Today's must-see concerts

Julia Mattison and Joel Waggoner's holiday show began as an online lark: they challeneged themselves to write a new song for each December day before Christmas. But it has since grown into a yearly live tradition, most recently at Joe's Pub. This year, popular demand has propelled the show into a longer run (eight shows) in a larger space at the Public (the Shiva Theater). Mattison and Waggoner are very gifted performers and musical comedians—she earned a Tony nomination earlier this year for co-writing the score to Death Becomes Her—so their yuletide originals and improvised carols have the potential to knock your stockings off. 

Jackie Beat has been doing Christmas shows for more than two decades: You can’t stop the Beat. Her classic carol parodies—such as "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Syphilis" and "Santa's Baby"—are hilarious, and her powerhouse vocals are impressive. But it's her improvisations and crowd work that demonstrate what a natural-born entertainer looks like in the spotlight.

Caustic wit, witchy charisma and fearless queer wisdom have made Justin Vivian Bond one of New York’s essential performers. Now the alt-cabaret star, trans icon and McArthur "Genius" Grantee returns to her frequent roost at Joe’s Pub for a two-week engagement with a solstice show to melt the hearts of snowflakes everywhere, joined by a five-piece band led by musical director David Sytkowski.

PJ Adzima, who currently plays the hopeful but hopelessly repressed Elder McKinley in Broadway's The Book of Mormon, hosts a neovaudevillian monthly variety show at the Slipper Room that proffers an eclectic mix of musical-theater, comedy, drag, circus and burlesque performances. A down-and-dirtier version of the show also plays there every week on Saturdays at midnight.

Joe Iconis is a mainstay of local musical-theater songwriting, and he parties as well as he composes: His shows, stuffed with longtime friends and collaborators, have an exuberant sense of community. Now he returns to 54 Below with the 15th annual edition of his rollicking holiday show. In addition to the usual gang—which has swelled to almost 50 performers—he is joined here by Broadway treasure Annie Golden.

When Forbidden Broadway alum Christine Pedi draws from her deep reservoir of celebrity vocal impressions, she shines brightly as a star in her own right. This month, she roasts holiday chestnuts by Liza Minnelli, Ethel Merman, Julie Andrews and more; her astonishing “12 Divas of Christmas” alone is worth the price of admission.