What to do in Madison this week: Aug. 17-20, 2026

Therapy Gecko, UW football open practice and more Isthmus Picks

by

Arts

  • Chicago Latin Groove, Monday, Aug. 17, McKee Farms Park, Fitchburg, 6 p.m.: The day of reckoning nears: It is past the middle of August. You have somehow blown all of the many options you have had earlier this summer to see free music. It was too hot. Too buggy. Gramma was in town. It was cancelled. But seize the day, you still have options, and this is a good one. Chicago Latin Groove, a tropical dance band from Chicago, will play salsa, cumbia, merengue, Latin jazz, bachata and even disco. Disco! More, more, more! Bring a lawn chair or a blanket (just in case you need a breather), grab dinner from a food cart and dance the night away. A Madison Music Foundry band opens the night.
  • Therapy Gecko, Tuesday, Aug. 18, Comedy on State, 6 p.m.: Unlike most therapy sessions, this one involves green face paint and a reptilian costume. Lyle Drescher, better known as Therapy Gecko or Lyle Forever, began taking calls from strangers during the pandemic and giving advice while streaming online. His live show turns that premise into a group session where audience members can share their troubles, hopes or anything else on their minds. Drescher’s personal anecdotes alongside those of his audience should make for a night of unpredictability and humor. Buy tickets at madisoncomedy.com.
  • Wence Martinez + Roberto Torres Mata, through Oct. 11, Overture Center-James Watrous Gallery: Paired solo exhibitions drawing on craft and cultural traditions of Mexico are featured for late summer at the Wisconsin Academy’s gallery space. Weaver Wence Martinez, a native of Mexico who has operated a studio in Door County since the 1990s, offers tapestries employing geometric patterns in “In Motion.” For “ROOTED,” Roberto Torres Mata, who earned a UW-Madison master of fine arts degree in printmaking, experiments with natural materials in creating mixed media works considering family and heritage.
  • Ekphrastic Poetry, Tuesday, Aug. 18, Madison Art Market, 6:30 p.m.: First, ekphrastic poetry is verse that describes or responds in some way to visual art — painting, sculpture, photography. It is its own genre, and this group of area poets gives it a go in this event inspired by works of art on display at Madison Art Market, 5944 Odana Road. Paul Baker, Nina Clements, Andrea Musher, Andrea Potos and Tim Walsh will read from their works, amid the art that provided the sparks. You could go home with a poetry chapbook and a painting, which is honestly a pretty good evening.
  • UW Football Open Practice, Tuesday, Aug. 18, Camp Randall, 7 p.m.: Wisconsin Badgers football fans are clamoring for better results in 2026 than the team’s disappointing four-win 2025 season. Will lauded transfer quarterback Colton Joseph help lead the team back to bowl land? Armchair quarterbacks can perhaps start to form some concrete opinions about this season by attending the team’s open practice session; enter through the Breese Terrace gates. The practice session is free; find ticket info for regular season games at uwbadgers.evenue.net.
  • Raine Stern, Tuesday, Aug. 18, High Noon, 7:30 p.m.: Since departing Madison for Los Angeles following a November 2021 farewell concert at the Barrymore, Raine Stern has been busy creating a lot of music, including official releases found on Spotify (like the intriguing 2025 single “Don’t Let Them Find the Internet”), many videos posted on social media, and a collaboration with the ClimateMusic Project. Sampling from this plethora of work shows Stern’s continued growth as a songwriter in a variety of styles and is a reminder of her blazing guitar playing. Tickets for this homecoming show at ticketmaster.com.
