THE ESSENTIAL A&E PICKS FOR DEC 22 - 28 

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Steph Tolev @ Wiseguys
If your stereotype of Canadians is that they're all demure and unassuming, Toronto native Steph Tolev seems to be on a one-woman quest to undermine it. With her distinctive rasp of a voice and her big stage presence, Tolev takes charge of a room quickly, and lets an audience know that they're in for some raunchy fun.

She even turns some unexpected aspects of her home country into the stuff of her jokes, like a bit where she discusses the downside of going on a first date to Toronto's Ripley's Aquarium. "There's this fun thing you can do where you get on a scale and weigh yourself, and see how much you'll be worth as a tuna," Tolev says. "I'm like, 'I'm gonna be 100, maybe.' ... So I saunter my European shoulders over to the scale, hop on ... $2,000 worth of tuna. No one wants to fuck $2,000 worth of tuna."

That combination of self-deprecation and brassiness has made Tolev a success over the course of her career, which has included a Juno Award nomination for Best Comedy Album for her 2019 release I'm Not Well, and TV appearances including Bill Burr's Comedy Central series The Ringers and the Amazon series Please Understand Me. And of course, no comedian of 2022 is without a podcast, and you can find Tolev at her Steph Infection podcast.

You can also find her at Wiseguys Gateway (194 S. 400 West) on Thursday, Dec. 22 at 9 p.m., Tickets are $25; visit wiseguyscomedy.com for tickets and additional event information. (Scott Renshaw)

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Odyssey Dance's It's a Wonderful Life TV broadcast
As company founder Derryl Yeager told City Weekly back in the fall, Odyssey Dance—the organization that made Thriller a Halloween dance tradition—is, at least for now, no more. Yeager has moved on to the next phase of his life after 28 years running Odyssey, including taking an LDS mission with his wife in 2023. But Odyssey is providing us with a going-away Christmas present for the holiday season: a TV broadcast of their long-running Christmas show, It's a Wonderful Life.

The story is familiar to anyone who has seen the beloved 1946 film, about a small-town man named George Bailey who contemplates taking his own life when it appears that he has failed at the things he considers most important. That's when an apprentice angel takes him on a journey to show George the positive impact he has had on so many others. "This story has been one of my favorite movies of all time, and it was such a joy to be able to re-imagine it through dance," Yeager said in a press release. "It has the look of a Broadway show, but the story is told through dance and the use of voice-overs very much like the film. ... This version of the show was filmed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when all theaters were closed to live audience participation. Under strict COVID guidelines, we were able to film this timeless dance performance version."

It's a Wonderful Life will run on KMYU Channel 12 on Dec. 21 and Dec. 28 from 8 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. Visit odysseydance.com for additional show information. (SR)

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Tina Burner: I'd Rather Be Naughty Than Nice
Drag personality Tina Burner might be best-known to general audiences for her appearance on Season 13 of RuPaul's Drag Race, and perhaps even as 2019's National Miss Comedy Queen. But the holiday spirit can hit all of us in different ways, and Tina Burner has taken the opportunity of the Christmas season to play a particularly iconic role: Mrs. Santa Claus.

In her Christmas touring production I'd Rather Be Naughty Than Nice, Burner plays Mrs. Claus as having grown frustrated with the requirement to present the image of perfect wife to old Kris Kringle. The narrative introduces audiences to the probably-not-so-well-known story of how Mr. and Mrs. Claus met and became a couple, what life is like as First Lady of the North Pole, and the unique struggles that such a role entails. With growing frustration, Mrs. Claus begins to consider what it might to be like on the "naughty list," and explores it in a musical presentation that includes interpretations of pop and holiday standards, as well as the original song "I'd Rather Be Naughty Than Nice," featuring orchestrations by Broadway veteran Blake Allen.

Tina Burner's I'd Rather Be Naughty Than Nice parks its sleigh at Metro Music Hall (615 W. 100 South) on Thursday, Dec. 22. Doors are 7 p.m., with a 7:30 p.m. meet-and-greet opportunity and 8:30 p.m. showtime. Tickets for the seated show are $20 general admission, $30 including meet-and-greet and reserved seating in the first four rows, and $75 for a booth reservation. Visit metromusichall.com for tickets and additional event information. (SR)