Farley Elliott

How GOOD is Steve Zahn?! LET'S TALK ABOUT IT. Photo courtesy Magnolia Pictures. Showmanship in the long-held traditional sense just keeps getting moved more and more to the fringes of contemporary entertainment. Circuses, for all of the revelry and majestical wonder they inspired only a decade ago, are in serious decline. David Blaine and Criss Angel are the magicians and mentalists of our day. Indeed the horizon looks bleak. That is, unless you ask the Great Buck Howard. Or, rather, see the film.

Epic enforcement fail. Photo courtesy Lord-Jim via LAist Flickr page. Wowzers. Patton n' friends at Hollywood Forever, Beer Shark Mice at iO West, a Neil Simon play, Zach Galifianakis, and (gulp) Dane Cook. What a week ahead! Email Farley if you're interested in getting love here for an upcoming show of yours. MONDAY 3/9 The Matts, 6-8p LittleRadio.com. If you’re around a computer, check out littleradio.com for the new The Matts show, which is...

Blessed Is The Match: The Life and Times of Hannah Senesh. Photo courtesy Katahdin Foundation. With the heightened sense of urgency that exists throughout the world today, it is easy to be uncertain or afraid. There is a gimme gimme attitude, built partly out of necessity in today’s climate, but also out of generations of relaxed approaches to consumption and spending. That’s why it’s so refreshing to see true stories of unbelievably strong people...

When deciding to take on a career in the arts, the one thing that will separate you from a herd of like-minded cattle is ‘finding your voice’. This, simply, means getting comfortable with yourself, your medium, and your material. Once you reach that easygoing level, you can maneuver within it to truly discover the reasons you were drawn towards your creative craft in the first place. For comedian Robert Cait, his career has come...

Oooh la la. Photo courtesy Lord-Jim via LAist Flickr Photo Pool. UCB is blowing it UP this week, with Billy the Mime, new Harold improv teams, and some lovely lady stand ups to close out the weekend. Also, the LA Comedy Shorts Film Festival starts on Thursday and runs the weekend, so head downtown for 30 mins. or less of laughing. And in keeping with my journalistic integrity, my sketch group The Seven Year...

Some TwiistUp 5 goodness. Photo courtesy the great Emily Lerman/LAist. For a guy as lazy as I am, there’s only a certain number of phrases that will really get me off the couch. I mean, I can get a cheeseburger delivered to my apartment if I really want, and anything not in arm’s reach can either be gotten by stick, or isn’t worth your trouble in the first place. I’m not exactly what you’d...

The Trial of the Catonsville Nine. Photo credit Kim Zsebe, courtesy The Actor's Gang. Many of us would like to count ourselves as 'politically active'. We are an intelligent country, made up of many of the same demographics as seen in other Western countries. We have the students, the high prices, the motivations, and the anger. We just don't have the riots. Excluding recent racial developments in Oakland and the occasional big sports victory,...

What an idiot. GET BETTER ARMS, SNOW CHUMP. Photo by Never Cool In School, courtesy LAist Flickr page. The Largo at Coronet is holding it down this weekend with great comedy, Seth & Ed is back at UCB, Bill Maher is around town, and Steve Agee is 40. Fuck the Oscars and all your water-cooler banter, this week in comedy is what you should be talking about around the office. If not, email me...

Caution, the craziest shit you ever saw ahead. Photo by Michael Camacho via LAist Flickr Photo Pool. Don't let the rain get you down this week. Get out there and enjoy yourself some comedy! There's Sarah Silverman, Andy Daly, Brendon Burns, Maya Rudolph, Jon Lajoie, John Pinette, just to name a few. Hit me up here to promote your own show. MONDAY 2/16 Frankenmatt: Pilgrimage, 11p Second City. The guys I loved so much...

Hollywood can have problems giving credit where credit is due. Ideas get stolen, supporting actors go unnoticed, and many times the writers who make up the foundation of the entertainment industry never get the limelight in the way that they should. That is, until they decide to go on strike, or a blonde bombshell declares them unfit for accolades. So it should be a source of honor and pride for these men and women when,...