Culture Flash!

Rob Nash's latest adventure with the Smith clan, 12 Steps to a More Dysfunctional Musical, is being held over. The solo show will now run through Sept. 18, Fridays and Saturdays only, 8pm, at the Vortex, 2307 Manor. Go and you can take advantage of the theatre's new "get back to the adventure of theatre" deal: You decide the ticket price at $5, $10, or $15. As Artistic Director Bonnie Cullum puts it, "We know the economy in Austin still sucks, so we are making live theatre more affordable!" The deal is good all season. For more information, call 478-LAVA.

Regarding last week's item on the mob of clowns who picketed the Physical Plant Theater production of Not Clown before the Saturday, Aug. 21 performance: Hickey the Love Clown writes in to disabuse me of my skepticism regarding the organizers of the event: "No one at the play had anything to do with the clown picket. We were protesting the play's depiction of violence against clowns. Don't beat your Bozo, as they say. They were one of many stops on the Capitol City Clown Crawl Saturday night." Among those stops: the balcony bar at the Stephen F. Austin Hotel, the Carousel Lounge, the Barnes & Noble bookstore at the Arboretum, the Common Interest, LaLa's Little Nugget, Poodle Dog Lounge, and Ginny's Little Longhorn. I stand corrected. Clown on!