Voltaire

How Artist Hector Zamora Built a House on Top of Shopping Carts

L.A.'s 'Comedy Church' Tries to Make Religion Funny, Even in the Face of Financial Hardship

Voltaire claimed, "God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." He obviously never attended mass at Toluca Lake United Methodist Church. As Los Angeles' first "Comedy Church," this unique religious institution imbues spiritual ideology with a generous does of mirth. "From what I ... More >>

Dragon*Con vs. San Diego Comic-Con: Which Convention Should You Attend?

Shannon CottrellSan Diego Comic-Con 2011​For the past three years that I've been covering conventions for LA Weekly, people have been telling me to go to Atlanta for Dragon*Con. I've heard it from commenters, friends and professional contacts. There are many who believe that Dragon*Con is the ... More >>

LinA In LA Weekend Picks: Get Freaky with Futuristic Fetishes

See also: Culture Collide Festival Preview: Let's Get International. Global grooves, old timey goth gatherings, hip music fests and a rare appearance by a disco queen; October kicks off with an outrageously enchanting array of events. Fall's in full swing club scene-wise. Charge in. Fri., Oct. 7 ... More >>

This Is a Blurb

Best of the Cons 2010

From internationally known events like San Diego Comic-Con and Anime Expo to smaller, single-franchise conventions like Power Morphicon and MacrossWorld to non-con events like the L.A. screening of The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, there was no shortage of fan gatherings in Southern California t ... More >>

Ever Get the Feeling You've Been Conned?

The search for authenticity at Comic-Con 2010

Comic-Con Interview: Musician/Artist Voltaire is a Convention Renaissance Man

Voltaire is a Renaissance man for the convention circuit. An animator, comic book creator and toy designer, he has a lot of reasons to hit up events like San Diego Comic-Con. But Voltaire's best known occupation, the one that brought the Con crowd out of the Gaslamp Quarter and into North Park venue ... More >>

'Hetalia' Draws Legions of Fans at Anime Expo

Hetalia was everywhere at this year's Anime Expo, from cosplay gatherings to artist alley booths to panel sessions. A satire that started out as a web comic and soon became a series of five-minute anime episodes, this relatively new franchise is a phenomenon within the fandom. When Funimation annou ... More >>

Meeting of Minds

Stage Raw: L.A. shows NYC-bound

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSLATEST THEATER REVIEWSSTAGE FEATURE on Leonard Nimoy and Company of AngelsL.A. SHOWS HEADING EAST ​SoulArt Productions presentation of Alex Lyras' The Common Air - a nominee in last year's L.A. Weekly Theatre Awards solo performance award for its 2008 run at the Asylu ... More >>

Faith and the Muse at Dragon*Con

Every year, thousands of sci-fi, fantasy and related fans descend upon Atlanta for Dragon*Con. Aside from a great schedule of panelists (William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy on the same panel! Terry Gilliam!), Dragon*Con seems heavy on night time entertainment, including concerts from artists like Volt ... More >>

Theater Reviews: Altar Boyz, the Apple Tree, Chariot, Sprung: A Love Story

Also, Stop Kiss, Billie and Bogie, God Box and more.

Stage Raw: As You Like It

THE LATEST NEW REVIEWS ARE EMBEDDED IN THIS WEEK'S COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSAlso see this week's STAGE FEATURE on Polish theater unmaskedNEW REVIEW GO AS YOU LIKE ITAs You Like It Photo courtesy of Aquila TheatreSummer is in full heat across the Southland, which brings out amphitheater producti ... More >>

Stage Raw: Pericles Redux

 THEATER LISTINGSNEW REVIEW THEATER PICK PERICLES REDUXPhoto courtesy of Not Man Apart ProductionsScholars have long discussed whether Shakespeare wrote  the entirety of Pericles, Prince of Tyre or collaborated with another writer. (Given the play's convoluted elements, most commentators ... More >>

Womb Service: Octomom the Musical

Just can’t get enough

GO LA: Let's Play Fuck, Marry, Kill With Morrissey, Molly Prather and Christoph Eschenbach

And other reasons to not go straight home after work, May 22-28

Stage Raw: The Rehearsal

AT YOUR FINGERTIPS, THIS COMING WEEK'S COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSAlso, this week's INTERVIEW with playwright Richard GreenbergTHE REHEARSAL is this week's Theater PickThe Rehearsal Photo by Craig SchwartzNEW REVIEW THEATER PICK In French dramatist Jean Anouilh's scintillating 1958 play, The Re ... More >>

