Screens

day of the month on Zoom. Sign up using the Google form at forms.gle/bAsjdQ7hKGqEgJKj7.

COMEDY

Open Mikey. 9-11 p.m. Savage Henry Comedy Club, 415 Fifth St., Eureka. The longest running comedy open-mic in Humboldt County. Sign-ups at 9 p.m. Show at 9:30 p.m. Comics get 5-minute sets. Snacks, drinks, friendly atmosphere, zero hate speech tolerated. All-ages w/caution for language. Free, donations accepted. info@savagehenrycomedy.com. savagehenrycomedy.com. (707) 845-8864.

MOVIES

Sci-Fi Night: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992). 6-9 p.m. Arcata Theatre Lounge, 1036 G St. Custom curated preshow at 6 p.m. Free raffle at 7:30 p.m. Movie at 7:35 p.m. All ages. Parental guidance suggested. Retro-gaming in the lobby. $5, $9 admission and poster. info@arcatatheatre. com. facebook.com/events/798409954534083. (707) 613-3030.

MUSIC

Bayside Ballads and Blues. 6-8 p.m. Clam Beach Tavern, 4611 Central Ave., McKinleyville. Every Wednesday.

THEATER

Madsummer. 8 p.m. Redwood Curtain Theatre, 220 First St., Eureka. A jukebox musical adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream set in a care home during a pandemic. Masks are recommended for this 90-minute production without an intermission. $20, $15 students/seniors. www. redwoodcurtain.com.

GARDEN

Sea Goat Farm Garden Volunteer Opportunities. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Abbey of the Redwoods, 1450 Hiller Road, McKinleyville. See Sept. 30 listing.

HOLIDAY EVENTS

Fortuna Pumpkin Patch & Corn Maze. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Fortuna Pumpkin Patch, 1813 Eel River Drive. See Oct. 1 listing.

ETC

Tabata. 5:30-6:30 p.m. Virtual World, Online. See Sept. 30 listing.

6 Thursday

Art Night at the Sanctuary. First Thursday of every month, 4-7 p.m. The Sanctuary, 1301 J St., Arcata. Create with others freely or work on a guided project. Bring your own supplies or use what’s around to collage, paint, draw, make an art book, etc. $5-$20 suggested, no one turned away for lack of funds. sanctuaryarcata.org.

COMEDY

Savage Henry Comedy Festival. Savage Henry Comedy Club, 415 Fifth St., Eureka. For three days, 140 or so comedians from all over the country descend on Humboldt County at more than 10 venues and more than 40 shows for the 11th annual festival $65 for everything or $5-$20 for individual shows. info@savagehenrycomedy.com. savagehenrycomedy.com/comedy-festival. (707) 845-8864. Comedy Humboldt Open Mic. First Thursday of every month, 8-10 p.m. Clam Beach Tavern, 4611 Central Ave., McKinleyville. Tell your jokes.

DANCE

Humboldt Latin Dance and Music Festival. 7 p.m.-midnight. Redwood Raks World Dance Studio, 824 L St., Arcata. Award-winning instructors teach 20+ workshops in salsa, bachata, Cuban dances and more. Late-night dance parties on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night with a bar and DJs. All access wristbands are available presale online or at the door. $18. latindancehumboldt@gmail.com. humboldtlatindance.com. (707) 816-2809.

MUSIC

Karaoke (Thirsty Bear Lounge). 9 p.m.-1 a.m. Bear River Casino Resort, 11 Bear Paws Way, Loleta. See Sept. 29 listing. McKinleyville Community Choir Rehearsal. 6:30-8:30 p.m. Lutheran Church of Arcata, 151 E. 16th St. See Sept. 29 listing.

THEATER

Madsummer. 8 p.m. Redwood Curtain Theatre, 220 First St., Eureka. See Oct. 5 listing.

EVENTS

Drag Queen Bingo with Mo Heart. 7 p.m. Jolly Giant Commons, Cal Poly Humboldt, Arcata. Drag Queen Bingo featuring Mo Heart from RuPaul’s Drag Race. (707) 826-3928.

Our Lady of Fatima Celebration Weekend: Arraial Game

& Silent Auction. 6-11 p.m. Arcata Portuguese Hall, 1285 11th St. Three-day event with Mass and Rosary, food, live music, Arraial white ticket game, silent and live auctions. Get daily event info on Facebook. 1/?active_tab=about.

FOOD

Best of the Wurst. 5-7 p.m. The Lodge, 445 Herrick Ave., Eureka. The Rotary Club of Southwest Eureka’s annual bratwurst dinner includes grilled bratwurst, German potato salad and a giant pretzel. Dine-in at the Lodge or drive-by for a boxed dinner delivered to your car. Benefits the Lyme Disease Testing Access Program and other club projects. Tickets online or at pickup site, no cash. $25 before 9/30, $30 after 9/30. swrotary.org. (707) 845-3459. Henderson Center Farmers Market. 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Henderson Center, Henderson near F Street, Eureka. See Sept. 29 listing. McKinleyville Farmers Market. 3-6 p.m. Eureka Natural Foods, McKinleyville, 2165 Central Ave. See Sept. 29 listing. Volunteer Orientation Food for People. 3-4 p.m. See Sept. 29 listing.

