Chicago Improv Festival: The Special Edge Series @ The Second Stage Theatre

Come to The Second Stage Theatre (3408 N. Sheffield) for some late night improv from The Special Edge Series featuring: Happy Karaoke Fun Time; Eleanor; and The Hamiltons. Show starts at 11pm, tickets are $10 and can be purchased at The Second Stage box office, or online. For more information visit Chicago Improv Festival.

Dog Wash Benefit for Red Door @ Canine Social Club

Bring Fido to Canine Social Club, 5508 N. Western, today or tomorrow between 8am-5pm for a benefit dog wash and massage, with proceeds going to the Red Door Animal Shelter.
Cost varies by animal's weight ($10-50); also, 5% of all sales during your visit will also be donated.

Chicago Improv Festival: The Katydids and Face Off Unlimited @ Chicago Imbalanced Comedy

The Katydids and Face Off Unlimited improvise tonight at Chicago Imbalanced Comedy (1420 W. Irving Park) at 10:30pm. Tickets are $10 and can be bought at the CIC box office, online, or by calling 773-865-7731. For more information visit Chicago Improv Festival.

Zombie Pub Crawl

Get in your finest dead person gear for an afternoon/early evening of drinking with fellow zombies around the Andersonville neighborhood (Simon's, Farragut's and Mary's, among them). You can register at @mosphere, 5355 N Clark. Admission $20.

Ratasucia @ Panchos, 4/30

Ratasucia is the newest project from Dan Hanaway, (The Honor System/The Broadways/Slapstick/Whale|Horse) Chris Carr, (The Honor System/Whale|Horse) and Tim Scare (Prosperity Wallet). All three members are longtime friends and plan to release their debut record on Asian Man Records this summer.

Ratasucia will be performing some of their new songs from their not yet released full-length album, entitled White Noise Pollution at Pancho's, (2200 N. California Ave.) on April 30th. They are performing alongside Lenin/McCarthy, Vacation Bible School, The Anchor and Dirty Bird. The show is all-ages and doors are at 6:00 PM. $8 at the door.

Chicago Improv Festival: Improvisation & Co; The Stuntmen; The Amie and Kristen Show @ The Second City DeMaat Theater

Improvise all night long with three different shows at The Second City DeMaat Theater (1618 N. Wells, 3rd Floor). 7:30pm show features Improvisation & Co. and Hello Laser; 9:30pm show features The Stuntmen and Now? with Annie & Levin; and the 11:30pm show features The Amie and Kristen Show and 3033. Tickets are sold separately for each show, and cost $15 for the 7:30pm and 9:30pm shows , $10 for the 11:30pm show. Purchase tickets at The Second City box office, online, or by calling 312-337-3992. For more information visit Chicago Improv Festival.

Chicago Improv Festival: ImproTOP; Boom Chicago Alumni @ Laugh Out Loud Theater

Looking to leave the city boundaries for some improv? Head out to Schaumburg where troupes from as far away as Mexico City and Amsterdam are performing in back-to-back shows tonight. ImproTOP, Boom Chicago Alumni, and Laugh Out Loud perform at 7:30pm and 9:30pm. Tickets for each show are $18 for adults $12 for students, and can be purchased at the Laugh Out Loud box office (601 N. Martindale Schaumburg), or by calling 847-240-0386. For more information visit Chicago Improv Festival.

Chicago Improv Festival: Mayor Karen; Matt&; Sand @ Athenaeum Theatre, Studio 3

Having a hard time deciding which shows to take in at the Chicago Improv Festival? This isn't going to help you one bit. in Studio 3 of the Athenaeum Theatre (2936 N. Southport) they're improving all night long. The fun starts at 7pm with Mayor Karen and Firth&Arjet; at 8:30 Matt& strut their stuff with Die Gorillas; and at 10pm Sand does their thing with Skinesthesia: Body Painting Improv. Tickets to each show are sold separately, and cost $15 for the 7pm and 8:30 shows, and $10 for the 10pm show. Purchase tickets at the Athenaeum Theatre box office, online (click through to show times) or by calling 800-982-2787. For more information visit Chicago Improv Festival.

Chicago Improv Festival: Captain Donkeyface; BillyHawk; Rapid Fire Theatre @ Athenaeum Theatre, Studio 2

Get ready for another threefer at the Athenaeum Theatre, Studio 2 (2936 N. Southport). At 7pm Captain Donkeyface and Mr. Ponytail face off with Computer; at 8:30pm watch for BillyHawk and Pimprov; then stick around for a 10pm show featuring Rapid Fire Theatre and The Late 90s. Tickets to each show are sold separately, and cost $15 for the 7pm and 8:30pm shows, and $10 for the 10pm show. Purchase tickets at the Athenaeum Theatre box office, online (click through to showtimes) or by calling 800-982-2787. For more information visit Chicago Improv Festival.

Chicago Improv Festival: Improvised Jane Austen; Istanbulimpro; Spite @ The Playground

The Playground (3209 N. Halsted) pulls another triple-header tonight. At 7pm watch Improvised Jane Austen and Hell Buffalo; at 9pm catch Istanbulimpro and We're From Here; and at 10:30pm stick around for Spite and Comedy Queue. Tickets for each show are sold separately, and cost $15 for the 7pm and 9pm shows, $10 for the 10:30pm show. Purchase tickets at The Playground box office, online (click through to showtimes) or by calling 773-871-3793. For more information visit Chicago Improv Festival.

