los angeles

altadena, arcadia, comedy show, comedy special, los angeles, pasadena, stand up comedy, taping, tv taping

Photo by Adam Smith

Billy Wayne Davis is one of our favorite comedians working today with his sly comic sensibilities masked by his welcoming voice (as well as being one of the rare comedians to record an album at Jack White’s Third Man Records).

He’ll be taping his brand new special this Wednesday at an old chapel at Mountain View Mortuary & Cemetery in Altadena, CA.

That’s right, you’ll get to see Billy tape his hour at a funeral home’s chapel.

There are two tapings, 7:30PM and 10:30PM, and they aiming to start on time. Admission is free so long as you RSVP at BookingBWD@gmail.com. We’re going to say that this will be worth the trek to Altadena if you’re not close.

beverly hills, comedy show, experimental comedy, largo, los angeles, paul scheer, rob huebel, stand up, weho

Once upon a time, Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer used to take the stage together at UCB to do something called Crash Test. It was a live show where Paul and Rob got to do whatever the hell they wanted (i.e. an aggro-version of musical chairs, accidentally talking to celebrity assistants in the crowd, going over Vin Diesel’s real FB page, etc.) in between great stand-ups. Eventually, that led to an entire comedy special that they did on a glass bus.

It has been more than couple of a years since Huebel and Scheer have dove into this wondrous chaos, but that’s all changing as they will be reprising Crash Test again at Largo Thurs. May 30th at 8:30PM. Go get your tickets now as we have no doubt that this will be something special.

brendon walsh, comedy show, echo park, karl hess, lizzy cooperman, los angeles, stand up comedy, tess barker

It has been a minute (well, it has been quite a few figurative minutes) since legendary garage comedy trio of Paul Danke, Cornell Reid, and Sean Green as The Comedy Garage (there’s a whole doc about it) have assembled to put on around great round of underground comedy.

Lucky for all of us, they’ll be coming back together again this Friday with a classic line-up and putting on a show that’s legitimately underground. Get more details here.

bang bang luna, ben moss, comedy show, dynasty typewriter, john early, k town, los angeles, macarthur park, patti harrison, variety show, westlake

Normally dazzling the folks of NYC, Peter Smith and Sandy Honig (perhaps you’ve seen her as part of Three Busy Debras?) are bringing their comedy-striptease-music-variety extravaganza The Bongo Hour for a pop-in at Dynasty Typewriter along with Ben Moss and Bang Bang Luna.

See what we’ve been missing out on this coast (not to mention that you’ll get to enjoy the likes of John Early and Patti Harrison)

The Bongo Hour will be happening at 10PM on Fri., May 10th and tickets are $10 now and $15 on day of. Go get ‘em here (we hear they’re closing to selling out FYI).

free comedy, free show, los angeles, maria bamford, stand up comedy

One of the best comedians and humans other there, Maria Bamford, is doing another two afternoon shows this week at The Clubhouse in Los Feliz to hammer her new hour out.

Donations are suggested. This is your chance to see Maria probably in the most intimate space that you can (so long as you can swing going to a show on 2PM on a weekday).

free comedy, free show, hollywood, los angeles, musical comedy, ucb

While some folks spent way too much money to see and hear tech issues at Coachella, you can go see the best in musical comedy that UCB and Matt Apodaca has to offer (and do so for FREE).

The UCB Music Fest 2019 does have some truly great acts including:

The Sloppy Boys – Mike Hanford, Tim Kalpakis, Jeff Dutton
Doodie Mob – Carl Tart, Ronnie Adrian, Lamar Woods, Tim Neenan, Greg Smith, Joe Weber, Garrett Hanson
Will Hines’ Bad Guitar Solos – Will Hines, Mel Cowan, Joel Spence, Dana Wickens, Brett Morris, Jiavani Linayao
Age Against the Machine – Zach Olsen, Winston Carter, Alex Newman and Matt Apodaca
Hot Hot Fuss – Bryan Rainstein, Jeremy Olson, Cassi Jerkins, Tim Neumann

If anything, please don’t miss another chance to see Will Hines earnestly try to solo on the guitar while lacking the skill to do so.

Get more details here.

comedy show, experimental comedy, laid, los angeles, lyric hyperion, natalie palamides, nate, silverlake, solo show

It’s no secret that we love Natalie Palamides here at The Comedy Bureau as she has made our 100 Best lists more than once.

