Start your weekend a little early at What’s the Deal’s free-drinks happy hour Thursday at Rhino Bar. Click here to RSVP and get two free cocktails or draft beers. 6 to 8. No cover.
Local photographer Robert Keating’s new exhibit, “C&O Canal,” celebrates its opening at the Art League Gallery (105 N. Union St., Alexandria) with a reception Thursday evening. The series of panoramas examines the 184½-mile canal in detail. 6:30 to 8:30. Free.
Sifting through myth and reality to get to the essence of Egypt’s last queen, Pulitzer Prize-winner Stacy Schiff’s new biography, Cleopatra: A Life, is a critical hit. Hear the author discuss her book at Sixth & I Historic Synagogue Thursday at 7. Tickets ($8 online, $10 at the door) are available here.
FotoWeek DC is flooding the city with free photography events and exhibits. Head to the Corcoran Gallery of Art on your lunch break Friday for a talk on photojournalism by Sarah Leen, senior photo editor at National Geographic. Noon. Free.
Standup comedy is fun, but a performance ticket and a two-drink minimum can add up quickly. For all the laughs minus the dent in your wallet, check out the Don’t Block the Box comedy show at Wonderland Ballroom Friday at 7. Up-and-coming comics such as Tim Miller (who has opened for Daniel Tosh) and Jake Young are performing. $3.
The European Union Film Showcase continues with Friday’s Centerpiece Screening of Me Too, a 2009 Spanish movie that stirred up attention at festivals worldwide. Starring Pablo Pienada (the first European with Down Syndrome to earn a university degree), the film tells the story of a social worker who falls in love with his colleague. It’s playing at the AFI Silver Theatre at 7. $10.
The Island is screening at the Freer Gallery’s Meyer Auditorium Friday at 7. The silent black-and-white film, made in 1960 by Japanese director Kaneto Shindo, follows the daily lives of farmers on an island. The filmmaker has described his work as a “cinematic poem.” Free.
Childhood is filled with times we take for granted—summers off, nap-time, and, of course, recess. Host-DC gives you the chance to relive those precious periods of freedom at Adult Recess, where you can play games like Uno, Monoploly, Twister, and Battleship—and trade up your juice box for a specialty cocktail. It’s from 5 to 9 at Aloft Washington National Harbor. Purchase tickets ($10) here; drinks are an additional cost.
DJ Zack Rosen spins pop and glam rock at the New Gay’s Transformer dance party Saturday at 9:30 Club’s Backbar. 11 PM. $5.
Matthew Hemerlein, who plays six instruments and recently released his first album, plays the Black Cat Saturday with Typefighter. 9 PM. Tickets ($10 online, $12 at the door) are available here.
