Like many people out there, we’re fascinated by magic—the slight of hand that leaves us scratching our collective heads asking, “Uh, how did they do that?” This week, the Skirball Culture Center opened two fascinating exhibitions on prestidigitation: Houdini: Art and Magic and Masters of Illusion: Jewish Magicians of the Golden Age. more ›

L.A.'s homegrown conference, expo, and party for web startups, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists takes tonight and Thursday at the Skirball Cultural Center. Twiistup 8 will feature demos from ten hot startups on the verge of breaking out, panels and sessions geared toward L.A.'s unique media & technology landscape and the Twiistup afterparty. more ›

Towards the starting point of a traveling installation exhibit of a body of work from illustrator, author, and designer Maira Kalman there is a loving sketch of a woman the artist once spotted on the street. "I saw her," the drawing reads in Kalman's famed handwriting. more ›

Sam Hoffman and Eric Spiegelman of the comedy website Old Jews Telling Jokes come to the Skirball Cultural Center this Wednesday as part of a tour to promote their newest book of the same name (out this month). more ›

On Tuesday evening we went to the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in New York City to see the first two episodes of HBO's "Bored To Death" as part of their celebration of the second season premiere of the series. We snapped a lot of photos and we got to speak to the following attendees... more ›

The EM & Co boutique is hosting an opening cocktail and appetizer reception for Chris Callaway's first solo photography exhibit "Femme Fatale" tonight from 7-10 pm. His work explores the “dark side of female seduction through a series of portraits and fashion editorial photos.” DJ Vancans will also be on hand spinning original compositions. more ›

X Games 15 started today and runs through Sunday at Staples Center and the Home Depot Center. Watch live 250 of the world’s best athletes competing in BMX freestyle, moto X, skateboard and rally car racing. Still on the bill this afternoon: Skateboard Vert Women's Final, Skateboard Street Women's Final, BMX Freestyle Park Elimination, Skateboard Big Air Final and Moto X Step Up Final. X Games events at the Staples Center require tickets ($20) for entry at 4 p.m. Home Depot tickets range from $10-$20 for all-day entry (starting at 10 a.m. daily). http://espn.go.com/action/news/story?id=4212508 more ›

LEARN Blankspaces is holding the “Unintentional Entrepreneur Event” tonight from 6:30-8 pm. The event will feature successful, local entrepreneurs sharing tips and advice with those starting out or struggling with their existing business. Free beer and pizza, too. SHORT FILM The LA Shorts Fest opens tonight and runs through July 31. There’s a lot of star power at this year’s fest, which features more than 280 short films, music videos and commercials. more ›

The Lucie Foundation holds an outdoor projection/photo event tonight with Installment One of the Pro'jekt LA Summer Series at Space15Twenty on Cahuenga. Titled “Followers,” the evening will feature work by Tania Fernandez, Jeaneen Lund and Mike Piscitelli with music by B+ of Mochilla, curated by Jessie Cowan. The show begins at 8 pm tonight. more ›

The Hammer Museum hosts an Artist Talk tonight at 7 pm with LA-based artist Jeffrey Vallance, whose work encompasses object-making, installation, performance, curating and writing. Examples of his art include projects as burying a frozen hen (Blinky the Friendly Hen, 1978) at a pet cemetery, traveling throughout Polynesia in search of the origin of the myth of Tiki, having an audience with the King of Tonga, creating a Richard Nixon Museum, installing an exhibit aboard a tugboat in the Västerbotten Maritime Museum in Umeå, Sweden, curating shows in the fabulous museums of Las Vegas, such as the Liberace Museum, Debbie Reynolds Casino, Cranberry Museum and the Clown Museum. The free lecture is being held in conjunction with the current exhibit "Nine Lives: Visionary Artists from L.A." It's the fifth in the Hammer’s biannual invitational exhibition series highlighting work created in greater Los Angeles. Tickets are required and will be available at the Billy Wilder Theater Box Office one hour prior to start time. Parking is available under the museum for $3 after 6 pm. more ›

