The best things to do in Los Angeles this week
Find concerts, screenings, art exhibits and more of our critics’ picks with the best events and things to do in Los Angeles this week
If we could write the rules of living in Los Angeles this would be our No. 1, always at the top of our list: When you live in this city, there’s no excuse for boredom just because it’s a weeknight. There are hundreds of things to do in Los Angeles each week, including concerts, comedy shows, happy hour deals, free museum days—and that’s really only scratching the surface. Well, we don’t make the rules, but we will provide you with plenty of ideas for your next free weeknight right here. Now put down that TV remote. There you go. Now get out of the house and tackle these things to do in L.A. this week.
Time Out loves
The Secret Show at the Blind Barber
It’s a secret-within-a-secret during this monthly stand-up show at Blind Barber.
The New Wave
Watch film screenings and listen to keynotes and panels from cultural-change–inspiring filmmakers during Film Independent’s free cinema celebration held at both MOCA locations.
Drunken Devil's Black Magick Halloween Party
We don't need to consult an oracle to know that Drunken Devil’s Halloween soirée is going to be a good one: From the team that brought us Bloody Brunch and To Live and Di(n)e in L.A. comes Black Magick, a 1920s-themed evening of magic, Old Hollywood glamour and the occult.
Cinema Phantasmagoria
Street Food Cinema is supplementing its slate of outdoor movies with a Halloween-themed residency at Downtown’s Million Dollar Theatre.
Pumpkin Festival
Explore a petting zoo, pony rides, bounce castles, carnival games and seasonal crafts at this Pasadena pumpkin patch and costume parade. All proceeds benefit the Kidspace Children’s Museum’s Kidspace For All programs, which works to provide free and discounted admission for those in undeserved communities.
“Shirin Neshat: I Will Greet the Sun Again”
The Broad surveys 25 years of Neshat, an L.A.-by-way-of-Iran photographer and videographer whose passionate work mines the ancient and recent history of Iran and its people.
Cinespia Cemetery Screenings
The summertime cemetery screening series makes an autumnal reprise with a pair of Halloween movies.
Street Food Cinema
The outdoor screening series continues with movies at a pair of parks each Saturday night.
We Can Survive
97.1 AMP Radio’s annual breast cancer research benefit show is bringing together a truly star-studded lineup for a good cause, with appearances from Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Camila Cabello, the Jonas Brothers, Lizzo, Marshmello and Becky G.
All My Friends Music Festival
The second annual fest will arrive at ROW DTLA on October 19 and 20, with Justice, Idris Elba and Destructo (that’s Richards’s DJ moniker) atop Saturday’s lineup and Black Coffee, DJ Harvey and a special guest on Sunday.
Popular
Tig Notaro
A master of dry humor and observational comedy, Tig Notaro’s years as a comedy writer helped her transition to the stand-up circuit. Whether it’s dragging a stool across the stage or a drawn out tale about run-ins with an obsolete pop singer, Notaro is sure to draw laughs.
Nicole Byer + Sasheer Zamata
Flat-out hilarious Nailed It! host Nicole Byer teams up with her longtime improv partner and former SNL cast member, Sasheer Zamata, for an evening of improvised antics.
Lizzo
The Minneapolis singer-MC hit stardom this year with her debut major label LP, Cuz I Love You. On it, she refines an already-robust diva persona that comes through with equal intensity whether she’s belting out uplifting soul anthems or wry, clubworthy rap bangers.
