-- Doug Benson: How he didn't win the last season of Last Comic Standing is above and beyond all logic. Then again, competitive reality TV makes little sense at times. (See: Banks, Tyra) Benson managed to make it on LCS not once, but twice. And with good reason: he's downright hilarious. Nikki Glaser and Mo Mandel open for the Benson. Show starts at 8 p.m. (and continues until Saturday) at the Punch Line; $15.

-- Shonen Knife: remember these ladies? A fixture of the alterna-'90s, they're still around proving to be a most entertaining Japanese rock outfit. They perform with Juliet Dagger and Verona Grove tonight at 8 p.m. at Slim's; $18.

-- A King in New York (1957): Charles Chaplin's final (starring) role. His swan song is about "[a] king [who] loses all his wealth and his tiny European country after a peasant revolt. He escapes to New York with his family, where fame-seeking socialites become his benefactors and the media tries to turn him into a product pitching celebrity, but not before he comes the aid of a young boy whose parents face sentences from HUAC." Also, it's not a silent picture. Yay! Screens tonight at 8 p.m. at The Castro Theatre; $6-9.

-- The Art of Being a Lover by Karinna Kittles-Karston: Basically, it's a lecture on how to hump better. Tee hee. The dinner/lecture starts at 8 p.m. at OneTasteSF; $15-30.