BEST BETS Thursday 2/1

ANAHEIM

9pm

Pop Music

Social Distortion wraps its sold-out nine-night stint at the new House of Blues in Anaheim with two final shows tonight and Friday. Die-hards can hope for last-minute ticket cancellations to one of these must-see shows. The punk group’s blistering passion for performance is the big reason to try, but it’s also a historic opportunity to see a full-fledged punk band, and a full-throttle mosh pit, in a club built on the former parking lot at Disneyland, where security guards once broke up a spontaneous conga line that erupted during an in-park performance by Buster Poindexter.

* Social Distortion, House of Blues, 1530 S. Disneyland Drive, Anaheim. 9 p.m. Also Friday, 9 p.m. Both shows sold out. (714) 778-2583.

IRVINE

8:30pm

Comedy

Jeff Dunham is known for his quick wit and adept interaction with his audiences. Of course, he gets a little help from his friends: Walter, the grump everyone loves to hate; Peanut, the endearing, purple “Woozle”; and Jose, the belittling jalapeno on a stick. But Dunham, a two-time winner of the “Ventriloquist of the Year” award and the American Comedy Awards’ 1997 Funniest Male Stand-Up Comic, holds his own playing straight man to his pals.

* Jeff Dunham, Irvine Improv, 71 Fortune Drive. 8:30 p.m. Also Friday, 8:30 and 10:30 p.m.; Saturday, 7, 9 and 11 p.m; Sunday, 7 p.m. $20. (949) 854-5455.

BREA

8:30pm

Comedy

“The best comedy comes from the truth,” says Robert Schimmel, whose raw and honest autobiographical comedy includes talking about topics such as sex, coping with a pregnant wife, dealing with his daughter and her boyfriend, surviving a heart attack and his most recent medical condition: cancer. Schimmel’s non-Hodgkins’ lymphoma is in remission, and he’s not only back to his old stand-up ways, but also begins production this month on a new family-oriented sitcom for Fox, “Schimmel.”

* Robert Schimmel, Brea Improv, 945 E. Birch St. 8:30 p.m. Also Friday, 8:30 and 10:30 p.m.; Saturday, 8 and 10:30 p.m.; Sunday, 8 p.m. $15 to $17. (714) 529-7878.