8 local events to help decompress from Election Day stress

Election Day can be an anxiety-inducing experience no matter who you’re voting for. Frantically refreshing news sites and keeping your eyes glued to the television screen as polls shift around may not be the healthiest way to spend Nov. 5 and the days surrounding it. So here are some ways to de-stress, from stand-up comedy to a trip to the museum.

In need of some comedic relief? Long Live Roxbury, a brewery and taproom, will host stand-up comedy night Jokes for Justice. Comedians will try to ease election anxiety, and voter registration resources will be available before the big day. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. and tickets are $8.

The Brattle Theatre in Cambridge is screening “The Muppet Movie” in 35mm amid the election chaos for a return to childhood nostalgia and good vibes. The 1979 musical film follows Kermit’s road trip to Hollywood in pursuit of fame where he encounters other Muppet friends along the way. Tickets range from $12.50 to $14.50.

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Music lovers hoping to avoid constantly refreshing the election results can head to Emo Election Night at Warehouse XI in Somerville. Emo and pop-punk bands Ringpop!, 5ever, Sunday Morning and Nicoteens will play beginning at 8 p.m. General admission tickets are $15, and $5 from each ticket will go to the Boston Foundation Fund for Reproductive Health.

Harvard Art Museums is hosting an afternoon dedicated to mindfulness and calm energy. At 1 p.m., curator Miriam Stewart will delve into 19th-century painting. Visitors can sketch in the Silver Cabinet gallery at 1:45 p.m. Curator Jen Thum will explore contemporary sculpture at 2:30 p.m., and curator Yan Yang will get into rocks in art through a discussion called “Scaling Mountains” at 3:15 p.m. The event will conclude with a 4 p.m. talk about contemporary art held by Cunningham Fellow Sarah Lieberman. The event is free, and each session is limited to 18 people. No registration is required.

Presidential Election? More like Presidential Erection. The Crystal Ballroom in Somerville is hosting a voting-themed drag party with dancing and performances. Drag artists Ricky Mortis, Mia Culpa, Complete Destruction, Stroke The Clown, Andi Van Dyke, Celia Smokinbutts, Witj E Craft and Buster Pants will light up the stage with music from hip-hop multimedia company  Bars Over Bars. There will also be a pop-up arcade from Super Party Bros. The election will stream in the background, so guests can stay informed while blowing off steam. The event is for ages 21 and older, and tickets are $20.

Those who feel like expressing election anxiety through song and community can attend an election night singing event hosted by Boston-Area Singing Circles at Orange Door Collaborative in Cambridge. Facilitators and song leaders will cater the practice toward the group’s needs with call-and-response songs, vocal improvisation, meditation and movement. A Sit & Sing event will take place at 7 p.m. with 30 minutes of meditation and 30 minutes of song before the singing circle begins. For those who want election updates, a designated “poll checker” will provide updates every hour. The space has blankets, yoga mats and cushions available for use. It is recommended that attendees bring water bottles. Participants can RSVP through Eventbrite or walk in. The event runs on sliding donations from $5 to $20, but anyone can attend regardless of the amount they can pay.

What better way to process complicated emotions than in the sprawling garden of a Venetian-style palazzo? The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum will be free for all on Wednesday, Nov. 6. The museum shares on its website that Isabella Stewart Gardner created the institution “as an act of civic leadership.” Therefore, it is opening its doors to celebrate those exercising civic leadership by voting in the presidential election and those in need of comfort and community. "We wanted to just make it possible, with no financial barriers, for people to be able to connect with each other in ways that are stress-reducing, that are filled with joy and beauty," Director Peggy Fogelman told WBUR's Andrea Shea. Advance registration is encouraged.

If you would prefer to redirect your focus from concerns over the current state of our democracy to a study of democracy throughout history, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston’s “Power of the People: Art and Democracy” examines the political system through 180 artworks. The exhibition features ceramics, coins, inscriptions, paintings, sculpture, prints, photographs, posters and fashion from the origins of democracy in ancient Greece to present day. The exhibition pulls mostly from the MFA’s collection, including a marble head of Socrates, a Greek philosopher and critic of democracy. “Power of the People: Art and Democracy” is included in general admission, which is free for members and children 6 and under, $10 for ages 17 and under, and $27 for adults.