The Elysian Theater

Chris Grace (Dropout, Superstore, The Residence) brings an all-new hour of stand-up comedy to the Elysian asking the most important questions: Can you get along with someone that you only mostly agree with? Can nuance survive in an age of extremes? Does using AI make someone evil or just wack? 88% is Chris's attempt to reconcile his heart and the real world in his unique style that the Boston Globe called 'an artful blend of the personal and the universal'.

A stand-up comedy show co-hosted by Sierra Katow (@sierrakatow) & Nick Skardarasy featuring some of the best names in comedy. Produced by Morgan Kowalewski & Kayla Schwartz

THE KIDS MIGHT DIE (a tale told by an idiot) is an award-winning apocalyptic solo comedy. This “hilarious and poignant” solo show-within-a-show is framed within a doomed kid’s production of Macbeth. When an emergency broadcast announces the incoming end of the world, the young cast evacuates, leaving only their director behind. As Jill attempts to save the show, it devolves into an anxiety spiral on death and identity, featuring audience interaction, an epic guitar solo, and Heelys.

Hannah has melted down before. But never more mightily than the day all 5’11” of her was taken to the top of a mountain to try skiing for the first time, with zero experience, and newly lapsed medical insurance. A ridiculous fever dream of an hour that explores classism, currency, and what success really means. A critic recently described Hannah as part muppet, part Carol Burnett. And that’s correct.

Fresh off a 7-show sold out Hollywood Fringe run and “Top of the Fringe” and “Best Solo Theatre” nominations, see this show before it heads to Edinburgh Fringe Festival! Part stand-up, part surreal deep dive in a sinking submersible, The Abyss is an hour-long descent to the depths of Brendan’s brain, where his mother is a life coach obsessed with death, his bipolar brother is communing spiritually with Gwyneth Paltrow, and his inner child is a total asshole. Directed by Emily Olcott and Produced by Cara Christian

Class show for Elysian’s stand up class! Directed by Guy Branum Buy Tickets

The Shop at the Elysian is pleased as punch to present its very first art show! It seems appropriate to do a show of the work of Robert Dayton who hosts The Birthday Experience which happens monthly in the Elysian Vault next door (and will be happening after the art opening too). His work is also appropriate (though some may say it deals with subject matter that may be deemed 'inappropriate') as his original work for the show features playful pen-and-ink and colorfully painted works on paper that he has loosely deemed 'erotic art' -there's even a clown or two ambiguously shifting into bodily organs. Besides original works, there are multiples with brand new "I had all the orgams" t-shirts and "new baby" greeting cards, along with copies of his "Cold Glitter: The Untold Story Of Canadian Glam" and "The Empty Bed" books, and more!

An evening of comedy with Marc Maron Buy Tickets

Get ready for a fast-paced hour of unscripted hilarity as two powerhouse improv teams! Hello! features a dynamic cast of comedy all-stars: Becca Barish, Brendan Dowling, Colleen Doyle, Nnamdi Nngwe, Olivia Nielsen, Sean Coyle, Tyler Davis and Emma Pope. Ope! brings its signature Midwestern charm and fast, funny scene work with performers Jordan Lee Cohen, Andrew Knox, Alan Linic, Waleed Mansour, Katie Kershaw, and George C. Owens.

Free admission if it's your birthday week!!! (with proof of photo ID) This Month’s very Special Guests are burlesque performer, clown, and comedian KiKi Maroon! Comedian Renata Shayk! "Like a birthday party gone totally awry!" -anonymous influencer/bot "It's your birthday -whether it's your birthday or not!" Even if it's not yours -or anyone's birthday ever- you can come to this birthday party comedy variety show and have so much fun! The Birthday Experience features Robert Dayton as your excitable host, wonderful puppeteer Molly Fite with Puppet Molly -a very good dancer, along with bandleader and sparkling keyboardist Lance Piebenga , and George Chen as substitute clown Mike Hans ! Yayyyy! A gaggle of new friends for the audience to visit each and every show! There's also FREE CAKE , balloons, prizes, and surprises! And loads more birthday style entertainment! Please note this show may contain adult content including but not limited to nudity, adult language, etc. and is recommended for older audiences. And before that at 6 pm come to an art show featuring work by The Birthday Experience host Robert Dayton happening right next door at The Shop at the Elysian with original art/books/t-shirts/cards/more!

