Spiders, Slams, and Other Shows Worth Seeing This Week

Kids Camp: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Monday 17 - Wednesday 19, Alamos Slaughter Lane, Lakeline, and Mueller

So, you have kids and they’re on summer break. Lucky them! You – as a smart parent or set of three children stacked on top of each other beneath a trenchcoat – can take five whole dollarinos to your local Drafthouse and see a family-friendly picture. Rejoice in the ice-cold air conditioning and sup upon the endless soda and popcorn refills. Couldn’t pick a better feature to drop your fiver on, either: Across the Spider-Verse expands the scope of Miles Morales’ universe-swinging travels, uncovering a Spider-Person panopticon that questions what it takes to be a real webslinger.   – James Scott

Unseen

Monday 17, AFS Cinema

America’s not been doing such a great job on that whole promise to the tired, poor, and huddled masses yearning to be free, and those struggles are only complicated when a migrant is living with a disability. Set Hernandez’s new documentary examines the life of Pedro, a blind, undocumented immigrant who has to navigate a system that seems structured to prevent his hopes to graduate and become a social worker. This free screening is presented by Austin Film Society and PBS’s POV, with a post-screening discussion.   – Richard Whittaker

OutWellness Grand Opening

Monday 17, 211 E. Alpine #100

Hip-hip-hoorah for local body-inclusive fitness biz OutWellness, who’re opening a brick-and-mortar space. Joining the celebration will be musician Becca Jane, the whole OW team, the LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce and their ribbon-cutting scissors, drag king Alexander the Great, and – oh yeah! An array of fabulous goodies from places like MaryJae, Feels So Good, and Little Drinks Lounge. Hear, hear!   – James Scott

Randy Hill Booksigning & Guy Forsyth Performance

Tuesday 18, waterloo records

Since blues expresses our innermost fears and outermost desires, congratulate Randy Hill on turning his aspirations into homegrown roots history. Austin Blues Monthly’s brief mid-Nineties run saw its editor/publisher talking shop with a who’s who of the genre that helped put the state capital on the world map: Clifford Antone, T.D. Bell, Marc Benno, W.C. Clark, Kent “Omar” Dykes, Blues Boy Hubbard, Kim Wilson, and more. “What Hill managed to pull off – intentionally or not – is a wide-ranging history of Austin blues,” writes ATX historian Joe Nick Patoski of Hill’s new Q&A compendium. Practitioner Guy Forsyth co-signs with fiery live blues.   – Raoul Hernandez

The Carver Freedom Poetry Slam Competition

Tuesday 18, George Washington Carver Museum

Nothing gets a person more hyped about the beauty of the English language more than an excellent poetry slam. It’s impossible to slam without strong emotions and even stronger deliveries. Luckily, a fiery feast of words is coming our way this week. The Carver Museum, in association with local poetry publisher 310 Brown Street, drops a serious slam with about a dozen local wordsmiths. Hosted by master poet Christopher Michael, the competitors will duke it out for top three slammers in the city. Who will win? The audience, that’s for sure.   – Cat McCarrey

Pollinator Week: Bee-o-Diversity

Tuesday 18, Central Library

Did you know Austin is a Bee City? Austin City Council voted to become part of the Bee City USA network about two years ago, meaning we are part of a mission to protect pollinators and offer them support by reducing pesticide use, increasing plant abundance, and providing nest sites. Learn about the bodacious bee from Lindsay Loftin of the Parks & Rec Department, who’ll drop some knowledge you can use in the Bee-ingo game and as a “pollinator pal.”   – Kat McNevins

Talent Show!

Community

Tuesday 18, Radio Coffee & Beer

Does your grandma swear you were blessed with the voice of an angel, the gift of gab, or some other brow-raising ability? Radio Coffee & Beer invites you to show it off for their monthly talent show. Find out if those jokes you tell your waitress would actually land in a real crowd, or if that song you sing in the car sounds as good on stage as it does in your car. Sign up for a 10-minute set between 7 and 10pm by emailing [email protected]. Did we mention the winner gets a cash prize?   – Camila Villarreal

Queer Crafts

Tuesday 18, CRAFT

I declare right now to be the Summer of Hobbies – we’re developing interests outside of work and YouTube video essays, I swear. Start your own hobby era with this crafty little event, thrown by the folks at allgo and Asian Family Support Services of Austin. While this artmaking meetup centers queer Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, allies are encouraged to also attend. RSVP is required, but after that you’re on your way to becoming a well-rounded human who has a creative spirit. Congrats!   – James Scott

