Happy Memorial Day weekend, all! If you're sticking around town, we found a few great events happening tonight. Check out: a a John Cage tribute concert in a window on Third Street; the debut of a new comedy show Lyrical Gangster at NerdMelt, Estonian dancers; French Stewart at Buster Keaton; and surreal poetry. Read on for all the details. more ›

We found a lot of great events happening around town tonight, including an opening of Ragged Kingdom, a solo exhibition by British artist Jamie Reid; poetry by Eileen Myles at Skylight Books; Mingus Dynasty at UCLA Live!; Silent film comedy shorts; and night hiking. Read on for all the details. more ›

TGIF! We found an eclectic mix of events happening around town tonight, including art inspired by comics at Gallery1988—with Weird Al Yankovic in person; Pasadena museums stay open late; Castle's cast and crew at PaleyFest; and a night hike in Franklin Canyon. more ›

TGIF! We found a few cultural events around LA, including NewFilmmakers LA screenings, The Rattling Wall lit reading at The Last Bookstore, a rock opera theater workshop at Son of Semele, and a poetry reading at Beyond Baroque with Jimmy Cvetic and pal Nick Nolte. Read on for all the details. more ›

There's so much to do tonight, it's not even funny. Here's what's happening around LA tonight: the Hammer welcomes multimedia artist Sanford Biggers; Wacko/La Luz de Jesus kicks off a performance salon; the Museum of Jurassic Technology screens films of Vanessa Renwick; Adam Gopnik, Philip Levine and more. Read on for all the details. more ›

Diners and drinkers at the original Barney's Beanery in West Hollywood Thursday night were treated to a flash-mob style poetry performance in tribute to iconic L.A. writer Charles Bukowski. more ›

Tonight is bursting with event flavor, and we are itching to get out and check out at least one of the many local happenings. Art and happy hour combine in Culver City, the Los Angeles Fine Art Show and L.A. Art Show launch with an opening night gala, Sonia Leigh jams at the Whisky and Red Hen's Kate Gale reads poetry. But wait, there's more. more ›

It's getting closer to Christmas and that means a little quieter on the events front. Here's what's happening around town tonight: a play about Josephine Baker opens, The Moth is at El Cid, John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey have a swinging Christmas and a Pink Taco party. Read on for all the details. more ›

Here are your options for a Tuesday night in LA: They Might be Giants play a live set at Amoeba; Harlan Ellison talks about early science-fiction on TV; Night Gallery holds an opening for Samara Golden; lectures at the Hammer Museum and Temescal Gateway Park; and an evening of the Moth storytelling. Read on for all the details. more ›

After a night of debauchery, there are a number of intellectually stimulating events tonight in LA: poetry at the Hammer, a new art exhibition at TAG Gallery, author Rebecca Skloot on The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and Uh Huh Her hit the stage at the HOB. Read on for all the details. more ›

Here’s what’s going down in LA tonight. OMD—yes, the “If You Leave” guys— plays Club Nokia; Boston Court’s 4th annual art exhibition continues; Beyond Baroque welcomes poets Fred Maramarco and George Kalmar; and Giorgio Modorer's Metropolis on the big screen. Read on for all the details. more ›

A few words about a few words-related events, happening around town tonight, plus, two places where you might enjoy drinking some wine. Check out today's Pencil This In picks. more ›

Tonight! American Cinematheque's seminar series will present its second annual panel discussion on Everything You Need To Know About Producing Web Entertainment., The Paley Center hosts An Evening with Men of A Certain Age tonight at 7 p.m., Hollywood Fringe offers The Blue Lagoon: A Musical, making its LA debut at Theatre Asylum, Red Hen Press teams up with the Annenberg Beach House to present an evening of poetry tonight, and Our pick for the LA Film Festival screenings tonight? Das Boot: The Director's Cut with a Q&A with director Wolfgang Petersen and cast member Jürgen Prochnow. more ›

There are a number of great events happening tonight that we hope aren't affected by presidential traffic, including Westwood Live, an art bash at the Hammer, a talk with the sisters behind Rodarte and an "Eating Our Words" food and lit event at Taylor de Cordoba gallery. more ›

Monday is a great night to learn about beer (and drink it, too), or check out a special menu at Ray's and Stark Bar, the fabulous new dining destinations on the plaza at LACMA. Meanwhile, in music, Lauryn Hill and Joseph Arthur hit the stages tonight, and for the word lovers, Red Hen Press offers up Poetry at the Geffen in honor of National Poetry Month. more ›

Today would've been the 107th birthday of Theodor Seuss Geisel (1904-1991), best known for his words of wisdom inked under the nom de plume Dr. Seuss. Creator of the Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, Oh, the Places You'll Go and so many more, it's refreshing if not just for sentimental purposes to celebrate Seuss' birthday by recalling his great one-liners. more ›

