Parody Rock Opera Spoofs '80s Heavy Metal
The People vs. Hell Kross Recalls Metal's Satanic Panic
In the 1980s, heavy metal was dangerous. Hard rock's subgenre became a societal scapegoat, blamed for corrupting young people's minds and inciting deaths. Bands went to court and even the Senate to defend lyrics about Satanism, violence, drugs and beastly sex....
LA Weekly
Nov. 1, 2018
UCB's South Asian Sketch Comedy Team
The Get Brown at UCB Brings Down Stereotypes By Bringing Them Up On Its Own Terms
“I don’t wanna trade on racial stereotypes,” says one of the comedians in The Get Brown, UCB’s first all–South Asian sketch comedy show, just before another of the comedians pretends to be an IT specialist and another pretends to be a doctor....
LA Weekly
Aug. 13, 2018
L.A.'s First Exhibit by Gay Armenian Artists
Glendale Gallery Celebrates "Queer Armenian-Art"
In April, a teenage boy was stabbed in Yerevan, Armenian, by a man who suspected he was gay. A few months earlier, a transgender woman was beaten in the capital city, her apartment set on fire. In both cases, the attackers were released. These are just two of the many hate crimes that have targeted LGBTQ Armenians in recent years in the former Soviet republic, which didn't decriminalize homosexuality until 2003.....
June 7, 2018
LA Weekly
RuPaul's Drag Race Winner Bianca Del Rio's New Book
RuPaul's Drag Race Winner Bianca Del Rio Has Some Advice for You
In the four years since winning season six of RuPaul's Drag Race, Bianca Del Rio has rightfully become the Joan Rivers of drag comedy...
Los Angeles Magazine
May 10, 2018
UCB's Inaugural "Comedy Yard Sale"
Sarah Silverman's Obama Vibrator and 9 Other Things We Saw at UCB's Comedy Yard Sale
Over the weekend, UCB hosted its inaugural two-day Comedy Yard Sale, benefitting the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California....
LA Weekly
June 6, 2017
The Queen of Versailles Director Lauren Greenfield's Photography Exhibit
Lauren Greenfield's Photos of the Wealth-Obsessed Will Make You Rethink Everything
One of the first images in Emmy-winning filmmaker and photographer Lauren Greenfield's expansive monograph, Generation Wealth, is of a group of seventh graders at Crossroads School in Santa Monica waving around $100 bills...
LA Weekly
April 7, 2017
Bitter Homes and Gardens, A Comedy Web Series
How One L.A. Couple Turned Their Endearingly Antagonistic Relationship Into Comedy Gold
The new web series Bitter Homes and Gardens begins with a couple arguing over their DVR....
LA Weekly
March 23, 2017
Drag Queens Read to Kids
Kids Get a Lesson in Self-Expression at L.A.'s First Drag Queen Story Hour
On a Sunday at Stories Books in Echo Park, Michelle Tea takes the stage to introduce a room full of parents and kids to Pickle, their storyteller for the day....
Feb.14, 2017
LA Weekly
Forest Lawn Museum Photography Exhibit of David Bowie in Mexico
Rare Photos Capture David Bowie Soaking Up Mexican Culture
Mexico City–based photographer Fernando Aceves has spent the past 25 years shooting an impressive assortment of rock icons, both onstage and off: Paul McCartney, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, KISS, Ozzy Osbourne, Billy Joel, The Scorpions. His photographs of The Rolling Stones were part of an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art of Mexico City in 2000 and were included in two photography books celebrating the band’s 40th and 50th anniversaries. Aceves also has published his own photography books, including Ilusiones y Destellos: Retratos del Rock Mexicano (Illusions and Sparks From Mexican Rock) and 50 Jazzistas Mexicanos (50 Mexican Jazz Musicians)...
Jan. 19, 2017
LA Weekly
The Search for a Female MacGyver
Meet the Writers Who Are Trying to Make Next MacGyver a Woman
Most millennials might be more familiar with MacGruber, the Saturday Night Live skit turned 2010 movie with Will Forte and Kristen Wiig, than MacGyver, the 1985-92 ABC series that spawned the parody. The titular character was a mulleted, secret agent hottie who went from Russia to the Amazon getting rid of bad guys and saving tied-up ladies. He could diffuse an explosive with a paper clip, turn a casket into a Jet Ski and patch up a hot air balloon midair. He never used guns, only his resourcefulness and trusty Swiss Army knife. He was an American hero with one flaw: a fear of heights...
