If you happen to be enticed by both performance and entomology, tonight is your lucky night—three U.S. artists and a bunch of giant cockroaches have come to take over the town.

Miya Masaoka’s shiver-inducing Ritual With Giant Hissing Madagascar Cockroaches alone is worth dragging yourself off the couch and down to La Centrale (460 Ste-Catherine W., #506). In this Kafkaesque performance, sound clips are triggered by the movements made by the insects crawling over Masaoka’s naked body.

Also on tap is the vampirish Gigi Otalvaro-Hormillosa, aka The Devil Bunny in Bondage (See her site www.devilbunny.org for the scary details). She’s performing excerpts from her work Cosmic Blood, an exploration of her mixed indigenous and Spanish heritage. And Rachel Cook has been cooking, so grab a drink before she performs to wash down the cake she’ll be serving up. The evening is part of a cross-border exchange organized by New Langton Arts in San Francisco and La Centrale. Info: 871-0268, www.lacentrale.org. : » Christine Redfern

Once more, Montrealers are flocking to the Centaur’s remount of the English-language version of Steve Gallucio’s Mambo Italiano, now held over for a second time this run, until Dec. 14.

Theatregoers can also get a taste of visual art when venturing to the show. Actor Joseph Gallaccio, who reprises his role as Nino in Mambo Italiano, has a series of his paintings hanging in the Centaur’s gallery. Titled My Italiano, the collection is a lively, pop-art influenced and often hilarious meditation on being a first-generation Italian immigrant. Take “Faccia rotta” (“Break face”), in which Gallaccio frames a box of breakfast cereal with paintings of his parents. The title is inspired by his mother’s pronunciation of the English word “breakfast.” The exhibit continues alongside the production, and Gallaccio hopes to show the paintings in Toronto when the show remounts there in late January. : » Matthew Hays

Music is key to Ann Van Den Broek in inspiring her creations. From the beginning, the Belgian choreographer-dancer often collaborates with the musicians as the piece takes shape. In her latest project Quartet With One, which opens this week at Tangente (840 Cherrier), Van Den Broek works with Amsterdam-pianist Rex Lobo and local percussionist-composer Yvon Plouffe. Dancer Sophie Janssens joins in.

Because of the geographical distance between the artists, much of the collaboration was done via electronic means, through e-mail, videotapes, or faxes. Quartet With One looks at bridging the physical gap that separated these four people and how they are united emotionally on stage. Dec. 6–8, 525-1500 to reserve tickets. : » Marites Carino

The latest installment of Fish Piss is about to hit the stands, and for the first time publisher Louis Rastelli needed to have the hand-silkscreened cover perfectbound. “This is the biggest yet, 120 pages,” he says. “I managed to get about eight actual advertisements this time. That didn’t make me any money, but it covered the extra costs.”

The theme, as exemplified by Uncle Costa’s porno-riffic American Flag cover, is “The American War.” There’s new work by Alexis O’Hara and Steve Godin, and 40 of Sherwin Tjia’s pseudo-haikus. There’s also a feature on the Cheap Thrills record store, great underground comix, 50 music reviews, and a forensic inquiry into the monkeyshines behind the cryptic photo on the inner sleeve of the Set Fire to Flames CD. The launch happens at Casa del Popolo (4873 St-Laurent) on Dec. 9, from 6 p.m.–midnight. Free admission, $3 for the zine. : » Vincent Tinguely

Miles of aisles: Lots of Plateau dwellers never leave the cozy confines of their ’hood, and certainly not to buy groceries. That’s why the latest gentrification happening on Mont-Royal, the Provigo megastore that opened last week, is such a crazy trip. Ten-foot-high President’s Choice sauces-of-the-world installations and interactive price-checker machines stand just beyond the security guard who greets à la Wal-Mart next to the elevator down to the SUV-laden parking garage. Through it all, the culture-savvy walk around in a daze, slackjawed and awkward like hillbillies at a vernissage. Grab a supercart and stick it to Mom ’n’ Pop, 9 a.m.–11 p.m., Mon–Sun (Mont-Royal and St-Urbain). : » Matthew Woodley

Goodie grab: The Rusty Plum Gift Sale, now in its seventh year, is a fine alternative to the Eaton Centre for Christmas shopping. Get your handmade treasures over three consecutive weekends, starting this one, Dec. 7–8, 11 a.m.–6 p.m. at the Old Marché Feldman (5454 St–Laurent). • Poets return: Transsexual poet Trish Salah and Anurima Banerji, both former Montreal spoken-wordsters, read from their respective new books, Wanting in Arabic and Night Artillery this Saturday, Dec. 7, 3 p.m. at Paragraph Bookstore (2220 McGill College). • All the art you can’t eat: Two big paintings from Carmen Ruschiensky make savoury references to the world of gastronomy (one to food, one to drink) in her exhibition, À Volonté, at the Darling Foundry (745 Ottawa) until Dec. 22. • Xmas heat: The Chango Family are throwing a big bamboula to rake up funds for Christmas gifts for kids in need. They’ll be joined by other world-beatists, Saturday, Dec. 7, at the Kola Note (5240 Parc), $12/$15. :

Artistat: Number of works and texts on the new DVD-ROM interactive reference tool, Salut, Riopelle! an interactive journey through Jean-Paul Riopelle’s art, available at various bookstores and Boîte Noire locations (www.riopelle.ca for more info): 500 :

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