  • Jazz at Five, Wednesdays, through Sept. 2, Capitol Square-King Street, 4-8 p.m.: Before autumn leaves start to turn, we can enjoy the last days of summer listening to jazz on the Capitol lawn with Jazz at Five. This free performance series happens on Wednesday evenings through Sept. 2. Each concert opens with a youth combo at 4 p.m. followed by back-to-back performances at 5 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. This week features Brasilian-inspired Canção, pianist Tim Whalen and his trio, and a combo drawn from this year's iGnitE jAzz! Participants. Still to come are Milwaukee Jazz Orchestra (Sept. 2), UW Jazz Ensemble All-Stars (Aug. 26), and others. Find the full schedule at jazzatfive.org.
  • Sun Prairie Sweet Corn Festival, Aug. 19-23, Angell Park, Sun Prairie: The name might be a bit misleading — steamed sweet corn will only be available on Saturday and Sunday — but this five-day festival celebrating Sun Prairie’s agricultural roots still brings in visitors from all over Wisconsin and even other states. The event kicks off on Wednesday with a downtown parade and block party beginning at 6 p.m. Highlights include carnival rides, live music, a beer tent, food vendors, local exhibitors, a kids corner with inflatables and other activities, a corn-eating contest, and uncooked corn by the bagful. All told, 80 tons of corn are expected to be served. Visit sunprairiecornfest.com for a complete schedule of events.
  • Ghalia Volt, Wednesday, Aug. 19, Bur Oak, 8 p.m.: Songwriter-guitarist Ghalia Volt, who has hit the top five on the Billboard Top Blues Albums chart a couple times since 2016, returned with a new album in May. Burn the House Down was recorded live over a couple days with producer J.D. Simo (who also plays guitar) and keeps the sound stripped down and uncluttered — all the better for Volt’s roots and blues songcraft to shine. With Kent Burnside. Tickets at theburoakmadison.com.
  • Tradition Bearers, Live! Thursday, Aug. 20, Madison Youth Arts, 5:30 p.m.: This event highlights the work and lives of 11 visual and performing artists participating in Wisconsin Humanities' Wisconsin By the People Initiative. Meet artists creating Turkish mosaics, Mexican paper sculpture and traditional music, Aztec dance and much more during a reception beginning the evening. It’s followed by onstage performances, demonstrations and conversation with artists Alejandra Jiménez, Jennifer J. Jordan and Vesile Yilmaz. Registration required at wisconsinhumanities.org.
  • Josh Wolf, Aug. 20-22, Comedy on State: Perhaps best known for his baseball cap-wearing days trading just-under-the-skin digs with Chelsea Handler on Chelsea Lately, Josh Wolf has since become one of stand-up's most dependable storytellers. His comedy mines the chaos of family life, relationships and the everyday absurdities that somehow become hilarious when accompanied by his easygoing charm. With plenty of audience interaction and room for improvisation, no two shows are exactly alike. Shows at 7 p.m. Aug. 20 and 7 and 9:30 p.m. Aug. 21-22; tickets at madisoncomedy.com.
  • Ben Katzner, Thursday, Aug. 20, Local Motive, 7:30 p.m.: It helps when the folks with the comedy club are well connected. Chris Calogero and Emily Winter, the duo behind the TrainCar Comedy series at Local Motive, are. They’re bringing pal Ben Katzner to town on the heels of his first comedy album, Supple Harlot. Currently based in Minneapolis, Katzner has a light touch but a definite spark, and manages to be both funny and pointed in dealing with racism and what’s weird about the Midwest. Wisconsin comedians Darrell Cochran and ARJ open. Tickets at ticketleap.com.
  • Trevor: The Musical, through Aug. 22, Overture-Playhouse: Before it became a musical, Trevor was an Academy Award-winning short film that inspired the creation of The Trevor Project, one of the nation's leading organizations supporting LGBTQ+ youth. In its Wisconsin premiere, Music Theatre of Madison brings the story to the stage, following 13-year-old Trevor Nelson, a theater-loving teen whose life is thrown into turmoil after a humiliating incident at school. Set in 1981, the coming-of-age musical balances humor and heart while exploring identity, acceptance and the courage it takes to be yourself. More than four decades later, Trevor's journey still resonates. Final performances at 7:30 p.m.. Aug. 20-22; tickets at overture.org.

Find the individual Picks collected here, and as part of the full calendar of events.