Sandra Bernhard returning to REDCAT with new show

Sandra Bernhard, who performed at REDCAT last year, is set to return to the downtown Los Angeles venue with her new show, "Sandrology." The comedian is scheduled to appear from May 30 to June 3, with all performances at 8 p.m, except the final one, which will begin at 7 p.m.

"Sandrology" will examine "the worlds of contemporary culture, politics and celebrity," according to organizers. The show, which will feature Bernhard with a rock band, takes its title from the comedian's regular spot on the Bravo talk show "Watch What Happens Live," on which she serves as a "cultural anthropologist."

Last year, Bernhard appeared at REDCAT with her show "I Love Being Me, Don't You?" The comedian is known for her aggressive performance style, and sometimes raunchy and profane rhetoric.

REDCAT said "Sandrology" will feature musical numbers. The organization said that Bernhard's previous show had sold out and that they had been in talks with her to return ever since.

RELATED:

Sandra Bernhard loves being onstage

Review: 'Sandra Bernhard: I Love Being Me, Don't You?'

Music review: Morton Subotnick, California E.A.R. Unit at REDCAT

-- David Ng

Photo: Sandra Bernhard. Credit: Richard Hartog / Los Angeles Times

Theater review: 'Fairy Tale Theatre: 18 and Over' at the Matrix

This review has been corrected. See note below.

Once upon a time, a newspaper called the Onion savaged cultural shibboleths of its day in print, while a television show called "Saturday Night Live" did the same in sketch-comedy format. They're still with us, barely, and fans of both entities should check out "Fairy Tale Theatre: 18 And Over" at the Matrix.

The brainchild of author-performer J. Michael Feldman, who suggests the love child of Sacha Baron Cohen and Sandra Bernhard, this Inkwell Theater offering serves up twisted fables about the foibles of modernity. Cheekily un-PC, sweetly scabrous, with titles such as "The Tale of the Bipolar Bear and the Co-Dependent Eskimo," the stories don't so much upend expectations as decimate them, to uproarious effect.

Assisted by three puppeteers (Jess McKay, Matt Cook and Tina Huang, all matched hoots), Feldman's fey host Percy Rutherford deploys  mime, sitcom and satirical attitudes with the same ease he and his colleagues wield designer Stephen Rowan's wonderful props and costumes.  A rotating roster of featured performers also participates, with pert Eileen Mullane taking top honors at the reviewed performance, especially  in "The Tale of the Monkeys and Their Pet," a cracked look at "dog people."

William Shatner bringing solo show to Pantages for one night

William Shatner will be shifting into warp drive this year when he takes his solo Broadway show on the road for a national tour that will begin in Los Angeles. The "Star Trek" actor -- and Priceline spokesman -- will bring his comic show "Shatner's World: We Just Live in It" to the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood for a one-night engagement set for March 10,  his publicist said on Tuesday.

"Shatner's World" is scheduled to officially open in New York at the Music Box Theatre on Feb. 16, running through March 4. The show is a comic autobiography in which Shatner talks about his career, including his start as a Shakespearean stage actor.

The Pantages performance will be the first leg of a national tour that will include one-night engagements in San Francisco, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Chicago, Milwaukee, Denver and more.

Shatner, 80, has appeared in a number of TV series including "Star Trek," "T.J. Hooker" and more recently the ABC series "The Practice" and "Boston Legal." He has been a recurring guest on Comedy Central Roasts as well.

The actor regularly appeared in commercials for Priceline until his character, known as the Negotiator, was recently killed off in a fiery bus explosion.

RELATED:

'Book of Mormon' coming to L.A. in September 2012

Theater review: Twyla Tharp's 'Come Fly Away' at the Pantages

'Shrek the Musical' -- the ogre in a new shade of green

-- David Ng

Photo: William Shatner at last year's Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

Ricky Gervais' cohort Stephen Merchant talks about stand-up

 
British comedian Stephen Merchant (co-creator with Ricky Gervais of "The Office," "Extras" and "Cemetery Junction") will bring his  “Hello Ladies” tour to the Coronet Theatre next week, Tuesday through Thursday.

We caught up with him via telephone  to have a chat about the art of stand-up and what happens when one of those ladies says "hello" back.

Read the full interview with Stephen Merchant.

