Boston Comedy Festival
Boston has long been a hotbed of comedy, giving starts to comics like Bill Burr, Jay Leno, Pete Holmes, and Janeane Garofalo over the decades. Now in its 20th year, the Boston Comedy Festival celebrates both big-name comedians who once called the city home as well as up-and-coming talents in the area. Names like Emo Philips, Dana Gould, Eugene Mirman, and Caroline Rhe will be on hand at venues across the greater Boston area for the five-day festival, which also features 48 comics vying to win a cash prize as the festival’s stand-up champion. (Now through Saturday, Nov. 16 at various times and locations; $15 and up per show)
Tool
With its packed headlining show at Boston Calling in 2017, prog-metal quartet Tool proved that its devotees are both loyal and numerous. Earlier this year, the group released its first album in 13 years, “Fear Inoculum,” which will bring them to TD Garden this Thursday. Expect trippy visual displays, angry missives from frontman Maynard James Keenan, and deliciously complex rhythms. (Thursday, Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m.; TD Garden, Boston; $153-$723; all ages)
Boston Antiquarian
Book Fair
Book Fair
Last month, we had the Boston Book Festival. This month, we have its niche cousin, the Boston Antiquarian Book Fair, which caters to collectors of rare, antique books and other bibliophiles of all stripes. Now in its 44th year, the festival will have free appraisals, literary curiosities on display, and collectors from all over the globe for three days at Hynes Convention Center. (Friday, Nov. 15 from 4 to 8 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 16 from noon to 7 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 17 from noon to 5 p.m.; Hynes Convention Center, Boston; $25 for Friday’s session, free for Saturday and Sunday; all ages)
Danny Brown
Oddball rapper Danny Brown didn’t hit it big until his 30s, an anomaly in a music industry laser-focused on finding the next big thing. Once the Detroit MC found his audience, though, he hit the ground running, touring relentlessly and playing high-energy shows for audiences who embraced his eccentric delivery. On the heels of his latest album, October’s “U Know What I’m Sayin?,” the rapper will perform at the newly opened Big Night Live with British rhymer Ashnikko and fellow Motor City MC Zelooperz serving as openers. (Friday, Nov. 15 at 8 p.m.; Big Night Live, Boston; $30.50; 18+)
Super Megafest Comic Con
The Sheraton Framingham will be celeb central this weekend, as Super Megafest Comic Con brings together famous figures from comics, movies, TV, wrestling, and more. Among the bold-name faces scheduled to appear are Carmen Electra (“Baywatch”), Tony Danza (“Who’s the Boss?”), Edward Furlong (“Terminator 2: Judgement Day”), and stars from “Dukes of Hazzard” and “The Warriors,” among others. (Saturday, Nov. 16 from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 17 from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sheraton Framingham Hotel, Framingham; $6-$50 GA, free for children ages 6 and under; all ages)
Want more ways to get out of your home and not be bored in the city this weekend? Check out five additional things to do from now through Sunday at boston.com/BosTen.