Thus, we feel obligated to tell you that she is bringing her two critically acclaimed, award winning solo shows, LAID and NATE, back to the place where they were born, Lyric Hyperion Theatre & Cafe. Whether you’ve never seen it or seen it multiple times, you shouldn’t miss out on Natalie doing these encore performances.

NATE will go up on May 24th & May 25th.

LAID will go up on May 31st and Jun. 1st.

Tickets are $20 for every show and well worth it.

aliya kamalova, brendan scannell, comedy show, emily v gordon, ethan edenburg, graham high, joel kim booster, jonah ra, kim seltzer, kumail nanjiani, los angeles, mekki leeper, shauna mcgarry, storytelling

This particular month of The Best Friends Show, the wonderful storytelling show that has comedy folks and their best friends tell a story together, has a particularly stellar line-up for this month.

Just look at the flyer and you’ll know that it’s going to a night more magical than the already pretty magical Best Friends Show (also, you’ll probably get cake too).

Go get your tickets quick here before they sell out.

The Business is now set to mark an entire 10 years in the biz, hopping around the country (SF, LA, NYC) as a stalwart indie stand-up comedy show.

Come toast them and enjoy all their hosts and their absolute favorites in The Business current home, Little Joy in Echo Park.

Come join them, as always, for free this coming Monday. Get more info and updates @thebusinessla on Twitter and IG.

avengers, comedy show, endgame, hollywood, improv comedy, joey clift, los angeles, mark david christenson, parody

The end of this generation’s Marvel Cinematic Universe saga is coming soon as the release of Avengers: Endgame is set for the end of this month. It should stand to reason that a massive movie franchise bookend deserves a massive themed-improv comedy show to accompany it, no?

Well, that’s what’s going to happen come next Friday as they will have 77 major Marvel characters that would be featured in Endgame all in one show, doing an improvised monoscene. They did this last year with Infinity War and 76 of the Marvel characters (Captain Marvel had not be introduced yet) and it should be a rollicking, mad, hysterical midnight good time (probably even if you don’t know or care about Marvel).

So go get your tickets here before they sell out.

By the way, this is their line-up right now:
Hosted by Walt Disney (Joey Clift) and Kevin Feige (Mark David Christenson)
Featuring:
Joan Ford
Haley Mancini
Leroy Patterson
Lesley Tsina
Daniel Weiss
Ryan Hitchcock
Annabel Seymour
Joey Clift
Marian Yesufu
Samantha Jane
Eileen Mary O’Connell
Miles Roberts
Trevor Reece
Katelyn Hempstead
Eve Esquire
Eric Chad Ho
Gabe Fabricant
Rob Gentile
Royce Shockley
Katy Dolle
Casey Lawrence
Max Singer
Lawrence Marshalian
July Diaz
Bobby Ramos
Matt Harbert
Matt Mazany
Frankie Griffen
Mark David Christenson
Erik Wargo
Sara Clarke-Chan
Ezra Parter
Robert Vestal
Sheldon Price
Patrick Fisackerly
Tyler Davidson
Leigh Lahav
J. Elijah Cho
Satya Vanii
Coop Foster
Mike Hughes
Seth Finkelstein
Adam Winney
Rachael Doverspike
Tim McGorry
Sonny Dominguez
Jessica Rogers
Emily Champlin
Benny Wayne Sully
Barton A. Lewis
Ryan Cohen
Jesse Arlen Klein
Raina Deerwater
Elizabeth Mcirvin
Robin Lynn
Scott Anderson
Erin Smith
Alex Blomme
Eric Laney
Benjamin Crutcher
Maggie Clancy
Zach Olsen
Ben Kaplan
Ali Kinkade
Jeanne Lau
Jennifer Dezell
Ian Zandi
Brian Rubinow
Catherine Durickas
Blake Wilding
Matt Manser
Elisa N. Ellis
Charlie Fay
Winston Carter
Alexa Wise
Keith Saltojanes
Joseph Porter
Ashleigh Shapiro
Travis Reaves
Sean Smith
Joseph Sette
Nick Gligor
Lauren Scharf
Rosa Pasquarella
Jules Forde
Brian Palatucci
Danny Amaral
Nicholas Coluzzi

comedy show, eddie izzard, hollywood, los angeles, solo show, stand up

If you missed his run at Dynasty Typewriter a few months back, you have another chance to catch the brilliant Eddie Izzard (and a better chance with way, way more seats available) and his new hour WUNDERBAR this Summer at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre.

His last tour took him to dozens of countries and saw him do his act in more than a few languages. There’s no telling how Izzard will top himself this time.