July 28, 2015
LA Weekly
Exhibit on Male Quilters
Dudes Who Make Quilts
“If women can be the CEOs of companies or do construction and pour cement, why can’t guys make lace or quilts, and take on those traditional feminine things?” asks Joel Otterson. Otterson is among the eight artists who are part of the Craft and Folk Art Museum’s new exhibit, "Man-Made: Contemporary Male Quilters," running through May 3. The group show, which also includes Joe Cunningham, Luke Haynes, Jimmy McBride, Aaron McIntosh, Dan Olfe, Shawn Quinlan and Ben Venom, aims to not only add a male point of view to a traditionally female-dominated hobby, but turn function into art...
Feb. 4, 2105
LA Weekly
Exhibit on Rock 'n' Roll Billboards
The Heydey of Rock 'n' Roll Billboards on the Sunset Strip
Before video killed the radio star—and the Internet killed the video star—billboards were used as a major promotional tool. In the capital of entertainment and car culture, they were conversation pieces for commuters and pedestrians. So where better than on the city's most famous street for record companies to erect 14 ft. versions of their biggest artists?....
March 21, 2015
LAist
Interview with The Big Bang Theory's Eric Kaplan
Does Santa Exist? A Big Bang Theory Writer Says It's Not As Simple As You Think
Fans of The Big Bang Theory know the character of Sheldon Cooper as a nerdy, Klingon-speaking manbot who, according to his friends, is one lab experiment away from turning into a comic book villain. He’s a theoretical physicist who has no use for human contact, feelings or sentimentality, especially around the holidays; he calls Christmas “a bunch of bologna created by the tinsel industry.” Naturally, he doesn’t believe in Santa...
Dec. 22, 2014
LA Weekly
Interview with Martin Short About His Memoir
Martin Short on His New Memoir, And Turning Tragedy into Comedy
In his new memoir, I Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend, Martin Short writes about the string of tragedies he’s endured over the years: His brother died in a car accident, he was orphaned by the time he was 20 and he lost his wife, ex-girlfriend Gilda Radner and close friend and director Nora Ephron all to cancer. But the famous funnyman insists he’s never been an angry guy. He maintains he’s an inherently happy person – it’s in his DNA. That and Canadians aren’t boring, they’re kind....
LA Weekly
Nov. 8, 2014
Grammy Museum's Rodney Dangerfield Exhibit
Respect Grammy Museum Spotlights Rodney Dangerfield
Among the Grammy Awards’ 70-plus categories, the winner of the best comedy album is seen only on the awards ceremony’s pre-telecast. But the Grammy Museum is finally putting the spotlight on comedy, beginning with an exhibit on the life and career of no-respect-can’t-catch-a-break comic Rodney Dangerfield, which is part of the museum's inaugural Comedy Month in November, and will include programs with Grammy-winner Kathy Griffin and Richard Lewis....
LA Weekly
Nov. 1, 2014
Interview with Online Comedian and Actress Jessie Kahnweiler
Jessie Kahnweiler Combines Dark Comedy with Judaism
Seldom have the words hummus and handjobs been uttered in the same sentence, especially by a nice Jewish girl. But Jessie Kahnweiler is not your typical nice Jewish girl. In less than two years, the 29-year-old filmmaker has become an online favorite of the Girls generation, with a series of autobiographical web shorts on topics ranging from Judaism to dating hipsters to sexual abuse. She’s quick-witted, unfiltered and endlessly quotable, with the kind of humor that would’ve made Joan Rivers laugh tears while clutching her QVC jewelry.Can we tawk?...
LA Weekly
Oct. 30, 2014
L.A.'s Year-Round Halloween Stores
5 Stores Where It's Halloween All Year Long
Shopping for Halloween doesn't have to end after the pumpkins have dried up. Unlike the seasonal, pop-up shops that disappeared last November along with Miley's VMA twerking ensemble, there are several Halloween stores around town that cater to your dress-up and decorating needs throughout the year. Bookmark this when the urge to wear a Freddie Krueger mask or dress like a slutty nurse strikes in March...
LAist
Oct. 8, 2014
Hollywood Costume Exhibit
Epic Exhibit of Hollywood Costumes Returns to Los Angeles For Your Viewing Pleasure
A touring exhibit of iconic Hollywood costumes that started in London returns to its roots in Los Angeles at the future Academy Museum of Motion Pictures this week....