Breaking Bread Series: Sarah McIntosh

Thursday 20, Emmer & Rye

Beat the summer blues and treat yourself to tasty delights with Emmer & Rye’s Breaking Bread series. Over the summer, the restaurant will host four incredible guest chefs, who will each craft a one-night-only epicurean adventure. On Thursday, June 20, épicerie’s Sarah McIntosh takes over the kitchen with her simple-but-savored French-tinged fare. I know what you’re thinking: But what about the bread? Yes, every chef will have bread for you to break, with a special course inspired by the venue. Here’s hoping for croissants in your future.   – Cat McCarrey

Peter Breslow in Conversation

Thursday 20, Central Library

For years Breslow traveled around the world (literally from the South Pole to the Amazon) for NPR’s All Things Considered and Weekend Edition. Now, he’s traveling to Austin’s Downtown library to discuss his new book, Outtakes: Stumbling Around the World for NPR. The stories prove that journalism, even at its highest levels, is equal parts harrowing and hilarious. Leading the discussion is his public radio compatriot, retired Texas correspondent John Burnett.   – James Renovitch

Colin McIntyre

Thursday 20, Cloud Tree Auxiliary

Cloud Tree Gallery has become one of the funnest listening rooms on the Eastside, and now there are two of them – the original gallery and the gallery’s Quonset hut twin, the Cloud Tree Auxiliary. The new space is perfect for this month’s Summer Salon series, with its wall of Mondrianesque stained glass and its curving domelike ceiling. Austin Cantorum kicked off the series on June 6 with a stunningly lovely choir performance as audience members relaxed on blankets on the floor. Colin McIntyre presents his meditative sound bath this Thursday.   – Brant Bingamon

We Are Blood: Giving Double

Through June 30, any We Are Blood location

We Are Blood – who are definitely NOT vampires in disguise – have totally cracked the case on how to make giving blood even more of a good deed. See, for this month only, whenever you take your juicy veins to a WAB donor center or mobile unit, they’ll donate $5 to your choice of one of three partnering nonprofits. That’s right: Donate blood, and you can give Central Texas Food Bank, Austin Humane Society, or TreeFolks a fiver to do with what they please. And usually what they please is helping our Austin community in various positive ways like keeping peeps fed, nurturing puppies and kitties, and growing big beautiful trees whose shade is sorely needed during this cruel summer.   – James Scott

Summer of Service

Through August 31, Austin Creative Reuse

Who doesn’t want to build up their CV in these trying times? Or perhaps you just want to fill your free time with something other than TikTok? Or maybe you want a behind-the-scenes, hands-on tour of Austin’s best place for sustainable craft supplies? Whatever reason you’ve got, it’s a good time to volunteer for Austin Creative Reuse’s Summer of Service program. Opportunities are abundant, with group projects like fabric rolling, dog toy making, or Funky Fabric Friday – that’s when they process all the weird stuff like purple faux fur or bright yellow vinyl. Sign up on austincreativereuse.org, complete 30 volunteering hours, and earn your Summer of Service certificate. Beats losing eight hours to ASMR slime-scoop videos, I’ll tell you what.   – James Scott

Pandora’s Box

Through Wednesday 19, AFS Cinema

In the Greek legend of Pandora, all the ills of the world were unleashed when she opened her forbidden jar, and all that was left was that most precious and fragile of forces – hope. That’s sort of the story of Pandora’s Box. Reviled and censored on release, film fans and historians long hoped that it would be restored and reevaluated. Now the tale of Lulu, a libertine, and her sexual exploits across a repressive Europe, is seen as a masterpiece of Weimar cinema, most especially in the tension between Georg Wilhelm Pabst’s post-expressionistic directorial style and an eternally captivating and haunting performance from Louise Brooks, the American star who beat out Marlene Dietrich for the part.   – Richard Whittaker

“Encounters in the Garden: Paintings by Josias Figueirido”

Through July 13, Ivester Contemporary

It’s the second coming of surrealism at Ivester Contemporary. Josias Figueirido aptly updates the legacy of Dalí and Chagall with his vivid dreamscapes. His exhibit presents spirit guides Piri the Dreamer and Flying Coyote in increasingly absurd settings, smoothly bubbled characters possessing hypnotic shininess. Paintings of them hang in eerily vivid flashe paint, existing harmoniously beside their animated counterpoints in an immersive, interactive reality. It’s the wondrous love child of Cartoon Network and modernism. You don’t want to miss it.   – Cat McCarrey

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Want to see all of our listings broken down by day? Go to austinchronicle.com/calendar and see what's happening now or in the coming week.