Remember that old fill-in-the-blank daytime TV show Match Game? You know, with a leering Gene Rayburn reading unfinished quips like: My husband is so mixed up lately. Last week he tried to walk me and blank the dog. So does Taj Frankeremember the show, that is, not blank the dog. Performing as Richard Rugburn, hes the co-host of Match Game Belltown, a naughtier, late-night, booze-fueled version of the program, in which audience members are dragged before his celebrity panel. By celebrities we mean various local drag and burlesque performers who have been known to strip for your shame and amusement. (Expect to see some flesh-colored pasties.) On the bill tonight, also performing under their stage names, are Lily Armani and Nelson Heston Reilly, the love child of Charles Nelson Reilly and Charlton Heston (read: über-gay and slightly racist). Ive got one for Mr. Rugburn: How old and senile is John McCain? The last time he tried to make whoopee with his wife, he got his blank stuck in Karl Roves blank. Jewelbox Theater, 2322 Second Ave., 441-5823, www.jewelboxtheater.com. $10. 21 and over. 9 p.m. SUZIE RUGH
Sun., Oct. 19, 9 p.m., 2008