Comedian Martin Urbano (Jimmy Kimmel Live, This Fool, Edinburgh Fringe Best Newcomer Nominee) invites his showbusiness friends to sit in the Warm Seat™ and forces them to answer his dark, ridiculous, and often problematic trivia questions, all for a chance at winning very little money. This month's guests: TBA

Dax Hilton explores how the 22 year old comedian has navigated life since his father committed suicide 3 years ago. Delving into his many struggles with identity, from his experience as a queer kid living in Colorado, to the fear he’s going to become like his father, Dax Hilton finds a way to cope with the confusion and grief somewhere between love and laughter. (Featured: 2023 Comic To Watch NYC Comedy Festival, Netflix is a Joke Comedy Festival, Don’t Tell Comedy, Producer at The Hollywood Improv, The Comedy Store, The Laugh Factory)

Comedian and writer Laurie Kilmartin can't get any work done in this town of 8 min sets. At the Vault, she works out her new hour, and also, there are free Tollhouse cookies.

Alina brings her personal sometimes bizarre experiences from living in Belarus under a brutal regime to the stage. Her dark comedy explores the surreal and disturbing reality of growing up under dictatorship. She shares her childhood love for all things communist, and, through a series of absurd clown bits, she engages the audience in the process of brainwashing. The show features a mix of silly elements, including live cooking of soup, which is shared with the audience! By Alina Konon. Directed by Nathan Mohebbi.

An evening of comedy with Marc Maron Buy Tickets

Kinda like a clown show. Kinda like a DJ set you could feel all sexy to. Might be kind of a party between you and me. One of those disturbing and fashionable ones like in Berlin or something. Scene queens everywhere. Chas Harvey (squint hard enough and you might catch him slipping through the screen door of your reptilian brain. If seen, immediately contact your local lobotomizing overlords) Willa Fossum (hair made of chocolate spaghetti) are gonna do some fresh bits just for you, beautiful angel. Oh, and this Smoking Mother production was directed by legendary clown monk John Gilkey. He squeezed it out of the JG Embryonic Brain Trust right before he slithered up a sassafras tree. So bring cigs and come get yer shit rocked.

Lucas Tamaren of Thumpasaurus debuts his new project, Lucas? at the Elysian Theater. It will be epic. With Thumpasaurus, Lucas Tamaren has sold out world tours and appeared on Late Night TV in multiple countries. Lucas also scores film/TV and will be providing original music for the upcoming Netflix special "Stamptown." After runs (successful by metrics of the heart) of his solo comedy/music show "Vengeance," in Edinburgh and the Hollywood Fringe, Lucas brings his strange but oddly effective comedic and musical sensibilities to the Elysian theater with his new solo project, Lucas?

In its 20th year of lauded late night lunacy! Hosted by Ron Lynch (Bob's Burgers, Corporate, Portlandia) and featuring a rotating roster of top comedians, specialty acts, musicians and performance artists -- It is not to be missed! Every Saturday @ Midnight.

In Dead Pilots Society, scripts that were developed by studios and networks but were never produced are given the table reads they deserve. Presented by Andrew Reich (Friends; Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story) and Ben Blacker (Thrilling Adventure Hour; The Writers Panel).

Matt's bringing a show to Edinburgh Fringe. This is that show. Or at least a WIP of that show. Pretty cool. I wish you the very best in this life.

Yeti or Not, here we come! Yeti is one of LA’s premier improv teams and is also a group of biological siblings. Each show features two unique halves, one of them based on stories from our audience. Get ready for an evening of unparalleled unique fun inspired by you! Are you YETI for a good time? Featuring: Ally Beardsley, Devin Field, Victoria Longwell, Vic Michaelis, Zac Oyama, Talia Tabin, Lou Wilson, Jacob Wysocki lineup subject to change Buy Tickets

Come see some of your favorite performers in a brand new show with a classic format. THE FAMOUS PEOPLE IMPROV SHOW is a fully improvised show that features a guest monologist who tells a few short, true, off-the-cuff stories from their life. The cast of improvisers (which includes many of LA's finest improvisors, SNL, Comedy Bang Bang, Dropout, Ghosts, Righteous Gemstones, Veep folks, etc) then perform scenes inspired by their stories. If you can’t make it out in-person to The Elysian Theater, you can also stream the show and watch it as a VOD for the low, low price of $6!

After sold-out runs at Edinburgh Fringe 2023 and Soho Theater London, Courtney Pauroso — “the ultimate sexy clown” (The Skinny) — returns to LA as sex robot Vanessa 5000 . Directed by Corey Podell

Kicking off the 2026 Spaghetti Festival! Come join us for a fundraiser show featuring… Bill O'Neill, Chad Damiani, Kevin Krieger, Guy Branum, Claire Woolner, Law Offices OF M.O.W.S., AND MORE TBA!

