Get Out Alive, Queer Dance Freakout, and more

Here are some interesting concerts going on tonight (with links to past coverage of the musicians by our music writers):

Jazz with pianist Ben Paterson’s trio (5:30 PM and 7:30 PM, Winter’s Jazz Club, 465 N. McClurg Ct. on the promenade, $27.75-$32.75, 21+, tickets at the venue’s website)
Singer-songwriter Jim Lauderdale (7 PM, Judson and Moore Distillery, 3057 N. Rockwell, building five, $25-$30, 21+, tickets at Eventbrite)
Ye Gods brings electronic music to Sleeping Village, along with openers Club Music, Conjunto Primitivo, JS Alvarez, and Club Drippy (9 PM, 3734 W. Belmont, $15, 21+, tickets at Etix) (SCJ)

Multidisciplinary artist Nikki Lynette’s Get Out Alive blew the doors off the Den Theatre in Wicker Park during its run with Haven this past summer. Through stories, songs, dance, and multimedia, Lynette laid out her struggles with abusive relationships, trauma, and her journey back after a suicide attempt, and also provided a larger framework for looking at depression, addiction, and self-harm in Black communities. (Lynette is also a frequent speaker on mental health and suicide survival.) Developed with Northwestern University’s American Music Theatre Project, Get Out Alive was also presented as part of Steppenwolf’s LookOut series of new work before the pandemic shutdown. Now a film adaptation of the show, directed by Roger Ellis, plays tonight at 7 PM as part of this year’s Black Harvest Film Festival at the Gene Siskel Film Center (164 N. State). Lynette, Ellis, and creative producer Brannon Bowers will be on hand for a post-screening discussion; the film also streams 11/21-11/27. Single tickets for tonight and for the streaming version are $12 ($6 for Film Center members) and can be reserved at siskelfilmcenter.org (KR)

Queer Dance Freakout is an interactive night hosted at Elastic Arts (3429 W. Diversey, second floor) inspired by the Neo-Futurist Ensemble’s Infinite Wrench structure. The Queer Dance Freakout company of queer, trans, and nonbinary choreographers and storytellers perform up to 30 dances, each happening for about one minute, and the audience calls out which dance they would like to see next in between numbers. Each performance includes new stories and choreography so no evening is exactly the same as before. It happens tonight, Sun 11/20, and Sun 12/4 at 7 PM; tickets are sliding scale from $20-$40 (available on Eventbrite) but no one will be turned away for lack of funds (reach out to genderphucked@gmail.com for a discount code). (SCJ)

Taneshia “Just Nesh” Rice has been seen on Comedy Central, Russell Simmons’s HBO comedy showcase All Def Comedy, TruTV, and comedian and actress Mo’Nique’s 2020 Showtime special Mo’Nique & Friends, but even after more than a decade in the biz, she can also be found hosting and doing her own stand-up at a variety of Chicago clubs. Tonight’s a chance to see Just Nesh’s energetic jokes in Old Town as she performs at Zanies Chicago (7 PM, 1548 N. Wells). Tickets are $20, and Zanies requires patrons to purchase two items (food or drink) minimum while seated. (SCJ)