Stage Raw: The Seafarer

AT YOUR FINGERTIPS, THIS WEEK'S COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGS  NEW REVIEW: THE SEAFARER at the Geffen PlayhouseJohn Mahoney and Andrew Connolly in The Seafarer Photo by Michael LamontNEW REVIEW GO THE SEAFARER If you're seeking innovation in the theater, look elsewhere. Conor McPherson's I ... More >>

Rock Picks: Acid Mothers Temple, Kate Maki, Marissa Nadler, Mirah

Also, Jesca Hoop, Jerkagram, Puscifer and others

Stage Raw: Getting Physical

DRACULADracula is this week's Pick. See review by pressing the Continue Reading tab at the bottom of this section. (All New Reviews are embedded within the Comprehensive Theater Listings.) Photo by Michael Lamont GETTING PHYSICAL Two bills of physical comedy are being performed at Sacred Fool ... More >>

Stage Raw: Bohemian Cowboy

BOHEMIAN COWBOY is this week's Pick of the Week Crossing the Center Line A father heads into the desert, never to return By Steven Leigh MorrisThe original title of Raymond King Shurtz's one-man show was The Gospel of Irony ― which would have been a particularly ironic title, had it stuck, s ... More >>

Stage Raw: Film

FILM is this week's Pick of the Week. Photo by Darrett Sanders Failing Better The Absurdists' convention Local playwright Patrick McGowan's new play, Film, has no right to be as good as it is. The central character is the late theater director Alan Schneider (Bill Robens) -- known for stagi ... More >>

Stage Raw: Candida

CANDIDA Candida at the Colony Theatre is this week's Pick. Photo by Michael Lamont. At your fingertips: The 30th Annual L.A. Weekly Theater Awards NOMINEES.Tickets for nominee's guests and for the general public can now be purchased via  http://tinyurl.com/theaterawardsReviewed this we ... More >>

Stage Raw: Phil Newby

PHIL NEWBY A memorial service was held at Sacred Fools Theatre on Sunday for that company's young and beloved actor who was found in his apartment last week. More on Phil to come in the print edition one week week from Thursday. At your fingertips: This week's Theater Feature on Jim Leonard' ... More >>

Jim Leonard's Battle Hymn

Brave new world

Stage Raw: Monsters and Prodigies

Reviewed this week: Pippin at the Mark Taper Forum; Jack Chandlers' new comedy-mystery, Murder on the Bounding Main, at Sierra Madre Playhouse; a dance-rock fusion, Vibrating Sun, at Unknown Theatre; Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble's staging fof Macbeth; Echo One-Act Festival at Stage 52; Furious Th ... More >>

Dance Witches Dance: Sculptural Comedy with My Barbarian

Lara Schnitger joins art collective at the Luckman

Battle Hymn

Theater Reviews: The Bird and Mr. Banks, Waiting for Godot, Boadicea, The Dining Room

Also, Mammals, Battle Hymn, Resignation Day

Stage Raw: Unpronouncable

THEATER AWARDS UPDATE Here is the complete list of NOMINEES for the 30th annual L.A. Weekly Theater Awards, being held Monday, March 30 at the El Rey. Admission for nominees is free; nominee RSVPs are now being accepted at (310) 574-7208. Tickets for guests and members of the public go on sale ... More >>

From Silver Lake to Suicide: One Family's Secret History of the Jonestown Massacre

A cache of letters hidden in the basement brings to life a house, a family and the tragedy that would change everything

Kristoff talks: 'I didn't incite the attacks'

MTVMusic VideosMTV ShowsEntertainment News Televisa on-air personality Kristoff has finally broke his silence and addressed publicly the wave of anti-emo violence that was at least partly inspired by his "Fucking bullshit!" rant, based what some emos themselves have said, and on how widely it w ... More >>

Presto Chango

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

Potter by Dale

Newtonianism for L.A.

It’s not about the apple.

Exile in Godville

Profile of a postmodern heretic

The September 11 That Never Was

A summer of anti-American paranoia

Faith Healer

Richard Vetere’s play about an atheist who dies and goes . . . somewhere

Flower Power Games

The delirious rise and acrimonious dissolution of the Eastside Ladies Garden Auxiliary

A Clockwork L'Orange

Glen Berger’s playful homage to science

Sledgehammers to the Streets

The zine scene