Farley Elliott

This guy knows what he's doing. Photo by lucyrk via LAist Flickr page. It's a pretty quiet week, as Cinefamily wrapped up their monthlong association with Comedy Death Ray, and lots and lots of folks are going out of town for the weekend. Still some great improv, stand up, and sketch out there so get involved folks. If you want to hear from me, want links to the best cat-related blog sites, or want...

For the most part, eco-documentaries follow a pretty narrow pattern; either they’re well funded and a little boring or guerrilla style and probably a bit nauseating, but either way you’re supposed to be so outraged you get out of your seat and punch the richest asshole you can find. That’s the gist. But there’s often a disconnect between the images of the film and the actions of the audience because, ecologically, problems tend to be so big any given person feels powerless.

Anime fox is not amused. Photo courtesy 77516834@N00 via Flickr. There's so much great 'found' stuff going on this week, from the Found Footage competition courtesy of Cinefamily to the Found Magazine show at Largo. Add in some Kevin Nealon and some great sketch, and this week is really starting to look better than some of the decisions you made last weekend. Get AT ME if you want your ish hyped. MONDAY 6/22 The...

Photo courtesy Fries On The Side. A lot of what is often missing from sketch shows, as opposed to improv, is that organic moment of discovery. With lines, there’s security and safety... which explains why half the hosts of Saturday Night Live manage to make it through without looking like COMPLETE douches. If you want the dangerous side of scripted live comedy, you’re really going to have to look towards UCB’s show Sketch Cram,...

I will punch you. Photo via LAist Flickr pool courtesy acthamer. There's lots of outside-the-mainstream greatness going on this week, with Patton Oswalt and Bobcat Goldthwait both doing Cinefamily stuff, Fries On The Side closing out their great season up in North Hollywood, and the not to be missed Celebrity Autobiography show at Largo. Get out, laugh it up, and let Farley know what else is on the horizon. MONDAY 06/15
 All Skate, 7p...

To do list courtesy Dickie Copeland. With the wrap up of the LA Improv Festival at iO West, you'd think that things would be all quiet on the comedy front this week. But thankfully that's just not the case, with the opening of this year's Secret Policeman's Ball / Film Festival showing us some of the great classics in UK comedy. There's also a ton of good improv and sketch all over town, including...

Photo courtesy Under Our Skin Of all the pressing medical issues in America today, Lyme disease doesn’t usually rank very high on the list of things to worry about. That is, unless you believe the startling new documentary by Andy Abrahams Wilson, Under Our Skin. In it, the filmmaker postulates that Lyme is not only more prevalent than most people realize, it is a rapidly growing problem across our nation that leaves behind it...

Just when you thought it was safe to go outside, here comes the cute patrol. Photo via acthamer on Flickr. Well, it's officially LA Improv Festival time at iO West, which naturally makes it the premiere spot for comedy this week. There's sketch and improv tournaments, big name shows with big name stars, and plenty of $5 shows to keep the masses happy. That being said, The Birthday Boys and A Kiss From Daddy...

Following the fanfare of a star-studded Thursday red carpet opening, the Jon Lovitz Comedy Club is officially here. And while the Lovitz club likes to throw around the idea that Los Angeles hasn’t had a new comedy club in 30 years, that PR spin really discounts the amount of stand up that goes on at the less-than-5-year-old UCB, or the revamped and reopened Downtown Comedy Club. But be that as it may, it certainly is exciting to see new comedy come out of the woodwork, when places all around us are closing up shop.

Improv, along with sketch and stand up, comprises the three main pillars of comedy. Yet most people who go to comedy shows see stand up first, sketch second, and improv a distant third. Indeed, not a single Harold Night goes by at UCB without someone raising their hand at the question ‘who’s never seen improv before’. So, for those of you still living under joke rocks (or those hide-a-key rocks...how funny are THOSE?!), next...