Splitsider

Posts tagged as los angeles

Albums

You Can Now Pre-Order the Stand-Up Album 'Holy Fuck' Featuring Rory Scovel, James Adomian, and Tons More

by | May 21st, 2013

Since it was founded in 2009, the live comedy show Holy Fuck has become a staple of LA's stand-up scene, and now, the show is being immortalized with a new two-disc album that you can pre-order from Rooftop Comedy. The Holy Fuck album, set for a May 29th release, features some of the best comedians going doing five minutes of their best material. A nice mix of established stand-ups and up-and-comers, the album features sets from James Adomian, Kyle Kinane, Rory Scovel, Natasha Leggero, Jackie Kashian, Eric Andre, T.J. Miller, and tons more. The only reason to skip this one would be if you hate comedy and/or profanity.

[...]
Live Comedy

With Comedy Bang Bang Gone, What's L.A.'s Next Big Stand-up Show?

by | December 18th, 2012

2012 was the end of an era for the Los Angeles comedy scene, as Comedy Bang Bang, the influential weekly stand-up showcase co-created by Scott Aukerman, ended its ten year run earlier this month. Comedy Bang Bang (originally titled Comedy Death-Ray) will live in on in the form of the popular podcast and IFC show of the same name, but the live show's impact upon the L.A. comedy scene (and the comedy world at large) is endless. Comedy Bang Bang first started in 2002 when the term "alternative comedy" actually meant something, years before Zach Galifianakis was a major movie star or Louis C.K. was the country's leading [...]

Local Guides

Splitsider's Guide to LA's Comedy Scene

by | March 28th, 2012

The City of Angels. La-la Land. Lipstick City. Tinsel Town. Hollyweird. I could list hokey nicknames for LA all day long, but maybe it’s just best to describe the town as an overcrowded mess of traffic, pollution, street gangs, broken dreams, and one of the most vibrant and active live comedy scenes in human history.

Because Los Angeles is the entertainment capital of the world, most of your favorite comedians from movies and TV live here, and a lot of them make it a habit to, despite their busy day jobs, continue to perform live stand-up or improv to keep their chops up. Celebrities aren’t the only ones taking [...]

Legitimate Theater

The Book of Mormon Will Put Down Temporary Roots in Tinseltown Next Fall

by | December 7th, 2011

The Book of Mormon will play a twelve-week run in LA starting next Sept. 5 as part of its national tour. "LA will finally get to see what real culture feels like," say hordes of pretentious New Yorkers.

stand-up

Watch the Web Debut of the Improvised Stand-Up Show 'Set List' with Bob Odenkirk and T.J. Miller

by | May 21st, 2013

Set List is an improvised stand-up show that originated in LA before touring the world and becoming an upcoming TV show in the UK and Australia, and now the show is premiering in the US as a web series on the Nerdist YouTube channel. Basically, each comedian comes out with no planned material and is given topics they must discuss as the show goes on. The first three episodes of the Set List web series debuted this week with Bob Odenkirk (above), T.J. Miller, and Glenn Wool (below) rising to the challenge. It's a unique concept for a stand-up show that often yields interesting results, and you no longer [...]

End Times

Scott Aukerman Is Ending the 'Comedy Bang Bang' Live Show in December

by | November 14th, 2012

After ten years, Scott Aukerman announced via Twitter he's ending his influential Los Angeles standup show Comedy Bang! Bang! next month. Aukerman started the standup showcase under the name Comedy Death-Ray at M Bar in Hollywood in 2002 before moving it to the then-new Los Angeles branch of the UCB Theatre in 2005. The Tuesday night show has been a linchpin of the local standup scene since it began and helped define "alternative comedy" in an era in which that term actually meant something, giving an early boost to a whole generation of now-famous standups. The live show spawned a popular podcast and IFC TV series of the name [...]

Art

Check Out This Comedian-Inspired Art, Art Appreciators

by | March 6th, 2012

"This sculpture of Louis C.K.'s head as a melting scoop of ice cream will pair beautifully with the de Kooning in my collection," muses a small goateed private art curator in my imagination, as he walks around the second annual "Is This Thing On?" exhibit in LA this Friday. "And this ink and watercolor painting of Whitney Cummings, a clear descendent of Cézanne's Bathers, to be sure, but with its own charms-" He stops in his tracks, almost spilling his tiny clear plastic cup of wine on his many pewter rings. "Why, look at the clarity of the birds' wings, the vibrancy, the immediacy of their flight, as [...]

Essays

Conan Writer Todd Levin On Status And Parking In LA

by | November 10th, 2011

This essay by Conan writer Todd Levin about the status obsession in LA is a fun, if slightly depressing, read. Here's what he has to say about parking on a studio lot:

It’s not just people; even the places in Los Angeles are designed with subtle status-checking devices. The studio “drive on” versus “walk on” is a classic example. Those invited to drive directly onto a studio lot are imbued with higher status, while the rest are forced to park across the street in a (filthy! disgusting!) parking structure, then exit said structure, cross the street (for everyone to see!) and walk through the studio to your meeting [...]

Standup Albums

LA Stand-up Show "Holy Fuck" Is Recording a Live Album with TJ Miller, Kyle Kinane, Eric Andre, and More

by | January 4th, 2013

The popular, excellent Los Angeles stand-up show Holy Fuck just celebrated its third anniversary last year, and now they're releasing a live album that'll give non-L.A. residents a sense of what the show is. Over the next month, Holy Fuck will be recording four live shows entirely composed of comedians doing five minutes of their best material, with 42 comedians including Dana Gould, TJ Miller, Natasha Leggero, Kyle Kinane, and Eric Andre set to be recorded. The performances will then be edited into a 2 or 3-CD set released by Rooftop Comedy. Visit Holy Fuck's Tumblr for info on attending one of these amazing-sounding shows. Other influential stand-up [...]

Podcasts

The Complete Guide to Everything: Los Angeles

by | July 9th, 2012

This week Tim and Tom discuss whether old nerds will be able to keep up with 15 year old girls in the future and Tim recalls his first experience podcasting at 7 years old. There's also a heated debate about the moral implications of putting your seat back on an airplane, a few ideas about starting a cult and the truth about Disneyland that is hidden from all children raised on the East Coast is uncovered.

Theater

Russell Brand Will Star in Eric Idle's Stage Romp What About Dick?

by | February 20th, 2012

Russell Brand will don the stage actor's powdered wig for a few performances of What About Dick?, a play by Eric Idle, in LA this April. The rest of the British cast is pretty fantastic too: Eddie Izzard, Jane Leeves, Sophie Winkleman, Tracey Ullman, Tim Curry, and Billy Connolly – plus Idle as the play's narrator. It's a "farcical romp" set in the early 1900s, which means there will surely be endless, interminable, unceasing naughty plays on the word "dick." You'd be an absolute fool to not attend this show if you have the chance.

Cities

Due West: A Roundtable Discussion on New York's Ongoing Comedy Exodus

by | October 11th, 2011

It was inevitable that a city so saturated with comedians would stumble onto a storyline so unexpected from their jaded ironies and hipster quips. New York is in the middle of its own romcom and, true to form, the object of its affection is the very thing it always swore it hated: Los Angeles. But if New York is all about the bookish grad-schooly dry wit of, say, Jon Stewart and LA quintessence is the vain bubblegum blather of a Kardashian, then what kind of drama unfolds when the two lock eyes? Turns out: none.

This is not drama. Drama has mystery and tension, and what’s going on with [...]

-->