Tonight the Echoplex is hosting a night of female comedy. Ok, don’t start with the whole “girls aren’t funny” shit. There are some girls that are funny. And, in my experience, most guys aren’t all that funny anyway. So there! Woah, I think this belongs in LA Rant. Ok moving on…

Come over to the Echoplex to see female comedians that have been featured on VH1, MTV, HBO, The Late Show, and more. If that hasn’t convinced you, BUST Magazine (who is helping put on this event), along with Happy Clothing and Ultra Clothing, are all giving away free gift bags to some lucky audience members. Free gifts, lots of laughs. What’s stopping you? Get your tickets at the door!

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WHAT: Comedy is the New Black & BUST’s LOL 2
WHEN: Thursday, May 28 @ 8PM
WHERE: Echoplex
$$$: 10

Beyond Baroque lives a happy Bohemian life as a bookstore, independent publisher and creative space near the beach in Venice that has been offering art and literature programs since its opening in 1968.  If you’re looking to tap into the writing community in the great city of Los Angeles, a good place to begin your search is Beyond Baroque.  Let me break it down:
Monday: 8pm Literary and Experimental Fiction workshop with Angie Kirk
Tuesday: 8pm Creative Non-Fiction workshop with Tonga Nguyen
Wednesday: 8pm the West Coast’s longest running, free poetry workshop with Ellyn Maybe
Thursday: 8pm Alternative Screenplay workshop with Matt Byrnes
Saturday: 1:30pm Poetry (or Prose) workshop with Bob Foster

I realize this post could have been helpful earlier in the week.  What’s so great about Beyond Baroque, though, is that the community has not and is not going anywhere.

There are also some purchasable workshops/training that you can read about on Beyond Baroque’s website.  Also, check the website before you show up for the first time, so you will know what you will need to bring.  Some workshops ask you to bring ten copies of your poetry, for example.  All of these daily/evening[ly] workshops are free.

Besides these workshops, Beyond Baroque is open Fridays from 11am-6pm.  boredLA will keep you posted about upcoming events.  You can find a more extensive history of Beyond Baroque, including information about its impressive literary and artistic affiliations and accomplishments, on their myspace.
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WHAT: Beyond Baroque Writing Workshops
WHEN: Monday – Thursday at 8pm, Saturday at 1:30
WHERE: Beyond Baroque in Venice Beach
$$$: free free free!

LA might be a little dreary this weekend, so grab your sunscreen and your copy of the Feminine Mystique (outdated reference?) and drive up to the delightfully convenient Southern California Desert.  No no, Coachella is next weekend, THIS weekend is your chance to join an amazing movement of women at the First Annual Women’s Creative Collective Skill-Share.  Women’s Creative Collective for Change is a group of women, based in Los Angeles, who get together to work together for positive change for the future and positive change for the representation of narratives of the past.  The Skill-Share Retreat will feature yoga in the mornings, workshops throughout the day, hiking, meditation, creation, relaxation, and, of course, a drum circle or two.  Follow this link to sign up.  Women, men, and children are all welcome.  This is one of those events that you’ll always remember.  Make sure you check the website to sign up and make carpool arrangements.  Everyone wants to help everyone make this an unforgetable weekend!  If you want to get involved in another way, you can join WCCC’s writers workshop.
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WHAT: Womens Creative Collective Skill-Share Retreat
WHEN: Saturday and Sunday
WHERE: Sattleback Butte
$$$: free!

Fiasco!, one of UCB’s top improv groups & 2-month champions of UCB’s weekly Cage Match (plus just so happen to be friends of ours), is performing tonight at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade in their weekly showcase, Let’s Do This! The night is full of fun, with two other teams, Convoy and Fancy Schmancy, working their hardest to make you laugh. Or cry. You really never know with these people. If you enjoy comedy, these teams are sure to please you. So if you are free tonight at 11pm, bring $5, and laugh, laugh, laugh.
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WHAT: Improv Showcase featuring Fiasco!
WHEN: Friday, March 20 @ 11pm
WHERE: Upright Citizen’s Brigade
$$$: $5

Ever seen a Luchador in action? I’m not talking about watching Nacho Libre. No, caballeros and damas. I’m talking about Lucha VaVoom– one of the rowdiest, most raucous and raunchy times you can have in the comfort of a boisterous crowd. You get the colorful masked wrestlers such as Toro Rojo, Dirty Sanchez, Chupacabra, and the Crazy Chickens. You get beautiful burlesque women (AKA Buxoticas) teasing your very sensibilities from the stage, sure to make you seek an icy drink to cool you down. You even get a comedy show to boot.

