DON’T MISS!: ANDY LAND
Immortalized in song by R.E.M. and given the biopic treatment by Jim Carrey, Andy Kaufman’s oddball legacy looms large in the comedy world. Now, the “Taxi” star’s personal effects are showcased in ‘‘On Creating Reality,’’ an exhibit at Maccarone
Gallery, through Feb. 16.
This quirky cache of Kaufman artifacts includes his Elvis jumpsuit, hate mail from angry female wrestling fans and the bongo drum from his nightclub act.
Kaufman, who died of cancer in 1984 at 35, would’ve appreciated one of this exhibit’s kookier aspects: Each day, a different person from his inner circle — his sister Carol Kaufman-Kerman, comedy partner Bob Zmuda and pimp Dennis Hof (Kaufman frequented his brothel) among them — will be seated in the gallery, available for questions.
“Growing up, our father would tell Andy, ‘You will be heard,’ ” Kaufman-Kerman says. “With this exhibit, he finally is.” Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 630 Greenwich St.; 212-431-4977, maccarone.net.
— Alex Scordelis
ABC via Getty Images
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DISCOVER THIS!: BOARD ROOM
Tony Hawk made his name defying physics with air-grabbing skateboard tricks. Now he’s in the business of explaining physics, to inspire a new generation of scientists.
Starting tomorrow, the New York Hall of Science features “Rad Science,” an exhibit designed by Hawk and a physics professor, showing how gravity, velocity and balance create all that grinding and ollie-ing. The 25 interactive stations include the mechanics of free fall, the science behind board design and a momentum machine you can jump into. Hawk says the exhibit should open kids’ eyes to science.
“To be honest, I probably would have paid a lot of attention to science if they had used skateboarding to explain it,” Hawk says. “I never really thought about the physics of skating in terms of actually doing it to generate speed.”
Admission: 18 and older, $11; kids and students, $8. 47-01 111th St., Queens; 718-699-0005, nysci.org.
— Tim Donnelly
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SEE IT AGAIN!: DÉJÀ VU
The best romantic comedy of the past three decades? My pick would would be Harold Ramis’ “Groundhog Day,’’ starring Bill Murray. It’s his greatest performance, as an obnoxious TV weatherman reluctantly covering the festivities in Punxsutawney, Pa. He finds himself condemned to live the same day over and over and over until he learns to become a better person and wins over his producer, Andie MacDowell. Celebrate this metaphysical masterpiece’s 20th anniversary with brunch screenings at noon tomorrow — Groundhog Day — and Sunday at Nitehawk Cinema, Metropolitan Avenue between Berry Street and Wythe Avenue, Williamsburg. Info: nitehawkcimema.com.
— Lou Lumenick
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LISTEN UP!: SHORTER & LONGER
“All resistance is fertilizer,” says legendary jazz musician Wayne Shorter, whose résumé includes Miles Davis’ “second great quintet,” pioneering fusion group Weather Report and his current quartet, which for the past decade has continued to push against the boundaries of jazz. Tonight, the saxophonist, whose fiery, mystical speaking style belies his 79 years, takes to Carnegie Hall for “Prometheus Unbound,” joining his group with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, which plays without a conductor. Shorter will perform some songs from his new album (his first in eight years) — “Without a Net.”
“Everyone has a voice,” Shorter says of the large-scale pieces he’ll be playing for the project, “and nothing is achieved alone. The challenge is to be in the moment.” This moment is at 8 p.m. tonight at Seventh Avenue and 57th Street; carnegiehall.org. Tickets start at $14.50.
— Charlie Heller
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CHECK IT OUT!: IN REVIEW
Hey, it worked for “Sesame Street,” so why not do a stage version of The New York Review of Books? No, Joan Didion won’t be juggling flaming batons, but she and six other longtime NYRB contributors including “Kavalier & Clay” author Michael Chabon, classicists Mary Beard and Daniel Mendelsohn and novelist Darryl Pinckney will speak on various topics they’ve covered Tuesday night at Town Hall (tickets at Ticketmaster.com, $10 to $20). The journal is marking the 50th anniversary of its founding amidst a bitter newspaper strike that left New York intellectuals starving for book reviews and the publishing industry bereft of places to advertise. “I went on leave from Harper’s, where I was an editor,” says longtime editor Robert Silvers. “I said I’d be back in a month.” Sorry, Harper’s: At this point it appears he might not be coming back at all. 123 W. 43rd St.; 212-840-2824.
— Kyle Smith
ASSOCIATED PRESS
