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Here are 20 of our favorite events happening in Los Angeles this week. We’ll be back on Thursday with our Weekend Planner column to help you plan—what else?— the weekend ahead. And don’t check out the February Guide for other events.
MONDAY, FEB. 23
PHOTOGRAPHY: The World of Wonder Storefront Gallery presents the exhibition, Big Freedia: Twerk of Art. It’s a collection of 20 original photographs from Bounce music sensation Big Freedia taken in his hometown of New Orleans. The exhibition celebrates the Crescent City’s twerk culture and also includes new art works depicting Freedia by Jason Mecier and Sham Ibrahim. Copies of the photos and other Big Freedia merchandise will be available for purchase. The public opening runs Monday night from 7-10 pm. RSVP: events@worldofwonder. Otherwise, gallery tours are by appointment only.
MUSIC: Archis—the new duo of Dia Frampton and Joseph Trapanese—release their new self-titled EP and play release shows tonight with a live orchestra. A few VIP tix ($80) remain for the 6:30 pm show on Monday night at Swing House Studios.
LEARNING: CreatorUp, an LA-based educational startup for creative professionals, hosts the free seminar Starting Your Own YouTube Channel at General Assembly in DTLA from 7-9 pm on Monday. Presenters are Jacob Salamon and Jared Bauer.
ARCHITECTURE DISCUSSION: The Culver City Cultural Affairs Foundation presents its second architectureTALKS event, a discussion that doubles as a fundraiser to benefit Veterans Memorial Building Auditorium. On Monday from 7-9 pm at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, the conversation features 2015 AIA Architecture Firm Award winner Ehrlich Architects with Steven Ehrlich, FAIA and lead project manager on the Kirk Douglas Theatre project, Whitney Wyatt. They’ll guide the audience through the transformation of the former Streamline Moderne Culver Theatre into the 300-seat Kirk Douglas Theatre. Tickets: $40 and 100% tax deductible.
STORYTELLING: It’s time to crown another Moth GrandSLAM champion Monday at the Echoplex. Under the theme of Mea Culpa, the past 10 StorySLAM Moth winners battle it out with words of making poor choices at the wrong time. No notes, no standup—just stories by: Moran Cerf, Lisa Dickey, Hannah Friedman, Michael Gallagher, Timothy Jenkins, Vicki Juditz, Keylee Koop, Jessica Lee Williamson, Dollie Meyers and Audrey Moore. Hosted by Brian Finkelstein. Doors at 7 pm, stories at 8 pm. Tickets: $25. 18+.
AV ART Prism Pipe, the monthly visual music and live film score event, takes place at pehrspace in Echo Park on Monday night. The program, Lexicon, features text-based GIF and Video Art from artists around the world. They’re accompanied by a live score by the Prism Pipe Players that evokes “a surreal narrative in the Dadaist style.” Doors are at 8 pm, show at 8:30 pm. Tickets are $5. All ages. Bring a yoga mat for the full, immersive experience.
TUESDAY, FEB. 24
FILM: The American Cinematheque and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in Los Angeles continues its retrospective Movie Alchemist: The Films of John Boorman with an advance screening of Queen and Country on Tuesday at 7:30 pm. It’s a sequel to the director’s earlier film Hope and Glory. Discussion follows with director in person. Tickets: $11.
INTERIOR DESIGN DISCUSSION: On Tuesday from 6:30 pm at Helms Bakery, Saatchi Art and Laurel & Wolf present the panel discussion Transform Your Life with Design. Learn tips from experts on art, interior design, fashion and beauty. Cocktail reception follows the discussion.
COMEDY: Warp Zone is a free standup show at The Virgil on the last Tuesday of each month. Hosted by comics TK Kelly and Keith Carey, Tuesday’s roster includes Tommy Johnagin, Fahim Anwar, Pat Regan and Ashley Barnhill. No cover or drink minimum.
ARCHITECTURE TALK: President and CEO of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Sean Malone presents a lecture on the master architect’s two works Taliesin East and Weston Wednesday night at the Eagle Rock Center for the Arts. Malone examines FLW’s hallmark elements and the buildings’ relationships to their natural environments. 7 pm. General tickets: $30 public, $25 Friends of the Gamble House.
