Tim’s Picks: 5 for your week

• Thanks today for ongoing help from Based in Lafayette sponsor Long Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Lafayette, with a 2025 lineup that includes Ashley McBryde on Jan. 30. For tickets and details on all the shows and events, go to longpac.org.

By Tim Brouk / For Based in Lafayette

Adam Minnick with Aisha Brown, 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 16, The Spot Tavern, 409 S. Fourth St., Lafayette — After a too long hiatus, standup comedy returns to The Spot tonight with a bang. Adam Minnick has crisscrossed the nation many times over while performing at the nation’s top comedy venues — Zanies (Chicago), Jimmy Kimmel’s Comedy Club (Las Vegas) and the Dry Bar comedy series, just to name a few. Minnick recently made some European dates in Ireland and Sweden as well. The constant traveling was written into Minnick’s DNA after splitting his youth between small town Ohio and Perth, Australia. That’s quite the back-and-forth. The many miles and unique upbringing inform great perspective for Minnick’s brand of observational humor. Opening will be Aisha Brown, justifiably voted as Indianapolis’ Funniest Person in 2023 as she puts most other Circle City funny people in the dust and is worth the price of admission alone. Thank Justin Seymour and Kristin Carnes, two of the few working comics in Lafayette, for their hard work in helping bring back quality standup comedy to Lafayette. $10.

“The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents,” 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Jan. 17 and 18, 2:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 18 and 19, Civic Theatre of Greater Lafayette, 313 N. Fifth St., Lafayette — It’s cats and rats conning small town rubes in Civic Youth Theatre’s first show of 2025. “The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents” stars Cedar Wallace as the titular Maurice, a cat that employs numerous rats to conduct scams and flams for his benefit. But the feline’s luck could run out in the town of Bad Blintz. Can his rodentured servants squeak out another grift, or will Maurice’s nine lives run out? The fun show is directed by Em Miller and features the talents of 20 more young actors and actresses from Greater Lafayette. $14. Tickets.

Sheeza, 9 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17, Digby’s Pub, 133 N. Fourth St., Lafayette — Claire Tchoula and her band will perform a plethora of rock, soul and folk music for downtown denizens. Do check out a video for the recent Sheeza tune, “Lullalie.” No cover.

“First Milonga of 2025” with Tango Lafayette, 8 p.m.-midnight Saturday, Jan. 18, The Arts Federation, 638 North St., Lafayette — An ideal way to shake off January frost is to get caliente on the dance floor with the exotic, sultry and sensuous movements of tango. A milonga presented by Tango Lafayette, which specializes in performing and promoting Argentine style tango, is an ideal way to do this. A milonga pays homage to tango’s South American roots, which grew from a 19^th century style of music and dance called milonga. Today, tango is one of the most household forms of ballroom dance for its dramatic steps and emotion generated between the two dancers. Tango Lafayette will employ DJ Barron to spin the infectious beats for the tandas, mini sets of music containing a handful of songs before a short break to allow dancers to move on and off the dancefloor. No matter your level of tango expertise, this is an interesting — and thankfully — hot event in downtown Lafayette.

Terrence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 21, Loeb Playhouse, Stewart Center, Purdue University — A jazz trumpeter, Grammy Award-winning composer and Spike Lee collaborator, Terrence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” is a groundbreaking opera that fuses jazz and classical music to tell a poignant and deeply personal story of resilience, identity and self-discovery. Based on the memoir of The New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow, the opera explores themes of love, trauma and redemption with heartfelt lyrics. As the first opera by a Black composer to be performed at the Metropolitan Opera, it represents a historic milestone in the world of classical music. This is a free event. Get tickets here.

Tim Brouk is a longtime arts and entertainment reporter. He writes here (almost) weekly, tracking things to do for Based in Lafayette.

Tips, story ideas? I’m at davebangert1@gmail.com.