Fabulous Online And IRL Events Happening In SoCal This Week: May 10 - 13

Watch a couple of cut-ups riff over a B-movie. Attend a Neil Gaiman book reading. Learn about Rome's Jewish cuisine. Get "winesplained" in an online series. Head to Dynasty Typewriter for in-person laughs.

Monday, May 10; 7:30 p.m. PDT

Pacific StorySlam: Fresh
The Moth’s evening of storytelling returns with tales on the theme “fresh.” A house, a spouse, a haircut, a reinvention — hear about all things new. Listen to others' stories or prepare a five-minute tale and you might get to share it. El Sanchez from the Seattle StorySLAM community hosts.
COST: $10; MORE INFO

Monday, May 10 - Sunday, May 30

The 15^th Annual Los Angeles Greek Film Festival (LAGFF)
The online film festival presents 64 films through the end of the month. Watch new Greek cinema in curated blocks of features, shorts, documentaries and animation. The all-access festival pass also provides access to live events, Q&As, discussions, live social media events and a workshop.
COST: $6 - $60; MORE INFO

Monday, May 10; 12 p.m. PT

What Is The Meaning of Life?
Zócalo Public Square and CaltechLive go deep with this online conversation. Moderator Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, Caltech developmental biologist and author of The Dance of Life, welcomes Nobel laureate Sir Paul Nurse who’ll talk about his new book, What is Life? Viewers can participate via live chat.
COST: FREE with RSVP; MORE INFO

Tuesday, May 11; 5 p.m. PT

The Penguin Book of the Modern American Short Story
The Library Foundation’s ALOUD series presents an evening of readings and discussion with collection editor John Freeman and authors Sandra Cisneros, Manuel Muñoz and George Saunders. RSVP for the Zoom link.
COST: FREE with reservations; MORE INFO

Tuesday, May 11; 6 p.m.

Jon Daly’s I Venmo You Money
The premise of this show is simple. Comedian Jon Daly hosts a call-in show where every caller gets paid — no strings attached. Call 626-869-9645 and leave a voicemail before the show or call during the livestream to talk with Daly directly. Then he’ll Venmo you money. (We’re not sure how much he’s giving away… but there’s one way to find out.)
COST: $10 or what you can; MORE INFO

Tuesday, May 11; 11:15 a.m. PT

aka DAN: A Korean Adoption Documentary Story Film Screening and Q&A
For Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, Santa Monica College screens a documentary about the life of Dan Matthews, better known as alternative L.A. hip-hop artist DANakaDAN. In 2013, he set out to find his birth parents in South Korea. Matthews discusses the film and his experiences in a post-screening Q&A.
COST: FREE with RSVP; MORE INFO

Tuesday, May 11; 5 p.m. PT

The Mads: T-Bird Gang
Mystery Science Theater 3000’s Trace Beaulieu and Frank Conniff's next live riffing event tackles the 1959 Roger Corman-produced crime flick, T-Bird Gang. The duo will host a Q&A with a guest after the screening. (The event will be available to download if you can’t attend live.)
COST: $10; MORE INFO

Wednesday, May 12; 7 p.m.

Mr. Simpson
Theatre Forty holds a Zoom reading of a new play by Stephen Maitland-Lewis. It focuses on Ernest Simpson, who inadvertently changed the course of world history when his wife left him for the Nazi-leaning Edward VIII, King of England. Edward abdicated the throne in 1936 to marry Wallis Simpson. But if he hadn't... The play picks up two decades later, as Simpson nears the end of his life, seeking recognition for giving up his wife to save Great Britain from an alliance with Nazi Germany.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

A Taste of Rome’s Historic Jewish Cuisine features a cook-along of the zucchini dish concia with cookbook author Leah Koenig.

(

Popo le Chien, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

)

Wednesday, May 12; 10 a.m. PT

A Taste of Rome’s Historic Jewish Cuisine
Learn about Rome’s Jewish cuisine from home as the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research welcomes cookbook author Leah Koenig. The online event features a cooking demo of one of Rome's most beloved Jewish dishes, concia (marinated zucchini). Download the recipe in advance to make sure you have the ingredients for the cook-along.
COST: FREE with RSVP; MORE INFO

Maria Bamford performs a live comedy show onstage at Dynasty Typewriter.

(

Robyn Von Swank

)

Wednesday, May 12; 4 p.m. PT

Maria Bamford
Dynasty Typewriter at the Hayworth
2511 Wilshire Blvd., Westlake
Yep, you read that correctly. This week marks the start of Dynasty Typewriter’s soft opening, with comic Bamford taking the stage. The show is 18+ and proof of full vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within 48 hours of the show is required for entry. The name on your vaccination card and your ID must match.
COST: $10 or pay what you can; MORE INFO

American Ballet Theater's dress rehearsal of 'Indestructible Light' features choreography by Darrell Grand Moultrie.

(

_

/

Todd Rosenberg Photography

)

Wednesday, May 12 - Wednesday, May 26

Uniting in Movement
The Segerstrom Center for the Arts and American Ballet Theatre present the culmination of a new artistic collaboration featuring 18 dancers and the artistic staff of ABT. The pieces were captured in a live performance in Segerstrom Hall and can be streamed on-demand at the center’s website.
COST: $25; MORE INFO

Elvis Mitchell and Neil Gaiman at Film Independent presents special screening of "Good Omens" at ArcLight Hollywood on May 16, 2019 in Hollywood.

