Moshe Kasher performing at the Purple Onion in San Francisco.

Every once in awhile a comic comes along who slaps you upside the head so violently that your only recourse is whirl around, dazed, and wonder where all your teeth just went. Lately, 29-year-old Bay Area native Moshe Kasher has been fulfilling that role for many people. Smart, dirty, sharp, self-deprecating and ultimately hilarious, Kasher won over the crowd at the recent Aspen Rooftop Comedy Festival, walking away with the “Best of the Fest” award.

Of course, like many hot young things, Kasher didn’t materalize fully-formed. He’s been plying his trade for years in traditional and non-traditional comedy venues, sketch troupes, online videos and even monologues for years, but people have just now started to take notice.

All the right people, in fact. Kasher’s new album “Everyone You Know is Going to Die… And Then You Are” was snatched up by Rooftop Comedy’s record label and he’s planning on filming a “Live at Gotham” special for Comedy Central later this year, among other projects.

We spoke to Kasher in advance of his headlining sets at Comedy Works South Thursday, July 9 through Saturday, July 11.

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Will Jet South live up to the downtown location (pictured above)? Only time — and the denizens of the DTC — will tell.

The Denver Tech Center has a lot going for it, but it’s not exactly the party capital of the metro area.

Once the whistle blows, the hordes of office workers in the area flee, leaving little but terrible I-25 traffic in their wake. It seems that few are willing to hang around on the DTC’s manicured boulevards, though the smattering of chain restaurants in the area hints that some people are hitting up Chili’s and the like for post-work margaritas.

It’s understandable: Most people aren’t too keen on spending extra time at work, and if there’s a drive involved, having a drink is inadvisable.

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B&E: Not your typical “filling station” food.

A restaurant with the words “filling station” in its name could go a variety of ways. You might be walking into a too-cutesy converted gas station with ruffled curtains and roosters all over the tables, or some nightmare concept eatery with “pumps” of ketchup and servers with faux grease stains on their aprons and attitude to match.

Or it could be one of those places that really is a filling station with a few tables in the back and coffee that tastes like gasoline.

And then again, it could be that the space actually once was a gas station, and the name is just cool and also happens to refer to the fact that the artfully decorated, cozy space serves hearty portions that do indeed fill you up.

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Anyone with half a brain cell and interest in culture knows Denver has had a fertile underground music and arts scene for several years now. Less visible, however, is our alternative comics scene (and no, I don’t mean indie stand-ups, although we have a kickass scene of those, too). I mean comics, as in comic books and cartoons.

The Mile High City’s finest of the bunch will get together on Saturday at the Tattered Cover bookstore in LoDo for the Cowtown Alternative Comix Fest, which offers and presentations and exhibits of the work of John Porcellino, Noah Van Sciver, Lonnie Allen, Will Barnes, John Bueno, Patty Leidy, Ozzy Longoria, John Peters, Ron Ruelle, Felix Tannenbaum, Stan Yan and more.

I chatted with co-organizer Porcellino, of the internationally-renowned King Cat Comix, in advance of the event.

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Xiao Long Bao dumplings with broth steamed inside from Lao Wang Noodle House, 945 D S. Federal, Denver. File photo by Gil Asakawa of The Denver Post.

If you miss the doting presence of your grandparents, you’ll love Lao Wang Noodle House.

The 7-year-old Taiwanese storefront on South Federal Boulevard — along the same grubby strip as addictive eateries J’s Noodles and Pho Duy — is run by an elderly duo so hands-on and opinionated you’ll feel your grammy and gramps are looking over your shoulder every step of the way (if your grandparents were Asian immigrants, that is).

Noodles, as you may have guessed, are king here — so much so that ordering a soup without them will result in dissuading finger wags and furrowed brows. Fresh, chewy and flavorful, the noodles overflow from Lao Wang’s signature Niu Rou Mien beef soup ($7.95), a five-spice offering with lava-colored broth and liberal chunks of meat.

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