Go Fact Yourself LIVE with Ann-Margret and Antonio Villaraigosa
- The Crawford, 474 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena
Go Fact Yourself is a pop culture trivia show hosted by J. Keith van Straaten (he/him) (Ask Me Another, Senior Writer) and Helen Hong (she/her) (Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me, recurring panelist).
On December 11, legendary actor and singer Ann-Margret (she/her) and former L.A. mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (he/him) as well as surprise guest experts will join J. Keith and Helen for a trivia show like no other!
Register for free for general admission or reserve a guaranteed seat for $20. Concessions available starting at 6 p.m.
Lineup subject to change. This program may contain some mature language or themes.
Go Fact Yourself can be heard on LAist 89.3 on Saturdays at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. and Sundays at 8 p.m.
ABOUT ANN-MAGRET
Ann-Margret, a consummate entertainer, has been nominated twice for an Academy Award, won five Golden Globe Awards, won an Emmy, and received five other Emmy nominations. She is a three-time winner of the “Female Star of the Year” award and has been twice honored as “Outstanding Box Office Star of the Year” by the Theatre Owners of America. Ann-Margret was also nominated for a Grammy for her CD, “God is Love: The Gospel Sessions.”
Ann-Margret has performed at the White House, received presidential citations for entertaining the U.S. armed forces overseas and was honored by the USO World Board of Governors. During the Vietnam War, Ann-Margret and other entertainers teamed up for a USO tour to entertain U.S. service members in remote parts of Vietnam and Southeast Asia. She still has a great affection for veterans and refers to them as “my gentleman.” She has even given a royal command performance for the King and Queen of Sweden.
As a young girl, Ann-Margret was discovered by the legendary George Burns, and since her film debut playing Bette Davis’ daughter in “A Pocketful of Miracles,” Ann-Margret has made over fifty-five films, including such hits as “Cincinnati Kid,” “State Fair,” “Tommy,” “Carnal Knowledge,” “Bye Bye Birdie,” “Viva Las Vegas,” “Stagecoach,” “Grumpy Old Men” and its sequel, “Grumpier Old Men.”
Her two Academy Award nominations were earned in director Mike Nichols’ famous film, “Carnal Knowledge,” and in the classic Ken Russell rock film, “Tommy.”
She has also co-starred with such luminaries as John Wayne, Elvis Presley, Anthony Hopkins, Jack Nicholson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kirk Douglas, Steve McQueen, Burt Reynolds, and Walter Matthau, among others. Ann-Margret starred with Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Alan Arkin in the New Line Productions film “Going in Style.” She co-starred in the Oliver Stone movie, “Any Given Sunday,” with Al Pacino and Cameron Diaz. Her Showtime movie, “Happy Face Murders,” was the highest rated original movie for fifteen months. She also appeared in a two-part episode of Showtime’s highly rated series “Ray Donovan.”
Ann-Margret won the Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama for NBC’s highly rated drama, “Law & Order: SVU” and she received an Emmy, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nomination as Best Actress in a Movie for Television, starring as the legendary Pamela Harriman in the Lifetime film, “Life of the Party.” She guest starred in a three-part episode of NBC’s award-winning series “Third Watch,” as well as “CSI.” She co-starred in “Old Dogs” with John Travolta and Robin Williams and “Loss of a Teardrop Diamond” with Bryce Dallas Howard.
Her television career has been equally impressive with brilliant dramatic performances and Emmy nominations for “Who Will Love My Children,” “Queen,” “The Two Mrs. Grenvilles” and “A Streetcar Named Desire.” Ann-Margret recorded the main title song for the DreamWorks Flintstones movie, “Viva Rock Vegas.”
She has also starred in many of her own television specials including “The Ann-Margret Show,” “From Hollywood With Love,” “Dames At Sea,” “When You’re Smiling,” “Ann-Margret Olsson,” “Rhinestone Cowgirl,” and “Rockette: A Tribute to Radio City Music Hall”
As further proof of her popularity, her autobiography, “My Story” reached the New York Times Best Seller List a week after publication.
