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Top 10: The best cheap things to do in Brooklyn this week, Prince and leopard prints edition

Relive Flavor Flav’s dating show with the Flavor of Live (#8) (pic by Joseph Quinn)

1. Dearly beloved, gather in Bushwick to Get Thru This Thing Called Life: a Prince dance party with a half-dozen DJs including Frankie Teardrop, Edith Pop, Ohaileigh, Knifesex, and more. (Monday, Happyfun Hideaway, FREE) (For our ongoing list of Prince tributes, parties, and other events, go here.)

2. Did you know that crows can make tools, and elephants are self-aware? Join primatologist and bestselling author Frans de Waal at Secret Science Club to learn about different kinds of animal intelligence and what we can learn about the human mind by studying animal cognition. (Monday, Bell House, FREE)

3. “A pattern adapted by nature to help a killer blend in has been adapted by culture to make a fashionista stand out.” Learn a lot about the History of Leopard Print at burlesque star Jo “Boobs” Weldon’s illustrated lecture — proceeds go toward Jo’s Traveling Museum of Leopard Print. (Tuesday, Morbid Anatomy, $10)

4. Have a good laugh at the BackFat Variety Show, an evening of comedy, music, and characters from a bunch of talented performers who just happen to all be ladies: Missy Baker, Sally Brooks, Madonna Refugia, Julia Solomon, and Lorelei Ramirez. (Tuesday, 61 Local, FREE)

5. Take home some lessons from the storytelling show How I Learned… The Struggle Is Real, with true tales from Jacqueline Novak, Shelly Oria, Jenny Rubin, Janelle James, Joel Kim Booster, and Mindy Raf. (Wednesday, Union Hall, $6)

6. Get melodic on the last night of Brooklyn Raga Massive’s four-year residency at Pioneer Works, with an epic show featuring internationally renowned composer Karsh Kale in collaboration with Max ZT, Priya Darshini, and other BRM members. (Wednesday, Pioneer Works, $10)

7. Go deep inside the making of a Quentin Tarantino film at Think Olio’s Dinner & a Movie: Kill Bill, where film prof Geoff Klock screens the film, pausing it regularly to show clips of the myriad other films from which Tarantino stole his music, costuming, dialogue, or anything else — and then explains why. (Thursday, Berg’n, $12)

8. Or get some even trashier pop culture at Flavor of Live, a live-staged adaptation of that one episode of Flavor Flav’s dating show where one of the lady contestants spit on another one. (Thursday, Littlefield, $5)

9. It’s the 15-year anniversary of the Look + Listen Festival, an annual event that presents contemporary music in contemporary galleries. The kick-off show at BRIC features percussion and piano quartet Yarn/Wire, pianist Saskia Lanhoorn, and Hollerbrag performing music for double bass. (Friday, BRIC, FREE)

10. Get ready for a weekend full of art at the Greenpoint Open Studios launch party, featuring music from Ocho Ocho Ocho, Teen Body, and DJ Hideo Tachibana, plus free beer, wine, and snacks. (Friday, Java Studios, FREE)

Want more? Check out our full events calendar and add your own event today!

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Oriana Leckert :Oriana is a writer, editor, and cultural hipstorian [sic] who is kind of obsessed with Brooklyn. She is the author of "Brooklyn Spaces: 50 Hubs of Culture & Creativity" (Monacelli, 2015) and creatrix of the website of the same name. She is the events editor for both Brokelyn and Greenpointers, and her writing has appeared on Slate, Atlas Obscura, New York Post, Matador, Hyperallergic, Gothamist, Curbed, Brooklyn Magazine, Brooklyn Based, and more. Follow her at @orianabklyn.