Back here, I told you about the upcoming presentation of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum up at UCLA for a mere sixteen performances, March 16-28. What I didn't tell you then (because I didn't know then) is that if you order tickets online, you can enter the codeword LATIN and get a $10 discount per seat. There's no discount available for the two lectures I'm giving in connection with this show but that's only because they're free.
On Tuesday, March 9, Bob Newhart is being interviewed at the Grammy Museum in Downtown L.A. American Express presale tickets are on sale now for $20 and admission includes a copy of Newhart's autobiography, which is in itself probably worth twenty bucks. Such a deal.
Robert Klein is making a few rare appearances in Southern California — and by "rare," I mean I think the last one was a wonderful night at the Improv some of us spent with him at least twenty years ago. He's at the Ice House in Pasadena on March 9 — same night as Newhart's interview downtown — and he's at the Comedy and Magic Club in Hermosa Beach on March 10 and 11.
If you've never been there: The Comedy and Magic Club is a pretty good place to see comedy and it's not as far away from L.A. as it might seem. This is the club where on most Sunday nights, you can see Jay Leno do about an hour (with Jimmy Brogan opening for him) for $30. Leno gets $79-$99 for his show in Vegas and I don't think he even has an opening act there. I have friends who have been unimpressed by Mr. Leno on TV but who still rave about seeing him do an hour live. One said to me, "Now, I understand his reputation…"
And we're not done yet. There's an L.A. group called Writers Bloc which arranges public one-on-one interviews, usually involving someone who has a new book out being interviewed by some sort of celebrity. On Wednesday, March 31, Jeff Garlin is being interviewed by Bob Saget. And on Tuesday, April 27, Carol Burnett is being interviewed by Tim Conway. In both cases, there will be ample opportunity to purchase the interviewee's new book and get it autographed. I've been to Writers Bloc events for folks like George Carlin, Al Franken, Bob Woodward, William Goldman, Lewis Black, Eric Idle, Jerry Lewis and others I can't recall at the moment…but I recall having a good time at all of 'em.
Now, we're done. For now.