Ann-Margret starred in the production “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” which traveled coast-to-coast touring 39 cities and grossed over $32 million-dollars. She just starred in the feature film “Queen Bees” with Ellen Burstyn, James Caan, Jane Curtin, and Loretta Devine. She has recorded an album of her favorite rock n’ roll songs from the 60’s to 70’s for Cleopatra Records that will be released as a collectors vinyl edition.
ABOUT ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA
Antonio Villaraigosa is a respected voice in American politics and a prominent policymaker with a keen understanding of America’s mainstream and emerging communities. Known for his exceptional skill at building broad bi-partisan coalitions, he draws support from the broad center of progressive Democratic and Republican voters.
Mr. Villaraigosa is currently a Partner and Co-Chair at Actum where he focuses on strategic and crisis communications advising c-suite executives in large public and private sector organizations.
In August 2022, Mr. Villaraigosa was appointed to be the Infrastructure Advisor to the State of California, working with local, state, and federal leaders to identify priority projects and maximize access to federal funding across all regions of the state.
In 2013 Mr. Villaraigosa finished his two terms as the 41st Mayor of the City of Los Angeles, after eight years of major strides in transportation, crime reduction, infrastructure, energy and resource sustainability, right-sizing government, business development and education reform.
Prior to his election as Mayor, Mr. Villaraigosa served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council from 2003 to 2005. From 1994 through 2000, Mr. Villaraigosa served in the California State Assembly as Democratic Whip, Majority Leader and Speaker of the Assembly. He was a member of President Obama’s Transition Economic Advisory Board, the 2012 Chairman of the Democratic National Convention and President of U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Mr. Villaraigosa also has served in academia, as a fellow at Harvard University and a professor in public policy at the University of Southern California. He was also a senior fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. Additionally, he has served on the McGraw Hill Global Education Board of Directors, and currently serves as Board Chair of The Change Company.
ABOUT J. KEITH VAN STRAATEN
J. Keith van Straaten is a content producer/writer for TV game shows, including The Hustler, Master Minds, Funny You Should Ask, and In the USA Today, and wrote trivia questions for Bally Sports. He was also a longtime senior writer on NPR’s Ask Me Another.
Previously, he wrote many of the games on GSN’s Chain Reaction and the iPhone trivia app Arena. He created and hosted the live matchmaking show The Fix-Up Show, as well as hosting What’s My Line? – Live On Stage and Comedy Central’s Beat The Geeks.
J. Keith has appeared on Best Week Ever, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Beverly Hills, 90210, and a deleted scene in Gilmore Girls.
As a journalist, J. Keith has written about COVID and comedy for the Los Angeles Times, points and miles for ThePointsGuy.com, and theatre for tdf Stages magazine.
J. Keith has two cats and is an avid Angels fan.
ABOUT HELEN HONG
A fan favorite on the hit NPR podcast Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, Helen Hong also co-hosts the celebrity trivia game show podcast Go Fact Yourself. Helen's acting credits include roles on Never Have I Ever, Silicon Valley, the Jennifer Garner Christmas movie Family Switch, and 5 seasons of The Thundermans on Nickelodeon.
A long-time touring standup comedian, Helen's comedy special Well Hong was co-produced by Comedy Dynamics and Tribeca Film Festival, and is streaming now on Amazon Prime & Apple TV+. Audiences love Helen's lightning quick crowdwork which can be seen on her Instagram and TikTok @funnyhelenhong.
A breast cancer survivor, Helen makes light of her cancer experience (and her "fresh new boobies") onstage. She also brings light to Asian-American issues with her family's YouTube channel "Old Korean Dad Stories."
If you bring Helen a Topo Chico and a mini Snickers bar, she will love you FOREVER.
ACCOMMODATIONS
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