L.A. Theatre Works presents Kenneth Lonergan’s This Is Our Youth by Kenneth Lonergan through Sunday, reuniting Mark Brokaw, who directed the Off Broadway premiere, with original cast members Mark Ruffalo, Josh Hamilton and Missy Yager. The performances will be recorded at the Skirball to air on LATW's syndicated radio theater series, “The Play's The Thing,” which broadcasts weekly on public radio stations nationwide (89.3 KPCC here in LA). Playwright Kenneth Lonergan will be in attendance at the performances on Friday night and Sunday at 4 pm. Tickets: $20-$48. more ›

Heeb Magazine brings seven-minute Jewish stories by Joanna Angel, Lizzy Cooperman, Evan Kleiman, Jon Korn, Ben Kronberg, Eric D. Weingrad and the accordion playing of Adam Shenkman to the M Bar stage tonight from 8-9:30 pm. The event’s hosted by Marc Evan Jackson. Call 323-856-0036 to make reservations - the event usually sells out. more ›

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by the fact that there really just isn’t any new information about Bob Dylan out there. No groundbreaking insight into his cryptic lyrics, no new facts uncovered about his lineage, no crystallized understanding of his place in history. And yet the knowledge that no such nuggets are likely available doesn’t stop me from hoping, from dreaming, that the next Bob Dylan exhibit out there might contain just one of the above. more ›

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In an e-mail early, early, early this morning, McCabe's announced something unexpected: The Swell Season will be playing tomorrow night in the guitar shop's intimate performance space. You may not recognize the band's name, but you know them as Irish singer Glen Hansard and Czech pianist Marketa Irglova from the movie Once. The gig got booked serendipitously yesterday when Glen brought his guitar into the shop for repair. Of course, the bad news here is that tickets sold out quickly, probably before the light of day hit. Tonight, McCabe's presents Jackshit, who we interviewed here on LAist last August. more ›

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So many events, so little time. Concete Frequency's latest installment is tonight and there's always Disney on Ice (skaters, not Walt), but here's a sampling of the other good stuff to be done in LA tonight. more ›

Gallery W13's Rebirth of Green/Pre-New Year’s Eve Art Party "will be a celebration of healthy living with nature and a tribute to the resurgence of all things organic. The focus of the evening will be all things creative -- art, film, furniture, music and food -- presented with organic and green flair." The night includes a film screening of Black Gold, a live Latin Jazz/World Beat DJ, and featured artists include Nurha De Souza, Brant Ritter, Courtney Reid, Mark Hix, Takako Osakada, Cjkang, Jovin Montenero, Don Baker, David Walker, and Antonie Deerborn. more ›

MUSIC: Machine Project is back with an evening of experimental folk music mix. The evening features the sounds of Ryan Fuller, Julie Carpenter, Laura Steenberge, Ruthann Friedman, rickyricky, Pilar Diaz, Pawko and Marshweed. more ›

Sneaking into my seat in the Skirball Center’s small auditorium, I look around to notice that I may be the youngest person in the audience by about thirty years, with the exception of a painfully bored looking teen two rows back. “The truth,” the emcee is saying in a rich British accent as he introduces the show, “can be inconvenient.” Applause breaks through from the crowd at his tie-in to pop culture. He’s introducing The... more ›

Red Hen Press poets read their work 8pm @ Boston Court Main Stage, Pasadena more ›

There’s something for everyone in LA theatre scene this week: love, families and a little blood sucking...and if you don't like paying for your tickets but want to see what LA theatre is all about, then check out the LA Stage Alliance's Free Night of Theatre 2007. The Last Schwartz In this poignant comedy, the Schwartz siblings have gathered in their childhood family home for the one-year anniversary of their father's death. Ya gotta love... more ›

Kenneth Turan presents Never Coming to a Theater Near You 7pm @ Studio City Branch Library more ›

Photo found in the "suburban" section of the Warner Bros back lot by Eye Captain via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr more ›

Randall Robinson presents An Unbroken Agony 7pm @ EsoWon Books more ›

Considering his films are rarely screened at theaters in the United States, most people haven't heard of the great Portuguese auteur and digital video innovator, Pedro Costa. Happily, a remedy for that is arriving tomorrow when the first comprehensive retrospective in North America of his work unspools at REDCAT. His documentary-style films often center on life in the slums of Lisbon and have received wide international acclaim. Screening schedule and extensive film info after... more ›

Chris Abani & Al Young read their work 7:30pm @ Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater more ›