What to do in Madison this week: May 25-28, 2026

Marisa Anderson, Comedy Bang! Bang! and more Isthmus Picks

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Arts

  • Memorial Day Observances, Monday, May 25, various locations/times: Memorial Day in the Madison area offers both formal ceremonies and peace-centered reflection. The Madison Veterans Council and partners observance at the Capitol (West Washington Avenue side) begins with the VFW Post 1318 Band at 9:15 a.m., followed by a 10 a.m. ceremony. VFW Post 7591 hosts ceremonies at 8 a.m. at Forest Hill Cemetery and 9:30 a.m. at Monona Grove High School, followed by the Monona Memorial Day parade along Monona Drive; Post 7591 also marks the day at 11:15 a.m., Blooming Grove Cemetery; noon, Roselawn Cemetery, Monona; 1 p.m., Highland Memorial Gardens, Cottage Grove; 2 p.m., Madison Veterans Memorial Park; and 3 p.m., at Post 7591. American Legion Post #245 in Cross Plains hosts a parade starting at 11 a.m. on Park Street, ending at the Post for a memorial program at 11:45 a.m., chicken barbecue, music and kids' activities. Fitchburg’s observance begins at 12:15 p.m. at Gorman Wayside Veterans Memorial Park, while American Legion Post 151’s Avenue of Flags ceremony follows at 2 p.m. at Sunset Memory Gardens. And Veterans for Peace-Clarence Kailin Chapter 25 hosts its annual Memorial Day Peace Rally at the Wisconsin Masonic Center with community tabling at noon and the program at 1 p.m. featuring a keynote by Susan Schnall, national VFP Board president, and music by Old Cool.
  • Dauber, Tuesday, May 26, Gamma Ray, 9 p.m.: New York trio Dauber plays high energy, catchy garage punk. Also visiting is Buio Omega from Minneapolis, playing melodically infused hardcore. Madison is ably represented by “Great Lakes emo” trio We Should Have Been DJs and garage pop faves Heather the Jerk. All four bands can rock your face off but also remember to save some room for catchy hooks to reattach it. Tickets at gammaray.bar.
  • Refuge & Resistance, May 27-June 13, Imaginary Factory; reception June 4, 5:30-8:30 p.m.: It makes sense that a distillery and craft cocktail hangout called Imaginary Factory would support the artistic community. This exhibit from four Madison-area artists celebrates both realism and abstraction in a way that foregrounds art’s ability to engage an audience with issues as well as soothe a troubled mind. Ciel Skål, Issis Macias, R-Lo and Bob Hemauer embrace a number of varied techniques, from Skål’s adventures in pigment making to R-Lo’s experiments in charcoal, erasers and rags. A portion of sales will go to support Voces de la Frontera. The reception from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on June 4 will feature a Q&A session with the artists at 6:30 p.m.
  • Urban Sketchers Madison, through May 31, Goodman Community Center-Ironworks Ballweg Gallery: The group Urban Sketchers Madison is hosting its first public group exhibit, “Here, There, and Everywhere.” These non-professional sketch enthusiasts capture something vital and organic about scenes in our city, with a wide range of styles and perspectives.
  • LunART Festival, May 27-31, ALL + WYSO Center for Music: The annual LunART Festival spotlights the contributions of women to the arts, with four events featuring the LunART Choir, more than 40 performing artists, and work by more than 20 composers. This year’s theme is “Resonance.” The events kick off at 7:30 p.m. May 27 with a panel discussion at Arts + Literature Laboratory on “The Power of Collective Creative Practice.” May 29-30 brings gala concerts at the WYSO Center for Music (both at 7:30 p.m.) and things wrap up May 31 with the free Composers' Hub Spotlight Concert, also at WYSO, at 2:30 p.m. Find more info and tickets at lunartfestival.org.
  • Comedy Bang! Bang! Wednesday, May 27, Barrymore, 8 p.m.: Starting as a podcast and graduating to a cable series and today a whole world of content, Comedy Bang! Bang! is an unhinged take on the talk show format, with fake guests, real comedians, derailed interviews and bits that shift before anyone can stop them. Hosts Scott Aukerman, Paul F. Tompkins and the Comedy Bang! Bang! All-Stars are on the road for the “Ground Beefing Tour,” creating a fully improvised show across America and Europe. Characters arrive without warning, premises collapse beautifully, and Aukerman tries to somehow keep the whole thing pointed vaguely forward. Tickets at ticketmaster.com.
  • Marisa Anderson, Thursday, May 28, Arts + Literature Lab, 7 p.m.: Marisa Anderson is acclaimed by outlets ranging from Pitchfork to the BBC as a modern wizard of solo guitar. Her most recent album, The Anthology of UnAmerican Folk Music Volume 1, draws on Anderson’s study of Harry Smith’s record collection; as the title points to, it focuses on music from countries who were/are at odds with the U.S. Anderson’s restless sense of curiosity establishes a dialogue with the songs — including alternate tunings, hovering drones, and melodies that don’t quite go where you expect — creating a world that’s quiet, patient, and a little disorienting. The Madison show is part of the Auricle New Music Series; tickets at artlitlab.org.
  • Alfred Robles, May 28-30, Comedy on State: As highlighted by many videos posted on YouTube (including a segment from his last Madison tour stop in 2024) Alfred Robles goes all-in on crowd work, bringing audience members on stage for extended back-and-forth sessions. It can be a one-of-a-kind mixture of therapy and Jerry Springer Show style drama, kept in the vicinity of on the rails by his quick comedic wit. Shows at 7 p.m. May 28 and 7 and 9:30 p.m. May 29-30; tickets at madisoncomedy.com.
  • Marta Hansen album release, Thursday, May 28, Glass Nickel-Sun Prairie, 7 p.m.: At The Piano Gal Shop, Marta Hansen offers piano tuning and repair, as well as creative re-use ideas for instruments at the end of their lives. Hansen is also a singer-songwriter and performer with an emotive vocal style and confident command of the piano keys. On the new album Stripped Hansen offers a selection of (mostly) solo reimaginings of ‘90s-’00s classics by Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Tori Amos and others.
  • Peter Mulvey & Jenna Nicholls, Thursday, May 28, Bur Oak, 8 p.m.: Wisconsin singer-songwriter Peter Mulvey has a knack for finding creative collaborators; the latest is Jenna Nicholls, a fellow singer-songwriter based on the East Coast. The duo, along with guitarist Ross Bellenoit, spent a few days in 2025 recording the album Floyd Mercantile, set for release in June via Righteous Babe Records and including songs by both writers and a few standards. The lead single, “Some People,” is a jazzy duet rearrangement of the gently sassy Mulvey song originally released on the 2009 album Letters From a Flying Machine. Tickets at theburoakmadison.com.

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

Editor's note: This post was inadvertently on hold due to a scheduling error.