BENEFIT: The South Toward Home Benefit tonight promises to be enjoyable time, and your money will be going towards rebuilding homes for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Join Eugene Mirman, Michael Showalter, Kristen Schaal, Todd Barry and Andrew Donnelly, along with musical guests Neko Case and Lucy Wainwright Roche! Tickets are still on sale, buy buy buy!

8 p.m. // Southpaw [125 Fifth Ave, Park Slope] // $25

ART: The DUMBO 1st Thursday Gallery Walk is tonight, featuring area galleries and artists’ studios open to all for three hours at no charge. Gallery receptions, neighborhood dining and bars, and live music add to the eve, and here's a list of tonight's participants.

5:30 p.m. // Various Locations // Free

FOOD: What do you call an upscale barbecue complete with Waygu beef sliders, Kobe beef hot dogs and champagne cocktails? Apparently it's a "Champagne Bubble Q." Despite the high-end menu that also includes whole grilled Montauk striped bass and cold champagne poached salmon, the event is absolutely free.

7 - 9 p.m. // The Courtyard at ICON, W Hotels New York – The Court [130 East 39th Street, between Park and Lexington] // Free, but email RSVP is required.

In preparation for this weekend's Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Leonard Lopate will be moderating a discussion among three barbecue experts about the art and science of barbecue: where it comes from, why we love it, and who makes the best. Hear from Restaurateur Danny Meyer of Union Square Café and founder of the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party; Food Network star Bobby Flay, chef/owner of seven restaurants, including New York City's Mesa Grill; and Chris Lilly, winner of 10 world barbecue competitions and vice president of Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q, the "best barbecue in Alabama" about all things BBQ. - Laren Spirer

8:15 p.m. // 92nd Street Y, Butenweiser Hall [1395 Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street] // $26, tickets available online.

THEATER: Anyone who’s driven through West Texas knows how isolated it can be – especially at night when you can seemingly go for hours seeing nothing but weird UFO lights and the occasional massive 24 hour porn superstore. The “dramatic and huge landscape” inspired Katie Bender’s evocative new play, This Is a Cowboy Poem My Daddy Taught Me, takes place in Marfa, Texas, where a fictionalized version of minimalist artist Donald Judd finalizes his will while three other desperate characters lurk around the outskirts of town. Heather Lee Rogers calls it “one beautiful piece of theatre… Despite the theatrical beauty of the play, I often felt like I was eavesdropping on real-life conversations—hiding at the end of the porch, sitting a table away at the bar.” – John Del Signore

8 p.m. // Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex [312 West 36th Street] // $18

MUSIC: Radio 4, The Cloud Room, Cassettes Won't Listen and Foreign Islands are playing a party tonight that includes an open vodka bar (from 8 to 9 p.m.), live painting on nude models, glow-in-the-dark stuff and, of course, music. The location has just been changed from R Bar to Le Royale, so make a note of it and head over there. Oddly enough, ex-Cloud Room member Ben Nugent was our interview for this morning.

8 p.m. // Le Royale [21 7th Ave South] // $10