BENEFIT: Tonight catch a special performance by Alanis Morissette, while rubbing elbows with Matt Dillon...all for a good cause! The inaugural fundraising benefit for the Adrienne Shelly Foundation will be held this evening, and you can get in with a ticket from $150 to...well, $10,000 bucks. You'll be supporting the late Shelly's foundation which "supports the artistic achievements of female actors, writers and directors through a series of scholarships and grants." 6pm // Skirball Center......

READING: The wonderful Paragraph, a downtown writers' haven, is hosting a roof deck reading, which is a pretty sweet way to get a good view and some good stories at the same time. The reading, which features Mohammed Naseeu Ali (The Prophet of Zongo Street) and poet Wyn Cooper (Stories From the Interior), will actually be held on the roof deck at Clay, the spa next door to Paragraph on 14th street. Wine and cheese......

Comedy Legends Live: The inimitable Carl Reiner speaks with Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Susie Essman. Reiner—comedian, actor, novelist and director— was a creator, writer and producer for The Dick Van Dyke Show. In 1999, he was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor by the Kennedy Center and was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. Come check out a legend. Tonight // 8:15pm // Kaufmann Concert Hall [ Lexington Avenue at 92nd St] //......

Because of the multimillion dollar renovation slated for Washington Square Park, NYU has to move their all-university graduation exercises next year to Shea Stadium. Oh, yes, the home of Amazin' Mets, all the way out in Flushing. The Washington Square News reports that the administration also considered Central Park’s East Meadow, Pier 40 and NYU’s Skirball Center for Performing Arts, as well as just cancelling all-university graduation, but then settled on Shea. Well, at......

Maybe you couldn’t swing the cost of the Black Diamond All Access Pass, or perhaps you got blackballed from the St. Regis Hotel for trying to sneak into Larry David’s suite last year. Whatever your reason may be for not attending this year’s US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, you need not worry, a bit of it is coming to New York throughout the week. Flight of the Conchords, named Best Alternative Comedy Act at......

It's never too early to plan weekend activities, and since tomorrow is the Lunar New Year, Gothamist thinks it might be fun to check out the New York Chinese Cultural Center's 20th dance festival. There will be various dances, musical performances, and Peking Opera. There's nothing like cultural enrichment while watching people dressed up as monkeys trying to hit each other with sticks. Tickets are on sale via Ticket Web for the three weekend performances......