-- Marga Gomez: Multiaward-wining lesbian/Latina comic makes her Plush Room debut with Joshua Raoul Broday on the ivories, and former Mornings on 2 personality and comedian, Mark Pitta. Show starts at 8 p.m., the Empire Plush Room, 940 Sutter; $20.

-- Hard Eight (aka Sydney): Before making Magnolia, the sprawling masterpiece about fate and The Valley, Paul Thomas Anderson made his debut with Hard Eight. The visibly-boney Gwyneth Paltrow plays a cocktail waitress/whore in this crime drama. Shows at 8:50 p.m. at the Castro Theatre, Castro & Market Streets; $6-$9.

-- Jon Crocker: Folk-Americana/punk gem sings bouncy yet melancholic tunes at an intimate show in SOMA. He goes on at 7 p.m. (followed by open-mike night at 8 p.m.) at Brainwash Laundry, 1122 Folsom; free.

-- Seth Lerer's Inventing English: a Portable History of the Language: Lerer reads from his latest book, sparks lively debate about the future of the English language. Tonight at 7 p.m., Sunset Branch Library (Lower Level), 1305 - 18th Ave.; free.