Time Out L.A.’s Comics to Watch: L.A. Stories
A city this sprawling and diverse has even more stories than freeway entrances. Come laugh with this lineup of top local comics as they tell jokes and tales about life in the City of Angels. (Anyone wearing L.A.-inspired Halloween costumes will be entered in a swag bag raffle!) With Very Special Guests: – Ahmed Bharoocha (Colbert, Conan, Comedy Central) – Debra DiGiovanni (Conan, Comedy Central, Last Comic Standing finalist) – Paul W. Downs (Broad City, Rough Night) – Kevin Camia (Colbert) – David Crabb (host of The Moth & Risk, New York Times Critics’ Pick author) – Lizzy Cooperman (Crashing, Corporate, The Eric Andre Show) Time Out L.A.’s Comics to Watch is a new quarterly comedy series celebrating the City of Angels produced and hosted by Jane Borden (who’s behind our annual comedians to watch feature) and appearing at Dynasty Typewriter. As part of Time Out L.A.’s mission to support and spread the word about our city’s amazing pool of talent, each night will showcase our favorite local comics, while also highlighting things we love about Los Angeles. Stay tuned for future programming.
Cocktails and 'Bram Stoker's Dracula' at Big Bar
One of our favorite cocktails-and-cinema nights is back, and the Big Bar patio series is turning spooky for the season when Thirsty Classics becomes Blood Thirsty Classics with a screening of the absolute horniest vampire movie known to man. On Thursday, grab your finest gray top hat and Gary Oldman-obsessed friends (hi, present) because you’ll be sitting down to an alfresco viewing of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Nosh on popcorn as you oggle Francis Ford Coppola’s over-the-top, oozing-with-dramatics take on the gothic tale of Van Helsing, Vlad, and Mina and Jonathan, with a few potential à la carte themed snacks in case you hunger... If you’re not in the mood for blood, as per usual with this series, your ticket includes three cocktails tailored to the film—will they have you speaking in a British accent that’s worse than Keanu’s by the end of the night? Only time will tell.
Free
The New Wave
Watch film screenings and listen to keynotes and panels from cultural-change–inspiring filmmakers during Film Independent’s free cinema celebration held at both MOCA locations.
Los Angeles Guinea Pig Rescue Fall Festival
There’s a guinea pig rescue in Chatsworth—who knew?—and they’re hosting a fall festival with guinea pig adoptions, contests and races, plus tours of the ranch and vegan food and drinks for sale. You can even bring your own guinea pig for free health checks and nail clips. You’ll find the Los Angeles Guinea Pig Rescue and the event at 10856 Farralone Avenue, just around the corner from Topanga Canyon Boulevard and the 118.
Smorgasburg LA
Indulge your inner foodie and shopaholic at this weekly food-focused market. The Brooklyn export has landed in the Arts District and become a hotbed of fantastic food and retail vendors, with some that are testing out their dishes before launching a full-blown brick-and-mortar in the city. Bonus: there is plentiful (and free, for two hours!) parking in the nearby parking garage.
Pumpkin Festival
Explore a petting zoo, pony rides, bounce castles, carnival games and seasonal crafts at this Pasadena pumpkin patch and costume parade. All proceeds benefit the Kidspace Children’s Museum’s Kidspace For All programs, which works to provide free and discounted admission for those in undeserved communities.
ARRAY 360
Director Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY 360 Film Series showcases cinematic works from people of color and female filmmakers, with three weeks of free screenings held at the new Amanda Theater in Historic Filipinotown.
Concerts
Lizzo
The Minneapolis singer-MC hit stardom this year with her debut major label LP, Cuz I Love You. On it, she refines an already-robust diva persona that comes through with equal intensity whether she’s belting out uplifting soul anthems or wry, clubworthy rap bangers.
All My Friends Music Festival
ROW DTLA isn’t just for Smorgasburg and trendy boutiques. Come this October, it’ll also host the return of All My Friends, the newest EDM-focused music festival from HARD founder Gary Richards. The second annual fest will arrive at ROW DTLA on October 19 and 20, with Justice, Idris Elba and Destructo (that’s Richards’s DJ moniker) atop Saturday’s lineup and Black Coffee, DJ Harvey and a special guest on Sunday. Tickets for the 18-and-over fest are on sale now. A two-day pass costs $119, while a VIP ticket runs for $179.
