Harry Houdini

L.A. Theater 2013: A Preview

Nothing to Hide

Eight-Hour Gatz and Magic Act Nothing to Hide, Reviewed

The Laurel Canyon Country Store's Inneresting Musical History

The Canyon Country Store has been the makeshift cultural center of Laurel Canyon for a full century. Immortalized in the Doors song "Love Street," this deli-market is not a venue, but it's got historical music importance to spare, and continues to be -- as Jim Morrison put it -- the "store where the ... More >>

10 Haunted (Maybe) Los Angeles Restaurants and Bars for Celebrating Halloween

Masked monsters -- or actors -- may be screaming and grunting for our attention at theme park-style events around town this Halloween, but there are plenty of places in Los Angeles for a trip into the city's past. Back in the days when "trunk murders" caught the public imagination and it was easy t ... More >>

Foster the People - Gibson Amphitheatre - June 30, 2012

Foster The People Gibson Amphitheatre June 20, 2012 Our Foster the People profile Live Review: Foster The People at El Rey Theatre Better than... yet another "Pumped Up Kicks" remix. Last night, Foster the People leader Mark Foster made it known that it was good to be home. "It's crazy how muc ... More >>

Fanatics! Henry Rollins' KCRW Show Tomorrow Night: Original Songs Vs. Their Covers

KCRW Broadcast #169 for Saturday, June 16, 2012 See also: Henry Rollins: The Column! Joey Ramone's Legacy Is in Danger Fanatics! Take cover! If you check out our show for tonight, you will note we have a bit of a concept happening here. I have broken the two hours below, so you can quickly see wha ... More >>

Falling James' Gig of the Week: Autolux at the Skirball Cultural Center, 7/8

Falling James​There were some impressively mighty, fearsomely mechanized sounds emanating from the Sepulveda Pass on Friday night, and not all of them were from the army of construction workers digging holes into the mountainside in anticipation of Carmageddon. The local alt-rock trio Autolux ... More >>

Music Picks: Tinariwen, Colbie Caillat, A.R. Rahman, Best Coast

Also, Monopoly, David Bazan, Gravespawn and others

What's Up with Jews and Magic? Max Maven Lectures at the Skirball

Courtesy Skirball Cultural Center.​When we reported on the Skirball's double exhibits "Houdini" and "Masters of Illusion" a few weeks ago, there was one question that we didn't quite get to cover: how come so many magicians are Jewish? A few possible answers seem to present themselves right ... More >>

The Real Mentalist

Courtesy Skirball Cultural Center.​When we reported on the Skirball's double exhibits "Houdini" and "Masters of Illusion" a few weeks ago, there was one question that we didn't quite get to cover: how come so many magicians are Jewish? A few possible answers seem to present themselves right ... More >>

Page Two: 7 Fun Facts About Shilpa Ray

Nick Cave is a fan. What are you waiting for?

Seven Habits of Highly Effective Magicians: Marketing Lessons (and Lots of Handcuffs) from the Era of Houdini

Collection of Ken Trombly, Bethesda, Maryland. Photo by Dean A. Beasom.​ You wouldn't think, in an era before movies, TV, or even radio, that it would take much convincing to get people to a magic show. Even the cups and balls routine must have been a thrilling alternative to singing in rounds ... More >>

Houdini — Make It Go Away!

Collection of Ken Trombly, Bethesda, Maryland. Photo by Dean A. Beasom.​ You wouldn't think, in an era before movies, TV, or even radio, that it would take much convincing to get people to a magic show. Even the cups and balls routine must have been a thrilling alternative to singing in rounds ... More >>

The Melvins Have Landed

The world finally catches up to the elder statesmen of sludge

10 Shows We're Stoked About in Early 2011

10 Shows We're Stoked About in 2011

Top 10 Bad Food Trends of 2010

Flickr user Sam BreachKeep bacon where it belongs​The past year has been a hard one to swallow. Everywhere we look, there is some new abomination disguised as an innovation in cooking or dining. Before we start buying Tums in bulk, we'd like to suggest a few food trends that shouldn't make an ... More >>

Melvins Reveal Albums They Will Be Playing at Their Spaceland Residency (EXCLUSIVE)

​A short while ago, Spaceland Productions announced that local indie demigods The Melvins will be playing a Friday residency during January 2011 at the Silver Lake club formerly known as "Spaceland," and currently becoming "The Satellite." There's been a lot of speculation as what Buzzo & Co. ... More >>

