Last weekend, DesignerCon 2011 took over the Pasadena Convention Center for the 6th annual art and design convention that brings together collectible toys, designer apparel, and urban and pop art. People were eager to get an early start on toy exclusives, get art signed by some of their favorite designers or like us—there to take in some great eye candy. more ›

While San Diego can still lay claim to ComicCon, the center of the fanboy and fangirl universe shifts north this weekend for two shows: DesignerCon at the Pasadena Convention Center on Saturday and Comikaze Expo at the LA Convention Center on both Saturday and Sunday. more ›

"Things got way too meta," Art Spiegelman says. The author sits at a table atop the Soho House, smoking a cigarette and awaiting his interview with Bookworm-host, Michael Silverblatt, for the 6th installment of KCRW's UpClose series. And he's not kidding. more ›

What’s on tap for a Tuesday night in LA? Here’s a lineup we picked out for you: Spooky cartoons at Cinefamily, an evening with Mrs. Brady at the Paley Center, Hector Tobar at Skylight Books and wine and jazz at Palate in Glendale. Read on for all the details.` more ›

Under the direction of Ronnie Clark, Ghost Road Company's experimental play Stranger Things brings a purgatorial graphic novel to life through a stark pencil-sketch landscape, multimedia effects, and strong performances. Impressionist music, steely drawings, and austere characters transform grim abstractions into a conceptual drama where the art itself slowly siphons off individuals members of a creepy family. more ›

We caught the final 3 days of the Just For Laughs festival in Montréal = amazing! We will be going back for at least a week at next year's 30th anniversary event. With all the comedians and entertainment industry focus in LA, it's a shame that a similar event can't be launched but perhaps it's for the better. more ›

Comic-con 2011 is in full swing. As evidenced in these photos from day one, the geeky masses have made the exodus, once again selling out all San Diego hotels irregardless of exorbitantly inflated rates. Comic-con continues through the weekend. more ›

It was announced today that Peter Parker will fall to a longtime foe in Marvel Comics' "Ultimate Spider-Man" #160 set to hit comic book stores on Wednesday, June 22. more ›

For 75 years, DC Comics has created a roster of some of the world’s greatest superheroes and villains. Comedian/actor/writer Patton Oswalt moderates a discussion at the Hammer Museum tonight among DC Comics’ creative and editorial minds Paul Levitz, Jim Lee and Geoff Johns. They’ll discuss pulp origins of DC Comics’ stories and characters and the iconic company’s future in the age of digital publishing. 7 pm. Free. more ›

The best Halloween costume ever? HBO will be giving away eight costumes from the set of "True Blood." You can enter at www.TrueBloodSweeps.com (you have to enter by Friday, 9 a.m. Pacific). They'll be giving away Bill's t-shirt and jacket, Sookie's bloody Merlotte's t-shirt, Sookie's bloody white trench coat, Maryann's bloody wedding gown, Eric's t-shirt and leather jacket, and more. Check the gallery for pics of some of the costumes, as well as "True Blood" figurines, beach towels and other collectibles that you can get at the HBO store in NYC or online. Also at the event we attended on October 7 was a "True Blood" comics autograph session with the illustrator and writers of the comics. more ›

When it comes to best costumes, West Hollywood wins the award during Halloween. Any other time of the year, the honor goes to San Diego (perhaps Los Angeles in the future) where the annual Comic-Con was held last weekend. more ›

What do Stormtroopers, Batman, Angelina Jolie, J.J. Abrams, Bruce Willis, and scantily-clad women all have in common? more ›

I get it. Wonder Woman's original costume kind of sucks. "But", you might argue, "she's an immortal goddess. Can't she wear whatever she wants?" Sure, but come on, Superman is invulnerable to everything but kryptonite and he wears Long-Johns and a cape. For the last 70 years Wonder Woman has been saddled with a skimpy nightie that only provides zero non-magical protection (and was painfully old fashioned almost the second the ink dried), and an origin story with vast potential that doesn't really make sense. She deserves an update, and like yesterday. more ›

The Downtown Music Project sonically kicks off Memorial Day Weekend tonight. (It’s a free music crawl on the last Friday of the month.) Several venues are hosting live music performances. Start off at the California Plaza at 7 pm with music by Judson & Mary, followed by sets by John Issac Waters, Samuel Stewart and Downtown Train. Other venues include Casey’s Irish Pub, Five Star Bar, Broadway Bar, Noe, Tony’s Saloon, The O Hotel and more. more ›