Chicago Improv Festival: Twinprov; Improvisation & Co; Improvolution @ The Second City Skybox

Stay up all night at The Second City Skybox (1618 N. Wells, 4th fl.) for three different shows tonight. At 7pm catch Twinprov and Parallelogramophonograph; and 9pm stick around for Improvisation & Co. and BASSPROV; and keep it real until midnight with the 11pm show featuring Improvolution and On The Spot. Tickets to each show are sold separately, and cost $15 for the 7pm and 9pm shows, and $10 for the 11pm show. Purchase tickets at the Second City box office, online, or by calling 312-337-3992. For more information visit Chicago Improv Festival.

Artropolis: Art Chicago, NEXT & International Antiques Fair

Artropolis, a massive arts and culture event encompassing Art Chicago, NEXT and the Merchandise Mart International Antiques Fair, runs April 29 through May 2 at the Merchandise Mart, Kinzie and Wells streets. The shows are open from 11am to 7pm Friday and Saturday, 11am to 6pm Sunday, and 11am to 4pm Monday (the antiques fair closes at 3 on Monday). Tickets are $20 for adults ($25 for a multiday pass, $35 with an art tour), $15 for seniors and students.

Wort Workshop Series #2 @ Spoke

PUBLIC BREWERY is part art installation, part DIY brewery, and completely community oriented. Visitors are invited to bring an ingredient they have grown or purchased locally to be used as part of today's workshop demonstrating home-brewing techniques. Today's brew will be a Humboldt Part Cherry Pale Ale incorporating cherries picked from a Humboldt Park resident. Local urban agriculturalists also facilitate discussions on local food production. An exhibition at the end of the month allows today's participants to taste the fruits of their labor. Today's workshop runs from 3 - 8pm. Participants must be at least 21 years old. $5 entry fee. Spoke is located at 119 North Peoria, #2D.

Nikki Giovanni @ Harold Washington Library Center

The Harold Washington Library Center, 400 S. State St., presents the famed, award-winning poet and author, Nikki Giovanni, today at 2pm. This event is free and open to the public; first-come seating begins at 1:30 pm. For more information, call 312-747-4300.

Chicago Force vs. St. Louis Slam @ Winnemac Stadium

The Chicago Force, our fair city's women's tackle football team, are kicking off their first season with a home game against the Minnesota Machine today at 4 p.m. at Winnemac Stadium (5105 N Leavitt). Tickets are $10 adult, $3 kids/students/seniors.

My Heart is an Idiot Film Screening @ Intuit

My Heart Is An Idiot is a documentary about love that spans more than two years and a hundred cities. The film captures the manic road-tripping lifestyle of Davy Rothbart ("This American Life") as he tours North America in a van promoting his magazine FOUND, a virally popular and iconic printed collection of discarded notes and photographs. Show starts at 7pm. Running time: 95 minutes, tickets: $10. Director David Meiklejohn and subject of the film Davy Rothbart will be in attendance for a Q&A after the film.Intuit is located at 756 N. Milwaukee Ave.

Vintage Heaven @ Heaven Gallery

Heaven Gallery continues its popular tradition of monthly group vintage sales at their latest event. Heaven Gallery is located at 1550 North Milwaukee, 2nd floor. Vintage Heaven begins at noon and ends at 6pm.

NEXT 2011 @ Ruth Page Center for the Arts

LifeSpeak premieres as part of NEXT 2011. Additional performances include a reprise of Shirley Mordine's 2009 work Illuminations, work from guest company RE|Dance featuring Lucy Vurusic Riner and Michael Estanich, as well as work from Alitra Cartman, selected to participate in Mordine & Company Dance Theater's 2011 Emerging Artist Mentoring Program. The performances begin at 8pm at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, located at 1016 North Dearborn. Tickets ($20 in advance, $22 at the door, and $15 for students and seniors) are available online or by calling (800) 838-2006.

Global Activism Expo @ UIC Forum

Derived from the "Global Activism Series" hosted by "Worldview"'s Jerome McDonnell, the Global Activism Expo has become WBEZ's largest event of the year, happening again today (complete with music & food) and gathering hundreds of Chicago-area global activists, each providing ways you can immediately get involved and join their efforts. Doors open at noon and stay open until 6pm; it's FREE -- so bring your classes, your children, your neighbors, your friends and family. The address is 725 W. Roosevelt. Details here.

Chicago Improv Festival: Claymore And Friends @ The Annoyance Theater

Start your improv festivities early today with Claymore and Friends present Welts and Skinprov at The Annoyance Theater (4830 N. Broadway). Intruiguingly, the show starts not at noon but at 11:59am. Tickets are $6 and can be purchased at the Annoyance Theater box office, online, or by calling 773-561-4665. For more information visit Chicago Improv Festival.

Haymarket Affair Reenactment

Join the Pocket Guide to Hell for a full-scale reenactment of the Haymarket Affair today on Randolph Street between Desplaines and Halsted. At 2pm, the Illinois Labor History Society dedicates a new plaque commemorating the event, then at 3pm the reenactment begins. At 4pm, head over to Zepf's Hall (now the Haymarket Pub & Brewery, 737 W. Randolph St.) for an afterparty. More info here.

Dark Lord Day @ 3 Floyds

If you love beer, you'll get into a rental car, drive to 3 Floyds Brewery (9750 Indiana Pkwy, Munster, IN) for Dark Lord Day, the one day of the year when their Russian Imperial Stout is available for drinking. You'll need a ticket, which is hard to come by. Good luck.