Tickets are $55-$85 and you can (and very, very much should) get them here.

comedy show, dtla, john hodgman, los angeles, maximum fun, pete fields, podcast taping

His honor Judge John Hodgman will presiding once again within LA county for another live episode of his eponymous MaxFun podcast, this time at The Regent Theater in DTLA on Thurs. Jun. 6th at 8PM.

For the uninitiated, celebrated humorist John Hodgman will cast a decision on disputes such as:

-when is it may someone else’s Chinese food be legally considered abandoned property?
-is a machine gun a robot?

It’s a pretty damn great time (even if you’re a plaintiff or defendant).

This tends to sell out (as it should), so go get your tickets here for $30 quick.

brendon burns, comedy show, los angeles, lyric hyperion, silverlake, solo show, stand up

Brendon Burns has fiercely carved his place in comedy around the globe. Blazing through the international comedy festival circuit, doing his own podcasts, and having made 9 comedy specials, the unfiltered Burns is sincerely (and has been for quite some time) a comedic force to be reckoned with.

This Friday night, he’ll be headlining the amazing Lyric Hyperion and you really ought to catch it. You can (and should) go get your tickets here.

chris meloni, comedy show, improv comedy, law and order, los angeles, parody, some kinda monster, svu, tribute, ucb

This show normally features a very, very well-executed improvised episode of Law & Order by the excellent improv team Some Kinda Monster and this week, it’ll feature a very, very special guest in the actual Law & Order: SVU star Chris Meloni.

Needless to say, you need to see this “very special episode” of Dramedy this Thursday. Get your tickets here quick.

Mike Birbiglia’s The New One Will Be Coming to the Ahmanson in DTLA This Fall

comedy show, dtla, los angeles, mike birbiglia, solo show, stand up comedy, the new one

Mike Birbiglia’s The New One Will Be Coming to the Ahmanson in DTLA This Fall

Mike Birbiglia doesn’t come through LA often and, even more rarely does a run of his award winning, critically acclaimed solo shows that have become Broadway shows and Netflix specials.

So, him doing a run of his Broadway show The New One at the Ahmanson at the gigantic Los Angeles Music Center in DTLA will probably be like seeing a shooting star we’d say. The run will go for a month from Oct. 23rd to Nov. 24th and individual tickets aren’t even on sale yet.

That being said, it’s the sort of show that will undoubtedly will sell out and you should be watching closely for when they go on sale (or, if you have the wallet for it, buy season passes for the LAMC).

alternative comedy, comedy show, experimental comedy, gondola, long beach, los angeles, poetry, spoken word

OK, so you’ve seen comedy in someone’s backyard, in a salon, in a tattoo parlor, in the back of a U-Haul, and even in an abandoned parking lot. Where do you get your next underground comedy fix?

Well, how about in a gondola in, of all places, Long Beach that features the delightful hijinks of Kurt Braunohler, Natalie Palamides, and Christina Catherine Martinez, and the sweet and funny poetry of Derrick Brown?

Pretty out-of-left field, no?

Even we haven’t heard of or seen something like GondoLOLs and we have no doubt that Kurt, who jet-skied the entire Mississippi River for charity and Derrick, who, as a poet, has toured with Eugene Mirman, will be showing us all a night of comedy unlike any other.

GondoLOLs is coming to Gondola Getaway in Long Beach on Sat. Apr. 27th at 7PM. Tickets are $29 and you best go get them here.

cheers, comedy show, experimental comedy, los angeles, parody, sketch comedy, tribute

At this point, it takes quite a bit to raise our eyebrows when it comes to comedy.

That being said, this show Cheers The Show: The Show, a sketch showcase of several different versions of the opening to Cheers by very talented sketch writers and performers (including Genetra Tull, Elizabeth Schantz, John O’Toole Katy Fullan, Jackie Durruthy, Lee Barats, Dan Torson, Lauren Knutti, Ryan Kelly, Coil Danielle, Lorae Byas, Caitlin Linden, and producer/director/co-writer Brian Rodriguez-McGovern) is one of those shows. Some of the cold-opens nail the tone and vibe of Cheers and some are hilariously off the deep end.

In any case, you should catch the latest edition of this show next week at UCB Sunset (it’s a test show that could go on to be a recurring thing at UCB FYI). Get tickets here.

bootleg, catherine cohen, comedy show, los angeles, mitra jouhari, patti harrison

The comedic forces of Patti Harrison, Mitra Jouhari, and Catherine Cohen are assembling once more for their show known as It’s A Guy Thing, happening this time at The Bootleg on Thurs., May 9th at 7:30PM.

