There’s so much to do in New York in the next few days, and all of it’s connected to people I know. Well, all the good stuff…

Tonight, you can catch rising piano star (and sexpot) Xiayin Wang at Carnegie Hall.

This weekend, you can see the last two performances of Pugilist, a funny, insightful and ultimately very unsettling play about the pressure men feel to fight. Damien Baldet, the writer-performer, tells personal stories about fighting (roaches, imaginary enemies) and running from fights (big dudes with gold chains), and he blends them with the tale of Alexander Hamilton’s fatal duel with Aaron Burr. The historical segments are  extraneous—they over-intellectualize an argument about America’s violent culture that’s already clear in the first-person segments—but they don’t overwhelm what works about the show. Namely, that’s Baldet’s virtuosic writing and performance. With easy charm that occasionally boils into rage, he explains why even nice guys can feel required to beat the shit out of something… just to prove they’re men.

Whew! After that, you’ll need a laugh, so on Monday night, head on down to the Zipper for Mock Your World, a collection of original songs and saucy parodies by my fantastic boyfriend, Andrew Byrne. (I co-wrote some of the songs and will make a special appearance on stage.)

As the tagline says, the show is “on key and off color.” For a taste of what you’ll get, watch this video from Andrew’s last concert, with lyrics by both of us. It reimagines “12 Days of Christmas” for the frustrated actor: