Results tagged “funny”

This week there's some really great free shows going down at 8p at the Comedy Central stage, so you've really got no excuse to not get out there. Around town, you can also shake off the candy withdrawals and expensive bar tab by keeping it cheap at the usual haunts: UCB, iO West, Westside Comedy. If you've got a little more coin in your pocket, there's a couple of great shows going down at Largo - particularly The League fellas on Wednesday. If you think I missed something or want to let me know about something you're going to see, email Farley here. Happy November everyone.

So, Cinematic Titanic comes to Largo, and I can't believe you're reading this. You should be standing in line, peeing your pants because the ORIGINAL CAST of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 (MST3K) is making fun of some of the worst movies of all time. Pencil me in for Tuesday's show. In other news, some big names with recent Comedy Central stand up specials under their belts (Jo Koy, Greg Giraldo) are offering their comedic services in the greater Los Angeles area, while right here in town Rooftop Standup offers the best backdrop in all of comedy and Lenny Bruce lovers have a chance to give to a good cause AND walk away with some of his stuff. Amazing.

Monday nights have long been mentioned on LAist as, surprisingly, a great night for comedy. There’s Harold Night at UCB, the Armando Show at iO West, and plenty of other random shows around town to assuage your already work-weary brain. But there’s one show, in the heart of Los Angeles, that doesn’t really fit the Monday bill. It’s as established as the improv shows mentioned above, and has bigger names attached to it than any random show you’re likely to find. And yet, it still flies under the radar. Or, rather, it’s tucked away, both figuratively and inside the Hollywood Studio Bar & Grill at the Gower Gulch on Sunset / Gower. Hell, even the stage is tucked not-so-neatly into a corner, right by the entrance. But you’re not coming for the ambiance or even the food; you’re coming for the world class stand up. This is Tiger Lily.

Stand up abounds this week in the comedy world, but there's also some great opportunities to check back in with the improv roots you know you have. Beer Shark Mice are only around for one more show (that we know of), TNT and Crashbar are doing their usual great stuff.

Yes, technically the above title is grammatically incorrect. And, depending on your level of education and OCD, you might have a hard time getting past it and on to the rest of this piece. But that’s OK, we’re all a little different, and LA’s The Moth seeks to embrace that fact, while finding the linking commonalities in us all.

I'll say this, there was probably nothing funnier than last weekend's Red Bull Soapbox Derby. An afternoon spent watching people eat shit? It's like America's Funniest Home Videos on Ice. Or in this case, pavement. At any rate, this week has some pretty big standards to live up to, but I don't think you'll be hurting for great shows. DERRCK is at UCB on Saturday AND Sunday, Nealon / Leno / Davidson / Rajskub / Jeffries are all doing stand up, and the essay shows live on. Email THIS GUY if you're interested in getting some hype love for a show you know.

When you hear the phrase “the Japanese Step Brothers” used to describe a movie, you’re probably a least a little interested. That is, if you’re anything like me, but you probably aren’t because my parents say I’m one in a million, so eat it. Not that the American version of Step Brothers is all that spectacular, it’s just that imagining the role of an inept, aging, homebody loser being played by a Japanese man is - intriguing. And Jimmy, the comic lead in White On Rice, certainly is all of the things described above - but this movie is no Step Brothers.

After a week-long Labor Day hangover, LAst Laugh is back and funnier than ever. There's so much effing good stuff this week to share with you laugh-starved children, so suck in those bloated bellies and get ready to chuckle your way back to health.

Whether or not you really ever believed Hip Hop was Dead, there’s no denying the changes it’s undergone in the past decade. Bass-y beats and mean muggin’ thug rhyme runners are so cliche they’ve become a caricature of themselves; how else can you explain 50 Cent having his own video game? So where does a real hip hop head turn? Like an ostrich: underground.

Well, comedy never sleeps so why should you? After last week's stand up show at Hollywood Forever, brace yourselves for another rousing week of rambunctious laughter at the ends of some of LAs best and brightest. There's Mark Curry, Patton Oswalt, Tig Notaro. There's cagematches and sketch shows and everything under the sun, particularly at Largo and the Improv. You know the drill: hit me up if you want your show listed.

