Westside Comedy Theater

Improvisers’ New Years Resolution: To Make You Laugh

If we make you laugh in 2012, we’ll have done our job. So we can do this one of two ways. Either you can come to one of our shows and enjoy a fully-improvised hour of comedy based on your suggestions, or we can follow you home from work one night and do a show in your living room. Look, I’m not threatening you, but one way might leave you with a broken TV. Not due to any violence on our part, we’re just kind of clumsy.

So what will it be? You can think it over. No need to rush into a decision. After all, you’ve got three opportunities this month to save your coffee table.

Here are the details of our first shows of 2012, straight from the freshly-updated Upcoming Shows page:

M.i.’s Westside Comedy Comedy Theater, Friday, January 6th
also featuring The Waterbrains and Mission: IMPROVable
Featured Meathands: TBA
Westside Comedy Theater
1323-A Third Street Promenade (in alley between 3rd and 4th Street)
Santa Monica, CA 90401
8:00pm; Admission $10; Rated:
Show Rating: Late Night

Family-Friendly Comedy Night, Saturday, January 14th
with special guest Jump Start Comedy Improv!
Featured Meathands: TBA
Mary Pickford Studio
8885 Venice Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 559-8868
8:00pm; Admission $7 ($3 for kids 12 & under); Rated:
Show Rating: Network Television

Tag Team Comedy, Saturday, January 21st
with special guest!
Featured Meathands: TBA
Mary Pickford Studio
8885 Venice Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 287-3700
8:00pm; Admission $7; Rated:
Show Rating: Late Night

The above was cross-posted on the Magic Meathands blog. I’ve been a member of the Magic Meathands for nearly 3 years, performing well over 100 shows of improvised comedy. If you’re in the Los Angeles area, give yourself a treat and catch one of our shows.

New Year, New Laughs

The New Year is coming! And if the Mayans are right, we’ve only got until December 21 to live it up. Better start scheduling your good times now. We’ve got quite a few planned for you throughout 2012 because if we’re going down, we’re going down laughing!

Our first show of 2012 brings us back to the Westside Comedy Theater, right off the Third Street Promenade in downtown Santa Monica. We hit the stage at 8 PM on Friday January 6th to do a fully improvised show combining short-form games and long-form scenarios all made up on the spot based on suggestions you give us. Tickets are $10 for the whole night. If you hang around after our show, you’ll get to experience two other improv groups, The Waterbrains and Mission: IMPROVable. Each group has their own format and style, so you’re in for a real treat.

The above was cross-posted on the Magic Meathands blog. I’ve been a member of the Magic Meathands for nearly 3 years, performing well over 100 shows of improvised comedy. If you’re in the Los Angeles area, give yourself a treat and catch one of our shows.

Celebrate the Holidays with Hilarity

Cross-posted on the Magic Meathands blog. I’ve been a member of the Magic Meathands for nearly 3 years, performing well over 100 shows of improvised comedy. If you’re in the Los Angeles area, give yourself a treat and catch one of our shows.

April's Fools joins the Magic Meathands on Dec. 17

Did you get stuffed on Thanksgiving? Did you get trampled on Black Friday?

The holiday season brings joy but it can also bring stress. Shopping, cooking, decorating, family gatherings – these can either be a lot of fun or higher therapist bills in the works. One of the best things to do during this time of year is get out, relax and enjoy some good comedy. Fortunately we’ve packed December with plenty of opportunities for just that sort of solution. Here are the details:

As I mentioned last week, we’re back at the Westside Comedy Theater this Friday night. Santa Monica’s best place for laughs has been renovated with a bar, which is guaranteed to make us seem much funnier. Our show starts at 8 PM and tickets cost $10. Those tickets are good for every show for the rest of the night, which means you can hang around to enjoy The Waterbrains and Mission: IMPROVable, two hilarious improv groups. Three groups all performing improv comedy might seem like much but we each have our own distinct style and format, which really keeps the whole night lively and unpredictable.

Then it’s our popular family friendly night with Jump Start, so you can bring the kids, spouse, cousins, aunts, uncles, parents, grandparents and great-grandparents and have a great night out. The show is Saturday, December 10, and starts at 8 PM with Jump Start, followed by us at around 9. Tickets are $7 for the whole show, which is at the spacious Mary Pickford Studio on Venice Blvd. at National in West LA.

And finally, it’s our monthly Tag Team Show where we’rere joined by some of our talented friends. This month, it’s the improv comedy group April’s Fools! Based in the South Bay area, they’ve been bringing laughs to Hermosa Beach and the surrounding area for over 13 years. Don’t miss your chance to see them with us on Saturday, December 17. The show starts at 8 PM at the Mary Pickford Studio. Tickets are $7.

So there you have it! Three opportunities to make the holidays just a bit sillier (in a good way). I hope to see you at one or more of this month’s shows. Each show is a completely unique experience, never to be repeated – just like a snowflake. So try to catch as many of our shows on your tongue as you can! … Wait, this metaphor just took an awkward turn. But if someone shows up in a snowsuit it will be worth it!

Improv Comedy this Friday in Santa Monica

Up for a giggle? How about a guffaw? You’ll get both and more at this Friday’s show.

I’m performing with the Magic Meathands at M.i.’s Westside Comedy Theater in Santa Monica at 8 PM. Tickets are $10 and are good for the two shows immediately after us, The Waterbrains and Mission: Improvable.

