That is not a photo of Groucho Marx. It's a photo of Frank Ferrante, who tours America with his uncanny Groucho show. Several times on this site, I have plugged Frank's superb one-man show (well, one man and a piano player) and every time, I hear later from a couple of readers who thank me for the recommendation and say they had the greatest of times. "It was just like seeing the real Groucho in his prime" is a not-uncommon remark. Since I like being told I'm right, I'm plugging Frank again.
Frank's touring schedule can be found over on his new website. What interests me is that his next performances, May 17, are in Brea, California. That's about an hour's drive from Los Angeles and I'm thinking of driving down, especially if I can find some friends who want to car pool. Anyone who wants to go can order tickets on this page.
I saw Frank a few years ago and enjoyed it enough to make that long trek just to see him…but I have another incentive. As some of you may recall, Brea is where Riley's restaurant is located. And Riley's, as I explained here, is the last remnant of the old Love's Barbecue chain. The place used to be a Love's but when the chain's new owners started suing each other and all the Love'ses began closing, that one went independent, changed the name on the sign to Riley's and went on serving pretty much the exact same menu. Riley's is about ten minutes from where Frank is performing.
A great show and my favorite beans. How great is that?