As things go with funny people, there is always more to say. Read on for some bonus verbiage:

Comedy show to honor the late Angelo Bowers

Comedian Angelo Bowers’ tragic and untimely death last week, in a traffic accident caused by a drunk driver, has brought the Los Angeles comedy community together. On Saturday, the monthly rooftop comedy show, “It's A Long Way Down: Comedy With A View,” will hold a show in Bowers’ honor.

Bowers and fellow comedian, Josh Adam Meyers, were driving through Hollywood on Jan. 3 when, at 12:40 a.m., their Jeep Wrangler was struck by a 21-year-old drunk driver in a Toyota Matrix. Meyers and the driver who caused the accident suffered serious injuries. Bowers, who was a passenger, died several hours later.

“It's A Long Way Down,” a free show held on the rooftop of a Culver City apartment building, was founded by neighbors Alex Hooper and Eric Sheffield last March. Bowers not only performed at their debut show, he was the very first comic booked, Hooper says.

“He was a brilliant joke writer, his demeanor was so relaxed, he didn’t care about anything except making people laugh -- he didn’t even have a Facebook to promote his stuff,” Hooper says. “That first show was so great and had this amazing vibe to it; Angelo was a major contributor to the fact that we’re still going so strong now, a year later.”

2011 year in review: Notable deaths in theater and comedy

 

The theater world saw the deaths of a number of major talents in 2011, including legendary writer and director Arthur Laurents, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lanford Wilson and Czech dramatist and politician Vaclav Havel. In the world of comedy, stand-up star Patrice O'Neal died in November at the age of 41.

PHOTOS: Notable Deaths of 2011: theater and comedy

In L.A., the theater world lost one of its biggest personalities, Gil Cates, the founder and producing director of the Geffen Playhouse. Cates, who died in November at 77, wore many hats during his long career. He was a film and stage director, a producer of the Oscars telecast and served as a professor and dean of UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television.

Cates made the Geffen Playhouse one of Southern California's top theater companies. The Geffen continues to draw top playwrighting and acting talent and has developed plays that have later traveled to Broadway.

RELATED:

2011 year in review: Top arts and culture stories

2011 year in review: Notable deaths in art and architecture

2011 year in review: Notable deaths in classical music and jazz

-- David Ng

Photo: Arthur Laurents in 1977. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Kim Jong Il is a favorite target of comedians

 

Kim Jong Il, the North Korean dictator who died at age 69 of an apparent heart attack, wasn't loved by many people outside of his home country. But the diminutive Dear Leader was a perennial favorite of at least one group -- comedians.

Kim's lavish lifestyle and reported love of Western culture -- including blond women and American DVDs -- proved to be an endless source of material for comics on stage and screen. Perhaps the most successful spoof was Bobby Lee's impersonation on Fox's "MADtv."

Lee portrayed the autocratic ruler as a giddy, sexed-up megalomaniac with a bad perm. "The Kim Jong-Il Show" sketches featured guests Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, as well as Renee Zellweger. In one sketch, which you can see below, Kim rapped with P. Diddy about his love for nuclear weapons and voluptuous women.

On Twitter, a number of comedians have been cranking out jokey tributes to the late Kim. Nick Kroll tweeted: "RIP kim Jong il. We took level 1 improv together. There will never be another tiny, Asian Elvis maniac like you, my friend." Patton Oswalt wrote: "All the flags in North Korea are flying at half-M*A*S*H today."

Ike Barinholtz, who, like Lee, is a "MADtv" alum, wrote: "My twitter is spotty today. Is Ken Jeong ill?" And Comedy Central Roast master Jeffrey Ross tweeted: "Here today. Jong tomorrow."

Probably the best-known Kim spoof is from Matt Stone and Trey Parker, who lampooned the dictator in their movie "Team America: World Police."  Stone and Parker -- the creators of "South Park" and Broadway's "The Book of Mormon" -- portrayed Kim as the ultimate Hollywood bad guy. In one scene, Kim feeds United Nations' weapons inspector Hans Blix to his pet sharks. (You can view the clip here, but be warned that it includes adult content.)