Guys, this Wednesday is insane for comedy. From Mortified to Old Town to the Chelsea Lately show... and we're not even including the great sketch shows going on over at UCB, include the Apple Sisters. Well, no matter what day of the week you get out to peep some comedy, let this calendar be your guide to the funniest that LA has to offer this week.

Well, LAst Laugh is back with the weekly dish on comedy in and around LA. Pretty straightforward stuff this week, with a ton of sketch and stand up covering the land, with a slight chance of great improv too. Probably most notable is all of the great female stand ups out and about this week, from Mary Lynn to Sarah Silverman on down. Don't for get to holler at cha boy if you're interested in getting listed, comedy snobs.

Lately, at iO West on Tuesday nights, a strange thing has been happening: they’ve been stacking the deck. With Monday nights as their cream-of-the-crop Armando shows and Saturdays reserved for Beer Shark Mice or some other formidable team, it would be entirely possible for iO to experience a bit of the mid-week improv doldrums. But instead, with the last three Harold Competition champion teams running back-to-back-to-back, Tuesdays at iO are becoming a great go-to for improv in Los Angeles.

Stand up is the biggest draw this week, but as always improv is making a strong stand out at Westside and of course at UCB and iO West. In fact, Sentimental Lady and Flap Jackson are going to be breaking out of the Harold and into some new forms on Sunday evening at UCB, so that's worth a look too. Either way, there's always plenty of comedy, and if you know of more, let a guy know.

You know Jim Breuer, if not by name then at least by his perpetually stoned-looking mug or his outlandish Saturday Night Live characters, most notably Goat Boy. This is the Jim Breuer you recognize, from Half-Baked and Chappelle’s Show and even Clerks. But a lot of people don’t know that Breuer also has a long love affair with stand up, dating back many years and several TV specials. And those specials, while rarely game-changing, have been good, sometimes great; the AC/DC hokey pokey bit is pretty magical. Unfortunately, Breuer’s new special Let’s Clear the Air lacks all of the magic and most of the funny that you could previously expect from the man you thought you knew.

There's a ton of great stuff this week and upcoming down in Irvine, which sort of sucks for anyone who doesn't love traffic. But not to worry, there's so many solid weekly shows around town that you might be neglecting, like Jay Leno or The Smokes or Local 132. Get out, or get AT me if you want to be considered for a hype session from yours truly.

This week's Last Laugh is a good mix of stand up, sketch, and improv. There's a couple not-very-often shows you should get involved with, as well as some stuff that just sounds great or is always worth it, like Benson Interruption. California is giving out IOUs because we can't pay our bills, but that shouldn't stop you from maxing out your credit cards with some comedy this week. And, as always, hit a guy up if you want to see your comedy listing here.

It's a pretty quiet week, as Cinefamily wrapped up their monthlong association with Comedy Death Ray, and lots and lots of folks are going out of town for the weekend. Still some great improv, stand up, and sketch out there so get involved folks. If you want to hear from me, want links to the best cat-related blog sites, or want me to hype anything hype-able, send all related correspondence to my robotic butler: J. Timms O'Mail-again.

There's so much great 'found' stuff going on this week, from the Found Footage competition courtesy of Cinefamily to the Found Magazine show at Largo. Add in some Kevin Nealon and some great sketch, and this week is really starting to look better than some of the decisions you made last weekend. Get AT ME if you want your ish hyped.

A lot of what is often missing from sketch shows, as opposed to improv, is that organic moment of discovery. With lines, there’s security and safety... which explains why half the hosts of Saturday Night Live manage to make it through without looking like COMPLETE douches. If you want the dangerous side of scripted live comedy, you’re really going to have to look towards UCB’s show Sketch Cram, where they write and perform the show in only 12 hours. But that’s once a month and is wholly comprised of veteran writers and improvisors. Try doing a live show where you get your lines two hours before the lights go up, your teleprompters are only 50% reliable, and you’ve got a host performer for the evening who may not have ever done a sketch show in their life. And it has to be good. Sweating bullets yet? Good. Welcome to Fries On The Side.

There's lots of outside-the-mainstream greatness going on this week, with Patton Oswalt and Bobcat Goldthwait both doing Cinefamily stuff, Fries On The Side closing out their great season up in North Hollywood, and the not to be missed Celebrity Autobiography show at Largo. Get out, laugh it up, and let Farley know what else is on the horizon.

