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Top 20: The best cheap things to do in Brooklyn this weekend, April Fools edition

Noah Levine will magic up your April Fool’s Day (#2)

1. Start drinking early at Mission Dolores’ sixth anniversary, which starts at noon and goes all night long, featuring a whole bunch of fancy bottles and drafts. (Friday, Mission Dolores, FREE)

2. Don’t get tricked at Brooklyn Historical Society’s Free Friday: April Fools Edition, with magician Noah Levine, Coney Island sideshow stories, and Brooklyn Bridge hoax trivia. (Friday, Brooklyn Historical Society, FREE)

3. If you’re a fashionista who likes to laugh, check out Comedy Fashion Variety Mashup Show, where comedians and character performers tell stories inspired by onesies — while wearing onesies. (Friday, Jill Lindsey Clothing Store, FREE)

4. Put your thinking cap on for Ideation, with storytelling, comedy, and cartoons from Kevin Allison, Jo Firestone, Julia Wertz, Brett Davis, and Tad Kimball. (Friday, Our Wicked Lady, FREE)

5. Groove it out at I Know You Got Soul, with DJs Pat, Jae Trevor, and Ben the Beyonder spinning everything from 60s soul stompers to space-age funk. (Friday, Freddy’s, FREE)

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Brown Rice Family ready with some Brooklyn-born roots music (#10)

6. Stuff your face at Smorgasburg, which opens both outdoor locations this weekend: Williamsburg waterfront on Saturday and Prospect Park on Sunday. (Saturday & Sunday, FREE)

7. Get crafty at the Feminist Comics, Coffee and Zine Workshop, where artists Mimi Chrzanowski, Penina Gal, Emma Karin, and Emily S. will present their work and then facilitate some interactive zine-ing. (Saturday, Interference Archive, FREE)

8. Or DIY yourself a pat on the back at the Make Your Own Merit Badge Workshop with Greenpoint Hand Skills. (Saturday, Greenpoint Library, FREE)

9. Sail away to the Ghostship Ball, a fundraiser for North Brooklyn Boat Club and LIC Community Boathouse featuring aerial feats, swashbuckling sea tales, and music from Morgan O’Kane, Blacktop Daisy, and Laura and Greg. (Saturday, House of Yes, $8)

10. Celebrate spring at Brooklyn Museum First Saturday, with papier-mache bead-making, a dance performance and movement workshop, and music by Falu, Brown Rice Family, and Maya Azucena. (Saturday, Brooklyn Museum, FREE)

11. Figure some things out at the Identify Performance Series, featuring seven interactive works that manipulate spatial perception, imagery, words, and audio. (Saturday, Usagi NY, $15)

12. Embrace spirituality at the Tarot Society Gallery’s 1-Year Anniversary, with musical performances from Songs for the Spirits, Lazurite, Kevin Pelrine, Julie LaMendola, and more. (Saturday, Tarot Society Gallery, $10 suggested)

13. Get covered with glitter (and who knows what else?) at Horrorchata’s Razor 5000, a dance-and-drag-tacular with a Latina takeover, featuring Zemmoa, Amor Prohibida, Lady Quesadilla, and Raul de Nieves. (Saturday, Secret Project Robot, $10)

14. Go a little crazy at Glamdammit’s The Wild Ones, a tribute to the Runaways with messy rock, glittery glam, and free PBR from 11 to midnight. (Saturday, Grand Victory, $7)

15. Put the phone down and dance your way over to a semi-secret midnight dance party spun by DJ Lo Down Loretta Brown, aka Erykah Badu. (Saturday, Brooklyn Bowl, $20)

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Let Scarlit Envy ramp up your shopping frenzy (#19)

16. Get your Sunday read on at the Free Black Women’s Library, an interactive mobile pop-up featuring 350+ books authored by lady writers of color. (Sunday, MoCADA, FREE)

17. Challenge convention at Gender/Power, an interactive performance addressing social justice issues around authority and gender at the intersection of age, race, class, ability, sex, and sexuality. (Sunday, Smack Mellon, FREE)

18. Kick it up at the Street Soccer Fest, a street fair celebrating Red Hook’s newest soccer pitch, with games, food, DJs, exhibition matches, and more. (Sunday, Bush-Clinton Park, FREE)

19. Shop fabulous at Fashion Frenzy: peruse wares from a dozen local designers while watching drag performances by Scarlet Envy, Ragamuffin, Elle Emenope, and Casey Yalater. (Sunday, This ‘n That, FREE)

20. See some strange performances at Big Irv’s Big Ass Variety Show, featuring Johnny Bizarre, Master Lee, Jake Hart, Shelby Thompson, and more. (Sunday, Big Irv’s, FREE)

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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.