It's Thanksgiving Eve, and we bet you could use a little laugh. Lucky for you, that's what L.A.'s got going on tonight. The Laugh Factory and Upright Citizens Brigade are finding the fun in Thanksgiving family gatherings, and Aero Theatre is showcasing two of the funniest Thanksgiving-centric films. If you're really dreading the holiday, don't fret. We found some movies and music that will make you forget all about tomorrow. more ›

Scott Aukerman (LAist Interview) and BJ Porter want to help feed hungry locals. To do so they’ve assembled a super-team of funny friends from their weekly stand-up show, Comedy Death-Ray, to help raise money for the LA FoodBank, an agency who will help 1.6 million LA Country residents this year. There’s a Christmas CD, a big live show, and chances to win unique comedy experiences via eBay. Proceeds from all three will go to the LA FoodBank. A donation page is live for those who don’t like to laugh yet like to feed the hungry. more ›

Celebrate the holidays Vegas style without the long drive. The show A Vegas Holiday is at the El Porta Theatre in North Hollywood featuring the stars and songs from Louis & Keely: Live at the Sahara with Jake Broder as Louis Prima, Vanessa Claire Smith as Keely Smith with Luca Ellis as Frank Sinatra. The vocalists are backed by a seven-piece orchestra. The show begins at 8 pm tonight and tickets are $45-60. more ›

Pardo’s Monday-through-Friday gig is “The Tonight Show”'s warm-up comedian, where he cracks up the studio audience before Conan O’Brien does more of the same. He’s also one of the few financially successful podcasters, hosting the award-winning weekly show, “Never Not Funny” (”The Pardcast,”) alongside co-host Matt Belknap. more ›

Festival fanatics find an old standard turning about their head this week: "Hooray for Hollywood!" The Hollywood Film Festival features dramas, docs, mocks, horrors & even music videos. Highlights include The Upright Citizens Brigade (Wild Girls Gone), one of David Carradine's final roles (The Rain), North Korean defectors (Crossing), hipster murders (The Scenesters), Ugandan children (War Dance Returns), 30-year old "boy" scouts (Scout's Honor) & the worst Christian pop group in the world (Jesus People) - all in the Arclight's reserved-seat, caramel-popcorn splendor. But if, like yours truly, you've emerged from the Red Line to find yourself too lazy to walk down to Sunset, pop into the Egyptian for the Arpa International Film Festival. Arpa kicks off with Venezuelan spy-romance Venezzia (the most expensive Venezuelan film ever made) and continues with Armenian historical dramas and a ton of bizarre shorts. If sexy dolls, entomologists, Muslim stand-up, or Spanish gynecologists appeal to you, definitely stop by. more ›

Doug Benson is one stoner/comic who happens to get a lot done. Crowned High Times Magazine's Stoner Of The Year in 2006, you'll know Benson from his popular podcast "I Love Movies" (which he records on the regular before Comedy Death Ray at the Upright Citizen's Brigade theater in Hollywood,) Last Comic Standing (sixth place) and VH1's Best Week Ever. more ›

BENEFIT* Poketo Studio hosts a cancer benefit and silent art auction titled, “F%#k Cancer! We Love Justin!” tonight from 7-10 pm. 100% of proceeds will go directly to support medical treatment of artist Justin Van Hoy, who’s the art director for SWINDLE Magazine, and contributor of works for artists and brands such as OBEY, Roger Gastman, Cobra Snake and more. Contributing artists include Shepard Fairey, Tim Biskup, Saelee Oh, Jeana Sohn, Travis Millard, Mel Kadel, Marco Zamora, Ye Rin Mok, Josh Cochran, Caroline Hwang, Amanda Visell, David Weidman,Studio Number One, Sumi Ink Club, Chris Bettig, Sarajo Frieden, Kim Buzzelli and others more ›

The Official Recession has enveloped us for sixteen official months. It’s still no reason we can’t enjoy life. This is LA -- we have a ton of inexpensive options! A Recession Obsession is truly fantastic, regardless of whether times are good or you're unemployed. We last obsessed over the sweet baked goods at the panderia, and El Salvador’s pupusas. Today, we obsess over... more ›

