Pencil This In

ICE CREAM!: Tonight enroll in Slow U: Ice Cream, from Sugar and Snow. Join Slow Food NYC and TheDairyShow.com in discovering where Ice Cream comes from. "First we will explore its origin in time, as culinary historian and author of the book, Of Sugar and Snow: A History of Ice Cream Making, Jeri Quinzio, traces the story of ice cream from its beginnings in the 16th century to today. Then Ben Van Leeuwen will take a break from his retro yellow truck to show us how we can make ice cream at home. We'll end the evening with an ice cream social, where you will have the opportunity to try Ben's Ice Creams." Yum!

6:30 p.m. // 399 Lafayette St [at 4th St] // $35

READING: Tonight Wallace Shawn will bring his non-fiction essay collection, titled Essays, to Barnes & Noble. Howard Zinn said the actor/playwright "writes in a style which is deceptively simple, profoundly thoughtful, fiercely honest. His vocabulary is pungent, his wit delightful, his ideas provocative."

7:30 p.m. // Barnes & Noble-Lincoln Triangle [1972 Broadway] // Free

PARTY: Heeb Magazine is celebrating the release of their Germany issue, and they're doing it with lots and lots of beer. "Arrive early to take advantage of happy hour specials running until 10 p.m., including $3 Yuengling pints and $6 fr a PBR & shot of Old Grandad, not to mention music from the lovely ladies of Brooklyn's Main Squeeze Orchestra, with seven accordions in tow, along with DJ Duane Harriott (Other Music)." More details here.

8 p.m. // Union Pool [484 Union Ave, Brooklyn] // Free; RSVP here

THEATER: Two gangs of theatrical envelope-pushers have swept into town from the Pacific Northwest, bringing with them an absence of cynicism or irony that may, according to Nytheatre.com's Ivanna Cullinan, "be a bit of a shock to a New Yorker's system." We'd expect nothing less from the Ontological's Summer Incubator series, which is hosting a double bill from Portland's Hand2Mouth Theatre and Seattle's Helsinki Syndrome. The former is presenting Faith Helma's one woman wall-of-sound performance Undine, while the latter performs a "radical and disorienting detonation" of Oscar Wilde's satire The Importance of Being Earnest.

8 p.m. // Ontological Theater [131 E 10th St] // $17

Newsletter contributions from John Del Signore and Jen Carlson