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What Would Beyonce Do?, the Comedy Show

Scroll through What Would Beyonce Do?, one of many Tumblr sites dedicated to Beyonce, and you'll find Queen Bey being Queen Bey -- on a yacht, in front of a Rolls Royce, holding her Grammys. Luisa Omielan's stand-up show is also called What Would Beyonce Do? And like Mrs. Carter, she's 31. But that ... More >>

How 38 Fake OkCupid Profiles Led to a Hilarious New Comedy Show

It's been said there's someone out there for everyone. Undateable, a new comedy show from Second City Hollywood tests this adage to the extreme. Running every Friday at 8 p.m. through Aug. 16, the sketch-improv hybrid utilizes real online interactions to examines the inscrutable world of internet da ... More >>

L.A.'s Booming Indie Improv Scene

Wicked Writer Winnie Holzman and Her Husband Paul Dooley Wrote and Star in a Play Together. It Only Took Them 28 Years

Television and theater writer Winnie Holzman (My So-Called Life, Wicked) and her husband, character actor Paul Dooley (i.e. your go-to when casting the consoling dad or grandfather), seem to have one of those enviable long-term marriages. They know how to crack each other up, finish each other's sen ... More >>

Improv Olympic Creates a Comedy Festival That's...Scripted?

Over the weekend, Improv Olympic became a Scripted Olympic. From Thursday through Sunday, Hollywood's iO West Theater hosted its first annual L.A. Scripted Comedy Festival, featuring a collection of talent from across the country showcasing sketch, variety, storytelling, stand up and short films. ... More >>

A Brand New Musical Based on a Neil Simon Play Premieres at an L.A. High School

See also: *Our Latest Theater Reviews A new musical based on the work of Neil Simon has been placed in the hands of children. This weekend, Musical Fools, a musical adaptation of Simon's 1981 Broadway comedy Fools, held its world premiere in Los Angeles. One would assume this would include a trou ... More >>

Spank! The Fifty Shades Parody Opens Just in Time for Valentine's Day

If you've read Fifty Shades of Grey and think it's about as thought-provoking as the parody cookbook Fifty Shades of Chicken, then you're sure to laugh -- intentionally -- at Spank! The Fifty Shades Parody, which opens at the Grove of Anaheim, followed by Club Nokia, just before Valentine's Day, on ... More >>

Two Awesome Improv Teams. Each Won UCB's Cagematch 44 Straight Times. And Then They Faced Off...

An unprecedented battle of improv awesomeness took place at the Upright Citizen's Brigade Theater two nights ago. Since its LA chapter opened in 2005, UCB has been hosting a Cagematch every Wednesday night at 11 p.m. Two teams compete by performing one 20-minute improv set each. They can do whateve ... More >>

Theater to See in L.A. This Week, Including Japanese War Brides Musical Tea, With Music

A musical about World War II war brides, Tea, With Music, for which the author, Velina Hasu Houston, has added songs and music for this production, is our Pick of the Week. For all new theater reviews, see below. This week's stage fature looks a couple of plays aiming to be light fare: Micha ... More >>

How to Succeed on the Web: 4 Tips from This Week's Digital Hollywood Summit

Hashtags and Twitter handles were flying at this week's four-day Digital Hollywood conference. Executives and innovators in film, television, technology and new media came to speak at more than 50 panels held in the glitzy halls of the Ritz Carlton, Marina Del Rey. Attendees were split between youn ... More >>

10 Comedy Events We're Looking Forward to This Fall

The leaves are turning, the pumpkin lattes are over-caffeinating and the comedy calendar is packing in shows and releases like snot-nosed children onto the back of a hayride wagon. Here are a few of the upcoming highlights.

10 Questions for W. Kamau Bell, Star of His New Show Totally Biased on FX, Exec Produced by Chris Rock

Molly Erdman's New Book Mocks Home Decor Cliches, Asking: 'Who Actually Puts a Bowl of Limes on a Table?'

With their advertisements for overly organized, lavishly decorated abodes, the catalogs of companies like Pottery Barn and Pier 1 Imports seem to demand: "Who lives like this?" Like most of us, Molly Erdman has no clue, which is why she created the parody blog Catalogliving.net and its just-publ ... More >>

Improv Comedian E.J. Scott Will Run the L.A. Marathon (and 11 Other Marathons) Blindfolded

There is rain the forecast this weekend, and that makes E.J. Scott nervous. He is supposed to run the 26.2-mile Los Angeles Marathon, a task that usually takes him five and a half hours. Exposure to the elements for that long is enough to make anyone a little anxious, but Scott is more worried the r ... More >>

Drunkards and Dragons

Just Another Monday Night at IO West

Key & Peele on Comedy Central: Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele's New Sketch Series

