STORYTELLING | Dime Store Novels
Fans of National Public Radio, particularly regular listeners of This American Life, will be familiar with the funny and inspiring storytelling series known as the Moth. Rapidly becoming a New York institution, the live show invites amateur and semi-professional storytellers to spin non-fictional tales about their own lives, with unpredictable but always entertaining results. Toronto comedians Bob Kerr and Kayla Lorette have transported the concept to Toronto and renamed it Dime Store Novels, and only two editions in, it's no surprise the event is already a huge success. The only rules are that storytellers can't use notes, and the story has to be personal. There's no greater source of heartbreaking and/or funny stories than the complicated mess that everyone's next of kin, so there should be no shortage of good yarns at tonight's instalment which is based on the theme Keep It In the Family.
The Ossington, 61 Ossington Ave., Free, 8 pm

LIVING LEGENDS | Unique Lives and Experiences: Sir Sidney Poitier
From his impoverished upbringing in the Bahamas, Sidney Poitier climbed to the top of the American movie industry by playing dignified roles that blasted apart prevailing stereotypes of black people on film. At a time when the country was still battling segregation, he became the top-grossing box office star of 1967 and was the first black man to win the Best Actor Oscar, opening doors for a generation of talented African-Americans who would follow in his footsteps. Poitier comes to Roy Thomson Hall tonight to discuss his life and struggles (and to charm the pants off us) as part of the Unique Lives and Experiences lecture series. The question and answer period at the end of the night might be the closest you'll ever get to having a conversation with one of the great entertainment figures of the 20th century.
Roy Thomson Hall, 178 Victoria Street, 7:30 pm, $30 - $75

BENEFIT | Celebrating 25 Years of Peter Gzowski's Literary Legacy
In his 15 years as host of the CBC Radio show Morningside, Peter Gzowski conducted over 27,000 interviews with everyone from prime ministers to pole dancers, earning him an international Peabody Award for Broadcasting and the nickname "Mr. Canada." Aside from endearing himself to a millions of Canadians, throughout his career Gzowski also helped raise millions of dollars for literacy causes. Although he died of emphysema in 2002, those close to him continue to carry on his charitable work and tonight the CBC hosts a benefit for Frontier College, the country's oldest literacy organization. Performers include singer Susan Aglukark, comedy band the Arrogant Worms, writer Roch Carrier, and CBC host Jian Ghomeshi. Shelagh Rogers hosts the event, and Bob Rae will be paying tribute to Gzowski's memory.
Glenn Gould Studio, 250 Front Street, 6:30, $125

BOOKS AND LIT | Launch of Micah Lexier: I'm Thinking of a Number
Born in Winnipeg, Micah Lexier is an artist and curator obsessed with measurements, numbers and the daily currency of life. Over the past three decades, he's become internationally known for his exhibitions which frequently include custom-printed coins. Tonight Type Books, Queen West's venerable independent book store, launches an art book that represents 30 years of Lexier's work in different mediums including posters, t-shirts, coins, prints, and magazine projects. The artist be on hand to sign copies of the book.
Type Books, 883 Queen Street West, Free, 6 pm

MUSIC | Two Door Cinema Club at Wrongbar
Northern Irish trio Two Door Cinema Club are one of those bands that until two weeks ago I had never heard of, and all of a sudden they seem to be everywhere. The band toured with indie hotshots Phoenix earlier this year before they'd even released their debut album Tourist History, and have won legions of fans with their upbeat polyrhythmic pop songs that sound a bit like Death Cab for Cutie, if Ben Gibbard was backed by Broken Social Scene. In a few years when they're selling out the Guvernment, anyone at Wrongbar tonight will be able to say "I saw them way back before they were famous."
Wrongbar, 1279 Queen Street West, $10, 7:30 pm

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