7pm Pop MusicManchester lad goes Hollywood--that’s the...

7pm Pop Music

Manchester lad goes Hollywood--that’s the story pitch for the latest chapter in the saga of offbeat Englishman Damon Gough, who changed his name to Badly Drawn Boy, seduced the pop world with his winsome, reflective music and now has done the songs and score for the new film “About a Boy.” It was recorded in Hollywood, where he’s also making the next BDB album, and where he’s playing his only scheduled Southland performance.

Badly Drawn Boy, Amoeba Music, 6400 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, 7 p.m. Free. (323) 245-6400.

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8pm Pop Music

White Stripes? Try white hot. Once a cherished secret of a cult of true believers, the Detroit duo is suddenly the toast of the new rock resurgence, hooking up with a large label, packing bigger rooms and even landing a spot playing at the upcoming MTV Movie Awards.

The White Stripes, El Rey Theatre, 5515 Wilshire Blvd., L.A., 8 p.m. Sold out. (323) 936-4790. Also Sunday and Monday, sold out. Also Saturday at the Glass House, 200 W. 2nd St., Pomona, 8 p.m. Sold out. (909) 469-5800.

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8pm Theater

Director Anthony Sandoval revives his notable staging of “Go True West,” a wacky combination of the first 20 lines of “True West,” Sam Shepard’s dark comedy about a confrontation between brothers, and vintage Buster Keaton routines. It’s engagingly performed by gifted physical actors Joe Fria and Ben Simonetti.

“Go True West,” Lillian Theater, 1076 N. Lillian Way, Hollywood, 8 p.m. Regular schedule: Fridays and Saturdays, 8 p.m. Ends June 29. (323) 221-6656.

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8pm Theater

Expect the unexpected--and the outrageous--when the Groundlings comedy improv troupe explores our automotive moviegoing culture (or anything else, really) in its new main-stage show, “Groundlings Drive-In.”

“Groundlings Drive-In,” Groundlings Theater, 7307 Melrose Ave., L.A., 8 p.m. Regular schedule: Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 8 and 10 p.m. Runs indefinitely. $18.50. (323) 934-9700.

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all day Movies

Ben Affleck steps in as the third Jack Ryan in the latest Tom Clancy thriller, “The Sum of All Fears.” Affleck succeeds Harrison Ford (“Patriot Games” and “Clear and Present Danger”), who followed Alec Baldwin (“The Hunt for Red October”), as the CIA analyst, this time attempting to thwart a plot to start World War III. Morgan Freeman, James Cromwell and Liev Schreiber co-star. Phil Alden Robinson directed.

“The Sum of All Fears,” rated PG-13 for violence, disaster images and brief strong language, opens Friday in general release.

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7:30pm Talk

Kevin Smith has written comic books, his own movies--”Clerks,” “Mall Rats,” “Dogma”--and appeared in many of his own movies as Silent Bob. But Smith will alter that persona Friday in a relaxed conversation, “Silent Bob Speaks! An Evening With Kevin Smith.” Smith will take questions and discuss his work in comics and filmmaking, and guests will come home with a comic gift bag. Proceeds go to ACTOR, a nonprofit organization that aids veteran comic book writers and artists in need.

“Silent Bob Speaks!,” Writers Guild Theater, 135 S. Doheny Drive, Beverly Hills, 7:30 p.m. $15. (323) 658-6047 or (818) 761-3465.

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7:30pm Pop Music

Singer-poet Patti Smith and artist-folklorist-filmmaker Harry Smith have more in common than a surname. When Harry met Patti in the 1970s New York avant-garde scene, they struck up a creative relationship that led, among other things, to her appearance in his experimental film version of the Brecht-Weill opera “The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny.” So it’s fitting that Patti Smith closes the Getty Center’s two-day symposium on the film with a performance of music and spoken word, accompanied by her son, Jackson.

Patti Smith, Harold M. Williams Auditorium, Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Drive, L.A., 7:30 p.m. $20. (310) 440-7300.