13 Best Things to Do in L.A. This Week

From an exhibit highlighting termite art to Jim Carrey trying his hand as a political cartoonist, fleeing in terror (or joy) from a horde of clowns and a zombie festival, here are the 13 best things to do in Los Angeles this week!

fri 10/19

CULTURE

Blood and Brains

Thanks to recent films, TV and books, you might have zombie fatigue. But pop culture is still obsessed with the undead. And you'll find plenty of them marching and hungry for fresh brains at the annual Long Beach Zombie Fest. In addition to the zombie walks happening each day, the event features tribute bands, interactive mazes, scavenger hunts, live-action role-playing, sideshows and reptile exhibits, as well as various contests and free zombie makeup by professional Hollywood artists for anyone who wants to look like rotting flesh. And if you've always wanted to learn the moves from the most famous zombie music video ever made, a Michael Jackson impersonator will teach you to dance like the King of Pop in "Thriller." Rainbow Lagoon, 400-403 Shoreline Drive, Long Beach; Fri., Oct. 19, 5-10 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., Oct. 20-21, 3-10 p.m.; $5-$20, 12 & under free. (562) 570-3100, longbeachzombiefest.com. —Siran Babayan

ART

Making a Comeback

Everything old is new again and everything wrong is right again at tonight's Triforium Friday, the first of three evenings celebrating the reactivation of the Triforium, a six-story, 60-ton artwork that cut a singular figure in the downtown L.A. of 1974. The brainchild of Joseph Young, this creative colossus married nearly 1,500 colored glass cubes with a glass bell carillon to create deeply dreamlike spectacles. Tonight's iteration also features the Bob Baker Marionette Theater, Jherek Bischoff's Quartet, Dublab DJs and Reggie Watts, with the extra added artistic dimension of odors from the Institute for Art and Olfaction. Fletcher Bowron Square, North Main and West Temple streets, downtown; Fri., Oct. 19, 6 p.m.; free, RSVP required. (213) 473-7014, eventbrite.com/e/triforium-fridays-night-1-tickets-50452314230/. —David Cotner

sat 10/20

ART

Feeling Is Believing

"Things That Can't Be Seen" might sound like a funny name for a visual art show, but in the strange and lovely universe of DABS­MYLA, it makes perfect sense. Known for the savvy whimsy of their crisp, colorful, saturated style, the couple's collaborative work has expanded the fields of pattern, scale, abstraction, character, fantasy and story. From murals to design objects, paintings, prints, sculpture and, increasingly, installation art, DABSMYLA's art is about shared flights of imagination and emotion. After the pair's star turn with a show-stealing flower-based installation at "Beyond the Streets" this summer, BTS curator Roger Gastman now presents this must-see solo project, featuring some 20 new large-scale paintings as well as drawings and ceramics, inside an environmental installation with a great deal to see but, true to the title, even more to experience and feel. 8070 Beverly Blvd., Beverly Grove; opening reception: Sat., Oct. 20, noon-7 p.m.; runs thru Nov. 11. free. dabsmyla.com. —Shana Nys Dambrot

OPERA

Freedom Fighter

L.A. Opera opened its new season with a rousing, traditional version of Verdi's Don Carlo that was highlighted by the vocal star power of tenor Ramón Vargas, the always entrancing Ana María Martínez and the company's legendary leader, Plácido Domingo. But L.A. Opera's new production of Philip Glass' Satyagraha, a modernist, operatic look at Mahatma Gandhi's sojourn in South Africa, promises to be anything but traditional in director Phelim McDermott's staging, which features gigantic, stilt-walking creatures and Kevin Pollard's inventive costumes. While McDermott's fanciful production of another Glass opera, Akhnaten, for L.A. Opera was sometimes overly busy and cute, it was nonetheless a similar three-ring circus of merry distractions and dramatic visual flair. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown; Sat., Oct. 20, 7:30 p.m.; thru Sun., Nov. 11, 2 p.m.; $21-$294. (213) 972-0777, laopera.org. —Falling James

sun 10/21

ART/BOOKS

West Coast Talent

In a sense you could say that most days are already like an art book fair at A.G. Geiger, an independent bookseller in Chinatown with a focus on rare, unique, eccentric, often artist-made catalogs, periodicals, monographs and zines. Nestled among a small but mighty concentration of galleries and creative businesses on a charming and historic pedestrian plaza, A.G. Geiger also is a bit of social hub, hosting a printing studio on-site and making a point of stocking titles by local artists and writers. But once a year, the convivial atmosphere gets turned up a few notches, as the shop hosts its all-day Art Book Fair, which spills out its doors and across the plaza with literary organizations such as Beyond Baroque, Hat & Beard Press and RESearch, plus galleries and art institutions from Secret Headquarters to LACE and Honor Fraser showing off their titles. A.G. Geiger, 502 Chung King Plaza, Chinatown; Sun., Oct. 21, 1-7 p.m.; free. (213) 505-6957, aggeiger.com. —Shana Nys Dambrot

