Your Thursday To Do List

Literary festival Books By The Banks may be a month away (Oct. 20 at Duke Energy Convention Center), but local bibliophiles can get in on the fun early with tonight’s Books By The Banks Poster Debut. The festival, now in its sixth year, brings more than 100 local, regional and national authors to Cincinnati for workshops, lectures, meet-and-greets and more for children and adult readers alike. Each year an artist is commissioned to create a poster to represent BBTB. Tonight at Joseph-Beth Cincinnati, Covington artist Marlene Steele will unveil her design. Steele will discuss her poster and join past BBTB artists in a Q&A. 2012’s poster will be on sale for $15; past years’ posters are $10. Channel your inner Marie Antoinette while supporting Transitions Global during tonight’s ELLiPSiS…The Masquerade. Guests are encouraged to dress in their best mystery disguise while enjoying music, art, cocktails, eats and a fashion show. Tickets are $35, $100 for VIP early admission, champagne, hors d'oeuvres and prime catwalk seating. Proceeds benefit Transitions Global, a non-profit organization that helps rehabilitate rescued sex traffic workers and reintegrates them back into society as strong, independent women. Learn more about this important charity here. Tonight’s masquerade at The Bell Event Center opens to the public at 7 p.m. Actor and comedian Kevin Pollack performs at the Levee Funny Bone tonight through Saturday in support of us upcoming book, How I Slept My Way to the Middle: Secrets and Stories from Stage, Screen, and Interwebs. Pollack, who got his big movie break in the Ron Howard/George Lucas adventure, Willow, is best known for roles in A Few Good Men and The Usual Suspects as well as his spot-on impressions. Tonight’s show begins at 8 p.m. He does a mean Christopher Walken. If you missed this summer’s Fringe Festival or couldn’t make it to every show (it’s a difficult task!), Know Theater is presenting four encore Fringe performances through Saturday. Tonight’s Fall Fringe offerings include OCCUPY This: Tales of an Accidental Activist and Kevin J. Thornton: UNFRINGED. Solo performance OCCUPY This (7 p.m.) tells the story of a man who went to Occupy protests just to carry humorous signs but ended up believing in the cause. Thornton’s unscripted show (8:30 p.m.) blends comedic storytelling with original music to create a uniquely engaging performance every time. Find tickets and more information here.