Force of one Canadian actor Charles Ross returns to the area with his virtuosic “One Man Star Wars” comedy show on Friday at the Raue Center for the Arts, 26 N. Williams St., Crystal Lake. $25-$30. (815) 356-9212 or rauecenter.org. 8 p.m. Friday, Fe...

Lettuce Entertain You has had its sights on Rosemont's entertainment district for a while now. On Thursday, the Chicago-based restaurant empire finally got its chance, with the launch of one piece of its largest venue to date. Joe's Live, a 2,000-pe...

'Community' comedian Catch up with Joel McHale, the former host of “The Soup” on E! and star of NBC's “Community,” when he performs a standup comedy set tonight at the Genesee Theatre, 203 N. Genesee St., Waukegan. $34.50-$69.50. (847) 263-6300 or g...

New Waco Brothers album Waco Brothers was born at a time when lead Jon Langford was looking to dabble outside of the punk scene his band The Mekons was heavily embracing. Birthed initially in 1994 for raucous alt-country performances in Chicago,...

Piano man Get in a romantic mood by catching composer and pianist Jim Brickman in concert on Saturday at North Central College's Wentz Concert Hall, 171 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville. $30-$40. (630) 637-7469 or finearts.northcentralcollege.edu. 8...

Comic career Catch up with the career of Chicago-native comedian Marina Franklin (HBO's "Divorce," Comedy Central's "Inside Amy Schumer") when she performs standup at two Zanies locations: first at 1548 N. Wells St., Chicago, (312) 337-4027, $2...

Country guy If you love country hits such as “Who I Am With You” and “Lonely Eyes,” then don't miss Chris Young in concert on Thursday at the Rosemont Theatre, 5400 N. River Road, Rosemont. $35-$55. (800) 745-3000 or rosemont theatre.com. 7:30 p.m. ...

Doggy days Siberian sled dogs are the stars of the Husky Heroes event this weekend at the Morton Arboretum, 4100 Illinois Route 53, Lisle. Highlights include demonstrations of sled-pulling and skijoring, where dogs pull a person on skis. $9; $8 seni...

Faithful rock The touring Winter Jam returns with award-winning Christian rockers Matthew West, King & Country and more tonight at the Allstate Arena, 6920 N. Mannheim Road, Rosemont. $10 cash or check admission; $15-$20 parking. (847) 635-6601 or 2...

Costumed comedy If you rooted for costumed comedian and illusionist Piff the Magic Dragon on “America's Got Talent,” then don't miss him performing standup live starting Thursday at Improv Comedy Showcase at Woodfield Mall, 5 Woodfield Road, Schaumb...