LAist
Sept. 30, 2014
Former Tonight Show Producer Dave Berg's Memoir
A Tonight Show Producer on His Memoir, Including Difficult Celebrity Guests
“It was the easiest job I ever got and the hardest job I ever had,” writes Dave Berg in his new book,Behind the Curtain: An Insider’s View of Jay Leno’s Tonight Show....
LA Weekly
Aug. 29, 2014
A Halloween Convention in the Summer
Want to Buy a $365 Zombie-Killing Kit? Check Out This Gathering For All Things Haunted
A dead-eyed nun in a sexy habit takes the controls of the Hellevator — a simulated elevator ride from, yes, hell. The rickety box jolts and rocks from side to side. While the ride lasts mere minutes, the experience is just shaky enough to scare the free candy out of everyone....
LA Weekly
Aug. 21, 2014
An Arab/Israeli Sketch Comedy Show
She's Israeli. He's Assyrian. They're Putting on a Comedy Show Together
Comedians poking fun of the Middle East isn't the minefield it used to be. The Axis of Evil comedy tour helped spread post-9/11 humor, and clubs now devote entire nights to comics of Middle Eastern heritage. If all good comedy comes from pain, what better material than war, terrorism and bloodshed?....
LA Weekly
July 22, 2014
Author Lilibet Snellings on Her Job as a Model at The Standard Hotel
A Girl in the Box at the Standard Hotel Speaks
There's never a shortage of half-dressed ladies on the Sunset Strip, and that includes the lobby of the Standard, the boutique hotel just west of the Chateau Marmont and east of the Comedy Store. But there's always one girl at the Standard who stands out above the rest...
LA Weekly
March 7, 2014
British-Iranian Comedian Omid Djalili's First L.A. Show
Comedian Omid Djalili Doesn't Only Joke About the Middle East Any More
While most of us were plowing through instant mashed potatoes and canned cranberry sauce on Turkey Day, British-Iranian comic Omid Djalili was invited to spend Thanksgiving at UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson's house in New York...
LA Weekly
December 7, 2013
Artist Alice Toohey's One-Woman Show on Marilyn Monroe
The Last Day of Marilyn Monroe
Outside the Pieter Performance Space is industrial, modern-day Cypress Park, but inside it's Brentwood on the morning of Aug. 4, 1962. A small crowd sitting on folding chairs quietly watches Marilyn Monroe in bed, her hand peeking out from beneath the sheets. She tosses and turns, answers the phone and takes a sip of grapefruit juice. She then sits up and announces in that soft, signature, childlike voice: "I didn't know that when I started this day, it would be the last day."...
LA Weekly
Aug. 29, 2013
The Comedy Central Roast of James Franco
James Franco's Comedy Central Roast: The Highlights
Last night, James Franco was the guest of dishonor at the Comedy Central Roast of James Franco (airing Labor Day) at Culver Studios in Culver City. The network normally roasts celebs who've become pop culture punch lines, like Charlie Sheen, Joan Rivers, Donald Trump and David Hasselhoff. Sure, Franco screwed up hosting the Academy Awards, and he was caught falling asleep in a university class. But he's an Oscar-nominated actor, not to mention director, professor, painter, published poet and a straight guy who's very, very comfortable kissing other guys on camera...
LA Weekly
Aug. 26, 2013
Former '90s MTV VJ Kennedy on Her Memoir
Kennedy, The MTV VJ Everyone Loved to Hate, Has a New, Salacious Memoir
You know you're a polarizing figure when Courtney Love takes a liking to you.
For anyone who regularly watched MTV from 1992 to 1997 during the height of grunge and gangster rap there was no presence on the network more memorable (or more irritating) than the single-named Kennedy, she of the nerdy glasses and hair as unruly as her mouth, who was once voted most hated MTV VJ in a Rolling Stone readers' poll....
LA Weekly
July 30, 2013
Documentary on Morton Downey, Jr.
Crazy, '80s Scandalfest The Morton Downey, Jr. Show Chronicled in New Documentary
Years before reality TV and today's conservative political pundits, we had Morton Downey, Jr., whose The Morton Downey, Jr. Show in the late '80s was Jerry Springer, Geraldo, The O'Reilly Factor and Jersey Shore all wrapped up into one, giant hoagie...
LA Weekly
May 20, 2013
Sock Puppet Sitcom Theater
How to Stage Classic Sitcoms....With Sock Puppets
The dozen or so people gathered at Atwater Crossing on this Wednesday night are watching the first episode of Friends.
LA Weekly
July 5, 2012
