Friday
Jan. 30
Dance off
It is a battle royale of boogie. Head On — a monthly dance party that pits two genres of music head-to-head with winner decided by which generates the most grooving — is squaring off soul music and disco in a Motown vs. Studio 54 contest. Will Supremes-era Diana Ross triumph over “Love Hangover” Diana Ross? Only dance can decide!
10 pm at Baby’s All Right [146 Broadway at Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, (718) 599–5800, www.babysallright.com]. Free.
Saturday
Jan. 31
One-time thing
They’re just making it up as they go along! Williamsburg performance space Triskelion Arts is hosting a new festival dedicated to improvised performances, called Never Before, Never Again. The fest, which runs Jan. 29–Feb. 1, promises works featuring dance, music, comedy, and spoken word. It is also, literally, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
8 pm at Triskelion Arts [118 N. 11th St., third floor, between Berry Street and Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg, (718) 599–3577, www.triskelionarts.org]. $16.
Sunday
Feb. 1
Sunday night live
Live from Park Slope, it’s … SNL Writers Unscripted, a show featuring “Saturday Night Live” writers doing improv comedy live on stage. This edition’s scribes-turned-performers include Natasha Rothwell, Alison Rich, Meredith Scardino, Claire Mulaney, and Katie Rich.
8 pm at Union Hall [702 Union St. between Fifth and Sixth avenues in Park Slope, (718) 638–4400, www.unionhallny.com]. $8–$10.
Monday
Feb. 2
Good Greaves
The Brooklyn Historical Society kicks off its new weekly Making Waves film series with William Greaves’s acclaimed 1968 docu-drama “Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One.” The screening will be introduced by actor and Park Sloper Steve Buscemi — who helped restore the film and give it wider exposure some 35 years after its release — and followed by a discussion between New Yorker writer Richard Brody and Shola Lynch of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
6:30 pm at Brooklyn Historical Society [128 Pierrepont St. at Clinton Street in Brooklyn Heights, (718) 222–4111, www.brooklynhistory.org]. Free.
Thursday
Feb. 5
Food for thought
Two of Brooklyn’s favorite bar-based speaking series, Presentation Party Night and Verbal Fight Club, will join forces for an epic night of discourse and debate about the ethics of eating meat at Brooklyn Brewery. Whet your appetite with some lectures on the topic, then sink your teeth into an on-stage war of words in which audience interjections are welcomed and encouraged.
7:30 pm at Brooklyn Brewery (79 N. 11th Street between Berry Street and Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg, www.brooklynbrewery.com). $5–$10.