No Joke

Last night I made it to Largo to see Patton Oswalt (celebrity sighting: Lisa Loeb). One of the comedians who opened for him was joking about all the rats in his New York apartment and how he would catch them running from the couch to underneath his refrigerator. I felt so relieved that at least I didn't have to deal with that problem in L.A.!

At about 1 a.m. I went down to my kitchen, flipped on the light, and a rat scurried under the refrigerator.

Another sleeping pill. I tried to calm down with the thought that at least the rat was downstairs. In the morning, though, I found two pellets in the upstairs bathroom.

I'm putting out glue traps tonight and barricading my bedroom.

I knocked on the door of my very cute neighbor and his girlfriend to tell them about the rat and ask if they could also call the landlord. I was still in my gym shorts, having gone to the gym and then driven to five different stores looking for glue traps. I was sweaty and stuttering and I dropped my mailbox key and then couldn't find it. If this was a movie, it would have been the moment my neighbor would have realized he was falling in love with me.

Alas, this is not a movie.

Life is Funny, Part II

Went to the Improv on Melrose to see "Killer Valentine's Comedy" last night. I invited friends from Sherman Oaks to Venice to Culver City, but no one could make it, so I just took myself there. The show never really gained momentum (and made me appreciate the quite good stand-up scene in Austin), but there were some notable acts. Natasha Leggero, from MTV's "The 70's House," performed a funny, petulant routine, and the duo pretending to be a clueless Yuppie couple was brilliant. The headliner (unfortunately I've forgotten his name) was very entertaining with his anti-Sprint-store tirade and his riffs on driving in Los Angeles. It was also refreshing to see thirtysomething female comics onstage. The hostess did a short, relatable riff on being at an awkward dating age at 35, where she's stuck between dating older divorced men and men much younger in age.

Several of the comics seemed to have bit parts to their names, as in "Joe Schmoe, who you may know from his work at the Improv or his voiceovers on the Citibank commercials..."

Life Is Funny

But Valentine's Day isn't. Or maybe it is! On the 13th there's a "Killer Valentine's Special" on at the Hollywood Improv. Maria Bamford is one of the featured standups. We'll see if I can pull it together and get to the show.

I have caught some great comedy here at Largo, including one act in which the comedian/ magician pulled the missing card out of his ____.

For all my Austin friends who are Aimee Mann fans, she is holding something called "Aimee Mann's 1st Annual Valentine's Revenge" at Largo the weekend after Valentine's Day. Eat your hearts out!