Saturday, July 8, 2017
8pm 
 
Senator Al Franken
in conversation with Chelsea Handler

discussing his memoir,
Al Franken, Giant of the Senate

The Alex Theatre
216 North Brand Boulevard
Glendale, CA 91203

SOLD OUT.
VIDEO WILL BE POSTED NEXT WEEK

*All tickets include a copy of Sen. Franken’s book. A book signing follows the event at which Sen. Franken will only be signing copies of his new book. Please note seating is on a first come basis in each section.
** A limited number of tickets are available for a pre-reception, 6-6:45 pm with Sen. Franken in attendance.

Senator Al Franken has represented Minnesota in the United States Senate since 2009. He was first elected in 2008 and re-elected in 2014. 

Al Franken, Giant of the Senate, by Al Franken is the story of an award-winning comedian who decided to run for office and then discovered why award-winning comedians tend not to do that. It’s about an unlikely campaign that had an even more improbable ending: the closest outcome in history and an unprecedented eight-month recount saga, which is pretty funny in retrospect.

In this candid personal memoir, the honorable gentleman from Minnesota takes his army of loyal fans along with him from Saturday Night Live to the campaign trail, inside the halls of Congress, and behind the scenes of some of the most dramatic and/or hilarious moments of his new career in politics.

It’s a book about what happens when the nation’s foremost progressive satirist gets a chance to serve in the United States Senate and, defying the low expectations of the pundit class, actually turns out to be good at it.

It’s a book about our deeply polarized, frequently depressing, occasionally inspiring political culture, written from inside the belly of the beast.

Before entering politics, Al spent 37 years as an award-winning comedy writer, author, and radio talk show host and has taken part in seven USO tours, visiting our troops overseas in Germany, Bosnia, Kosovo, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait. He’s been married to his wife, Franni, for 41 years-many of them happy. They have two children, Thomasin and Joe, and three grandchildren. Senator Franken graduated from Harvard College.

Has Al Franken become a true Giant of the Senate? Franken asks readers to decide for themselves. Visit his Senate website.  More about Al Franken on his website.

Chelsea Handler is host of “Chelsea” on a Netflix, a global on-demand talk show with segments from around the world that tapes in front of a live audience in Los Angeles. It features conversations with celebrities, dignitaries, and surprise guests on topics like international cultures, alternative lifestyles, education, health, sports, parenting, politics, and more.   Prior to that she hosted E!’s top rated “Chelsea Lately” for eight years.
 
Handler’s five best-selling books include My Horizontal Life, Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea, Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang, Lies That Chelsea Handler Told Me, and 2014’s Uganda Be Killing Me, her fourth nonfiction title to debut at No. 1 on The New York Times best-seller list.


This Live Talks Los Angeles event is presented in association with Glendale Arts.

Ticket sales are final.  We do not offer refunds, except in the case of event cancellations or changes to dates of events if you cannot make the rescheduled date.

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We’re excited to be hosting Senator Al Franken in conversation with Chelsea Handler on July 8th at the Alex Theatre. More info on the event is here.

Here’a a round up of media his new book, Al Franken, Giant of the Senate, has garnered.

— “Al Franken Has Been Sitting on Jokes for a Decade. Now He’s Ready to Tell Them.” New York Times, May 29
— “Sen. Al Franken Embraces ‘The Funny’ Again In New Book,” All Things Considered NPR, May 30
— “Al Franken on humor in a politically “grim” time.” CBS Sunday Morning, May 29
— “Stuart Smalley Is Not Dead: See What Has Sen. Al Franken Laughing These Days,” People, May 27
— “Al Franken: By the Book,” New York Times, May 25
— “Sen. Al Franken On Comedy, Trump And The ‘Curdling’ Of Washington” on Fresh Air with Terry Gross on NPR, May 30
— “Al Franken: The Happy Warrior. Franken discusses the “depressing” Trump era, doing acid as a Deadhead and rediscovering his sense of humor in Congress. Rolling Stone magazine, May 30
— ” Al Franken, Absurdity Expert, Is a Man for Our Political Times: The Minnesota senator’s SNL roots are coming in handy. Esquire, May 30
— “Al Franken: What He Learned From SNL That Made Him A Better Politician,” Forbes, May 30
–“Senator Al Franken Answers the Proust Questionnaire. The Minnesota lawmaker and comedian, who has a new book out, reveals what factual accuracy, grandchildren, and a sense of humor mean to him.” Vanity Fair, Summer 2017

 

 

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Sunday, November 8, 2015
7:00pm (Reception, 6:00-6:45pm)
 
David Spade
in conversation with Dana Carvey
 
Almost Interesting: The Memoir


The Bootleg Theatre
2220 Beverly Blvd,
Los Angeles, CA 90057

PURCHASE TICKETS 
Online sales end at 6:30pm, some tix avail at the door
$45 General Section seating + Book* 
$95 Pre-Reception(6:30-7:30pm)*+ Reserved Section seating + Book
$20 General Admission tickets on sale November 6
* Books will be picked up at the event when you check in, and signed immediately after the talk

