• Reality and roast: Upcoming online shows from Arcade Comedy Theater include:
• An American Roast, 9 p.m. Friday on YouTube. The roast game show will poke fun at the nation’s history.
• The Latchkey Kids: Reality Still Bites, 9 p.m. Saturday on YouTube Live. The monthly Arcade improv show will be an ally-production of Black History Month with special guests, musicians and improv inspired by the 1990s.
History
• Sky’s the limit: Pittsburgh writer and skyscraper tour guide Mark Houser will give a Zoom lecture on “America’s Best Antique Skyscrapers” at 6 p.m. Thursday, hosted by Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. Houser will share his own photos of Beaux-Arts features of high-rises around the country, along with details about the early millionaires who commissioned them.
theater/film/literature
Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks is presenting “Love’s Labor’s Lost,” which will stream live for five performances Feb. 11-15. Tickets are available online at pittsburghshakespeare.org.
“Decoding the Weather Machine” will be presented virtually as part of Phipps Conservatory’s environmental film series on Friday, Feb. 19 at 8 p.m. A discussion after the film features Shannon Hefferan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh. Advance registration is required at phipps.conservatory.org.
“Monday Night Magic: Live Online” will be held every Monday at 8 p.m. as a co-presentation with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Liberty Magic Series. “Monday Night Magic” is New York’s longest running off-Broadway magic show. Tickets for the livestream are $20, and can be purchased under the events tab at stellartickets.com.
Despite being the shortest month of the year, February is also often the coldest, which can sometimes make it feel like the longest in a city like Pittsburgh where everything comes to a halt when the show starts falling. February, and, to a similar extent, March, are a barren landscape of waiting out the cold. This feels especially true during pandemic times, when braving the winter means huddling inside a home until it s warm enough to go outside and interact with other humans again. So while Valentine s Day is rarely anyone s favorite holiday, it s something to latch onto in the middle of the long, dark month that comes before spring. Whether you love it, hate it, or feel completely ambivalent, but sometimes buy a box of chocolates for fun, we have a Valentine s itinerary for you.