Nick Swardson had no intention of getting on stage Tuesday at Erik the Red. During an extended homecoming over the past three weeks, the Minneapolis-bred comedy star had surprised audiences plenty of times, popping up at venues including Acme Comedy Co., the club that gave him his start as a teenager. Tuesday he seemed more than content to indulge in cocktails, talk up his beloved Vikings, goof around with Erik Forsberg, who owns the bar near U.S. Bank Stadium, and shake hands with local comics participating in an event called the Red Menace Christmas Comedy Special. But three hours into the show, which included a spirited appearance by Fancy Ray McCloney, host Bryan Miller cajoled Swardson into joining the fun. He shared new material, including a bit moaning about how all charity events require physical exertion. "Can't we nap for AIDS?" he asked. Afterward, Swardson said he wasn't sure how long he'll stick around town, but he has two Netflix movies in the can and he's featured in a new Netflix series, "Comedians of the World," which starts streaming Jan. 1.NEAL JUSTIN
From pain to triumph
Twin Cities writer Harrison David Rivers has won the Relentless Award, a $45,000 playwriting prize established in honor of the late actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. He won for "The Bandaged Place," about a man who, with the help of his grandmother and 8-year-old daughter, tries to heal from an abusive relationship. In an interview, Rivers said the play sprang from his life. "I was in a relationship with a man that became physically abusive and resulted in me being beaten and stabbed," he said. The award caps a big year for Rivers, who had four works come to the stage in 2018. There's no word on a premiere production of "The Bandaged Place," which was developed in the Twin Cities and had a staged reading in April at the Playwrights' Center. Last year's Relentless winner, "Is God Is," scored an Obie Award for Twin Cities actor Dame-Jasmine Hughes, who reprised the role this fall at Mixed Blood Theatre.
ROHAN PRESTON
Doomtree meets orchestra
The love affair between Dessa and the Minnesota Orchestra will blossom even further next spring, as they announced plans to record a live album at concerts March 26 and 28. Billed as "the Minnesota Orchestra's first Doomtree release," the record will feature some of the reworked Dessa staples she performed in three previous outings with the orchestra and conductor Sarah Hicks, along with two or three new songs that the rapper and collaborators/producers Lazerbeak and Andy Thompson are creating for the occasion. Tickets for the shows at Orchestra Hall went on sale Monday. Look for the album by the end of next year. "I'm proud of the work we've done together, excited to take the stage with Sarah and the orchestra again, and am still sort of stunned we get to cut a record together," Dessa said in the announcement.
CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER
Change in the weather
Jeff Edmondson, one of the few meteorologists of color to ever forecast the weather on Twin Cities TV, has parted ways with KARE 11. General manager John Remes confirmed the departure but declined to go into details. Edmondson, who previously worked in Virginia, is a Minnesota native who attended Minnetonka High School. He joined KARE in 2015. This is the third exit for a KARE personality in three months, following the departure of husband-and-wife anchors Cory Hepola and Camille Williams.N.J.
Top of the rock pile
Minneapolis' two oldest rock 'n' roll institutions — First Avenue and the Electric Fetus — made Rolling Stone's lists of the best rock venues and record stores in the country. First Ave headed a list that included such famed venues as the Hollywood Bowl and Red Rocks. "There's no better venue for hundreds of miles to catch bands at the top of their game," writer Jonathan Bernstein enthused. Meanwhile, the Fetus was featured alongside such collector havens as Amoeba in Los Angeles.C.R.
Holiday surprise?
This year's delightful, Jane Austen-adjacent holiday comedy at Jungle Theater is a new play, not a reprise of last year's delightful, Jane Austen-adjacent holiday comedy. But "The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley" shares characters and situations with 2017's "Miss Bennet," as well as director Christina Baldwin. The two casts recently had lunch. "Adia Morris, who played Jane last year, brought her baby to the lunch — who was really in the show last year, too, since Adia was pregnant," said Jungle artistic director Sarah Rasmussen. "Kids were running around and it was such a sense of community." During the lunch, last year's cast members hatched a plan for pop-in visits to the new show: "We just want to walk through for fun," they said, according to Rasmussen. "And, Christina being Christina, loves it and is saying, 'Do it!' " With or without interlopers, "Wickhams" runs through Dec. 30.
![Harrison David Rivers at his in-laws' house in St. Paul. ] JEFF WHEELER • jeff.wheeler@startribune.com When playwright Harrison David Rivers has writer's block, he sometimes gets on the Green Line light rail and just rides while working on his laptop and finding inspiration in the dialogue of the mini-plays unfolding in the car around him. Rivers worked on his laptop Tuesday afternoon, January 16, 2017 on the Green Line between St. Paul and Minneapolis.](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/KBMHFHVLCNB3Y6LQ5MBZV25LHM.jpg?&w=1080)