CULTURE

Run for Your Life

Being chased by cattle at the annual Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain, is dangerous, but it's not as scary as being followed by a herd of clowns at the fifth annual Running of the Clowns, a parody event in Pasadena. Actually, bulls are not innately violent creatures and have to be poked, prodded and lanced to get them to chase humans, whereas clowns are simply terrifying no matter how you look at it. Folks are invited to dress up in all white as victims/runners or to dress up as clowns for the mad chase along the streets of Pasadena. The route starts at Big Bang Theory Alley and concludes at Dog Haus. 23 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena; Sun., Oct. 21, 4-7 p.m.; free. facebook.com/events/398552090677002/. —Falling James

FOOD & DRINK

All You Can Eat

Silver Lake plays host to a charitable food and drink smorgasbord this week. The fifth edition of the Eastside Food Festival features a trove of vendors as well as live music and educational demonstrations and talks. Confirmed restaurants include Kismet, El Cochinito, Fat Dragon, Little Beast, Stick Rice, Bourbon Steak, Jeni's Ice Cream, Ventura Spirits and a couple dozen more; better yet, it's all-you-can-eat and all-inclusive with your ticket. Further your foodie journey with a mixology demonstration from Rossoblu bar director and mixologist Brynn Smith and a panel on "The New Expression of Wine." Neil Frances, Alex Winston and The Radio Fliers will perform, with a yet-to-be-unveiled special guest as well. VIP tickets get you in an hour early, and proceeds help PATH, which supports homeless Angelenos. Mack Sennett Studios, 1215 Bates Ave., Silver Lake; Sun., Oct. 21, 4-7 p.m.; $69, $95 VIP. eastsidefoodfest.com. —Avery Bissett

mon 10/22

ART

Clash of Styles

This early-evening salon might be plainly titled "An Evening With Female Artists: Catherine Opie and Marilyn Minter" but there likely won't be a dull moment as these two provocative and disparate artists exchange words and ideas. Minter's work is rich with sensual, glittery imagery, such as her close-up views of colorful, sparkle-encrusted eyes, vibrantly luscious lips and perilous high heels frozen moodily in midstep. Opie's fine-art photographs are contrastingly austere portraits in which her non-glamorized subjects of all genders and body types are the stark and primary focus. And yet both artists upend the idea of what is considered sexual and beautiful with their own distinctively dramatic flair. Marciano Art Foundation, 4357 Wilshire Blvd., L.A.; Mon., Oct. 22, 5:30 p.m.; $70-$500. (424) 204-7555, eventbrite.com/e/an-evening-with-female-artists-catherine-opie-and-marilyn-min. —Falling James

tue 10/23

ART/POLITICS

Ace Ventura: Political Cartoonist

Actor and secretly deadly serious court jester to the world Jim Carrey has taken up a practice in visual art in recent years. His giant and well-stocked painting studio is the envy of oil-and-canvas lovers everywhere, but it's been his work as a political cartoonist that has truly caught fire and revealed the best part of his newfound skills to a global audience of adoring Twitter fans. He brings the same full-on intensity, fearless dark comedy, gift for mimicry and knack for emphatic satire from his performances to his pen and paper, creating haunting, hilarious, supremely funny and utterly unsettling editorial pictures. The many works on display in "IndigNation" at tony Eastside gallery Maccarone have been made in the last two years, and are timed to be on view through the upcoming midterm election (It's Nov. 6! Register!). Spoiler alert: Carrey isn't exactly 45's biggest fan. Maccarone, 300 S. Mission Road, Boyle Heights; Tue.-Sat., 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; runs thru Dec. 1; free. (323) 406-2587, maccarone.net. —Shana Nys Dambrot

