter of Shari Lewis, appearing with Lamb Chop, and the Alexandria Kleztet, a modern Klezmer quartet. This is a free performance. For more information, visit kennedy-center.org.

Books

New book reveals what we can learn from animal sex

‘Poking the Squid’ on homosexuality, gender swapping, and more

Published

2 days ago

July 13, 2026

Terri Schlichenmeyer

(Book cover image courtesy W.W. Norton)

‘Poking the Squid: What We Can Learn from Animal Sex’
By Perrin Roosevelt Ireland
c.2026, W.W. Norton
$29.99 241 pages

Birds do it.

According to Cole Porter, bees do, too, but it’s not exactly what he imagined. Wild and tame, avians, insects, and mammals all have sex – although not always as you’ve been told or for reasons you might think. Even educated fleas do it and, as in the new book, “Poking the Squid” by Perrin Roosevelt Ireland, humans can learn from them all.

If you read through scientific papers on animal reproduction, you might notice something unusual: for scientists, the word “sex” means a lot of different things.

Says Ireland, “It’s used to describe behaviors, biology, life histories, and more.”

That might be because animals are not simply binary.

Take, for instance, hyenas. It’s easy for the casual observer to mistake a male hyena for a female and vice versa because of stereotypes of anatomy. Mating, for hyenas, requires subordination for the male and a nifty trick on the part of the female’s body to get things done.

Our feathered friends are no birdbrains, either: black-browed albatrosses were once thought to be monogamous but global warming seems to have changed their nesting habits sometimes. Male flamingos have sex with one another, as a territorial thing; other birds and animals form same-sex pairs for other reasons.

The Chinese mantis eats her mate after fertilization. Female snakes, alpacas, guinea pigs, and monkeys are anatomically able to enjoy sex. Genitalia between species varies quite a bit; in fact, the vaginas of ducks “are highly complex.” Lionesses will mate up to 100 times when in heat. Female damselflies will change into a “third sex” to avoid overly aggressive mating males. Bearded dragons can change their sex, if needed, as can yellow clown goby fish. And seahorse pregnancy and birth sparked a book banning in Tennessee.

So, asks Ireland, if animals, including us, vary so much in biology and life, “… why are we using the word sex like it means something, anything, consistent?!”

Pick up “Poking the Squid,” page through it a few seconds, and you’ll see that the information here is largely told through cartoon-like drawings mixed with captions. It seems to be something on the lighter side, but don’t let that artwork fool you.

Author Perrin Roosevelt Ireland offers readers solid information that cozies up to the scholarly, with hard science, philosophy, feminism, and quotations from researchers to support it, thus furthering the narrative and hitting the points squarely. If you see the art and expect something lighthearted, comic, and small-talk-worthy, you could be disappointed.

On the other hand, if you want solid, wryly serious facts, you’re in for a treat.

There’s lots of learning to be gleaned here, and some slight nudge-wink whimsy to emphasize the absurdity of wrong-headed thinking. This can make readers feel like they’re in-the-know on the jokes, and the playfulness balances the seriousness of the information well.

So, serious, scholarly, or slightly silly, none of these are negative but you’re going to know what you want from a book like this. For the right reader, someone in the mood, “Poking the Squid” is wild.

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