With the wrap up of the LA Improv Festival at iO West, you'd think that things would be all quiet on the comedy front this week. But thankfully that's just not the case, with the opening of this year's Secret Policeman's Ball / Film Festival showing us some of the great classics in UK comedy. There's also a ton of good improv and sketch all over town, including the start of Ultimate X-ecution and Comedy Death Ray having Bob Odenkirk. Get out, get laffy. As per usual, if you want to see yourself or someone you love on this list, give Farley a holler.

Well, it's officially LA Improv Festival time at iO West, which naturally makes it the premiere spot for comedy this week. There's sketch and improv tournaments, big name shows with big name stars, and plenty of $5 shows to keep the masses happy. That being said, The Birthday Boys and A Kiss From Daddy are extending their residency at UCB, Comedy Death Ray is extending it's stranglehold across all of LA, and Jay Leno is around for the first time since giving up his seat to Conan tonight.

Following the fanfare of a star-studded Thursday red carpet opening, the Jon Lovitz Comedy Club is officially here. And while the Lovitz club likes to throw around the idea that Los Angeles hasn’t had a new comedy club in 30 years, that PR spin really discounts the amount of stand up that goes on at the less-than-5-year-old UCB, or the revamped and reopened Downtown Comedy Club. But be that as it may, it certainly is exciting to see new comedy come out of the woodwork, when places all around us are closing up shop.

Improv, along with sketch and stand up, comprises the three main pillars of comedy. Yet most people who go to comedy shows see stand up first, sketch second, and improv a distant third. Indeed, not a single Harold Night goes by at UCB without someone raising their hand at the question ‘who’s never seen improv before’. So, for those of you still living under joke rocks (or those hide-a-key rocks...how funny are THOSE?!), next week is your chance.

It seems that in the past month, you can't throw a joke book without hitting Garfunkel & Oates at some show around town. Not that you'd want to; these lovely ladies are quickly mastering the craft of beautiful songs with enough comedic edge to keep you in your seats. Both Riki Lindhome and Kate Micucci are well known faces on television and film, but their most recent musical endeavors have made them fan favorites around the Los Angeles alternative comedy scene, as well as online, where their single-take 'couch videos' are blowing up all over YouTube. LAist was fortunate enough to catch up with the ladies in the middle of their whirlwind month of performing, recording, and making new music videos for the fans. And let's not forget their UCB show on Wednesday!

There's a lot of good stuff around town, as the comedy world gears up for next week's LA Improv Festival at iO West. Garfunkel and Oates are at UCB, Jo Koy is out and about, and Dave Attell is headlining with some hardcore hilarious folks. Not to mention Patton and his friends, and Maria Bamford at The Improv. It's stand up time!

Ah, Dane Cook. Regarded by some as the aggressive and rugged face of fun, energetic comedy. Sort of the anti-Mitch Hedberg. For others, Dane is a posterboy for an altogether different type of comic: the plagiarizer, the man without a punchline. Personally, I have long held that Dane Cook is a performer and not a stand up comedian, in the way that Bob Villa was a TV show host and not a licensed contractor. For the better part of a decade, you couldn’t be handed a transcript of a Dane Cook set, read it, and think it was funny. There just weren’t any JOKES in the conventional sense, just a lot of stage direction and exclamation points where the punchlines should be.

As podcasts go, more often than not there are the kings of the ring, and everyone else is sitting on the sidelines. It’s sort of like the presidency: technically anyone can run for office, but historically old white dudes have passed the torch from one wrinkly hand to another. But every once in a while, there are wonderful examples of podcasts, and presidents, rising from the ground up to really do something spectacular. Barack Obama is one of these. The SuperEgo podcast is another.

The Smokes, 7p UCB. These improv veterans do two different long-form improv forms every single week, and every time they are fucking hilarious. An absolute can’t-miss for anyone seriously interested in long form improvisation. | You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up, 8p Comedy Central Stage. Based on excerpts from the upcoming book of the same name, Annabelle Gurwitch and Jeff Kahn tell tales of what it takes to be married. Apparently, it’s a lot.