Paul Tompkins BOGO free tix; Free jazz with Kathleen Bertrand

Shop ‘Til You Drop: There is no shortage of free activities and bargain shopping this weekend. Georgia’s sales tax holiday continues through Sunday, with many stores are extending their hours. Check around: lots are open late tonight, and very early Saturday morning. I plan to get out to do some back to school shopping and a little shopping for myself as well. Check back on Monday to see how I did. One thing is for sure: I’ll hop online to see which stores are having the best sales, to print out some coupons and to map out my shopping strategy for the weekend. It’s not Black Friday, but it’s close enough to get my adrenaline going.

NBAF: For those of you who’ll do the opposite — run for the hills, or any place that’s far away from frantic shoppers — there are an abundance of options. The National Black Arts Festival has a host of free events. Be sure to check out Jamie Gumbrecht’s Inside Access blog every day.

Jazz at Ebenezer: You might be interested in Jazz at Ebenezer Baptist Church. Jazz vocalist and songwriter Kathleen Bertrand performs at 7 p.m. at Ebenezer’s Horizon sanctuary. Ebenezer is located at 400 Auburn Ave., Atlanta.

Laugh Out Loud: Always wanted to see yourself on television? Well, I can’t make any promises, but maybe your laughter can be picked up in the background of the Comedy Central taping of comedian Paul Tompkins at the Laughing Skull Lounge. Use promo code ‘Mr Show’ to get the buy one, get one free tickets for tonight and Saturday. You can order online at VortexComedy.com, call 1-877-523-3288 or purchase the tickets at the box office. If you order online, you’ll enter the promo code after you’ve made your seat selections.

Tompkins can be seen weekly on VH1’s hit show “Best Week Ever.” His stand-up has been featured on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” and “Comedy Central Presents Paul F. Tompkins,” and he garnered a WGA nomination for his work as a writer and correspondent on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

A Freebie: Don’t forget to download your free Mars bar coupon today.