There are upcoming shows in Anaheim (Fri, Jan 30) and Ventura (Sat, Jan 31), but the real kicker show is going to be right here in LA at the Mayan Theater on Feb 11 & 12. Perfect for that early Valentine’s Day celebration. Buy tickets soon, because they go fast. All shows are 18+.

Just in case you need it, here’s a little video to provide all you need to know to prepare… for Lucha VaVoom!

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WHAT: Lucha Libre
WHEN: Jan. 30, 31, Feb 11, 12
WHERE: Anaheim, Ventura, & LA
$$$: $20-75

REPO division and Bootleg Theater are throwing quite the event this Sunday.  Mark Cosmo Segurson, a local artist, has made some silent (animation) films that [cliche to follow:] are about to make some big noise.  In place of the Metropolis-esque organ, F-Stop Serenade, live music, will add the soundtrack to his silent narratives.

But wait, there’s more.  There will also be a live clown act (I know at least a few people just got really creeped out), an ART SHOWing from Sandy Rodriguez, and many more, as well as poetry, fashion, performance and drinky-poos to wet your whistle (pay with cash).

All of the art and activity will focus on the theme of doOoooooOoooomsday.  Ya gotta love a party theme.

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WHAT: Atomic Yard Sale
WHEN: Sunday, Jan 18th, 8pm
WHERE: Bootleg Theater
FREE Parking for the event at the church across the street
$: 10 suggested donation

The Ragazzi Room is one of LAs undiscovered cafes.  Not only are there plenty of tables and chairs and couches for you to engage in any sort of personal reading/ group leisure you’d be interested in, but the coffee shop also has a pretty complete food menu and a full coffee bar.

Recently, BoredLA and SCribes – Free Read have taken a vested interest in this establishment, and are reaching out to the LA community to help decorate the GIANT brick wall of the cafe with some art.

If you’d like to contribute to the aesthetic experience of the thirsty masses, send an electronic version of your art to FreeArt.FreeCulture@gmail.com.  You can even put your manifest brilliance for sale if you’d like (the owner asks no commission).

If you’re interested in reserving the space to play some acoustic jams for a bit, you can email the same address and see if the Ragazzi Room can stay open a little later to accommodate the tunes.

Try something new, and unwind with a non-alcoholic beverage, and perhaps play a board game (provided at the shop, it even has a backgammon table!), or enjoy the free wireless internet capability, at the Ragazzi Room.  And maybe afterward, if you’re thirsty for something else,  you can unwind with an alcoholic beverage next door at Bacaro LA (plenty of wine).

The Ragazzi Room is located just south of Downtown on Union and 24th St.  Business hours are usuall 7am-7pm, but sometimes it’s open later if there is an event.  And boy oh boy will there be events!  Stay tuned to BoredLA for the upcoming Your Art opening!

The Heard of Elephants creative collective (HoE) is ready, yet again, to blow your mind with art and music mixed together.  Next Thursday (mark your calenders!) CHARTS and MAPS, Corridor, and Collisions will kick off the beginning of The Heard of Elephants residency at the Unknown Theater, a cool little venue with a small lounge/bar in the front and a theater in the back.  To add to the artsy ambiance of the evening, there will be art installations by FISHBOWL and Juli and Brenda So, to name a couple, as well as a performance by Interactive Loop Machine (Mike Allison and Jay Watford).

The different artistic contributors of the collective will all explore the theme “cycles”: birth/death, seasons, laundry…

Not only does the night promise to be interesting, interactive, and a great time in LA, but you also have the chance to WIN STUFF.  $2 gets you a raffle ticket and the chance to win original art and prizes.  Everyone who is 21 wins free beer upon entry!