Monster Mash: Jan Maxwell of 'Follies' injured; Sondheim stranded by snow

Accident: Actress Jan Maxwell, currently in the Broadway revival of "Follies," was hit by a vehicle Saturday while crossing the street, but is expected to make a quick recovery. (BroadwayWorld)

Show must go on: Stephen Sondheim canceled his appearance in Orange County this weekend due to the snowstorm on the East Coast. But the show went on with singers Brian Stokes Mitchell and Christine Ebersole. (Los Angeles Times)

Dr. Death: Artwork and other items that belonged to the late Dr. Jack Kevorkian have failed to sell at auction. (Associated Press, via Detroit Free Press)

Heading east: The Pritzker Architecture Prize ceremony will be held in Beijing on May 25. (Wall Street Journal)

Leaving: Actresses Jennifer Damiano and T.V. Carpio will leave Broadway's "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" next month when their contracts expire. (Associated Press, via Wall Street Journal)

Party: The Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University is hosting a gala cocktail reception to benefit the museum. (State News)

Expanding: The Upright Citizens Brigade has opened an East Village location, following venues in Chelsea and in Los Angeles. (New York Times)

Lucky toddler: Sandra Bullock's agents recently purchased an Andy Warhol print at auction as a gift for the actress' 1-year-old son, Louis. (US Weekly)

Honored: Winners of the 2011 Theatre Awards UK include Peter Hall, Derek Jacobi and Martin Sheen. (Theatermania)

Delayed: A developer in Abu Dhabi has said that branches of the Louvre and Guggenheim art museums being built could now open at least a year later than planned. (Associated Press)

Seeking solace: The New York Jets' Aaron Maybin has turned to painting and poetry to overcome personal tragedy. (New York Daily News)

Germs: The city of New York has warned the New Museum that it can have only one visitor at a time in an interactive skinny-dipping exhibit. (New York Post)

Highbrow and lowbrow: The Detroit Opera House has served as a key filming location for "A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas." (Detroit Free Press)

Trooper: An opera singer was shot and robbed outside her home in Tennessee but that didn’t stop her from singing her part from a wheelchair off stage. (WREG)

Playwright chat:Jon Robin Baitz will answer questions online Thursday, the day his first Broadway play, "Other Desert Cities," is about to open. (Culture Monster)

Also in the L.A. Times: Music critic Mark Swed reviews Gustavo Dudamel at Disney Hall and the Pasadena Symphony.

-- David Ng

Photo: Jan Maxwell in a scene from "Follies." Credit: Joan Marcus

Can a comedy tour be 'sexy and liberal?'

At each stop on Stephanie Miller’s nationwide "Sexy Liberal Comedy Tour" -– launched at Madison, Wis.'  Barrymore Theatre in April -- a surprise comic guest shows up onstage. At the tour’s Southern California debut Friday night at the Wadsworth Theatre, the surprise guest was Lily Tomlin, who joined talk show host Miller and comedians John Fugelsang and Hal Sparks for a panel discussion at the end of the show.

But there was also someone onstage who might better be described as a “surprised” guest -– that was character actress Edie McClurg, who had only expected to stand up at her seat in the audience to wave and smile but instead was dragged onstage by her friend Lily.

“She grabbed my hand and said: You have to come up,” McClurg told Culture Monster at the after-party at the Wadsworth.

Theater review: 'Busting Out!' at the Hayworth Theatre

After “The Vagina Monologues” and “Puppetry of the Penis,” it was inevitable that breasts would demand equal time. In “Busting Out!”, a good-natured though shamelessly tacky entertainment from Australia now at the Hayworth Theatre, this part of the female anatomy finally gets its moment in the legit spotlight.
 
But bosoms, I’m afraid you let your natural enthusiasm get the better of you. Why, oh why, didn’t you hold out for a cleverer show? This act, touted as having been seen by an audience of more than 300,000 in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, is pure amateur hour. (Two hours, actually — two strenuously jokey hours about “jugs,” “rack,” “melons” and a host of other synonyms, many of them unprintable in a family newspaper.)

Created by Emma Powell, who performs often topless with her fellow big-breasted costar Mandi Lodge, “Busting Out!” has a gimmick that’s supposed to excuse the crass comic mediocrity of it all. This is a show that celebrates large women whose flesh has begun to sag. Brassieres are banished, and bumps and veins are flaunted. The idea is that this carnival of dumb skits, puerile puppetry and suburban rap numbers is being performed in the name of liberation. But as any drama critic can tell you, there’s nothing more oppressive than bad theater.