COMEDY: There will be a few tickets available at the door to see Pam Ann aka Australian comedienne Caroline Reid, "the fashion-flying, hard-drinking, A-list hostess to the stars," who's "touching down" in San Francisco after a sell-out 25-date European tour -- just in time to kick off Fleet Week. (6:30 p.m., Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street)

PHOTOGRAPHY: Acclaimed photographer Lynn Goldsmith will be attendance at the opening night party of Close & Personal, a special photo exhibition celebrating Goldsmith's historic rock and roll archive, which includes shots of Dylan, Springsteen, The Who, Sting, Zappa, Bono, The Clash, The Rolling Stones, Bob Marley, the Village People, Blondie and many more. RSVP required -- call 800.344.9633 or email [email protected] (7 p.m., San Francisco Art Exchange, 458 Geary Street)

ART: Eli Ridgway Gallery presents Better a Live Ass Than a Dead Lion, a group exhibition of Bay Area artists, using photography, video, film, and installation to create a narrative around the idea of exploration as a creative process - an exploration of the miraculous through constructed landscapes, fictional histories, and the documentation of real journeys. (4 to 7 p.m., Eli Ridgway Gallery, 172 Minna Street)