No joke, a car crashed into one of Hollywood's improv comedy clubs today at 4:33 p.m. iO West Theater (you know, as in Improv Olympic) at the corner of Hollywood and Cosmo was the victim. Luckily, no one was hurt says the LA Fire Department and a witness on scene said the driver was drunk (isn't it a little early to be drinking and then driving? Shouldn't you still be drinking at this hour?). Paramedics......

It's classic romantic comedy formula--Boy Meets Girl, Boy Falls for Girl, Boy Loses Girl, Boy Gets Girl--but it has its roots in the venerable tradition of BritLit icon Jane Austen, whose mere six novels continue to capture the modern imagination. But imagine coming up with a full Austen-esque plot line, characters, witty repartee, and resolution in about 90 minutes? It's no easy feat, but for ImproTheatre's Unscripted Repertory performers (some pictured at right), it's simply......

Crosswalk Countdown - GuerilLA from Kelly Herrington on Vimeo. A crosswalk at Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade starts to count down. Once it hits 10, a group of enthusiastic party-goers begin to count down with it out loud (think New Years Even at Times Square). The clock hits zero, the blinking hand changes to solid and everyone begins to scream in joy. "Happy New Years!" This is the latest "mission" from LA's version of......

Photo by ~db~ via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr SALSA & MERENGUE DANCING Dance Downtown kicks up its heels tonight for the first installment of the summer-long Friday night series. Free admission to anyone who feels like trying a little salsa out on the Music Center Plaza. Beginner lessons are at 6:30, and a live DJ provides the tunes from 7:15-10. 6:30-10 p.m. // Music Center Plaza // 135 North Grand Avenue,......

Photo by kpe II via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr LAUGH USC’s improv troupe 2nd Nature hosts their 5th Annual Fracas Improv Festival at USC today. Groups from around the country perform, members of the Upright Citizens Brigade and other professional comedians host workshops all day, and several famous comedians make appearances like Ed Helms of The Office. 1 p.m. // USC // Figueroa and Expedition, Los Angeles // Free ART David......

We always hear about Improv Everywhere pulling crazy stunts off in New York City, like five-minutes of frozen time at Grand Central or no-pants on the subway. Well, after a small improvised pillow fight at the Glendale mall (video below), the new LA Chapter of the collaborative pulled off their first major mission: a spontaneous musical at Baldwin Hills Mall, starting off with the Hot Dog On A Stick girl. Eventually a cast of......

For over seven years, the Rebels of Comedy have created a warm and welcoming environment in one of America's most notoriously vicious industries. The comedy troop regularly brings Los Angele venues the biggest names and best up-and-coming talent in stand-up. Tonight, the Rebels will put on two shows at the Hollywood Improv featuring Joe Rogan (Fear Factor) and Ahmed Ahmed (Axis of Evil Comedy Tour and Vince Vaughn’s Wild West Comedy Tour), plus a wild......

Pretty cool. The group responsible is Improv Everywhere. The whole thing kind of reminds me of "Out of This World".........

John Mulaney - talent reelComedian John Mulaney is taking SoCal by storm, check out his schedule for the first part of this month (he'll be back in LA at the end of the month also): Feb 5 2008 8:00P - Comedy Death Ray @ UCB LA Hollywood Feb 6 2008 8:00P - The Improv Hollywood Feb 9 2008 8:00P - The Improv Hollywood Feb 11 2008 9:00P - Garage Comedy Feb 12 2008 9:00P -......

TALK Michael Alexander, author of Jazz Age and the Jews, will discuss Jewish life in the roaring 20s, including performer Al Jolson, Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter and mobster Arnold Rothstein in the lecture “‘Mammy, Don’t You Know Me?’: Al Jolson and the Jews.” He’ll discuss the 1920s as a heyday of Jewish culture, but why many identified with groups that remained marginalized. Book signing and dessert reception will follow. 7 pm // Davidson Conference......

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......

The LA Improv Dance Festival exploded onto the downtown scene last week with classes and jams from Tuesday on though the weekend. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, audiences were treated to some amazing performances by the workshop faculty and local dancers/improvisers. I was lucky enough to get there on Friday night for the In-Site Collaboration Performance. When performers find their groove in these improvisations, it’s hard to tell that they are improvising. It looks like they’ve......

Jazz performers improvise in front of an audience all of the time. At each sitting, different combinations of instruments and players create unique variations of existing sounds and tunes or develop something brand new to our ears. It’s thrilling to listen to the artists search for their individuality within the known arrangement of tones, scales, rhythms and meters. Or, it can fall flat. Still, when you bring the best together, even flat can be amazing......

The always dapper Greg Proops is at the Hollywood Improv 8:00pm on Friday; Saturday at 8:00 & 10:00pm. Whose Line Is It Anyway? was the mass media vehicle to inform all of us that Greg Proops is a gentleman and a scholar but that show and his innumerable appearances on shows like Ugly Betty, Last Comic Standing, Just Shoot Me, and all the late night talk shows require that Proops corral his wit and personality......

So maybe you holed up inside last night with a hot toddy and are thinking, "rain be damned! I'm going out tonight!" Okay, fine. If you make it out earlier, you can celebrate the Japanese New Year, or you can lay low until the evening hours and then get yourself so theatre. Or you could just stay home and keep drinking. We'll never tell... JAPANESE NEW YEAR/SAKE-TO ME There are multiple events going on today......

Here's the good news of the day: It's almost Friday! Go out and celebrate tonight with these happenings about town: FILM The 2000 film Peppermint Candy opens with the suicide of its protagonist: a middle-aged, South Korean businessman. The film then flashes back 20 years — from student uprisings of the early '80s to the Asian financial crisis of the late '90s. "Lee's breakthrough debut unfolds a stirring story of regret, first love and letdowns."......

