Pizzerias and burger joints, strip-mall Chinese and coffee shops, Subway and Arby’s. South Boulder. The tentacles of the People’s Republic’s much-touted “food scene” don’t creep much between the Pearl Street Mall and Louisville. That’s a lot of Boulder without Moroccan octopus and duck confit.

Earlier this year, however, the restaurant SoBo rolled into Boulder’s southern reaches. Very fancy. Entrees in the $30s. The anti-Applebee’s. Also, though, stuffy, a less-than-winning adjective in an area of town defined by students and something much more Brady Bunch (split-level homes with passels of kids) than Organic Range Rover.

Inevitable spiral. Down.
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Photo by Seth Olenick.

Ah, viral video. Thy hideous bitch mistress of overnight fame. When Aziz Ansari and his cohorts in the Human Giant troupe started pumping out hilarious viral video after viral video (see the spot-on “Other Music”) everyone from NBC to Comedy Central came calling for content. But Human Giant smartly held back until MTV offered them a shoestring budget to produce a sketch series.

After a couple inventive, achingly funny seasons on that otherwise brain-dead network, Ansari is poised to break into the wider consciousness with a few upcoming movie roles and a featured spot in the long-rumored spin-off of “The Office.” We chatted with the New York-bred, L.A.-based comedian via e-mail in advance of his Oct. 10-11 stint at Comedy Works this weekend.
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Denver’s Breezy Porticos. From l-r: Andy Falconetti, Jeffrey Almond and Eric Van Leuven. Photo by Sarah Cass.

If jangly, doe-eyed indie pop seems like a thing of the past, well, it’s because it sort of is. The sort of charmingly guileless, three-chord tunes that dominated college radio in the ’90s has largely gone the way of the Elephant 6 collective. Which is to say, kaput. Sure, scattered holdouts exist (The Apples in Stereo, Of Montreal, Dressy Bessy, etc.) but these nerdy, Beach Boys-loving kids have either traded in their detuned guitars for synths or stowed them altogether.

That’s why it’s no surprise to hear that Denver indie pop mainstays Breezy Porticos have decided to hang up their sunny harmonies after nearly a decade on the scene. Unfortunate, but no surprise. Luckily we’ll have one last chance to see them on Friday, Oct. 10 at the Hi-Dive, with openers Bad Weather California and Tornado Alley.

We e-mailed the band — Andy Falconetti, Jeffrey Almond and Eric Van Leuven — earlier this week to pick their brains about their final show, what they’ll miss about playing music in Denver and the importance of supporting local bands.
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Denver’s Comedy Works will expand beyond its familiar Larimer Square location starting next week. Photo from denver.org.

In advance of the opening of Comedy Works’ massive new south location at the Landmark development in Greenwood Village, we thought we’d round up some recent Q&As we did with local and national comedians.

First up is Joel McHale, host of E!’s “The Soup.” We also chatted with everyone’s favorite rumbling mass of righteous indignation, Lewis Black, when he stopped by Denver just before the Democratic National Convention. Carlos Mencia, a staunch Comedy Works supporter, also talked to us before his Red Rocks gig this summer. But wait, there’s more…

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