MUSIC: The Colorado (by way of South Africa) singer-songwriter Gregory Alan Isakov plays the El Rey Theater on Tuesday night, touring in support of his acclaimed album The Weatherman. Shook Twins opens. Doors at 7:30 pm, show at 8 pm. Tickets: $26.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 25
TV PANEL: The Paley Center presents an evening with HBO’s show Looking, which focuses on the lives of three friends in San Francisco. There’s a special screening on Wednesday with cast and creatives in attendance to discuss the show, including actors Jonathan Groff, Frankie J. Alvarez, Murray Bartlett, Raúl Castillo, Lauren Weedman, Daniel Franzese, as well as Andrew Haigh, executive producer, and Michael Lannan, creator and co-executive producer. 7 pm. Tickets: $15-$20.
STORYTELLING: Taboo Tales returns to the Macha Theater on Wednesday at 8 pm with several storytellers probably over-sharing sordid details about a life-changing moment—and it’ll be funny and horrifying and everything else in between. The storytellers include: Paul Gilmartin, Michael Rachlis, Laura House, Troy Johnson, Bennett Rea, Jeanie Bergen and Patrick Burleigh. Tickets: $15.
MUSIC: TuneCore holds a live music session at Bardot on Wednesday night at 9 pm. The new-ish monthly series spotlights independent music with sets by Waterbed (9 pm), Dear Boy (10 pm) and Knower (11 pm). DJ sets by HolyChild. Doors at 8 pm. 18+. Free.
THURSDAY, FEB. 26
TV SCREENING: There’s a free screening of the first two episodes of the new series American Crime, courtesy of Film Independent at LACMA on Thursday at 7:30 pm. Created by John Ridley, the show features a stellar cast Felicity Huffman, Timothy Hutton, W. Earl Brown, Richard Cabral, Caitlin Gerard, Benito Martinez, Penelope Ann Miller, Elvis Nolasco, Johnny Ortiz and Regina King. The show focuses on a home-invasion murder of a war vet. The evening includes a conversation with John Ridley. Screening tickets are free. Standby only.
STORYTELLING: On Thursday at 7 pm, Busby’s East welcomes the comedy storytelling show Don’t Tell My Mother. Writers and performers share true stories they'd never want their moms to know. On the program this week: The Office's Kate Flannery Fargo’s Allison Tolman, comic Julian McCullough, actor Barak Hardley (Community) and Hollywood producer Nikki Levy. Live music by Abby Posner. Stories and music begin at 8 pm. Tickets: $16.
THEATER: On Thursday at CSUN’s Valley Performing Arts Center, British actor Julian Sands (best known for A Room with a View) stars in a one-man show, A Celebration of Harold Pinter, directed by John Malkovich. (Yep, you read that right.) 7:30 pm. Tickets: $45-$55.
SAMPLING WORKSHOP: Dublab and Sonos Studio team up for The Art of Sampling Workshop at Sonos Studio on Thursday at 7:30 pm. Mike Parvizi (Team Supreme) and Mark de-Clive Lowe demonstrate their own custom methods for sampling and will build a track from scratch during a live performance. In support of his ‘Peacemaker’ project, Los Angeles producer Salva also deconstructs one of his tracks and talks about sampling techniques used on his latest album. 21+.
COMEDY: Comedian Langan Kingsley brings her comedy show Langan Dice Kingsley: The Dicewoman to L.A. for one-night only on Thursday at 9:30 pm. Kingsley was inspired by Andrew Dice Clay's 1989 HBO special, and her show explores topics of parenthood, love, alcohol, celebrity and the beauty of Anthropologie. Also on the program is Joel Weidl, who presents American Weidl. Tickets: $5.
CAUSE CELEB: We're huge fans of Stana Katic's Alternative Travel Project (ATP), an initiative that encourages people to go car free, even for one day. (Check out our 2013 interview.) We caught up with Katic at the Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday (huge fan of Nightcrawler, Cake and Cumberbatch and loves his TV Sherlock, too). She told us that ATP recently received its 501c(3) nonprofit status, and is holding an online fundraising auction on Ebay to create public programs, an ATP app and a free materials for schools, which ends Thursday.
Related: February Events Guide: 20 of Our Favorite Events in L.A.
Want the 411 on additional events and happenings in LA? Follow @LAist or me (@christineziemba) on Twitter.