GARDEN

Drop-In Volunteer Day. 1-4 p.m. Bayside Park Farm, 930 Old Arcata Road, Arcata. Get a taste of a farmer’s work growing vegetables, herbs and flowers. Come prepared for sunshine, cold, wet and working in the dirt. Bring a water bottle, snacks, closed toe shoes, long pants, sleeves and a sun hat. Free. baysideparkfarm@cityofarcata.org. cityofarcata.org/440/Bayside-Park-Farm. (707) 822-8184.

HOLIDAY EVENTS

Fortuna Pumpkin Patch & Corn Maze. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Fortuna Pumpkin Patch, 1813 Eel River Drive. See Oct. 1 listing.

ETC

Restorative Movement. 10:30-11:30 a.m. & 2-3 p.m. Virtual World, Online. See Sept. 29 listing.

Heads Up …

Ink People Center for the Arts invites artists to submit work in any media for the We Are Worthy: Artwork of Survivors group exhibition at the Brenda Tuxford Gallery. Deadline for application submission is Oct. 14. Apply at www.inkpeopleinc.submittable.com. Any questions? Email gallery@inkpeople.org. Humboldt County artists and craftspeople are encouraged to submit grant applications for the Victor Thomas Jacoby Award, which includes $10,000 in funding for four recipients. Applications accepted through Nov. 1 and can be found online at hafoundation.org/Grants1. KEET-TV seeks a diverse group of individuals to join its Community Advisory Board. Meetings are held quarterly on Zoom. Go to KEET.org to find the link at the bottom of the page. Become a volunteer at Hospice of Humboldt. For more information about becoming a volunteer or about services provided by Hospice of Humboldt, call (707) 267-9813 or visit hospiceofhumboldt.org. l You can take the pumpkin spice latte from my cold, dead hands.

Pearl

Confess, Fletch and Pearl

By John J. Bennett

screens@northcoastjournal.com

CONFESS, FLETCH. To a vast, often problematic swath of the population (read: Gen X white guys, to whom I am only generationally adjacent, thanks very much), Chevy Chase is as a god. This is due in part, of course, to his SNL antics, Clark Griswold and his, in hindsight, surprisingly minor, world-devouring turn in Caddyshack (1980). But it is Chase’s rendering of Irwin M. Fletcher in Fletch (1985), from Gregory McDonald’s series of mystery-solving reporter novels, that spawned a million shaky impersonations and made him a successful, if unlikely leading man for the next decade.

I’ve seen and enjoyed Fletch — maybe even Fletch Lives (1989), I can’t really recall — but it wasn’t a particularly formative text. Funny? Sure, and kind of sexy in the mildly uncomfortable style of movies borne of the transition from the prior decade. And, full disclosure: I certainly put in my time with my VHS copy of Three Amigos (1986). But recasting Fletch poses no threat to the sanctity of my remembered childhood. If it does yours, well, write a song about it and pitch it to your other dad-band sad sacks.

Jon Hamm, on the other hand, is an actor (star?) for whom I’ve long wished an appropriate starring vehicle. He shall always be the Don Draper of our dreamless drunken dreams, but we have had it on good information for some time now that the guy’s got jokes; a shame Hollywood has all but abandoned comedy. Before the genre is ground completely to dust, though, Confess, Fletch has managed to sneak in, albeit primarily via streaming.

The fact that a clever, modestly scaled comedy whodunnit with charisma and sex appeal has to sneak anywhere is disheartening, and speaks to tragic developments both in the collective consciousness and in the movie business. But Confess, Fletch is here now and I should be glad.

I’ve yet to read any of McDonald’s source material but, as I understand it, his Fletch is less grandstanding goof than Chase made him, more sardonic and capable. And that is the character as Hamm plays it, prone to muttered asides, apt to be bested in physical contest, but cleverer and smarter than most.

After a brief Roman holiday leads to a romantic entanglement, Fletch makes his way to Boston, where he trips over a dead body and falls into a murder investigation set against an intercontinental art heist. Doggedly pursued by Detective Monroe (Roy Wood, Jr.), a Celtic to his Laker, Fletch quickly becomes a person of interest in multiple felonies and must conduct his own investigation while ducking tails and infiltrating the yacht-clubbing Northeast blue-bloodery.

Admittedly, I’m a sucker for noir and detective stories reimagined in contemporary settings, so the briefest of plot sketches had me intrigued. But, as is so