Mark Gold, chef-owner of Eva Restaurant host a dinner tonight for Barbara Fairchild, the former Editor-in-Chief of Bon Appétit Magazine. He’s got some very special friends helping him cook a six-course dinner including Octavio Becerra (Palate Food & Wine), Laurent Quenioux (Bistro LQ), Mako Tanaka (Mako) and Suzanne Tracht (Jar) to pay tribute to Fairchild. The menu includes: wood pigeon, hoshigaki persimmon, verjus, foie gras, brussel sproutsfrom Becerra, Tracht’s pot roast and other surprises. $95. more ›

Cinefist, Cinema Speakeasy and Film Courage Interactive join forces tonight to bring a screening, filmmaker Q&A and after-party at the Downtown Independent for the film Ride the Divide. Directed by Hunter Weeks, the film follows three characters’ experiences with the toughest mountain bike race--2,700 miles along the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains. 8 pm. Tickets: $10. more ›

This Sunday and the next, poet Douglas Kearney presents a staged reading of his award wining poetry collection The Black Automaton. Kearney is renowned as much for his exciting, charismatic reading style as he is for his vivid craft on the page. I had a chance this week to catch up with him and ask about this very different poetry event, a mix of circus and oratory at Theater-Theater on Pico. more ›

The Antaeus Company’s ClassicsFest continues this week with a fully staged work-in-progress of Les Blancs by Lorraine Hansberry. Directed by Gregg Daniel, the play examines civil rights struggles through the tale of an “African from England who becomes entwined in conflict and rebellion on the continent.” Tonight at tomorrow at 8 pm at Deaf West Theatre. Tickets: $10. more ›

A Guide to Great LA Events this Week: Music at the LA Zoo, Outfest, Old Pasadena Film Fest, InkSlam, Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach, Grand Performances and Music on the Santa Monica Pier more ›

Today is the Lummis Day Festival, which happens to be a fun, free way to get to know Northeast Los Angeles through music, dance, food, and historic locales. Throughout the day you can enjoy live performances from a broad range of styles and genres of entertainment, from salsa to Latin ska reggae to Flamenco dancers to puppets and much, much more. more ›

Cinefamily kicks off its 2nd Annual Comedy Festival tonight with a pseudo-British import. Rich Fulcher of Adult Swim fame opens the festival with the U.S. premiere of his one man show An Evening With Eleanor the Tour Whore. The live show centers around Richard's alter ego "Eleanor" and her sexual exploits as the world's greatest groupie. Starts at 8:00 PM. more ›

An Alice in Wonderland Exhibition opens today at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in DTLA. Original costumes from the film by Oscar-winning designer Colleen Atwood (Memoirs of a Geisha, Chicago) include Johnny Depp’s original Mad Hatter fighter garment, several of Mia Wasikowska’s Alice dresses and Helena Bonham Carter’s Red Queen Dress. Also on display are costume sketches, hats and props from the film as well as the “Edgier Side of Alice-” inspired clothing and products by Sue Wong, Tom Binns, Avril Lavigne and FIDM grads. The exhibit is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 am to 4 pm and runs through the end of September. more ›

Don't let the name fool you. The End Times Opry isn't about Minnie Pearl and Hee-Haw, but rather it's an evening of performances by LA-based musicians, comedians, poets and spoken word artists. more ›

There’s a MOPLA Group Show hosted by Smashbox Studios Culver City from 7-10 pm tonight. Curated by Hossein Farmani (Lucie Foundation) and Dee deLara (Smashbox Studios), there will be almost 70 photographs by LA's finest photogs--including LAist’s own Koga and contributor Shawn Nee. The night will also feature Pro'jekt LA Part 4 (rained out last Tuesday). Ad-Nauseum: Uncommercializing the Commercial. Food provided by Food Fetish. Music provided by IE. Free with RSVP to groupshow@monthofphotography.com. more ›

After a seven-year hiatus from the music business, pop-folk songstress Natalie Merchant has returned to performing to promote her latest effort--Leave Your Sleep--a two-disc collection of songs she adapted from the poetry from both obscure and well-known writers. Merchant took to the stage before an attentive--and somewhat obedient audience--on Thursday night for a performance at the 880-seat Aratani/Japan America Theatre in Little Tokyo. more ›

Skylight Books presents the Lit Thing Book Bash tonight at 7:30 pm. It’s time for writers to rant or rave about the book they love--or the book they love to hate. On the program tonight are: Cylin Busby talking about Flowers in the Attic; Liza Palmer presenting Hope for the Flowers, Antoine Wilson covering A Spell for Chameleon, Cecil Castellucci talking about Tintin; and former LAist editor Carolyn Kellogg discussing Girl Power: The Nineties Revolution in Music. Which ones will they love or hate? You gotta show up to find out. more ›

T.S. Eliot might not have been a big fan of April, as you can see from those lines in his great modernist poem, The Waste Land, but the Academy of American Poets went ahead and picked it anyway to celebrate National Poetry Month... more ›