Summer is creeping up quickly, and for all of us here in sunny San Diego that usually means some extended family member or friend is bound to show up on your doorstep.

They will want entertainment, to be certain, as if dropping in on you wasn't enough. But some can be difficult when the sun goes down and bringing them out for a night on the town can be like coaxing a small child into the doctor's office for their tetanus shot (forbid you should leave them alone in your house). So bring them out, kicking and screaming if you must, to the Shout House Piano Bar for an evening of dueling pianos and I guarantee even that friend of yours who swears off fun altogether will have a good time.

As I have found in the past, you cannot go wrong with this type of diversion. Somewhere deep down inside us all there harbors a love for karaoke and the belief that, if we could just get that voice out of the shower, we could possibly be the next American Idol. Do not get confused, however, as the Shout House is not your typical karaoke bar, but rather, a communal karaoke of sorts. Though the two guys behind the grand pianos on stage are very much the stars of the show, the Shout House is known to bring out the entertainer in the most unassuming audiences.

With drink specials going on every night, the Shout House makes it pretty hard to avoid the liquid courage needed to pop out of your seat and start in on a rendition of "Piano Man." Shout House specials include dollar drafts on Fridays (very rare Downtown) and Thursday college nights (a college ID is required to avoid the cover charge, but we all know how to get around that, i.e. that short stint at Mesa CC) that offer $2 lunch box shots and $2.50 Miller Lites.

Like human jukeboxes, there probably isn't a song out there that Shout House performers don't know. You won't be able to resist singing and dancing when you've got a cocktail in hand during a live dueling piano performance of "Miss You" by The Rolling Stones or Tom Petty's "Mary Jane." Nope, not even that your buddy of yours from back East.

Insider Tip: On Fridays and Saturdays "Hurricanes," the naughty concoctions you'd probably only find in Cabo at a Senor Frog's, are the featured drink. Refills are available for a discount (as scary as that is), and you get to keep the cup.