(

Araya Doheny/Getty Images

/

Getty Images North America

)

Thursday, May 13; 6 p.m. PT

Neil Gaiman with Joe Hill
Celebrate the launch of two new Gaiman novellas set in the world of American Gods. They're now available as a vinyl box set and as MP3s. Gaiman chats about the project with fellow Hill, author of The Fireman and Heart-Shaped Box. Depending on which ticket you buy, you get either a paperback copy of American Gods or the new works.
COST: $30 - $245; MORE INFO

Latin American Cinemateca of Los Angeles and the UCLA Film & Television Archive screen the classic film, 'Verbena trágica.'

(

Courtesy LACLA

)

Thursday, May 13; 4 p.m. PT

Verbena Trágica (Block Party)
Enjoy a cinematic ode to Spanish Harlem’s diverse Latino community. The 1939 American Spanish-language classic stars the late Fernando Soler as a boxer who returns from prison to find his wife pregnant. She refuses to name the father — with tragic results. The film will be available to stream through June 3. The live screening will be followed by a conversation between historian Colin Gunckel and UCLA lecturer Maria Elena de las Carreras.
COST: FREE with RSVP; MORE INFO

Thursday, May 13 - Saturday, May 15

Spring Blossom
This spring, Film at LACMA presents a slate of international films curated by Global Cinematheque. Spring Blossom, which Suzanne Lindon wrote when she was 15 and directed when she was 20, follows a bored teen who strikes up a friendship with a handsome, 35-year-old actor. On Thursday at 7 p.m., there's a post-screening discussion with Lindon and Global Cinematheque’s Jasmine Jaisinghani. Spring Blossom was an official selection of the Cannes Film Festival.
COST: FREE with RSVP; MORE INFO

Thursdays, May 13, 20 and 27

Winesplaining with Coly Den Haan
Vinovore’s owner, Coly Den Haan, begins an online wine-tasting series starting this Thursday with Farming Naturally guest Megan Bell, followed by Skin Contact and a Junk Food + Wine Pairing. Each class includes two bottles of natural, women-made wines and worksheets.
COST: $60 - $70 per class or $150 for series; MORE INFO

Thursday, May 13

Evening to Foster Dreams Gala
Topher and Ashley Grace host a virtual gala for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Los Angeles featuring a musical performance by Julie Mintz accompanied by Moby. The fundraiser benefits CASA/LA’s advocacy programs that support children who have experienced abuse and neglect. The night also includes a live auction, a VIP cocktail reception with three breakout rooms featuring comedy, cocktails and magic. The event is catered with at-home delivery by Homegirl Cafe.
COST: Viewing tickets start at $100; MORE INFO

Thursday, May 13

UCR Arts Reopens
Home to the California Museum of Photography and the Barbara and Art Culver Center of the Arts, UC Riverside Arts reopens to the public at 25% capacity. Guests are welcome to explore six exhibitions, including ones on California wildfires, the photos of Bruce Davidson and textile art from the Social Justice Sewing Academy.
COST: FREE admission; MORE INFO

TV/Streaming Pick

Girls5eva
Meredith Scaradino (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) created this fun musical comedy series about a one-hit-wonder ‘90s girl group that gets a second chance at fame. The cast is impressive: Sara Bareilles, Busy Philipps, Paula Pell and Renée Elise Goldsberry. Tina Fey serves as one of the show’s executive producers. Find all eight episodes streaming now on Peacock.

Little Llama Peruvian Tacos opened its first brick and mortar location in downtown L.A.

(

Courtesy of Little Llama Peruvian Tacos!

)

Dine and Drink Deals

• Casa Vega in Sherman Oaks teams with The Chainsmokers for two new menu items available through the end of May — a sparkling grapefruit margarita with JaJa Reposado ($13) and a Crispy Papas Tacos entree ($16.50) with potatoes, spinach-jalapeño pesto and crema served with Spanish rice and refried beans. Profits from these items, which will be sold through the month, benefit back-of-house restaurant workers through No Us Without You.

• Filipino restaurant Sisig opened last month in Westlake, offering lumpia, BBQ pork, crisp pata (pork skin attached to tender meat) and, of course, sisig — a dish made from pig’s head and chicken liver.
• Drink up for a good cause. Shake the Hate runs through the end of May, with Connie & Ted’s, Bar Bohemien, Phorage WeHo, Good Times at Davey Wayne’s and The Beach Club at the Victorian offering cocktail specials for Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. $1 from every special cocktail sold is donated to various AAPI non-profits, as chosen by each restaurant.
• Italian plant-based eatery, Flower Burger, comes to L.A. with its first North American outpost. The vegan-friendly concept opened last week as a delivery-only ghost kitchen out of Culver City. Elena Platt and Barbara Lazaroff plan to open their first storefront, in West Hollywood, this summer.
• Also in WeHo, Spanish Mediterranean concept Soulmate opened last week. The menu includes traditional Spanish items such as pan con tomate, jamón Ibérico, paella and vegetable fideuà as well as California offerings like Santa Barbara uni toast. Currently, Soulmate is open for dinner only.
• On Thursday, May 13, The Pie Hole locations celebrate National Apple Day by giving away a free caramel apple pie hole (a bite-sized, miniature version of Mom’s Apple Crumble Pie) while supplies last.
• Jerusalem Chicken, located on Slauson in the View Park/Windsor Hills neighborhood, opened earlier this year offering Palestinian dishes such as the emsakhan chicken plate with onion, sumac, spices and olive oil over bread and deep-fried vegan cauliflower fritters.
• After four years as a pop-up vendor at Smorgasburg L.A., Little Llama Peruvian Tacos has opened up a brick-and-mortar location at 222 S. Main in downtown L.A. Expect lomo saltado tacos, shrimp ceviche tostadas and other Peruvian-inspired dishes.