For those interested in entertainment I might liken to wrist-slitting, there's Disney on Ice or George Lopez live at the Nokia. For everyone else there's a few things going down around town. FILM Scarface (1932) scribe Ben Hecht's moody 1927 film Underworld screens tonight at the Silent Movie Theatre. "Viennese director Josef von Sternberg’s gritty revenge narrative follows the turbulent romantic and criminal phiursuits" of felon Bull Weed, and the film is often considered "the......

Due to the recent writer’s strike, the popular mockumentary TV series, "The Office," is now being produced as an actual documentary of a real office. "An Office" is just like the real show, only far more boring. This parody was created by my good friend, and Upright Citizens Brigade alum, Charlie Todd. You can check out more of his pranks and videos at Improv Everywhere, and here's the link to the original post. One......

I have never been an improv fan. Another empty back room? Another watered-down drink? ANOTHER bunch of folks asking me to “name a city” so that they can squeeze some cheesy hilarity out of it? No thanks. Me and my Friday night are gonna hang out on the solo tip. However, I will drop everything I have when there’s an improv show at the Hothouse in the NoHo arts district. Every Friday night until the......

Neal Brennan (center) made a name for himself writing jokes alongside Dave Chappelle. With a sketch comedy show that reached legendary status in the "Chappelle's Show" and a cult classic movie, Half Baked already under his belt, Neal has transitioned into directing. Last year he directed VH-1's Totally Awesome, a hilarious Made-For-TV 80's spoof that he also co-wrote. Neal is currently working on a Will Ferrell produced comedy feature that stars Jeremy Piven. Despite......

Demetri Martin has taken the deadpan one line style of comedic greats Steven Wright and the late Mitch Hedberg and added his own twist, upgrading the number of comedy accessories from one (just a mic) to three with the addition of a guitar and a large pad (creatively titled, "Large Pad") to his routine. Tonight, the former Daily Show correspondent who wrote a song about his 9,000 friends on MySpace headlines at the Improv. Tonight's......

Fans and critics alike love comedian, Dave Attell. It's too bad Dave Attell doesn't love Dave Attell. A New York native with a knack for self-deprecation, Attell has earned critical acclaim and an allegiance of loyal fans. Many of those fans got their first look at Attell from 2001-04, when Dave stumbled his away across the globe with a bottle of beer in one hand, a disposable camera in the other on Comedy Central's Insomniac.......

A Word or 52: TV icon Bob Barker is retiring and is getting a big sendoff from CBS. Lost will be killing us by not giving us any additional info about Locke. Idol will knock another one off. There are no decent movies on TCM or IFC to go take refuge from regular broadcast TV tonight. Tonight - Wednesday - May 9, 2007 Angels @ Mariners (Fox Sports, 7:00 p.m.) Cardinals @ Dodgers (PRIME,......

On Thursday night we checked out "True Hollywood Story" night at the Improv, where some great standups told funny, though bitter, stories about their life in this town. The nice thing about places like the Hollywood Improv is that you never know who will show up. Jim Gaffigan was added to the bill at the last second and brought the house down with bits on bacon, laziness, and religion. From time to time he......

Who doesn't love Best Week Ever? Tonight two of our favorite BWE peeps and several other comedians will be doing a new show called "True Hollywood Stories" at the Hollywood Improv. You got Doug Benson and Greg Fitzsimmons from VH-1’s “Best Week Ever”, Andy Kindler from “Everybody Loves Raymond”, Jen Kirkman from “Acceptable TV”, Nate Craig from Blerds.com, and we're being told "possibly" Mary Lynn Rajskub from "24". Only in LA would someone from......

Ice Cube @ House of Blues Art Brut (above) @ The Troubadour Smoosh @ Knitting Factory Rita Coolidge @ Torrance Cultural Arts Center Pitbull, Tego Calderon, Ying Yang Twins, Ilegales @ Honda Center Eek-A-Mouse @ Vault 350 The Barbarellatones @ Boardners The Makers @ Spaceland Colin Hay @ Largo Joshua Radin @ El Rey Lady Sinatra, Warner Drive, Itis @ Viper Room Atomic Punks, SWAA, Myridian @ Paladino's Tennis Club, The Front, Killsonic, The......

With Joe Rogan's recent calling out of Carlos Mencia's joke-stealing habit, comedy has been a bit more interesting lately. This weekend, Rogan is performing twice at The Improv, and a few miles away, Mencia will be safe from him at The Comedy Store, where Rogan has been banned due to Mencia's feelings that he was "physically threatening." Comedians can be so dramatic sometimes. The Improv (8162 Melrose Avenue Los Angeles) 2/16 Joe Rogan @ 8:30......

We don't know what's in the water at local comedy clubs but we like it. First it was Kramer and then Damon Wayans and then Anthony Michael Hall at the Laugh Factory and this Saturday Joe Rogan chose to use The Comedy Store to confront Carlos Mencia for allegedly stealing jokes. Here's how he explained it on his website: I had a set at the comedy store Saturday night, and after I closed, I......

Now we're very confused. On Tuesday we reported that the Jewish Journal had written that the former Seinfeld star Michael Richards was not a member of the tribe. But this afternoon we read in Gothamist that the actor's newly hired PR man says that Richards is indeed Jewish. All of this stems from a new allegation that Richards once went on an anti-Semetic tirade on some audience members at The Improv in April. "He is......

Monday: The Next Herb Wesson Unless you spent the $225 for the series that includes Al Franken and Ann Coulter tonight at The Gibson, you’re out of luck. Rather, we recommend you check out local celebrity politico Eric Garcetti at the Improv Olympic on The Blank Blank Show in Hollywood. Tuesday: "This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating." The face behind This Modern World, political cartoonist Tom Tomorrow, will present and sign his......