This Week in Geek (12/16/19–12/22/19)

Welcome to This Week in Geek, your guide to events of interest to the Minnesota geek community for the week of Monday, December 16, to Sunday, December 22.

It’s an Honorable Life: A Star Trek-Fan Production

What: Theater & Comedy
When: Friday, December 6, through Saturday, December 28; various times
Where: Historic Mounds Theatre

This year, the Historic Mounds Theatre has a brand new Klingon holiday production for Star Trek fans. It’s an Honorable Life features a blend of holiday classics through the perspective of a great Klingon warrior afraid to die outside of battle from old age. The show is presented in Klingon with English subtitles. General admission tickets are $18 in advance, and VIP tickets are $35.

SIX

What: Music
When: Monday, December 9, through Sunday, December 22; various times
Where: The Ordway

The wives of Henry VIII had a rough go of it, between the divorces and decapitations. What SIX looks to do is create a pop-concert theater event focused on telling the stories of these six women, and bring their identities out of the shadow of the king. Tickets are $45–108.50.

Twin Cities Monday Night Backgammon

What: Gaming
When: Monday, December 16, at 6:00 p.m.
Where: Minneapolis Richfield American Legion

Enjoy a night of backgammon with two tournaments. Entry to this event is $5, and this is a great chance for both pros and newcomers to learn this classic game of strategy.

Creative Night

What: Arts, Community
When: Monday, December 16, at 6:30 p.m.
Where: Event Horizon at the Waterbury Building

This event invites participants to let their creativity shine with drawing, painting, crafting, or whatever their hearts desire at Creative Night, a weekly event put on by Crafty Geek and the Geek Partnership Society. Meet at the Waterbury Building at 6:30 and carpool or walk to see creativity in action.

Fighting GameWorks

What: Gaming
When: Tuesday, December 17, at 6:00 p.m.
Where: GameWorks Esports—Mall of America

Bring your own controller, your own mettle, and your own skill for a night of fighting games at GameWorks’s Mall of America location. The organizers will have a bunch of monitors available for attendees to bring their own consoles, and a variety of games on demand including classics like Super Smash Bros. and Mortal Kombat 11. This is a free event. There’s a limited supply of controllers for rental.

Pokémon Go Trainer Tuesdays at Parkway Pizza

What: Gaming, Food & Drink
When: Tuesday, December 17, at 6:00 p.m.
Where: Parkway Pizza

A trainer strives to catch them all, and gain prowess and respect. This weekly event at Parkway Pizza is an opportunity to catch fun drink and food specials, meet other aspiring trainers, and square off against worthy opponents to win status and power. You can and will win, even if winning may just mean having a good time meeting other pocket-monster fans.

Books & Bars: Once Upon a River

What: Books, Food & Drink
When: Tuesday, December 17, at 6:30 p.m.
Where: Urban Growler

Books & Bars is an “open public book club show” hosted and moderated by Minnesota Public Radio senior producer Jeff Kamin that provides attendees with “a unique atmosphere for a lively discussion of interesting authors, fun people, good food, and social lubrication.” The book being read and discussed this month is Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield, a story of apparent death and resurrection along the river Thames.

Mystic Dawn/Amtgard: Park Days

What: Gaming, Sports & Fitness
When: Wednesday, December 18, at 6:30 p.m.
Where: Oak Grove Park

Amtgard, a global organization focused on the sport of medieval-fantasy combat, will be hosting a gathering in Oak Grove Park. Participants can take part in glorious quests, battle, and more, all with the use of foam weapons for the sake of safety. Garb is encouraged, but not required, and loaner weapons are available. This is a free-to-play event, but long-term players are expected to support the organization with $6 or $10 dues.

Pundamonium: The Minneapolis Pun Slam

What: Theater & Comedy
When: Wednesday, December 18, at 8:00 p.m.
Where: Club Underground at the Spring Street Tavern

Pundamonium is a pun slam, a competition of wordplay with 10 contestants, each given two minutes to make puns based on prompts they are given ahead of time. A few lucky audience members act as judges for the night, with their top-four pun slingers going head to head in a final pun-off.

Holidazzle

What: Nightlife, Arts, Movies, Family
When: Thursday, December 19, through Sunday, December 22; various times
Where: Loring Park

This week is your last chance for the annual Holidazzle celebration in Loring Park, which ends December 22. Shop local craft vendors, enjoy live music and food, walk through the illuminated art display, go ice skating, and even meet some alpacas in the beer garden. There are fireworks on Saturday at 7:00 p.m., and you can catch a screening of Elf on Sunday at 5:00 p.m. Holidazzle is open Thursdays from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m., Fridays from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m., Saturdays 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., and Sundays from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. with free admission. A full schedule of events and additional information can be found on the Holidazzle website.