Starting next month, HoE will take over the Unknown Theater on the last Friday of every month.  Each Friday, the collective will explore a different concept and theme with their visual and auditory prowess.
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WHAT: Heard of Elephants
WHEN: Thurs Jan 29th, doors open at 9:30 (the first 25  people in receive a free raffle ticket and a souvenir!)
WHERE: The Unknown Theater (between Vine and Highland on Santa Monica)
$: 5 (BUT free beer.)

It’s that time again. The 2nd Thursday of every month is the Downtown Art Walk, and what better way to spend a usually uneventful Thursday night than walking in and out of galleries and restaurants and bars downtown for 9 straight hours? Plus every time around there’s always something special to look forward to. Maybe this time it’s Bert Green Fine Art’s opening reception for three talented artists, including Doug Cox whose work is featured to the right. Or maybe you got that iPhone for Christmas and can use the ArtWalkVisa App to make it easier to locate galleries as you go. And as always, the free shuttles: the wacky and tacky but awesome Hippodrome, and the more posh of the two, the Hazard’s Pavilion. There’s always something exciting happening, so don’t miss it!

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WHAT: Downtown Art Walk
WHEN: 2nd Thursday of the month
WHERE: Gallery Row
$$$: FREE

Club Spaceland has been chillin in Silver Lake for almost 20 years, now, and has witnessed and been a part of some of the BEST MUSIC of those years. For example, Spaceland was the first LA club to book Arcade Fire, Bloc Party, British Sea Power, Clinic (this is alphabetical, and not fully inclusive, so I’ll just skip to…) The Rapture, The Shins, and The Walkmen.

On Mondays, Spaceland features a new-name band, local or touring. At some point during the month, though, Spaceland makes sure to point the spotlight on a local Angelinos band. It’s nice to find local bands – you have better chances of catching another one of their performances at a local venue, and you might discovery a new wacky place in LA when you go to see them perform.

On Wednesdays, Club NME mixes DJ spins with live acts for the cool kids to dance to in Spaceland. This music follows suit with the other performers at the club/bar/land, but the DJ throws in some more eclectic tunes from classic hip hop to mashups.

In addition to the main bar, Spaceland has a “quiet” back bar that makes you feel like you’re in a different world– a different world that has a pool table, couches, and a jukebox. So if you want a good “hang” any night of the week from 8:30pm-2am where you can have an affordable drink in an exciting and not-the-typical-LA-club club, Spaceland is a great place to start.

The shows’ tickets range from free to around $10 (usually cheaper if you buy in advance; Mondays are always FREE), and on another bright side (for the penny savers out there) Spaceland has Pabst on tap for $3. Satisfying.

Check out their fascinating and annotated line-up here.

New York Time Square LOOK OUT! Downtown LA is whipping out the big bells to ring in the New Year with “This Planets Largest 21+ NYE Celebration.” At 8th and Figueroa a seven-acres private site with an indoor capacity of 8,500 and a courtyard capacity of 1,500 will up the odds of you finding your Midnight Kiss if you haven’t found it already.

If you’re looking to get high on life – or complimentary energy drinks – this party is trying its darndest to deliver. There will be a ferris wheel, flying acrobatix, psychedelic circus antics, amusements of specktacle (intentional and unintenional, I’m sure), games, and carnival rides. And for music:

The Giant Stage: Moby dj set, Benny Benassi, Dirty South, an early perforance by Paul Oakenfold; The Deep Stage: Mark Farina, Marques Wyatt and Big Cee; The Destructo Stage: Mickey Avalon, Dirt Nasty, Andre Legacy, tittsworth, Destructo, Franki Chan, Paparazzi, Beardo; Monster Midway Club: John Do and Justin Gourley, Architects of Sound, Robtronic, Matt Xavier, Andre Ezer

You can buy your general admission tickets online or from retail outlets. Check out the website for fancy pants tickets (Metromix VIP Lounge and VIP Cabana) that expedite the entrance process and give you a lovely view of the GIANT PARTY as well as fancy pants drinks and velvet ropes.

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WHAT: KCRW Presents the 3rd Annual Giant Maximus New Years Eve
WHERE: 8th and Fig
WHEN: New Years Eve 2008 7pm-4am
$: It differs, but from $70-$90 for general admin – use the coupon code “iheartcomix” to save some money!!

