The Wire: This Week’s Notable Events

THURSDAY 6/4

Comedy: Mr. Warmth

Anybody who can dis Frank Sinatra to his face and live to laugh about it deserves our utmost respect. The marvel of it is that after 83 years, Don Rickles is still practicing his brand of multiethnic, equal-opportunity insult comedy. Italian-Americans, WASPs, Jews, blacks, the Irish, and the whole damn melting pot are the butt of his stage act. Because he came up in nightclubs during the era when you could and did joke openly about micks and wops and dagos, then found fame in Vegas and on The Tonight Show precisely as political and ethnic sensitivities began to change, his long career encompasses 20th-century American humor. Before boomer comics like Richard Pryor or George Carlin could stick it to the man, Rickles was telling off the Mafia. Before Whoopi Goldberg could foreground her blackness on stage, or Roseanne Barr vent her angry-housewife tirades, Rickles made such sweaty, earthy ire acceptable. He's angry, irate, indignant, but always...just kidding. That's one of his signature bits: After mocking the old and the drunk and the idiotic (and we're all idiots from where he's standing), Rickles ritually apologizes to the audience. And he's sincere. And then you realize Johnny Carson was, too, when he gave Rickles his famous nickname. (As the recent HBO doc Mr. Warmth reveals, he really is a beloved figure in showbiz.) And yes, God willing, he'll give voice to Mr. Potato Head again in next year's third Toy Story movie. Snoqualmie Casino, 37500 S.E. North Bend Way, 425-888-1234, snocasino.com. $55–$90. 8 p.m. BRIAN MILLER

Visual Arts: Skin to the Lens

Japanese photographer Kohei Yoshiyuki caused an uproar in the '70s with his voyeuristic photographs of people having sex in various Tokyo parks. Armed with a 35-millimeter camera and infrared flashbulbs, he crouched for hours behind bushes at night waiting for potential subjects. (Creepy, much?) His, er, dedication resulted in several absorbing black-and-white shots of people getting it on. But more interesting are the peeping Toms also lurking in the darkness, whom Yoshiyuki includes in his shots. The reclusive artist—who refuses to give his real name or grant interviews—also frames his own shadow in many of these scenes, reminding us that he's a voyeur too. His work can be seen as part of the group show I.D.: Individual Demographics (through June 27), which also features Louise Bourgeois, Ed Ruscha, and local photographer (and SW contributor) Alice Wheeler. Greg Kucera Gallery, 212 Third Ave. S., 624-0770, gregkucera.com. Free. Reception: 6–8 p.m. ERIKA HOBART

FRIDAY 6/5

Public Radio: NPR Diva

If it's not too late, and if any of her production people happen to be reading this, I'd like to suggest that a costume change might not be out of order for Terry Gross' appearance tonight. To express her intellectual side, she could start the evening in one of those elegant Mao-collar jackets she sometimes wears. Then she could take a quick break and come back in a cute little denim jacket—like the one from the All I Did Was Ask book tour—to bring it back to the down-to-earth approachability that makes Terry Terry. When it comes time for questions from the audience, I'm sure she'll be good-natured about rehashing some greatest hits, like the inside story of the Gene Simmons interview. I hope there'll be time for more advanced queries as well. My own question requires a little preamble to explain the metaphor that informs its premise. Peripherals aside, there's no doubt about one thing: The kind of ovation that will greet this imp of grace and curiosity when she takes the stage. The Paramount, 911 Pine St., 467-5510, theparamount.com. $25–$65. 8 p.m. UPTIGHT SEATTLEITE

Dance: Domestic Accommodations

Aiko Kinoshita and Aaron Swartzman aren't necessarily "new"—the pair have been dancing in Seattle for several years, both together and separately, and the work they're presenting at the NW New Works Festival (through June 14) has been in development for months. But this latest chapter of their Home Bodies series looks to be a powerful evocation of close relationships and the web of intimate accommodations that longtime partners make with each other. In earlier sections of this ongoing work, they've built little rooms out of household objects, taking shelter among pillows and dishes. Now the props are gone, leaving just their bodies and their tender give-and-take. Among all the craziness that New Works usually celebrates, Home Bodies will be a sweet exception to the chaos. Tonight's Studio Showcase program also includes performance art, theater, and music. On the Boards, 100 W. Roy St., 217-9888, ontheboards.org. $14. 8 p.m. (Repeats 5 p.m. Sat.–Sun.) SANDRA KURTZ

SATURDAY 6/6

Fashion/Music: London Calling

Even though it's called the Punk Rock Flea Market, don't worry: It's not limited to half-full bottles of fuchsia Manic Panic and hand-studded leather jackets. No, this is a bona fide cornucopia of trash-turned-treasure. You can pick up everything from bicycles to appliances to toys to records (and not just records by the Sex Pistols or the Clash, either). In this context, "punk" refers more to the DIY, homespun nature of the event, which also includes vegan treats, tarot readings, and tattoo booths. Plus, while plenty of shindigs like this offer live music, the jams tonight—beginning around 6 p.m.—are actually listenable. And the lineup is as diverse as the wares: punk (Keg), metal (Kled), and hip-hop (Specs One). Belltown Underground Events Center, 2407 First Ave., myspace.com/punkrock_fleamarket. $1. 10 a.m.–10 p.m. SARA BRICKNER