Tom Papa has seen the future, and it’s off to your left.

– Comedian Tom Papa’s appealingly matter-of-fact delivery belies the bizarre path his logic follows. He’ll start out with a familiar subject like newborn babies, then pursue that thread to its illogical conclusion, making part of the audience cringe and most of it howl.

– Papa, who plays Comedy Works through Sunday, is also the favorite opener of some dude named Jerry Seinfeld (apparently he had some crappy TV show) and a veteran of the stand-up trail and late-night talk show circuit. We caught up with him in advance of his Denver dates to talk about the short trip from comedian to voice actor, his upcoming project with Rob Zombie (WTF?) and the difference between celebrity comedians and actual comedians…

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‘Sup, Santas?

– The holidays are all about traditions, and what better way to round up the Christmas spirit than to don a Santa suit and hit nearly a half-dozen bars on Saturday evening? The seventh annual Santa Pub Crawl kicks off Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Fado Irish Pub (1735 19th St.). At Fado, each of the more than 300 participating Santas will meet and drop off toys to donate to Safehouse Denver and the Samaritan House…

Read “Jolly old elf’s nose is likely to be red after the Santa Pub Crawl”

Rock out with your, uh, socks out.

– You saw School of Rock, right? Sure you did. It was one of the most tolerable “kid’s movies” to come out in ages, no doubt thanks to director Richard Linklater. Well, the real School of Rock is coming to the Mile High City, and they need your help. The Denver branch is scheduled to open tomorrow, and founder Paul Green is hosting a charity concert, among other events (open house, Guitar Center in-store, etc.)

– The all ages, grand opening benefit takes place at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Oriental Theater in the Highlands, and the $10 donation goes to the Ronald McDonald House. Students ages 11-17 will perform classic rock songs from A-Z (AC/DC to Frank Zappa). Personally, I’d like to see some 11-year-old try to pull off “Peaches en Regalia.” Anything resembling the song would be impressive, to say the least. Visit here for more details.

Like green chiles? La Mariposa may not be the best fit.

La Mariposa is a long-standing, family-run chain of Colorado Mexican restaurants. Its Denver outpost sports many of the trappings of a classic green-chile joint: cheap beer; addictive chips and salsa; and Spanish-speaking cooks hollering at televised soccer games in the kitchen…

Read more about La Mariposa

CU’s West African High Line Ensemble is the only one of its kind in the U.S.

– Yeah, we know Thanksgiving was only yesterday, but if you’re feeling up to it, this Thursday offers a unique, mind-opening music and dance event for anyone looking for more than “The Nutcracker” and that very special Christmas episode of “Friends.” The CU West African Highlife Ensemble, formed in the fall of 2000 when Kwasi Ampene joined the College of Music at CU-Boulder, will celebrate its 7th anniversary with a rare Denver show at the Bluebird Theater.

What is a “highlife ensemble,” you ask? They perform “high energy, tightly-knit traditional, neo-traditional and highlife dance music from Ghana.” And this Thursday’s performance will open the lens even wider, taking a “musical safari” through Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of South Africa and the French Antilles (Guadeloupe and Martinique)…

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