What to do in Toronto, Nov. 10 - 16: Twitter god Rob Delaney and more

Twitter god takes to the stage

Can 657,437 followers ... Can 657,438 followers ... Can 657,439 followers (and counting) be wrong? Possibly. Twitter god Rob Delaney is a genius at being hilarious at 140 characters or fewer, but that doesn't mean his comedy works the same way on stage. "It's very different," says the writer-comedian, who plays the Music Hall tomorrow evening. "On Twitter, I'll do anything to elicit a laugh. I'll say things I don't mean. I'll pretend that I'm crazy, or ignorant on certain issues."

And his standup routine? "I'm just me, talking. A real person talking about things I care about."

One thing he cared about was not having Mitt Romney elected as president of of the United States. One Mitt quip compiled more than 8,500 re-tweets alone: "I was considering voting for @mittromney, but then I remembered I ENTERED THE WORLD THROUGH A VAGINA."

Few people have benefited from Twitter as much as Delaney. "It's insane," he says. "It's night and day, before and after Twitter."

The thing is, by just knowing his Twitter persona, his online fans might not know Delaney as well as they think they do.

Fiddler tests limits of her instrument

As a violinist with Bell Orchestre and the Grammy-winning rockers Arcade Fire, young Sarah Neufeld made a name for herself. Now, she's trying her hand at making music by herself. She recently contributed a body of music for solo violin for a short film for Italian Vogue, Scalpel/Stradivarius. And in January, she heads to Berlin to record an album of material she'll be showcasing tonight, unaccompanied, at the Drake Hotel Lounge. She spoke to us from her home in Montreal.

There's a video at outoftownfilms.com in which you play an untitled piece. Is that the kind of thing we can expect from you?

That's one of the pieces, yeah. My solo works are more related to Bell Orchestre than any other of my projects. Bell Orchestre was a project where we explored the potential and the limits of instrumental music, as individuals and as collaborators. It's the same approach. I'm trying to reach somewhere else, outside of the violin, through the violin.

Are you talking compositionally or technique?

Both. I play very chordally and rhythmically. It's close to fiddle music, because of that rhythmic approach and all the string crossing. But melodically and harmonically, I'm coming from somewhere else. I probably have more in common with pop music than traditional fiddle music. It's a challenge, after all these years of working with my instrument, in all these different ways, to now say, "Okay, now I'm going to isolate this thing and try to push it, and push myself with it. Without looping or relying on effects, can I really make this full world of music that I hear in my mind? Can I make it on this one instrument, and can I do it alone?"

You sound like saxophonist Colin Stetson when you talk like that.

Colin's been a tower of support, inspiration and critique. We bounce ideas off each other. He heard the results of what I'd been doing, and said, "Just keep going with it and then maybe you can open some of my shows." So, I kept writing, and it became this direction. Before I knew it, I had a body of music.

ART & MUSEUMS

André Kertész: Self-Portraits

He was a man ahead of his timer. André Kertész, a pioneer in self-portrait photography (without the benefit of an iPhone), is the focus of an exhibit on an artist who couldn't get enough of himself. To Nov. 24. Stephen Bulger Gallery, 1026 Queen St. W., 416-504-0575.

CONCERTS

ZZ Top

"Well I just got paid today, got me a pocket full of change." The Texas boogie-blues trio, touring in support of its new, growling and gleaming La Futura album, bypasses Toronto and heads up to slot-machine country. Nov. 10, 9 p.m. $65 to $80. Casino Rama, Orillia, Ont., 1-855-985-5000.

The Met – Live in HD: The Tempest

"It's a musical and theatrical vision of magical, transformative power," says The Guardian. On Cineplex screens across North America, Thomas Ades's operatic interpretation of Shakespeare's The Tempest, directed by the Quebec wunderkind Robert Lepage, is beamed live from New York's Metropolitan Opera. Nov. 10, 12:55 p.m. $19.50 to $25.93. cineplex.com.

Bob Dylan, with Mark Knopfler

Easily one of the greatest singer-songwriters, he would never stoop to rhyming "Dylan" with "Gordon." Nov. 14, 7:30 p.m. $40 to $145. Air Canada Centre, 40 Bay St., 1-855-985-5000.

Gordon Lightfoot

Easily one of the greatest singer-songwriters, he would never stoop to rhyming "Gordon" with "Dylan." Nov. 14 to 17, 8 p.m. $45 to $85. Massey Hall, 178 Victoria St., 416-872-4255.

CLUBS

Tame Impala

The new album from the hotly tipped Australian psychedelic-rockers is Lonerism. Never has solitude, to paraphrase a song title from their previous LP, been such bliss. Nov. 12, 7 p.m. (doors). $20 (sold out). Phoenix, 410 Sherbourne St.

C.R. Avery

The charismatic beat poet and bluesy mouth-harp player has collaborated with everyone from the Prague Symphony Orchestra to the Madison 22 Review burlesque troupe. For two shows here, he appears with the latter, no oboists involved. Nov. 16, 9 p.m., $16. Rivoli, 334 Queen St. W., ticket.web.ca; Nov. 17, 7 p.m. $16. Dakota Tavern, 249 Ossington Ave., 416-850-4579.