Thursday Trivia: Harry Potter

What: Trivia
When: Thursday, December 19, at 7:00 p.m.
Where: Urban Forage Winery and Cider House

This might not be the O.W.L.s, but your wizarding knowledge will definitely be put to the test at this themed trivia night. Questions will revolve around one of the seven novels, but which will remain a mystery until the Secret-Keeper reveals it.

Die Hard 35mm Presentation

What: Movies
When: Thursday, December 19, at 8:00 p.m.
Where: Parkway Theater

Yippie-Ki-Yay! The Parkway Theater will be screening Die Hard, an ’80s action classic starring Bruce Willis as John McClane, an NYPD officer who must save his wife and fight against the terrorists that took over the office holiday party. And if you are one of the many folks who consider it a Christmas film, then this is the perfect time of year to see it up on the big screen for just $9.

Midnight Madness: Gremlins

What: Movies
When: Friday, December 20, at 11:59 p.m.
Where: Landmark’s Uptown Theatre

If you get your very own adorable mogwai for the holidays, remember: don’t get it wet, don’t feed it after midnight, and definitely keep it out of the light. If not, well, you can see what monstrous chaos awaits those who don’t heed the warnings for yourself at this screening of Gremlins. Tickets are $9.

MN Toy Posse Xmas Sale

What: Arts, Community, Family
When: Saturday, December 21, at 9:00 a.m.
Where: Bloomington VFW

Seek out vintage and new toys and other plunder to bring back to your home! This event at the Bloomington VFW will be a great opportunity to track down rare stuff you might not otherwise find, and get in contact with other toy geeks. There will be 100 tables worth of goodness.

GPS UGG Holiday Potluck & Open Gaming

What: Community, Gaming, Food & Drink
When: Saturday, December 21, at 10:00 a.m.
Where: United Geeks of Gaming

The Geek Partnership Society’s United Geeks of Gaming group offers its open-gaming session, to which gamers of all ages and abilities are invited to “spend the day hanging out with fellow geeks playing, learning, and teaching games.” Attendees are encouraged to bring their favorite board games, card games, and role-playing games, but the group has amassed an impressive library of its own games as well. To celebrate the holiday season, this month’s meetup also includes a potluck and attendees are invited to bring something tasty to share.

Weekly Comics Chat

What: Meetup, Comics
When: Saturday, December 21, at 3:00 p.m.
Where: Midtown Global Market

The Girls Only Comic Club hosts a Weekly Comics Chat on Saturday afternoons where there will be shared opinions, drinks and fries for comics fans. Additional information about this event is posted on the Girls Only Comic Club’s Facebook group. Individuals interested in attending are encouraged to join.

Christmas at Court

What: Music, Theater & Comedy
When: Saturday, December 21, at 7:30 p.m.
Where: The Summit Center

Join the Elizabethan Syngers, a Renaissance-inspired chorale ensemble, and Henry VII for an evening filled with “stories and reflections of the season, song, mirth, and a little mischief.” The group, along with guest instrumentalists, will be performing seasonal songs, both traditional and modern. Tickets are $25 for general admission, or $20 for students and seniors.

Reverend Matt’s Monster Science: Krampuses, Flying Reindeer, and Other Unnatural Creatures

What: Comedy & Theater, Educational, Family
When: Saturday, December 21, at 10:30 p.m.
Where: Phoenix Theater

Reverend Matt’s Monster Science invokes the holiday spirit for a seasonal rendition of this recurring comedic-lecture series that focuses on monsters. Whether naughty, nice, or something in between, they’ll all be checked on Reverend Matt’s list for this illuminating and humorous performance. Opening entertainment will be provided by Nicholas Nelson. Tickets are $12.

Shieldmaiden Sunday

What: Gaming, Meetup
When: Sunday, December 22, at 12:00 p.m.
Where: Source Comics & Games

Shieldmaiden Sundays are a dedicated space for female nerds and geeks at Source Comics & Games. This is a recurring weekly event providing a space for women to play games, chat about comics, cosplay, or just enjoy the company of other geeks. See the calendar for more events!

So, which of these events will you be attending? What events would you like to see featured in the future? Let us know in the comments section below or contact us via email. And don’t forget to add your events to the Twin Cities Geek Community Calendar!