Weird and Awesome With Emmett Montgomery 

As host and curator of the monthly oddball omnibus known as Weird and Awesome With Emmett Montgomery, the titular emcee has a delicate task. On the one hand, Montgomery must be funny, which he reliably is, with a deadpan style honed during many years at the People's Republic of Komedy. But he also has to share the stage with an array of drop-by musicians, visiting comics (sometimes national headliners), skits, and animation (a green, multi-eyed monster called Sweet Pea is often featured). The evening is less stand-up than vaudeville—an assortment of entertainments with Montgomery providing the segues. And, yes, he also tells jokes. Acting as his Ed McMahon (or Andy Richter, if you prefer) is Barbara Holm, who affects a dingbat persona that nicely complements Montgomery's tie-wearing grownup lounge entertainer; they've got a little bit of a Burns-and-Allen vibe between them. Both performers, one suspects, spent most of their childhoods parked in front of the rec-room TV, studying Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show and enduring those Jerry Lewis Labor Day telethons. Montgomery calls his show “a two-hour, booze-soaked awkward show-and-tell.” And, since there are plenty of Cap Hill bars nearby where you can pre-function, he says of his hosting duties, “It's much easier with drunk people.” BRIAN MILLER

Website: http://annextheatre.org

Price: $5-$10