From Pasadena to Paris, stand-up comedian, actor and writer B.J. Novak tells his Uncollected Stories — short passages in the vein of the earlier, funnier Woody Allen or possibly a saucier James Thurber — as a learning process of honing and paring what works from what doesn't. The resulting schtick will be served up next year for Knopf, one of two books of Novak's purportedly dancing down the pipeline to the lyrical tune of seven figures. On topics as diverse as Congolese warlords and Kate Moss (which, in Novak's hands, aren't always as diametrically opposed as you might think), the Harvard grad mixes the dry with the knowing, sporting that sly smile that shows there's more churning around in his mighty mind than he lets on here. At the very least, it's a chance to pay tribute to one of the people who made you so happy with the laughs you got from watching him romance Kelly Kapoor on The Office all those years. UCB Theater, 5919 Franklin Ave., Hlywd.; Tues., Sept. 17, 9:30 p.m.; $5. (323) 908-8702, losangeles.ucbtheatre.com.

Tue., Sept. 17, 9:30 p.m., 2013

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