(Bored and Thirsty is normally a Thursday installment of BoredLA.Com)

2nd Street Jazz is a fun and dark bar that puts the little in Little Tokyo just a block from MOCA. I went there the other night for a fashion party, school girl Alice in Wonderland meets goth Queen Elizabeth, not exactly my style, but it served for interesting people-watching. The distinctly cozy size of the bar added to the excitement of the evening.

There is a small entry way in the front where, during my visit, a quick talking and nice, though all-business, gentleman assessed my group situation and divided out the appropriate cover charges.

2nd Street Jazz has an intricate cover charge system that allows people to have a drink at the bar without cover, pay a few bucks to eat (off of their VEGAN menu) and drink in a larger party, or pay a bit more if you’re down to just listen to the tunes.

Once you squeeze through the entrance, the bar opens up. Booths line one side wall, and the bar lines the other. In between these seating set-ups are a few standing-room-only tables and open spaces for people to float and dance through. The stage is just a raised platform in the back. It would be difficult for you not to make eye-contact with everyone in the bar at least once – this place is tiny.

Normally the joint is a jazz hole, which is a distinct departure from the Japanese techno I experienced during my evening at 2nd Street. Clearly the bar is down for diversity. You can hear some of what is in store on their Myspace.

Also, you can look over a list of the artists performing on the calender page of their business website.

The Cocaine, a creative collective/movement of artists that started at 2nd Street Jazz, organizes some of the bar’s music performances. Check out their connection here. Some of 2nd Street Jazz’s resident artists include The Forty Fours (with a guy from WAR), Vosotros, and emi kasai band of Japan.

Also, looking for something to do New Years? Check out your potential 2nd Street Jazz plans.

Doors open at 7:30, music begins at 9 or 10.

Oh, this is an oldy, but a goody: Barney’s Beanery in West Hollywood has quite an interesting and complicated history. I’ll just drop some buzzwords for you to ruminate on, or you can also check out a detailed and far more eloquent account here. Barney’s Beanery opened in the 1920s when people could trade their license plate for a pint (note the license plates that line the ceilings). Since then, the establishment has had intimate run ins with the beats in the 50s and revolutionaries and radicals consistently since then, including the likes of Janis Joplin (who had her last drink at the bar before she died), and more frequently, Quentin Tarantino who apparently just sits there and writes. Basically this bar serves lots of famous and otherwise cigarette smokers, alcoholics, gamblers, and artists. My favorites! I associate the bar with a Keinholtz artwork that’s a part of the permanent collection at MOCA. This place is thick in the history of LA.

But the cookie crumbles into franchise, especially the LA cookie, and you can go to a Barney’s Beanery in Santa Monica, Pasadena and Burbank, now, to experience the manufactured essence of the original bar in West Hollywood.

The other night I went to Barney’s Beanery’s newest location in Pasadena and had a great time. Although the bar was back-to-belly crowded and sports-type oriented downstairs (which is chill), my friends and I found a quirky area upstairs with a pool table and some booths where we could converse about important things and study the extensive beer menu. It was nice to have the buzz of a busy joint with the privacy of an upstairs getaway.

The walls and tables are covered with entertaining pop culture images and street signs. The lighting is dark, but engaging. It’s kind of like florescent starlight inside. The bar is organized into sections, so you can choose the vibe that works best for you or your group.

Happy hour starts at 4pm. Drinking begins around 8 in the morning (they don’t mess around). They’re famous for many things, and chile is one of them, so you can grab a bite while you’re there. Check the calendar and location for events like karaoke and free pool nights.

Everyone knows the story of Charles Dickens’ classic, A Christmas Carol.  Every year the same bitter Scrooge gets visited by the same three ghosts who show him all the same things which eventually leads him to the same old decision. Boring.  I know.  Well The Westside Eclectic Theater has been helping to reinvent the story for over 15 years.  Join various improvisers on Thursday as the story is retold thanks to an unscripted performance and a lot of help from the audience. How perfect is that?  Not only will you get a completely unique version of the story, but you can help tell it! Fun!

