If Aisha Tyler is bored, we’re all in trouble.

Call Aisha Tyler a renaissance woman. Call her a restless well of creativity overflowing with ideas. Just don’t limit her to a single description.

“To me they’re all the same job,” said the comedian, author, actress, producer and director. “But stand-up is the first. It’s how I got started in the entertainment business, and my skill set grows out of there.”

Whether you recognize her from “Friends” or “Ghost Whisperer,” “CSI” or “24,” the 38-year-old San Francisco native is best known for her TV roles. But with a daytime talk show on tap for ABC next year and a growing profile in the stand-up world — thanks to her recent top-rated Comedy Central special — Tyler is poised to show us all sides of her talent.

We spoke to her in advance of her Comedy Works South shows Friday and Saturday.

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What lurks at the historic Blake Street Vault? Good times, naturally. Photo courtesy of Carl Hulen.

In a window above the entrance to the Blake Street Vault (1526 Blake St.), there’s a little tableau: A mannequin dressed as an Old West party girl sits facing the street, a bottle of Jack Daniel’s close at hand on the barrel next to her.

It’s a tribute to Lydia, the ghost that’s supposedly still hanging around in the bar nearly 150 years after it was built. The historic building has seen a lot since 1863, so it’s not too hard to believe there might be something left over from Denver’s dusty past.

The evidence is everywhere: In the basement, dark entrances lead to tunnels that long ago went under Blake Street, maybe to nearby brothels. The huge, ancient gears of the former freight elevator are still in one corner. During renovations, workers found century-old liquor bottles — one with bitters still inside — stashed all over the place.

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Despite his placid exterior, Ben Roy is (thankfully) not ready to play nice. Photo by Crystal Allen.

“I will be not be clean. I will not be friendly,” comedian Ben Roy warns of his first-ever headlining set at Comedy Works on Wednesday, May 27. Thank God for that.

The 29-year-old Maine native and singer for local punks the 29th Street Disciples has carved a reputation as the most unhinged, energetic member of the Wrist Deep Productions collective, a DIY comedy quartet that holds weekly open-mic nights at the Squire and the monthly Los Comicos Super Hilariosos shows at the Orange Cat. He’s also been generating interest outside the state by proving himself a reliable firebrand with a refreshing trait: under all the profanity, he’s a clever, idea-driven stand-up.

Comedy, as Roy writes on his MySpace page, is “one of the last art forms in which views can be expressed without having to pander or coddle to four or five other sissies who fear losing a shot at their ‘big break.’”

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The stately Oriental Theater in Denver’s Highlands neighborhood. Photo from Wikimedia Commons.

Here’s a scary question: What student would want to go without art? How do we choose who deserves it and who doesn’t?

That’s the question kids are facing at Edison Elementary, a school in Denver’s Highlands neighborhood that’s been forced to cut their visual arts program for next year. But an organization called Art for Edison is doing something about it. They’re about halfway toward raising the $60,000 necessary to reinstate the arts program for the school’s 575 kids.

The odds are against them: $60,000 is three times this year’s fundraising goal for the entire school, and it needs to be raised in a third of the time. But since February, Art for Edison founder Randy Thomae has been busy holding restaurant nights, art openings, auctions and more for the cause.

It culminates this Sunday at the Oriental Theater, where Art for Edison will hold its MAD Festival (Music, Art and Design) to raise more cash. The event features music from local acts 40 Gallon Still, Alltunators, Liberry, Dualistics, Propane Daisies and Platte River Killers, a live fashion show, art, food and drinks. The best part? 100 percent of the $20 cover goes toward fundraising.

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Vegetarian food is more than just salads and tofu at Tasty Harmony in Fort Collins.

Tasty Harmony has added organic wine and local beer to its vegetarian menu. The Fort Collins restaurant opened in February with an ambitious lineup that should give other meatless eateries in Denver and Boulder a run for their tofu.

Tasty Harmony delivers complex, savory soups, salads, sandwiches and entrees that satisfy without the use of any animal fats. Even though his kitchen is meat- and dairy-free, chef/owner Sacha Steinhauser doesn’t necessarily want to be known as “that vegan place.”

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