With L.A. Live in place and the recent opening of the J.W. Marriott (the hotel includes convention space inside), Los Angeles could be a prime candidate for Comic-Con's new home. That is, if rumors are true regarding the famous convention that draws some 126,000 people. The convention's contract with San Diego expires in 2012 and locals are scrambling to keep it from moving to Anaheim, Las Vegas or Los Angeles. The Comic-Con board is expected to make a decision next month. more ›

Thursday night at Royce hall in UCLA was like the face melting "Stoned Again" poster. A great start, but it ended badly. It was hard to guess which R. Crumb would be on stage, the self-loathing, misogynistic misanthropic, insensitive curmudgeon or the boyishly endearing, insightful artist. more ›

Tonight at 7:30 pm, Zócalo and The Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West present the program How Will Climate Change Transform L.A.? Moderated by Paul Wennberg, director, Linde Center for Global Environmental Science at the California Institute of Technology, the panel includes CalTech Professor of Environmental Science Tapio Schneider, UCLA Associate Professor of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Alex Hall, and Pulitzer Prize winning environmental writer Usha McFarling. The event takes place at The Huntington in San Marino. Free, but reservations are recommended. more ›

Los Angeles is filled with hardworking comedians; they’re practically bussed in from Milwaukee or St. Louis or Tampa or wherever funny comes from. For long-time writer/actor/comedian Jason Nash, it took years to discover that maybe the comedy can come from your own basement. With the continued success of his long-running podcast Guys With Feelings, Nash uses his own basement to talk about familial frustrations, life in (and outside of) ‘the biz’, and any interesting tidbits his hilarious comic friends can think up. more ›

just peace... and coffee more ›

LA Observed asks if Secret Headquarters in Silver Lake is the best comic store in the world. Boing Boing editor, Corey Doctorow, says yes! more ›

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Attention comics, those who think they are comics, or those whose friends said they were "comedians" - here's your chance: this TUESDAY, January 29th, NBC's Last Comic Standing is having an all-day open casting call at the Hollywood Improv on Melrose starting at 9:00AM to show off their best 2 minutes of comedy. "Comics" who qualify and are 18+ (are they gonna strip?) are asked to come back Tuesday night to perform in front of an audience and TV cameras. Guest talent scouts will be Angela Kinsey ("Angela") and Oscar Nunez ("Oscar") from "The Office". Also on hand, all day, will be show host, comedian, and comedy impresario, Bill Bellamy, who will be working the line of contenders, doing spot interviews, watching auditions, and emceeing the first night. Full audition details are available HERE more ›

Here at LAist, we know that everyone loves a Derby Girl. So we’re pretty sure that this Saturday night, when the lovely ladies of Angel City Derby Girls pair up with Meltdown Comics to hold an art auction, Eat Your Art Out, it promises to be a good party. more ›

Remember when Charlie Brown had a bad case of S.A.D. and after he gave Lucy a nickle, she tells him that he needs more "involvement." Then they put on a nativity play and well, you know the rest. It's December and Los Angeles is rife with holiday plays and musicals. Just because you're too old to land the starring role in the Christmas pageant, or don't happen to have kids who are performing in one, don't think you get to skip your seasonal dose of fabricated sentiment. Afterall, when it's 80 degrees outside, we Angelinos can use all the holiday cheer (or parodies there of) we can possibly stand. more ›

James Jean signing at Gallery Nucleus. more ›

To prepare for this interview, I scoured my closet for my pair of unwashed lucky socks, put on some Dog the Bounty Hunter ondemand, and tried to ignore the fact that his girlfriend is "shnacky", as I like to say. Yucko the Clown is a regular guest on "The Howard Stern Show", a stand-up comic, and the co-creator of The Damn Show later 'ported' to MTV2 as Stankervision. Currently he's touring with the Killers... more ›

Listen to the interview here: Bobby Slayton is an icon, he's been doing stand-up for 30 years, everyone in the industry knows him, and generations of us have grown up on his comedy. At his live show the crowd gets warmed up with a video of practically every single well-known American comic, from Don Rickles to Robin Williams, giving props to Bobby. I've been listening and seeing Bobby Slayton perform for 25 years, listening to... more ›

Jim Gaffigan is an actor that does stand-up but his stand-up is what has made him so popular. He's got the Comedy Central Specials, his performance DVD and CD called Beyond the Pale, his regular bits on Conan pushing the hilarious and self-effacing animated series Pale Force, and, of course, there's a soft drink called Sierra Mist. We talked a bit about the creation of Pale Force and the recent contest where 3 lucky viewers... more ›