Let's say you followed my advice in the previous post and ordered tickets to see Misty Lee's magic show at the end of July. You're probably sitting there now wondering, "Gee, what am I going to do for amusement before then? I wish Mark Evanier would recommend some shows before those dates!" Okay, here you go…
First off, if you're anywhere near Solana Beach, which is somewhere near Del Mar and La Jolla, you have two chances to see Frank Ferrante do his stunning An Evening With Groucho show which I rave about incessantly on this blog. They're Monday, June 12 and Tuesday, June 13 at the North Coast Repertory Theater in, of course, Solana Beach. It's Frank somehow turning himself into the great comedian to the point of making you (almost) forget that ain't the Real Thing dancing and singing and ad-libbing his way across the stage. Here's a link to order tickets while you still can, which might not be for long because Groucho Frank has a habit of selling out.
And if you go see him, here's a dining tip: The North Coast Repertory Theater is in a mall and so is the Samurai Restaurant, where I often stop for great Japanese food while going to or from San Diego. Check the hours though because they close for a spell each day between lunch and dinner.
Then! Recently, I raved on here about Puppet Up!, which is an adult puppet show done by the Jim Henson people. The show is largely improvised with much audience involvement and it's ridiculously funny and — the night I saw it — rather dirty. They don't do it very often but they're doing two shows on June 17 and I guarantee you they'll sell out. I just bought tix for the early show from this page. You can, too.
Finally for now: I've also raved — and I don't do that much raving — about The Black Version, a very funny improv troupe that does a show every month or two. It's six-or-so black comedy performers who take a suggestion from the audience of a movie that starred mostly white folks and they then improv it into a musical starring all black folks. I forgot to write about it here but a few weeks ago, I saw them do their version of Interview with a Vampire, which guest-starred Wayne Brady and featured a Dracula-type who, at the suggestion of someone in the audience, was named Count Chocula.
Their next performance is July 8 at the Largo at the Coronet (that's what they call the place now) on La Cienega Boulevard near Beverly. I bought my tickets at this site and again, you can do the same thing.
There's also some sort of comic convention down in San Diego in July where we will celebrate the 100th anniversaries of the births of Jack Kirby and Will Eisner. More on that later. Right now, if you're thinking of attending any of the above events, you'd better get to clicking.