This month of heat advisories is slowly coming to an end, even if the heat itself is not. But once again we’ve found plenty of budget-friendly events to keep you entertained (many of which are air conditioning-friendly too), from a music festival in Tomball to a spectacle at Miller Outdoor Theatre, wrestling at Traders Village and a hip-hop flea market. Keep reading for ten of our favorite events that won't cost you more than $10 — and nine of them are free! Check out the Houston Press calendar for even more things to do, and be mindful that the ominous weather forecast for this weekend could any and all of them.
Tropic of Kansas, The God Peak and Noumenon book signings
Murder by the Book
6:30 p.m. Thursday, free
Three very different realities will be on display when Christopher Brown, Patrick Hemstreet and Marina Lostetter swing by Murder by the Book tonight. Brown’s Tropic of Kansas has been called a “modern dystopian buffet,” set in a world where all our societal fears have come true, from climate change to authoritarian rule and full corporate control. In The God Peak, Hemstreet’s sequel to The God Wave, Chuck Brenton returns to take on power brokers who are attempting to manipulate the superbeings Chuck has created by unlocking the brain’s potential. And Lostetter’s first full-length novel, Noumenon, jumps centuries into the future, with The Washington Post applauding its “dreamlike exploration of evolving societies and the many ways humans can control, fight and love each other.”
Film and Psychoanalysis: Moonlight
The Jung Center
7 p.m. Thursday, free
The Jung Center’s Film and Psychoanalysis series wraps up tonight with this year’s Best Picture winner, Moonlight, and a discussion led by Houston-based clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst Barbara Mosbacher. Barry Jenkins’s breakthrough coming-of-age tale about a young black boy’s journey to adulthood, contending with emotional abuse, a drug-addicted mother, dominant notions of masculinity and his own sexuality was – rightly so – a critical darling and a Hollywood game-changer. As The Atlantic noted, “This is not an 'issue' film that’s mainly 'about' race or sexuality; this is a humane movie, one that’s looking to prompt empathy and introspection most of all.”
Authors and poets will present work inspired by JooYoung Choi's work in “A Better Yesterday” at Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.
Photo by Ronald L. Jones
Contemporary Arts Museum Houston
7:30 p.m. Thursday, free
The Words & Art reading series, originally organized by Mary Wemple as an opportunity for local poets and writers to create works inspired by the installations in Rice Gallery (R.I.P., 1995-2017), is making its debut at CAMH Thursday in conjunction with “A Better Yesterday,” on display through September 3. The Houston-based authors and poets will be sharing works inspired by JooYoung Choi, who created an interactive alternative universe for his part of the exhibit, one where visitors are asked to play along by remembering kids TV shows where their help was needed by the characters – sometimes by singing along, drawing a picture or simply imagining.
The A.D. Players’ bring their final mainstage show of 2017, Godspell, to the Miller Outdoor Theatre for two more shows.
Photo by Pin Lim, Courtesy of A.D. Players
Miller Outdoor Theatre
8 p.m. Friday, free
A.D. Players’ final mainstage show of 2017, Godspell, comes to the Miller Outdoor Theatre for two more shows this weekend. Though the show, an imagining of Jesus’ last days as told from the Gospel of St. Matthew, isn’t exactly regarded as the best, it does feature hit songs like “Day by Day,” and the Press’s own D.L. Groover recently praised the A.D. players for succeeding “in making Godspell, Stephen Schwartz and [John-Michael Tebelak's] flower child story of Jesus' ministry and last days, immensely watchable,” adding that the “razzle-dazzle of A.D. Players' production is epic.” If you can’t make it out Friday, Godspell will also be performed Saturday, August 26, at 8 p.m.
Two Tons of Steel and Darbi Shaun will play the 4th Annual Tomball Texas Music Festival this Saturday.
Photos by Mike Baxter – City of Tomball
Tomball Historic Depot Plaza
11:30 a.m. Saturday, free
The Tomball Texas Music Festival returns, bringing with it an impressive lineup of rockabilly, Texas Country and Cajun rock to Tomball’s historic downtown Depot. Two Tons of Steel headline, their punky alt-country complemented by Mike and the Moonpies’ Austin-born honky-tonk (for their second stop at the festival in three years), Bayou Roux’s spicy Louisiana fusion, and up-and-coming singer-songwriter Darbi Shaun, who already has an album and two EPs under her belt. Both admission and parking are free, so come prepared to stuff your face with festival food, peruse the vendors and let the kids exhaust themselves in the kids zone.