In 1995 San Francisco, a yuppie gay couple meet with a pregnant bohemian drifter to discuss an adoption. Things take a turn for the absurd when the young woman reveals a disturbing truth -- her baby will be the reincarnation of disgraced 37th president Richard Nixon. In the aftermath of her revelation, the foundation of the couple's relationship is destabilized over the course of one chaotic evening. Are you what you love? Or what loves you back?

ACT BLACK is a dark comedy about what it means to be Black and the boxes people try to put us in. Through stand-up, clowning, and storytelling, Lina Green explores race, identity, code-switching, relationships, and the weird performances we do just to get through the world. The show pushes back against stereotypes with humor, honesty, and a little chaos. It’s funny, uncomfortable, personal, and playful all at once — a search for truth, love, and freedom underneath all the roles we’re told to play.

You are invited to enter the confessional for a solo encounter with a veiled priestess in order to purify yourself not from sin, but from shame. In this reimagined version of confession, the priestess will guide you through a ritual that combines ancient beliefs with modern ideals. The sacrament weaves together concepts and traditions from not just Christian doctrine, but also that of Hellenism, Paganism and Buddhism, and other spiritual practices. The experience is designed to facilitate meaningful reflection and conjure the potential for divine revelation. Your experience will last approximately 20 minutes. Due to the intimate nature of this experience, space is very limited. Reserve with haste.

Witness the worst bad guy to ever do it to 'em hold an audience hostage! You're gonna see him prove just how evil he is! Most likely through the use a lot of mime and sound effects and evil props (stuff that's gonna be returned later)!

A Garden Experiment (aka - "10 idiots set out to build you a paradise") Did you know the word paradise means “walled enclosure"? That’s what 10 idiots and their idiot director found out, and hence decided to make a paradise all on their own onstage, hoping to create something beautiful enough that an audience won’t ever want to leave. Join us for a real-time, unstable experiment involving audience, performance, and one remarkably juicy apple. Together, we’ll attempt to build a place where everyone can be happy...and see if we can resist immediately undoing it.

'Let’s Be Pop Stars' is an original play written by IRL roommates Skarlett Redd & Ann Valdés. It is a comedic story about two roommates in search of a new apartment, who find pop stardom instead. The women yearn to be seen as artists but, when given the opportunity, are pressured to compromise their values, their image, and ultimately their friendship. Set in their hometown of Los Angeles, California, 'Let's Be Pop Stars' is written by two women who grew up with Hannah Montana, became adults watching Broad City, and are now going, "Why is everything gray?"

In 1974, something terrifying began happening to cattle across the Nebraska countryside. Fifty years later, a Diet Coke-fueled late-night radio host returns to the story, broadcasting live as she investigates the mystery from a trailer in the middle of nowhere. What begins as a deep dive into alien conspiracies, rural folklore, and mutilated cows slowly spirals into something stranger, funnier, and far more dangerous. The Overnight is a one-woman drag horror play about loneliness, fear, and reaching into the unknown.

The Museum of Kors, Alice is thrilled to invite you to the Grand Opening & Grand Closing of its newest wing: THE ALICE KORS HALL OF SHAME. Join us on this most auspicious occasion for an evening of fine art, one's finest moments, an evolving sense of self, a deep well of shame and—most importantly—baseball. We cannot wait to share the shame with you!

University of Udderville is a coming of age musical about two best friends, Devin and Wyatt. Their intimate friendship is put to the test as they attempt to find their place within Udderville, first as members of the football team, then as players in the theater club. They’d always seen their connection as an honest one, but that honesty begins to crack as they attempt to hold true to two incompatibilities: their authenticity and their masculinity.

So you’ve built a show. Now what?! The panel will focus on questions from emerging talent featured in our Spaghetti Festival and may be saying, “Now what?” Assembling pros from various areas of the industry: development, touring, representation, casting & more. Panel will be open to festival creators, their teams, and the public, and is free for all!

We all remember our first rejection. But some people don’t just remember it, they are haunted by it. This play is based on the true story of a woman obsessed with the college improv team she could never get on and the rejection she could never let go of.

Relive the joys of analog telecommunication. Talk to real people! Check the time & temperature! Solve a mystery! In a room upstairs at the Elysian, there is an answering machine with a message for you. Will you find your long-lost friend? Get the job? Rewire a lamp? Or just listen to time & temperature? Caller ID is an immersive phone play for one person, and will never be the same twice.