Stereolab
A decade after the motorik pop-rock group (or The Groop, as they refer to themselves) went on hiatus in 2009, the newly-reunited Stereolab is hitting the road, includes stops at Desert Daze and here at the Ace. Founding members Lætitia Sadier and Tim Gane have spent much of the past 10 years dancing around the distinct work that they developed together, with Sadier turning out spacey solo records while Gane explored intricate krautrock under the moniker of Cavern Of Anti-Matter. Reunited and dropping into familiar grooves once more, Stereolab’s experimental spirit is on display for a new generation (and anyone who missed out the first time around)—the band’s music doesn’t just sound ahead of its time, it often feels like a transmission from another timeline altogether.
Lucy Dacus
Virginia singer-songwriter Lucy Dacus is the latest in a long line of young artists who sound wise beyond their years. On her latest album, Historian, Dacus grapples with heartbreak and despair throughout a collection of earnest indie-rock ballads that maintain a certain amount of optimism, even in the face of darkness and troubling times.
Minimal Effort
A couple times a year, Minimal Effort brings together some of the top talent in the underground house and techno scene. They throw a helluva party that requires, well, minimal effort on your part to have a good time. For Halloween, expect sets from Bonobo, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, J-E-T-S: Jimmy Edgar + Machinedrum and more.
Theater
‘Anastasia’
Russian princess Anastasia was thought to have been assassinated, along with nearly all of her family. Now a young orphan named Anya, suffering amnesia, shows up as two conmen hatch a scheme to extort money from the other surviving royal family member. Music and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, book by Terrence McNally, based on the 1997 animated movie.
Movies
ARRAY 360
Director Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY 360 Film Series showcases cinematic works from people of color and female filmmakers, with three weeks of free screenings held at the new Amanda Theater in Historic Filipinotown.
‘Us’ in Concert
Composer Michael Abels conducts the Hollywood Studio Orchestra in a live score of Jordan Peele’s Us, with an intro by both Peele and Abels.
‘Psycho’ Live with Orchestra
The LA Opera and the Theatre at Ace Hotel once again join forces for a chilling mash-up of opera and film. Hole up in the Ace’s gothic auditorium for a screening of the 1960 Alfed Hitchcock classic, Psycho, complete with a live accompaniment from LA Opera Orchestra—we can already hear that iconic string motif from Bernard Herrmann’s score. Stick around after the October 26 performance for the Ace’s “A Hitchcock Halloween,” a haunted costume party in the hotel theater’s cathedral-like lobby.
Cinespia Cemetery Screenings
It isn’t summer in L.A. until the first cemetery screening brings hoards of movie-lovers to Hollywood Forever, toting folding chairs, picnic blankets, snack spreads and lots of booze. Each year, Cinespia brings classic cult favorites to the hallowed resting place of such Hollywood greats as Rudolph Valentino and Bugsy Siegel. The series typically releases its slate one month at a time, most recently for August: Point Break (Aug 3), Boyz n the Hood featuring a John Singleton tribute from Questlove and DJ Pooh (Aug 10) and Psycho (Aug 24). Of particular note: the 9th Annual Slumber Party on August 24, with a trio of sleepover staples including Never Been Kissed, I Know What You Did Last Summer and Jawbreaker. Angelenos line up for hours to partake in the concept—and to enjoy DJ sets, dance parties, sleepovers and more magical mischief otherwise strictly forbidden behind the cemetery gates. It’s an L.A. rite of passage, a quintessential summer experience and one of the best film venues in the city. Just be sure to get your ticket early, arrive early (doors open at 6:45pm), pee early… it’s getting a bit overcrowded, to say the least.
Nightmare Before Christmas screening
This creepy stop-animation Burton fave has become a true holiday mainstay. Catch Jack and Zero trying to take over Christmas on the big screen for one night only at San Pedro’s historic Warner Grand Theatre.