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WHAT: The Improvised Christmas Carol
WHEN: Thursday Dec. 18th  @ 8pm
WHERE: The Westside Eclectic Theater (Third Street Promenade)
$$$: $10

My favorite scandalous lady comedian, Margaret Cho, is hosting a No on Prop 8 benefit at Largo tonight. The tickets are a little steep at $25, but you really can’t pay enough to help overturn Prop 8.

Plus, Margaret Cho is funny as hell. Is there really a better combination than hilarity and social justice?

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WHAT: No on Prop 8 Benefit featuring Margaret Cho

WHEN: Tonight at 8 PM

WHERE: Largo, 366 N. LaCienega Blvd.

$$$: 25

i.O. West invites you to judge and be judged in their upcoming Viral Video Night.  Animation, video blogs, music videos, short films, and most anything that you can shove into some sort of slot in a computer to project a series of images will be considered in the contest.  Submissions are ongoing, so check out this link to get the details.  It should be less than 10 minutes.  It’s all free!

ALSO – $5 sketch shows start at 9, before Viral Video, on the main stage.  Find the line up here.

Everyone will be able to laugh and have a good time at the i.O., which is also an improv school and old home to some pretty (and) famous funny people. Tina Fey, anyone?

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WHAT: Viral Video Night
WHEN: Sun Dec 2 at 11 pm
WHERE: I.0. Main Stage
$: free

“A cast of hundreds, featuring the world’s most beautiful women!” Psyche. Instead of beautiful women, you’ll get a few funny people on stage at the Steve Allen Theater tonight for “Girly Magazine Party”- a cable access spoof in which comedians Mark Fite and Jim Turner portray Hugh Hefner-wannabes. Special guests in the past have included Dana Gould of the Aristocrats and the Simpsons, Dave Allen Gruber of Freaks and Geeks, and Craig Anton of the Office. Also, if you really want to be enlightened, check out the Center for Inquiry, where the Steve Allen Theater is located; it’s an educational nonprofit org that explores critical thinking, freedom of inquiry, and humanist values. Dope.  

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WHAT: Girly Magazine Party!
WHEN:Tuesday, Nov. 11th and the 2nd tuesday of every month, 8pm
WHERE: Center for Inquiry- West
$: 10

Today from 10am – 5pm at the Hollywood United Methodist Church, there will be open auditions for the Spider-Man Broadway musical. It will be directed by Julie Taymor (Director of The Lion King Musical) with music/lyrics by Bono & The Edge. Once you’ve wrapped your head around that one, you can move on to the fact that today, they will be casting the roles of Peter Parker, Mary Jane Watson, and “Principle Female.” Click here for full details.

If you feel you can swing the role, head on down and belt out some tunes. If you make it, remember to hook up boredLA with some tickets. At least take some pictures and add them to the flickr pool.

WHAT: Auditions

WHEN: Today, 10am – 5pm

WHERE: 6817 Franklin Avenue, Hollywood, CA 90028

$: Free / Dignity

This Sunday over at the Montalban, our favorite new venue, will be the Nike and L.A. Dodgeball Society-hosted 4-square championships. Yeah, it’s true. That sport back in elementary school that was fun, a little scary (depending on the size and strength of your opponents), and made your hands super dirty because that damn ball would bounce all over the blacktop and cover your clothes. But it was worth it. So bring out the old gym clothes and come watch or join the on stage sports at 2pm. If you want to play, RSVP at events@dodgeball4ever.com ASAP. Apparently every Sunday the Montalban will have sports on stage. So stay tuned for more fun, nostalgic sports.

This year’s Grand Avenue Festival will take place on Sunday the 28th from 11am-5pm on Grand Avenue, of course (between Temple and 5th St.). Over 30,000 people are expected to attend the all-day event. Who wouldn’t? It’s one of the few free* festivals we have around here, one of the few community-oriented events taking place downtown, plus there will be loads of events happening all day. MOCA is opening it’s doors for free tours, REDCAT brings us several live music, art, and theater performances, and the Music Center will be giving dance lessons and even hosting their popular “drum downtown” drum circle at the festival. The L.A. Phil and L.A. Opera will also have performances through out the day. This is a really great chance to see all of what L.A. has to offer! (And, I stress, for free!) Here is the schedule of events for you to check out for yourself.

(*Some tickets required due to limited seating in the larger venues… still free though!)