PHOTOGRAPHY

The Man in Black-and-White

In the new book Johnny Cash at Folsom & San Quentin: Photographs by Jim Marshall, which includes a great foreword by singer Marty Stuart and text by Scott B. Bomar, there is, of course, a chapter dedicated to "The Finger." Accounts of why Cash flipped the bird have always varied, and the infamous shot wasn't really widely used until the 1990s. But it's just one of many black-and-white and color images of Cash performing in prisons in 1968 and 1969 that are featured in the Grammy Museum's new exhibit, "The Prison Concerts: Folsom and San Quentin (Jim Marshall's Photographs of Johnny Cash)." Marshall, who died in 2010, was Woodstock's chief photographer and also was responsible for more than 500 album covers. Both the book and the exhibition capture not only Cash but the Carter Family, Carl Perkins and The Statler Brothers, in addition to Cash interacting with inmates, namely Glen Sherley, whose song "Greystone Chapel" was recorded by the country legend. In conjunction with the collection's opening, the museum hosts a panel discussion with Bomar and Marshall's former assistant, Amelia Davis. Grammy Museum, 800 W. Olympic Blvd., downtown; Tue., Oct. 23, 7:30 p.m.; exhibit runs thru February; $10. (213) 765-6800, grammymuseum.org. —Siran Babayan

wed 10/24

DANCE

A Stylistic Melting Pot

In five short years, Jacob Jonas The Company has built a public and critical following for its athletic blend of ballet, street and contemporary dance. One of Jonas' talents is incorporating dancers with different backgrounds and styles into a distinctive L.A. brew that still allows each particular style full reign. Jacob Jonas The Company's stature was further confirmed when the Wallis selected the troupe as its 2018-19 company in residence, with the funding and heightened visibility that brings. These performances will be followed by a different show next spring, but for this opening sortie Jonas augments two of his own dances with commissioned works from guest choreographers Donald Byrd (who was one of Jonas' mentors) and Latino choreographer Omar Román de Jesús. Wallis Annenberg Center for the Arts, Lovelace Theater, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills; Wed.-Fri., Oct. 24-26, 8 p.m.; Sat., Oct. 27, 2 & 8 p.m.; $35. thewallis.org/jacobjonas. —Ann Haskins

thu 10/25

ART

Humble Work

Most of the time, curators have an idea and organize an exhibition, and then a prominent critic or historian will write an essay contextualizing its ideas. While not quite a full reversal, in the case of "One Day at a Time: Manny Farber and Termite Art," the essay definitely came first. Manny Farber (1917-2008) was a noted critic of art and especially of film, as well as a talented and prolific painter, whose maverick style in both pigment and prose was impassioned and subversive, academically rigorous and flat-out gorgeous. In 1962 he wrote a landmark essay in which he coined the phrase "termite art" in making a case for visual and cinematic art that luxuriates in details of ordinary existence rather than chasing the elusive, vainglorious masterpiece. Directly inspired by the ideas Farber laid out, this exhibit was curated by Helen Molesworth and Rebecca Lowery (who leads tonight's walkthrough), and features examples of Farber's work along with some 30 other artists working in painting, sculpture, photography, film, video and sound, dating from the 1950s to the present. MOCA Grand Avenue, 250 S. Grand Ave., downtown; Thu., Oct. 25, 7 p.m.; exhibit runs thru March 11; free. (213) 621-1741, moca.org. —Shana Nys Dambrot

STAGE

Animal Farm

Artist-actor Amy Raasch shines a fascinating light into the world we live in by telling her stories from the point of view of animals instead of focusing merely on human creatures. As part of the Solo Queens Fest, Raasch performs The Animal Monologues, directed by Matthew McCray, with an inventive score by noted producer-songwriter David Poe. Among other fanciful yet pointed fables, a sage donkey weighs in on the hysteria stirred up by quarterback Colin Kaepernick's kneeling protest, and a descendent of the "last living 9/11 search-and-rescue dog" tries to find meaning and hope amid the wreckage of the World Trade Center. Bootleg Theater, 2200 Beverly Blvd., Echo Park; Thu., Oct. 25, 7:30 p.m.; Fri., Nov. 2, 7:30 p.m.; Sun., Nov. 4, 1 p.m.; Thu., Nov. 8, 7:30 p.m.; Sun., Nov. 11, 3 p.m.; $10 & $20. (213) 389-3856, bootlegtheater.org. —Falling James

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