NY-based comedian Kumail Nanjiani performs his one man show "Unpronounceable" tonight at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. Directed by The Aristrocrats’ director Paul Provenza, "Unpronounceable" chronicles Kumail’s Muslim upbringing in Pakistan and his move to Grinnell, Iowa, for college. more ›

While Alex Berg, Todd Fasen, and Alex Fernie would probably hesitate to call themselves heroes in any capacity (that is, unless they somehow saved a baby riding a puppy from getting run over by a truck full of hate and fireworks), the moniker does have a certain amount of applicability. In a staggeringly short amount of time, the three-man improv juggernaut named Convoy has risen through the ranks of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (UCB), going from weekly improv battle competitors to big-name Thursday night draws. 44 consecutive Cagematch wins in a row will do that for you. more ›

FILM: The AFI at the ArcLight series in Sherman Oaks continues tonight with Alien (director's cut) on the big screen. See Sigourney Weaver kick ass in the 1980 Ridley Scott-directed film all over again. more ›

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There are a lot of quality events going on about town this hump day evening: more ›

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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... more ›

It’s the first day of work for many of us -- and it pretty much sucks. Thank God it’s a short week. If you haven't gotten enough going out for the New Year, here’s what's going on around town tonight: more ›

MUSIC: The Los Angeles Master Chorale performs Handel's Messiah tonight at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. But the audience has a part in this fun sing-along. So get your "hallelujah" ready. 7:30 pm // Walt Disney Concert Hall // 111 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles // $16-$69 (Cheaper tickets are getting scarce). OUTDOORS: Santa Monica pretends its Pershing Square with an ice rink of its own. It’s a stone’s throw away from the Third Street... more ›

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... more ›

This is my first post on LAist, so I just want to start out by saying I'm thankful for Tony Pierce inviting me to contribute to the site based off of the WGA strike photos I've been sending him. more ›

Upright Citizen’s Brigade has the hipster comedy scene cornered in a way that could make Wes Anderson weep. The lines to get into their shows look like Urban Outfitters threw up on them, past performers have included the likes of Sarah Silverman and Janeane Garofalo, and one of the founders is uber-hip comedienne Amy Poehler. Their dominance of alt-funny Los Angeles is pretty much undisputed. more ›

As you scan around most bars you see them all - that girl who's too shy to talk to anyone but quietly judges behind her catseye glasses, that girl who's too drunk to realize she's been flashing the whole room, that guy who's got no game but seems to think he does, or that guy who thinks that a pocket full of money can help him get a hot bartender to do whatever he'd like her to do. more ›

"Lance," "Matthew" and "Jake" What would happen if Lance Armstrong, Jake Gyllanhaal and Matthew McConaughey shacked up (almost platonically) for a summer at Armstrong's Malibu pad? We checked out Three Companeros, a stage parody of the sitcom Three's Company, to find out out. Unbeknownst to his rommies, Armstrong is deciding which actor will play him in his biopic, and the tension continues to mount as the wacky landlord hosts a female visitor that all... more ›

What do Donnie Darko and Me & You & Everyone We Know have in common, other than being rad cult movies? Composer Michael Andrews. You can hear him on KCRW this morning at the usual 11:00 a.m. MBE live band slot. You can also see him live at Amoeba Records on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. Keep an eye on Andrews as he's working on more film projects (Cohen Bros., etc) and a performance installment at MOMA. more ›

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Got 5 bucks? That's all it will take to get you into the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre's Comedy Death Ray show at 8:30pm tonight. That and some determination: the show has sold out its reservation tickets, but there are a few seats that should go to those who make the stand-by list. The list-making begins at 7pm; you gotta be there to add your name. more ›

The literary quarterly (and probably one of the more bizarrely published things out there today, with the slight exception of Found Magazine) presents an evening of comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. A variety of reasons might take you to this show, but the first and foremost should be the appearance of Paul F. Tompkins, gentleman comedian. And Zoey Deschanel ain't half bad either. Show is this Wednesday night at 9:30pm at the UCB Theatre, and tickets are a mere five smackers. Plus you'll have the added advantage of being able to pretentiously one-up your co-workers at the water cooler on Thursday. more ›