In 1998, a ten-year-old girl wrote an autobiography called Playing Me -a detailed account of her life until age 103, starring herself as a famous actress. Today, she's revisiting the manuscript. A stand-up, storytelling, and clown show that attempts to find the line between living your life and performing it — which, it turns out, is even harder to find in your thirties than it was in fifth grade.

Before the clown, there was ... The "Cockatoo." A bird so smart it can curse a blue streak and move to the beat. This is a one woman imitation of a very naughty bird. Don't get too close. Don't touch the boom box. And whatever you do don't open the paint cans.

Best known for her hit bathroom graffiti musical The Writing on the Stall, Caitlin Cook returns with The Hero We (Sort Of) Need — a brand-new comedy hour jam-packed with new songs, hilarious stories, and projected visuals. Built around her childhood theory that everyone has a superpower, the show asks what happens when, in a world of eight billion people, your special gift turns out to be comically specific.

After decades spent in mouths, under tables, and quietly absorbing humanity at its weirdest, That Gum Bitch finally takes human form to flirt, overshare, judge, and demand answers. A filthy, funny, audience-interactive clown show about being briefly desired, casually discarded, and still wanting to be loved.

Karaoke Night is a new immersive musical experiment that follows the high highs and low lows of more than twenty bar patrons in a typical small-town “bar” on a regular weeknight karaoke night. Audiences will be immersed in the little dramas of this little world, blown out when the patrons sing. Each song has a different tone, every singer a different dream. You don’t have to sing along, but you might. KARAOKE NIGHT is inspired by Jacques Tati’s wide-shot clowning, Frederick Wiseman’s loving documentaries of bureaucracy, and the power ballad moments of musical theater exemplified by divas like Liza Minnelli and Eartha Kitt.

After years of game nights and contests, four real life siblings face off in the ultimate competition. THE CHALLENGE: games they made up when they were children. THE STAKES: their actual real life family inheritance. Come watch these four corn-fed children from Indiana wager 16.66% of their future on one legendary family game night.

Syrian Slipper: a Rom Com is the tale of a traditional wooden bathroom slipper who falls in love with an upstairs house shoe. When a Shoe Revolution breaks out and a slipper goes missing, he must decide between the fight for freedom...and his Solemate.

A circus of the fine arts starring Maggie the Dog, assisted by her human roommate and collaborator Molly Sharpe. Spanning dance, music, and other fine art mediums, Maggie and Molly will show off what they have learned in the past 15 (yes…15) years of their time together. A celebration of friendship and excellence.

Stories from the many times Jen Richards has been high in a room with people who want to fuck her. Some good, some horrible, but all leading to insights, about trans bodies, who wants them and why, the sanctifying power of lesbian love, and even the ultimate meaning of the universe itself.

Comedy is a universal language. Math is the language of the universe. Professor Ian Kimbell is fluent in both. In this hour you will laugh, you will cry, but most importantly... you will think.

Inconceivable is a solo show about inviting new life into an unpredictable world. It's the (mostly) true story about a fertility journey between queer friends, falling in love during the fall of empire, and a soul observing from the ether to decide if earth's really worth it. The show grapples with contemplating motherhood while technofascists desecrate human rights and the planet, and staying embodied when you'd rather numb out.

Sylvie Wang never went to prom and now she's putting on an immersive prom set in May 2001 to make her preteen self's wildest dreams come true. Join her in a pre-9/11 world where the future seemed bright with possibility, and the audience is part of the show. This is a late 90s/early 2000s teen movie fever dream crossed with Sleep No More. 2001: A Prom Odyssey asks the question - what happens when the past's optimism for the future collides with the present's nostalgia for a better time? This is a REAL PROM please come dressed in your best Y2K prom fits!

Martha has always been told she is scary - but why? Each night, she is pulled back into a recurring dream where strange figures, shifting realities, and distorted versions of herself wait in the dark. As the dream spirals further into chaos, Martha becomes convinced that something inside of her must be removed...though she can’t quite name what it is. Martha’s Umbra is an experimental, comedy-horror clown funhouse that drifts through the uncanny corners of the subconscious. Think Twin Peaks meets The Wizard of Oz meets Beetlejuice.

When 18th century London’s preeminent team of climbing boys take on the capital’s most deadly chimney, they died. Then, this lot was hired. In this pitch-black, soot-caked, disease-riddled-and-rotted absurdist comedic fumble, the Law Offices of MOWS explores the untold story of literal kids in the walls. Come prepared to participate in a nightmarish dream ballet of brotherhood, needle men, and SWEEPS!