THEATRE

Jekyll and Hyde

One-time American Idol contender Constantine Maroulis is twice the man in the Broadway-bound musical about good, evil and double-billing. Also in the cast is Deborah Cox, the R&B star who plays a corset-popping prostitute. Nov. 14 to 18. $29 to $150. Ed Mirvish Theatre, 244 Victoria St., 416-872-1212.

The Arsonists

Where there's smoke, there's fire? Max Frisch's classic farce serves as a morality play, involving the all-too-human ability to ignore the evil we strongly suspect. Michael Ball, Sheila McCarthy and Fiona Reid star, with new incidental music from local singer-songwriter Justin Rutledge. Nov. 15 to Dec. 9 (previews begin Nov. 11). $24 to $99. Bluma Appel, 27 Front St. E., 416-368-3110 or canstage.com.

The Little Years

John Mighton's meditation on lost potential has been "polished into a gem," wrote Globe theatre critic J. Kelly Nestruck, upon the minimalist drama's reworked revival last year at Stratford. Irene Poole again stars as a disappointed adult whose early scholastic desires in the 1950s were stifled, while her poet brother received nothing but encouragement. Nov. 14 to Dec. 16 (in previews now). $21 to $53. Tarragon Theatre's Mainspace, 30 Bridgman Ave., 416-531-1827 or tarragontheatre.com.

DANCE

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Wilder than a Mad Hatter's tea party and a classic in the making, Christopher Wheeldon's freshly choreographed and superbly scored adaptation of Lewis Carroll's beloved children's fantasy tale returns after its big-hit appearance here a year ago. To Nov. 25. $25 to $239. Four Seasons Centre, 145 Queen St. W., 416-345-9595.

Gravity of Centre

From Montreal's vibrant RUBBERBANDance Group, a hustling piece for five dancers – representing a family or a tribe – works with raw movement to a hip-hop score. Nov. 16 and 17, 8 p.m. $19.50 to $34. Fleck Dance Theatre, 207 Queens Quay W., 416-973-4000.

LITERATURE & LECTURE

Naomi Wolf

People are talking about Naomi Wolf's latest work at dinner parties anyway, so why shouldn't the famous feminist author do it herself, and promote the book in the process. On Wednesday, Ms. Wolf presents her controversial Vagina – "bad news for everybody who has one," wrote Los Angeles Times columnist Meghan Daum – at Grano Ristorante. Nov. 14, 6:30 p.m. $100 (includes book and dinner). 2035 Yonge St., 416-361-0032.

COMEDY

Robin Williams, with David Steinberg

We kind of lost track of the nanu-nanu actor after Mork & Mindy was cancelled in 1982. So, we're interested that Pam Dawber's co-star will talk about what he's been doing all these years. The director-comedian David Steinberg will be on hand to keep things moving, in case the shy, reserved Mr. Williams is at a loss for words. Nov. 13, 8 p.m. $83.35 to $143.35. Sony Centre, 1 Front St. E., 1-855-872-7669.

The Debaters

Hilarious rhetoric happens when host Steve Patterson brings the popular CBC Radio One series to Glenn Gould Studio, where comics sling zingers and court audience favour. Nov. 13 and 14, 7:30 p.m. $28.50. 250 Front St. W., 416-872-4255.

FILM

Found Film Festival

In the name of ironic humour, a touring show screens happened-upon obscure videos. This year's edition includes a masked dancer performing for a group of confused senior citizens on a local cable access show and Ferret Fun & Fundamentals, an inessential 1996 pet-care video. Nov. 13, 7:30 p.m. $13. The Garrison, 1197 Dundas St. W., foundfootagefest.com.

Darryl's Hard Liquor and Porn Film Festival

The main festival of comic shorts on sex doesn't happen until Nov. 17, but the Salon of Awesome Cinema (which gathers films judged to be too long, too intense or too weird for the main screening) and the 69 Hour Film Challenge (involving films made in less than three days) happen one day (Nov. 16, 7 p.m.) earlier. Nov. 17. $20. Projection Booth East, 1035 Gerrard St., hardliquorandporn.com.

EVENT

Hockey Hall of Fame Legends Game

Sure, teams captained by Doug Gilmour and Bryan Trottier are fine, but wouldn't pitting Team Fehr against Team Bettman make this annual affair a little more interesting? Nov. 11, 2 p.m. $37.75 to $71.75. Air Canada Centre, 40 Bay St., 1-855-985-5000.

FAMILY

Royal Agricultural Winter Fair

Not your average dog and pony show: This afternoon, jumping pooches and horses team up for a mixed-species race, the great Canine-Equine Challenge (Nov. 10, 1:30 p.m., $43 to $75.50). To Nov. 11. $14 to $18. Exhibition Place, 100 Princes' Blvd., 416-263-3400.

Cinderella (a RATical retelling)

Five rats tell their own version of the story of selfish step-sisters, a fairy godmother and a prince obsessed with see-through footwear. A North American premiere. Nov. 12 to Dec. 30. $15 to $20. Young People's Theatre, 165 Front St. E., 416-862-2222 or youngpeoplestheatre.ca