Do It: Andy Bumatai, Parker Quartet, Hawaii Burlesque Fest, Sunset on the Beach

FRIDAY

>> Comedian Andy Bumatai comes home to Waikiki

Hawaii standup favorite Andy Bumatai is coming home.

He’s just finished a tour on the West Coast, which he dubbed the “In Denial Tour” after the motorcycle he was planning to take broke down. “I’m way old for it, but I ride it anyway, so I’m in denial,” said Bumatai, 63, who hits the Blue Note Hawaii today.

Bumatai’s found that his audiences, old timers like himself, appreciate things like not dragging politics – too much – into his act and “not swearing.” “In private life I swear like a truck driver changing a tire, but on stage it’s not something I do,” he said.

He finds plenty to joke about on the road – like the hazards of being on the road. He remembers staying at an AirBnb place – only $40 a night, who could resist? – and then being asked “Do you want sheets?” But for the most part, he just gets up on stage, gets a feel for the audience, and then just “shoots bits out like arrows from a quiver.”

North Shore residents: Bumatai says he’ll also be performing Oct. 6 at Surfer, The Bar at Turtle Bay Resort “for all the people who couldn’t get a visa to come to Honolulu.”

“In Hawaii, you do a show in Ewa Beach and people don’t want to come from Mililani,” he said. Bumatai knows us.

FRIDAY

>> The Parker Quartet returns to Honolulu

The Parker Quartet, an acclaimed ensemble returning to Honolulu on Friday, has been trying out an atypical seating arrangement recently.

The standard lineup for a quartet is first violin, second violin, cello and viola, arranged in a semicircle. The Parker Quartet has recently swapped the viola with the second violin. Its lineup is first violin, viola, cello, second violin, so that the violinists face each other.

Violist Jessica Bodner told the New York Times that she “enjoyed the feeling of forming a bass section with the cellist at the back of the group, and experiencing what she called the ‘concertante back-and-forth’ between the two violins who face each other.” She also doesn’t have to twist her body so much when she has a solo.

There will be ample opportunity to see how this arrangement works with today’s program, which features three exemplary works in the genre: Mozart’s “Quartet in E-flat, K.428” was one of six quartets dedicated to Haydn, who was then prompted to name Mozart “the greatest composer known to me”; Janacek’s “‘Kreutzer Sonata’ Quartet,” an anxiety-ridden work that refers to a tragedy by Tolstoy; and Beethoven’s “Quartet in E-flat, Op.74, ‘The Harp,’” which requires a delicate coordination among the players to create the appropriate harp-like effect in the first movement.

The Parker Quartet, which won a Grammy for its 2011 recording of Ligeti quartets, is known for promoting new music as well as its dynamic performances. The group is based in Boston. In addition to Bodner, violinists Daniel Chong and Ken Hamao and cellist Kee-Hyun Kim are members.

FRIDAY-SATURDAY

>> Burlesque festival features dancer Bunny Pistol

Have a naughty good time with the Hawaii Burlesque Festival & Revue, which returns to the Doris Duke Theatre this weekend.

This year’s festival, the seventh annual event held by burlesque group Cherry Blossom Cabaret, includes two evenings of campy, choreographed slinky performances by dancers from Hawaii and overseas, along with a generous dollop of audience participation.

Friday’s show is billed as the “Twinnight Show” and is modeled after a late-night talk show. The event will even be taped, so nice attire is encouraged – as is naughty-but-nice behavior. Bunny Pistol, a California-based dancer who was a finalist for the Miss Viva Las Vegas Competition, is the featured performer for the evening, with Pixie Twist coming all the way from New Zealand.

Saturday’s show has a slumber party theme. Visitors are encouraged to dress in pajamas, nightgowns or other sleepwear for pillow fights and scary campfire stories along with risque rollicking with the performers. Pistol will be firing again, along with Maryland dancer Kay Sera, with Armitage Shanks returning from Washington state to emcee.

SUNDAY

>> ‘Hawaii Five-0’ and ‘Magnum P.I.’ share the sand at Sunset on the Beach

Look for double the excitement at Sunset on the Beach on Sunday (rescheduled from Friday), as “Hawaii Five-0” returns to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the show and the reboot of “Magnum P.I.” gets its premiere on the big outdoor screen.

Also exciting: Cyndi Lauper takes the stage before the screenings begin. The singer-songwriter’s long career and impressive resume include meditative, thoughtful tunes like “Time After Time” and “True Colors” from her 1983 album “She’s So Unusual,” but it’s probably another tune from that album, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” that best typifies her message. She is scheduled to perform at about 6:10 p.m.

With her eccentric fashion sense and ever-changing hair color –she’s probably best known for pink – Lauper is among the first pop musicians to bring punk-rock influences to the mainstream. She has also displayed a social-activist sensitivity in her work with songs about spousal abuse, racism and LGBT culture. In more recent years, her work has ranged from composing the the Tony Award-winning score for the 2012 drag-queen musical “Kinky Boots” to singing country standards on her 2016 album “Detours.”

To see stars of “Hawaii Five-0” and “Magnum,” head to Waikiki a few hours earlier to get in position for red carpet appearances, which starts at 4:30 p.m.. “Magnum” actors Jay Hernandez, Perdita Weeks, Zachary Knighton, Stephen Hill and Tim Kang will likely be on hand; “Five-O” regulars include Alex O’Loughlin, Scott Caan, Ian Anthony Dale, Meaghan Rath, Beulah Koale, Jorge Garcia, Chi McBride, Kimee Balmilero, Dennis Chun and Taylor Wily.