David Spade is an actor, comedian, and writer. A former cast member of Saturday Night Live, Spade has also starred in the films Tommy Boy, Black Sheep, and the Joe Dirt and Grown Ups franchises. He was nominated for an Emmy, two Golden Globes, and an American Comedy Award for his role on NBC’s Just Shoot Me! He also won a participation award for being in show business. That’s the one he’s most proud of. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

Almost Interesting is a hilarious and biting memoir from from Spade, first taking fans back to his childhood as a wannabe cool younger brother and recounting his excruciating road-tour to fame—when he was regularly mistaken for a ten year-old,  then dishing about his time crisscrossing the country as a comedian, for low-paying gigs and dragging along his mother’s old suitcase full of props. He also covers his years on SNL during the beloved Rock/Sandler/Farley era of the 1990s, including his close working relationship and friendship with Chris Farley and brags about the ridiculous perks that fame has brought into his life, including the constant fear of being fired, a crazy ex-assistant who attached him while he was sleeping, a run-in with Eddie Murphy on the mean streets of Beverley Hills, and of course an endless supply of hot chicks.  

David Spade is one of our generation’s favorite funny guys — sometimes dirty, always funny, and as sharp as a tack.

Emmy-award winning comedian Dana Carvey has maintained a tremendous career. A repertory member of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE since the 1986-87 season, Carvey left in 1992 after seven seasons. Dana has received widespread praise for his uncanny and exaggerated comedic impersonations and has hosted the MTV Music Awards, costarred in two pilots and was a member of the Showtime special SALUTE TO THE IMPROVISATION, with Billy Crystal, Robin Williams and Robert Klein. In 1995, Dana performed standup in his own one-hour comedy special on HBO aptly named CRITICS’ CHOICE.

Carvey’s film credits include: WAYNE’S WORLD, based on the hit SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE sketch; WAYNE’S WORLD 2, recreating his role of Garth, alongside Mike Myers’ Wayne; THIS IS SPINAL TAP, RACING WITH THE MOON, ONE OF THE GROUP, BLUE THUNDER, TOUGH GUYS, and starring in the comedy OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS. 

Carvey’s small screen credits include roles in Alan Parker’s THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE,  CLEAN SLATE, TRAPPED IN PARADISE. His early film work includes his debut in 

Carvey won an Emmy Award in 1993 for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program. He has received a total of six Emmy nominations, one of which was for a guest appearance on HBO’s highly acclaimed LARRY SANDERS SHOW. Also, he was honored with the American Comedy Award as Television’s Funniest Supporting Male in 1990 and 1991.

 

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We’re very much looking forward to our event with Jane Lynch interviewing Amy Poehler on Sunday, February 12 at The Aero Theatre.  Event info here.   We featured Lynch in conversation with Adam Scott last October when her memoir, Happy Accidents, came out.  Hilarious evening. Here’s the video.  The image to the left is the poster from the event.

Our event with Amy Poehler and Jane Lynch supports the Adopt the Arts Foundation who’s mission is to bring together well-known artists, public figures, business, and the general public to save the arts in America’s public schools. Adopt the Arts is raising money to keep arts education in public schools in Los Angeles.

We caught up with Jane Lynch to answer some questions…

You recently did a PSA for arts in schools. How did you get involved with supporting arts in schools?  What was the arts program like when you were in school?

My daughter goes to a public school in LA and we have a very active parent’s organization to raise the funds needed for  art and music programs which the state no longer pays for. Not every public school is able to raise the money so Matt Sorum (Guns and Roses) and others asked me to join a brand new organization called Adopt the Arts to fund these programs to other public schools in LA.  My refuge in high school was the hour I spent every day in choir.

What was your favorite TV show when you were in highschool?

My favorite TV show in high school was The Brady Bunch which was actually in re-runs at that time.

What’s your favorite of the Oscar nominated movies?

The Artist, The Iron Lady

What’s a day of relaxation like in Lynch/Embry household?

Playing with our dogs and eating Lara’s fabulous cooking!

Favorite fiction author of all time?

John Irving

What are a couple books you’ve recently read that you really liked?

Girls Like Us, Sheila Weller
The Paleo Solution, Robb Wolf

What book are you looking forward to read?

Geting back to and finishing Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs book which I started over Xmas.

If you could travel back in time to meet any famous person, who would you choose? 

Greta Garbo
Abraham Lincoln
Carole King circa 1970
Theodore Roosevelt
Benjamin Franklin

Which five notable people from history do you think could work together to achieve world peace? 

I don’t think any one from the past present or future including Jesus Christ, the Buddha or  Ghandi, can make a place peaceful if the people are determined to fight and defend and see “other” and the enemy.

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