For 25 years, Meltdown Comics has been a part of our Sunset Square neighborhood. At the end of this week, they’ll close shop, another brick-and-mortar casualty of online commerce. As the largest tenant on the block, Meltdown was the area’s commercial anchor. Its closure will help the landlord, Jack Ilulian, demolish the low-slung retail building(s) consistent...
Andy Kauffman. Tony Clifton…Jackie Mason — America’s glorious tradition of professional funnymen lives on in the fabulous Neil Hamburger. Hamburger’s live act, which reportedly differs from his many celebrated albums, features a barrage of Socratic jokes, tough questions with tougher answers. If you’re his ex-wife, we’re sorry! Neil’s pacing is legendary, and he uses the abundance of mucus...
How does the comic mind work? Where does the funny come from? These and many other vital questions get answered every time Set List comes to town. It works like this: Some of the best comics on the scene are supplied with their “set list” — the topics they’ll cover — when they arrive on stage. Since these lists...
Hope RekindledThis past week has given us more hope for our diseased republic than any other time in 50+ years of paying attention. Observing and participating in a long-overdue peaceful uprising, occupying the streets, feeling the righteous energy of people of all ages, colors, faiths, and wealth (or lack thereof), has…
Alien invasion! Earth occupied by creatures far smarter than humans! Thousands of years of civilization rendered irrelevant! Cory Finley’s movie adaptation of M.T. Anderson’s novel Landscape with Invisible Hand accomplishes the impressive feat of being simultaneously incisive/critical/instructive and entertaining/funny/touching. While the film is ultimately a scathing indictment of colonialism, capitalism, and artificial intelligence, the action...