"Did you ever have a situation where you meet somebody and you end up having a long, nerdy conversation with them?" Jordan Peele, who stars with Keegan-Michael Key in Comedy Central's new sketch show, Key & Peele, asks over the phone. It's happened to me and has likely happened to many people readi ... More >>

Further Proof That an L.A. Weekly Theater Award Can Lead to a Successful Career

Anticon MC Serengeti: The Quirkiest, Deepest Rapper

Stage Raw: Othello

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGS (after the jump) NEW THEATER REVIEWSStage FEATURE on Merry Wives of Windsor in Topanga Canyon and Griffith ParkBrian HelmOthello​On a care-free, car-free Carmageddon weekend, all of our critics got to their shows. Among the favorites, Lovell Estell III's warm apprai ... More >>

Project SOAR: Giving Kids a Chance to Sing and Dance

Courtesy of Hollywood Arts CouncilKids from Project SOAR show their artwork​ Up onstage in the Los Feliz Elementary School auditorium, a group of third-graders literally runs through an improvisational acting exercise, the instructor having directed them to scurry at each other from opposin ... More >>

So Thrilling! So Adventurous!

Thrilling Adventure Hour Interviews: Samm Levine, Marc Evan Jackson, Paul F. Tompkins

Saturday and Sunday, Thrilling Adventure Hour, the monthly radio-meets-stage show at Largo, presents two nights of guest star-packed, more-than-an-hour performances. Yesterday, we chatted with co-creators Ben Acker and Ben Blacker about the evolution of the popular show. Today, we'll hear from regul ... More >>

Thrilling Adventure Hour Interviews: Ben Acker and Ben Blacker

For more than five years, Thrilling Adventure Hour has been bringing L.A. a dose of "old-time radio." Well, sort of. Created by writers Ben Acker and Ben Blacker, Thrilling Adventure Hour is actually a stage show done in the style of radio. In other words, you're watching actors on stage in front o ... More >>

Theater Reviews: Hollywood Fringe Festival

Stage Raw: The Other Festivals

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWSCurrent STAGE FEATURE on Anton Chekhov's 150th Birthday BashTHE OTHER FESTIVALS Running concurrently with the Hollywood Fringe (June 17-27) is Arts Olympus (June 17-20) on board the Queen Mary in Long Beach. AO includes a contemporary Russian exhib ... More >>

Comedy That Gives Good Hangover: The Director of 'Point Break Live!' Brings 'Drunk Talk' to the Dragonfly

Erin BroadleyThomas Blake at McSwiggin's Tavern, aka Dragonfly​Want drama? Forget the theater, give me a bar. For over two years Thomas Blake, co-producer and director of the wildly popular stage show Point Break Live!, has been turning traditional theater head over heels over bar stools with ... More >>

MANILOW MELODY MADNESS

Sing Mit Heino: Marc Hickox Celebrates a Teutonic Superstar ...

... and his “wanderlust” songs

Stage Raw: Fake Radio Sing Along

Check back here Monday after noon for NEW THEATER REVIEWS of Peter Shelan's speculative drama about challenging authority and Christopher Marlowe's death, The School of Night, at the Taper; Susan Kim's stage adaptation of Amy Tan's novel, The Joy Luck Club, at East West Players; Peter Wing Heale ... More >>

Stage Raw: A Conversation With Robert Lepage

R.I.P. Bernie Brillstein

They don't make 'em in Hollywood like him anymore

Frangela

Battling hateration

Film Reviews: King of California, Mr. Woodcock, Shadow Company

Also I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With, Ira & Abby, December Boys and more

Good Vibrations

The American Cinematheque puts the “rock” back into Mods & Rockers

Best Events Column, 2006

Comedy Listings

For February 24 - March 2

Theater and Comedy Listings

For February 10 - 16 cvc

Top Dogs/ Underdogs

Tales of Pennsylvania Avenue and Poverty Row

No Stunt Hair Necessary

For Steve Carell, the road to movie stardom was lined with dehydration and body waxing

Fish Slapping, Angel Baiting and “PAUL-AH-NIK”

30 Years off the Cuff

How the Groundlings taught L.A. to laugh

When Shelley Met Harold

Death in the Afternoon

Before AIDS got its name

Second Wind

A new generation of filmmakers translates Bill Murray

Ass You Like It

A Show for Posteriority

New and Improv-ed

Beaver Cleaver in Hell

Grave New Worlds

When misogynists and robots take over

What To Do When Your Career Is Dead: A) Sell Your Amps on EBay, B) Wait Tables at Miceli's, C) Writ

How Andy Prieboy created White Trash Wins Lotto