Pencil This In

READING: FreeNYC points us to a reading at B&N featuring Gong Show guru and possible CIA assassin, Chuck Barris:

"In addition to bringing the world the Newlywed Game, the Gong Show and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Chuck Barris has now turned his attention to the phenomenon of reality TV in The Big Question, a dystopian view of what television will become in the near future.Come meet Barris and have your copy of his latest novel signed while you're at it. I may stop in just to ask what it was like to hang out with the Unknown Comic on a regular basis."

7pm // Barnes & Noble, Astor Place // Free

DEBATE: The oft-controversial Christopher Hitchens will be at the NYPL tonight armed with his latest book "God Is Not Great: How Religion Ruins Everything," to debate Al Sharpton (who apparently is taking the day off from cleaning up rap). The two will take on "possibly the greatest issue of our time—the malignant force of religion in the world."

7pm // New York Public Library, Center for the Humanities [5th Ave at 42nd St] // $15

MUSIC: The Arcade Fire are back in town for a few nights with The National opening up at both United Palace Theater and Radio City (the latter as part of the High Line Festival)...did you get tickets? There's still time to find a reasonable deal on Craigslist if not.

A non-sold out music option for the evening is Alice Smith (pictured) at Mercury Lounge. We caught her a year ago at Rockwood Music Hall and were simply blown away by her talent. Buy tickets here.

7pm // Mercury Lounge [E Houston at Essex] // $12

THEATER: Kourtney Rutherford’s new play, The Present Perfect, concerns a tony cocktail party that turns tempestuous when uninvited guests shatter the evening’s tense veneer of civility. The Present Perfect delights in skewering Bobo commodity fetishism; a guest “molests” the precious furniture and an interior designer’s prized glass collection is brutally endangered. In an added bit of conceptual commentary, everything in the show is cataloged for sale, from Megan Biddle’s glass sculptures to the actors themselves, who dash through multiple roles like Black Friday shoppers. (Read Gothamist’s interview with performer Jason Schuler.) - John Del Signore

8pm // The Brick Theater [575 Metropolitan Ave] // Tickets cost $15