los angeles

As cheesy as it may sound, the circle of life does extend beyond the context of actual human life.  Where a hole exists in what’s hip/cool, there will undoubtedly be something to takes its place, which, in regards to LA’s vibrant and vast underground/independent comedy scene, translates to a show/room/venue ending and one or even a few more springing up elsewhere.

Silent Bob/Kevin Smith recently announced the closing of his live audience/podcasting venue Smodcastle before I had to chance to see anything there, tomorrow marks the end of my favorite shows Comedy Garage despite their long run, and Trick, one of the coolest shows in LA (the LA Times even wrote something about it) has been and remains, for all intensive purposes, shut down.

Yet, as tragic as the end of the Comedy Garage is (trust me, it’s one damn fine show as I wrote here), there are several new shows for all of LA to discover and enjoy with line-ups that rival those of arts and comedy festivals, mostly because many of the comics have been to or are going to a festival.    

Namely, Brunch, which will be hosted by the wonderful Jamie Lee and Jake Weisman, will make its debut this Monday April 18th at the Park Restaurant in Echo Park 9PM, free of charge or any sort of food/drink minimum.  As it’s in Echo Park, this show is already automatically cool, right?

Performance Anxiety, a comedy show put together by TJ Miller (on movie screens and comedy club stages across America) and Eli Olsberg (The Morning After Podcast) inside of the famous sex toy and accessories shop, The Pleasure Chest, Tuesday April 26th 8PM, for $7.  The novelty of having a comedy show inside the Pleasure Chest should be enough to peak the interest of many, but the line-up itself (Rory Scovel, Ryan Stout, Morgan Murphy, Garfunkel & Oates, and more) is one not to miss.

Forget show; Loading Dock, a “comedy event” at the XRT Theatre, is also making its inaugural run on Tuesday April 26th featuring not only a spectacular round of comedians including Kyle Kinane and Eddie Pepitone, but it will also have art on display from local talents Brian McFadden & Natasha Bedu, as well as a petting zoo and a photo booth… FOR FREE!!!  You read that right: Comedy + Art + Petting Zoo = $0 Admission.  In addition to being put together by the minds of enterprising, talented, and up and coming comics Abbey Londer and Allen Strickland Williams, Loading Dock is also in the category of “do not miss or else…”.

Again, as sad it is to see Comedy Garage go right after a documentary about it had been made, plenty of other stuff has willingly stepped in.  Also, I’m sure, the Comedy Garage gang of Sean Green, Paul Danke, and Cornell Reid will put together else amazing very soon because comedy doesn’t die, it just moves to another part of town.