Pencil This In

By Lauri Apple in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 23, 2009 6:45PM

It's Mardi Gras tomorrow! We highly recommend stapling your shirt to your front as part of your morning regimen in order to avoid any evening self-humiliation. Also, instead of asking dudes for beads, ask them for truth -- way more shocking.

Onto the events ...

Tomorrow is IHOP National Pancake Day! We didn't even know there was such a thing, but apparently this holiday is centuries old. If you go to IHOP between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. and make a donation to the Children's Miracle Network, you can get three free pancakes. Just don't yell, "show me your pancakes!," unless you want to look like a weirdo.

Also tomorrow, Jake Melnick's Corner Tap hosts a Mardi Gras Celebration and Abita Beer Pairing from 6:30-9 p.m. For $30, you can eat and drink as much as you want. Ten percent of the proceeds go to the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund. Buy tickets at the bar or by calling 312-266-0400.
41 E. Superior St.

And looking ahead: On Friday and Saturday, Feb. 27-28, Hydrate Productions and Stella Artois presents an evening of theatre and "insanity" with movie star, TV celebrity and Provincetown drag icon Varla Jean Merman. The self-proclaimed love child of Ethel Merman and Ernest Borgnine, Varla Jean Merman's numerous movie and TV appearances including the hit film "Girls will be Girls" [2003 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival and Outfest Film Festival Best Actress Awards], Mary Sunshine in the revival of Chicago on Broadway and a memorable recurring role on ABC's "All My Children" as Rosemary Chicken.
$30 for VIP tickets, $20 for general admission. 9 p.m. 3458 N. Halsted. Tickets are available online by visiting www.HydrateChicago.com.

Photo by Marcus Gilmer/Chicagoist