On their own, you shouldn’t miss their experimental, absurdist, dark, musical-forward comedy and certainly shouldn’t miss it when they’re together (i.e. this will probably sell out soon).

Tickets are $10. Go get ‘em here.

ben kissel, comedy show, henry zebrowski, hollywood, last podcast on the left, los angeles, marcus parks, podcast taping, true crime

The Last Podcast on the Left boys (Marcus Parks, Ben Kissel, and Henry Zebrowski) are doing their true crime/horror/conspiracy theory comedy show in what might be the perfect venue, the lawn of a famous LA cemetery, specifically located in the gritty part of Hollywood.

This live taping at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery will undoubtedly sell out even though it’s not happening until July 21st. Best get your tickets quick for $35 here.

byron bowers, caitlin weierhauser, comedy show, dewayne perkins, emma willmann, los angeles, mitra jouhari, quinta brunson, stand up comedy

Without question, Byron Bowers is one of our favorite comedians to watch around town and has been for quite some time. He takes the stage and it is immediately and he immediately has the room captivated and then dives head first into the beautifully dark territory of his life experiences. Also, the supporting acts of Mitra Jouhari, Quinta Brunson, Emma Willmann, DeWayne Perkins, and Caitlin Weierhauser will make this one hell of a great night.

So, as he’ll be headlining at Dynasty Typewriter next month, you should go get your tickets ASAP here ($10 in advance and $15 on day of).

ap bio, comedy show, hollywood, los angeles, mike o'brien, sketch comedy, ucb

The mind of Mike O’Brien (A.P. Bio, SNL) is one of the funnest things to dive into. His absurdity is such a joy to bounce around in as evidenced by his sketch album Tasty Radio.

So, Mike is doing 45 min. of solo sketches at UCB Franklin next week, Sat. Mar. 30th at 10PM and based off what we just said, you shouldn’t miss it. Get tickets for $12 here.

baron vaughn, comedy show, east hollywood, live comedy, los angeles, los feliz, new negroes, open mike eagle, silverlake

By the way, the live New Negroes show with Baron Vaughn and Open Mike Eagle that happens monthly at The Virgil is happening this Sunday as a “pre-premiere get down” and might be a special one that you might just want to attend.

Get tickets right here right now.

Stand Up NBC Returns to Find Stand-Up Talent Across America

los angeles, open call, stand up comedy, submissions, talent search

Stand Up NBC Returns to Find Stand-Up Talent Across America

Stand Up NBC, the annual nationwide search by NBC for diverse stand-up comedy talent is happening again over the next several months with open calls in Chicago, Los Angeles (that’ll actually be in Oxnard for some reason-so get ready to drive for that one), Nashville, New York and Seattle (Bellevue). You can also submit a short clip as well within the given window of dates based on your location.

Los Angeles dates are as follows:

Online Submission Window: May 13th – May 31st
First Round Open Call: July 8th
Semi-finalist Showcase: July 9th

You’ve got time to get a set together, but, in the meantime, you can get more details here.

The Bob Baker Marionette Theater Has Moved to Highland Park

comedy show, highland park, los angeles, puppetry

The Bob Baker Marionette Theater has been home to puppetry of all kinds in Los Angeles for over half a century. Its namesake Bob Baker not only left a legacy within the art form, but he also bequeathed thousands of puppets and marionettes to the theater, some of which you can still see thanks to such folks as The LA Puppetry Guild.

So, we’re glad to see that they will get to live on (rather than go the way of Nerdmelt, Cinefamily, The Steve Allen Theater, iO West, etc.) in a brand spanking new location (especially considering that they’re an official Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Landmark) and their roster of puppetry/comedy shows, both for kids and/or adults, will get to thrive very soon in Highland Park from their original DTLA adjacent location.

Their new address is 4949 York Blvd. and they’ll be announcing their schedule very soon. Keep an eye out for it here.

comedy show, free screening, fx, hollywood, improv comedy, los angeles, preview, sneak preview, ucb sunset, what we do in the shadows

In addition to getting a sneak peek at the highly anticipated What We Do In The Shadows adaptation coming to FX on March 27th, there will be a special improv show also happening at this exclusive event.

Yes, all the free tickets have been snagged, but there will be a waitlist/stand by line come this Thursday (and we’re betting that some people won’t show and it might be worth showing up early to UCB Sunset’s Inner Sanctum).

Get more details here and start making plans.