Jane BordenHotel lobby, pet store, sex shop, hat store, record store, Chinese restaurant, boutique, barber shop, tattoo parlor, the Hollywood Forever Cemetery: as indie-comedy shows come and go, the venues grow more bizarre.
Where should they go next? Several local comics and show producers joined us in creating the following prediction-slash-wishlist of iconic L.A. locations. Some of these will actually happen, while others are merely jokes — but since there's a real show hosted inside a pod hostel, we won't be bold enough to label which are which.
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“The next show will happen on the 405 — because no one has been happy there in 20 years.”
—Iliza Shlesinger
“There will be a show in the legendary Magic Castle where magicians make comedians appear and disappear at random. It's up to the comics to time their set-ups and punchlines right. You don't want to do story material there — stick to one-liners.”
—Matt Braunger
“Hot Tub is actually currently planning our 10th anniversary show at the abandoned zoo caves in Griffith Park. But my second choice would be in the L.A. River downtown.”
—Kurt Braunohler
“A different comic sets up in each of the stalls on Olvera Street. Audience members wander from joke to joke. But, also, you can still buy Lucha Libre masks. “
—Jane Borden
“My dream is to have a show out of the back of a semi-truck during bumper to bumper traffic on the 405: finally an audience we can't walk. “
—Brad Davis Silnutzer
“In honor of the drought and L.A.'s general decision to sort of ignore it, I am organizing a show in a water bottle. It's pretty exclusive — an audience can't actually fit inside — but the mobility cannot be beat. We'll be doing pop-up shows in Griffith Park, at the Silverlake Dog Park and whenever and wherever you have a meeting.”
—Cameron Esposito
Greg Walloch hosts the storytelling show Eat Your Words in the lobby of the Standard, Hollywood Hotel.; Credit: ©2014 Melissa Manning/thelookpartnership.com
“I want a show on the subway — then people might actually ride it for once.”
—Jake Weisman
“Last Comic Standing should do their next season at a Scientology Center and have each set e-metered to determine who moves on to the next round. (Note: I don't know what e-metering is.)”
—Eli Olsberg
“Eric Dadourian and I used to joke about doing a summer show in the parking lot of Hurricane Harbor at Six Flags called 'Bring Your Trunks!'”
—Allen Strickland Williams
“The next show will be in a farmer's market, in which each comedian has to interact with passersby to create their comedy organically fresh from the source: L.A. wackos.”
—Matt Braunger
There will be a show on the moon — you wouldn't need as much gravity for the jokes.
—Jake Weisman
Iliza Shlesinger's Comedy Central Presents special
“There'll be one in L.A. Public Library: That way when you tell a joke and the room is silent, you really can blame the crowd.”
—Iliza Shlesinger
“I'd love to see a show in the shallow end of the pool by the Standard rooftop bar.”
—Brad Davis Silnutzer
“Trader Joe's: It'd be a supportive venue since the employees are incredible at crowd work. But they'd sometimes run the light because they're so in the moment with customers.”
—Eli Olsberg
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