Advertisement

L.A.’s comedy scene is a crowded universe

Share

The Los Angeles comedy scene is a vibrant and varied universe.

Improv, stand-up, alternative, experimental, storytelling, live podcasting and other comedic strains play out in a number of clubs from the well trod to the emerging. There are names you’ve never heard of and those you grew up with. Dan Aykroyd might be in the audience to catch an improv show at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Hollywood, while Judd Apatow and Bill Burr appear on the bill at the Comedy Store.

Other popular venues and shows include the Groundlings, Hot Tub at the Virgil, Hollywood Improv Comedy Club, Largo at the Coronet, and Fresh Out at UCB Sunset, where John Mulaney and Zach Galifianakis have performed.

Comedy can veer from the bawdy to the enlightening and from the deadpan to the hyperbolic. At a recent improv show at the UCB in Hollywood, Zach Woods, Lauren Lapkus, Jon Gabrus and other comedians riffed on Talia Shire, olive oil, weightlifters, “Les Misérables,” doctors and strange husbands.

Advertisement

See the most-read stories this hour »

Twitter: @JeffreyLAT

jeffrey.fleishman@latimes.com

Advertisement