We’ll be doing a fully improvised show with a mixture of short-form games and long-form scenarios based on your suggestions. You might even be able to join us on stage, if you’re so inclined. For more info, check out the new Magic Meathands blog and/or our Facebook event listing.

Funnies for Friday, Scaries for Saturday

Two shows this weekend!

This Friday the Magic Meathands return to the Westside Comedy Theater in Santa Monica for an hour of made-up funnies. We’re on the stage at 8 PM. Each $10 ticket is good for the entire night, which means that you can also see The Waterbrains at 9 PM and Mission: IMPROVable at 10 PM. Oh! And by the way, the Magic Meathands are now blogging!

Then Saturday night, things turn creepy to get you ready for Halloween. Drama After Dark: A Night of the Macabre with Poe and Gorey is at The Huntington Gardens in San Marino from 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM. I’m in one of the Edward Gorey pieces. We’re bringing 5 Gorey works to life. This year, we’re debuting 2 new pieces. Come on out with your flashlights and explore the grounds. (Although it looks like it’s sold out, so hopefully you already bought your tickets.)

Improv Comedy Group to hit Santa Monica theater in act of violence

The Magic Meathands (including me!) will hit the Westside Comedy Theater in Santa Monica this Friday night at 8 PM. Literally. We are actually going to assault the theater stage with our fists. We’ve been feeling a little angry recently and have decided that some pent-up violence committed against an inanimate and non-sentient object would help us feel better about ourselves.

After that, we’ll probably do some improv comedy. So if you want to stay, that should be pretty entertaining too. And after us, you can also stay to see The Waterbrains and Mission: IMPROVable, two very funny improv groups.

Tickets: $10.

Comical Things to Happen at Westside Comedy Theater This Friday Night

The Magic Meathands will be improvising in a comedic way with the hopes of spreading joy and laughter this Friday night. Your attendance is requested so we can find out if we succeed or not.

As an added incentive, you’ll also be able to hang around for The Waterbrains and Mission: IMPROVable for as much improv comedy as you can handle.

The big show is happening at the Westside Comedy Theater in Santa Monica, starting at 8 PM. Tickets: $10.

Friday is Brought to You by Tail Battling Kittehs

Things to do in and around LA:

WEB-SERIES – The indie film Good Grief posts to its Facebook page a prologue short focusing on the character Penn, loosely based on Pigpen from Charles M. Schulz’ Peanuts classic comic strip, only viewable from Friday, 10 AM (aka, now) – Monday, 10 PM.

CONVENTION – The Anime Expo, celebrating all things manga and anime, starts today and runs through the long weekend at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Downtown LA. Tickets: $75 for 4-day pass, $65 for 2-day, $50 for 1-day, $25 for children 5-12, free for children up to age 4.

COMEDY – The Magic Meathands (with me!) perform live improv comedy based on audience suggestions at the Westside Comedy Theater in Santa Monica, Friday, 8 PM. Tickets: $10.

HOLIDAY – Happy Birthday, America! Get up somewhere high in Los Angeles with a pair of binoculars, and you can see a bunch of fireworks shows in different neighborhoods and cities for the Fourth of July.

Things to do in NY:

FILM FESTIVAL – The documentary Dig Comics, which I helped produce, screens at the New Filmmakers Summer Fest at the Anthology Film Archives, Friday, 6 PM. Tickets: $9.

Laugh for Freedom

This Friday night, I join the Magic Meathands to kick off the July 4th weekend at the Westside Comedy Theater in Santa Monica. What better way to celebrate our freedom?

It’s a full hour of improvisational theater for comedic results. We’ll be doing a mixture of short-form games and long-form scenarios, using your suggestions. There’s even a chance or two for you to join us on stage, if you are so inclined. And we hope you are.

The ticket for our show is also good for the two shows immediately after us, The Waterbrains and Mission: IMPROVable, two hilarious improv comedy groups.

Friday, July 1, 8 PM
Tickets: $10
Event Details on Facebook

This Friday is brought to you by Gravity Defying Kitteh

Things to do in and around LA this weekend:

COMICS – Reed Gunther Release Party! Celebrate the debut of the all-ages cowboy comic book from Image Comics with creators Shane and Chris Houghton who will be signing and sketching for free. Plus a giant snake! At Golden Apple Comics in Hollywood, Friday, 7 PM – 9 PM.

COMEDY – I perform improv comedy with the Magic Meathands at the Westside Comedy Theater in Santa Monica, Friday, 8 PM. Immediately after us will be the always hilarious Waterbrains and Mission: IMPROVable. Tickets: $10.

ACTIVISM – SlutWalk LA is the latest in a series of demonstrations across North America in response to a Toronto police officer who advised students to not dress like “sluts” as a safety tip to avoid rape. Believing that “those who experience sexual assault are not the ones at fault, without exception,” participants will begin in West Hollywood Park, Saturday, 12:00 noon.

COMMUNITY – The Long Beach Basket Brigade has their 3rd annual fundraiser to help families in and around Long Beach. Silent and live auctions, Texas Hold ’em and Bunco Tournaments, and a fine dinner all help to raise money. At The Grand Event Center in Long Beach, Saturday, 6 PM – 11 PM.