Tonight: Ferraby Lionheart, Tim Finn, Fol Chen, White Arrows, Twilight Sleep

Ferraby Lionheart​You never know where you'll find Ferraby Lionheart, either geographically or in song. The L.A.-born, Nashville-reared singer-songwriter spent much of last decade in Los Angeles, eventually sequestering himself in a Koreatown apartment to write his debut album Catch the Brass ... More >>

RICKY DON'T LOSE THAT NUMBER

Ferraby Lionheart​You never know where you'll find Ferraby Lionheart, either geographically or in song. The L.A.-born, Nashville-reared singer-songwriter spent much of last decade in Los Angeles, eventually sequestering himself in a Koreatown apartment to write his debut album Catch the Brass ... More >>

Melvins Remixes to Be Released: Features Boredoms' Eye, Matmos, Lee Ranaldo

The Melvins have announced the impending release of remix album with a twist: instead of a single track to work with, each remixer was given a full Melvins album, and then some, to work with. This is remarkable news if only to hear how the producers treat Dale Crover's drum fills; the drummer is, al ... More >>

LA People 2009: Eye on L.A.

The photographer’s turn

LA People 2009: The Magician's Secret — John Gaughan

He's solved some of the world's most vexing illusion puzzles and builds tricks for acclaimed magic artists

April Showers of Shindigs: Telekinesis, Snoop Dogg

Plus, Origami Records, Ghetto Gloss and more

WTF? Melvins to Perform 'Houdini' In Its Entirety in Four Cities, But Not LA?

One of the greatest heaviest records of the 1990s was the Melvins' sludge-filled riff-o-rama Houdini. Half of it was (halfway) produced by Kurt Cobain, the rest of it was not, and the whole of it shattered many glass bongs when listened to at full volume. The album, funded by Atlantic Records in t ... More >>

Scandinavian Three-Way: Conny Andersson's AK in Venice

Four Seasons refinement arrives on Abbot Kinney

Best Close-Up Magic Class: Mark Wilson and Nani Darnell's Magic III

Four Seasons refinement arrives on Abbot Kinney

Movie Reviews: Kabluey, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Meet Dave

Also, Homo Erectus, Garden Party and more

Freaky Friday

Party at Houdini's; Henry Rollins on Target; All Girl at the Echo

After 30 Years, The Runaways' Cherie Currie Buries the Hatchet with Kim Fowley

Documented in both the Rodney Bingenheimer bio-pic Mayor of the Sunset Strip and former Runaways bassist Vicky Tischler-Blue’s rock doc about the seminal LA punkettes called Edgeplay (not to mention countless print interviews over the years) the feud between the man who helped create them, Kim Fow ... More >>

City Gritty

Unfulfilling Sex; sex and the porn star; art Hopping; N.E.R.D. night

Memorial Day Weekend in LA: Music galore (and MP3s)

Ah, Memorial Day Weekend, the perfect three-day break, tailor-made for chilling in the comfort of an abandoned LA. As long as you stay away from Hollywood Boulevard and the tourists imported from Hell, you can relax, go out to dinner, catch some music, sleep in, drive to the desert, take some LSD, c ... More >>

Who's the "Boss?": The True Definition of Boss According to Rick Ross

If there are any aspiring young rappers out there reading this, now is the time to rejoice. With his second album, Trilla, Rick Ross has proven that all you need to do to have a viable rap career is the foresight to rhyme "Ross" with "Boss." For those keeping score, that's two albums on Def Jam, t ... More >>

Must See Art

Whitney Bedford and Michael Queenland’s “The MORL or NYC-Apartment”

Guerrillas of Orange

Paul Verhoeven opens the Black Book on World War II

Must See Art

Sarah Greenberger Rafferty and Brenna Youngblood

Requiem for Surfing's Black Knight

The sanctioned Miki Dora

Presto Chango

Magic, motherhood and gender morphology in Breakfast on Pluto and Transamerica

Wild Horses

Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye return to celebrate the now-30-year-old debut that changed everything

Magic Chef

Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye return to celebrate the now-30-year-old debut that changed everything

Criminals of the Heart

Road kills and clerical errors

Not So Blaine

Road kills and clerical errors

Grand Illusions

A new musical about the movies, and immortality

Dive Inns

Happy car pools

Check Your Bazooka at the Door

Happy car pools

Gary Gilmore, Meet Harry Houdini

Matthew Barney on his film Cremaster 2

Barney’s Sticky Adventure Beyond Death

Matthew Barney on his film Cremaster 2

Private Lies, Public Lives

Aldrich Ames, Walter Winchell, Harry Houdini

Nightlife

Aldrich Ames, Walter Winchell, Harry Houdini

Off the Strip:

A Guide to Weird Las Vegas