Humor

With a keen eye for parody and a penchant for belly-busting humor, SeaGlass Theatre is offering "Of Grapes and Nuts" at Burbank's Little Victory Theatre. Authors Doug Armstrong, Keith Cooper and Tom Willmorth are the collective brainpower behind this surefire hit. They have culled the highlights from John Steinbeck's classics "The Grapes of Wrath" and "Of Mice and Men" to graft a sidesplitting homage. The results are guffaws and groans in equally enjoyable proportions.

Lisa Dupuy The Victory Theatre in Burbank proves its reputation for being "one of the bravest ... theaters in Los Angeles" as it takes on the U.S. premiere of the Irish play, "The Glorious Uncertainty." The title refers to the unpredictability of horse racing and love, two motifs conjoined in the plot. Playwright Brinsley MacNamara is known in Dublin as the man who wrote the play that kept The Abbey Theater solvent during the mid-1900s. "The Glorious Uncertainty's" long-standing success was likely due to the popularity of horse racing as well as to its welcome humor at a time of political unrest in Dublin.

Jackson Bell Those who knew Stan Howse will never forget his sense of humor from the pulpit or his openness with parishioners. Howse, a popular minister at Unity Church of Burbank & North Hollywood, died Sept. 19 at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in West Los Angeles following a heart attack, family members said. He was 63. "He was the gentlest, kindest, most loving man I ever met," his wife, Annemarie, said Monday. "He always encouraged people to live their dreams and always saw the best in people.

Helen Fower, 17, of Glendale, is a senior at Holy Family High School in Glendale. Adam Sandler's "50 First Dates" is hilarious. It's full of comedy and jokes that will make you laugh every minute. Sandler plays Henry Roth, a stud around the island of Oahu who plays with girl's hearts until he meets Lucy Whitmore (Drew Barrymore). He's instantly drawn to her but what he doesn't know is that she has short-term memory loss and won't remember him the next day. But he doesn't let that get in the way and he tries to win her heart everyday all over again.

Only first half was funny Geoff Nuanes of Tujunga is a freshman at Providence High School in Burbank. "Snow Day," a Nickelodeon movie starring Chevy Chase, was obviously made to appeal to children under the age of 8, but it has parts that appeal to every age group. In the first half of the film, I thought is was kind of interesting and funny, but throughout the rest of the movie, I not only became uninterested, but I also stopped laughing. And I wasn't the only one. Most of the audience seemed to be as bored as I was with the film's un-funny humor.

Jackson Bell is the news assistant for the News-Press and Burbank Leader. After sitting through "Malibu's Most Wanted," actor Jamie Kennedy's most recent foray into frivolity, my only thought was "by whom?" The painfully unfunny story is set in the most famous and prestigious beach community in the United States, where Kennedy's "B-Rad" Gluckman, an over-privileged Jewish kid, is enamored by black hip-hop culture and has suggestively modeled himself after rapper Eminem.

With a keen eye for parody and a penchant for belly-busting humor, SeaGlass Theatre is offering "Of Grapes and Nuts" at Burbank's Little Victory Theatre. Authors Doug Armstrong, Keith Cooper and Tom Willmorth are the collective brainpower behind this surefire hit. They have culled the highlights from John Steinbeck's classics "The Grapes of Wrath" and "Of Mice and Men" to graft a sidesplitting homage. The results are guffaws and groans in equally enjoyable proportions.

There is so much to like about the new Sake Sushi Bar Lounge in Montrose, it’s hard to know where to begin. What jumps out first and foremost is the super-friendly attitude of the place. The employees are funny and young, and they aim to please. The look is very cool, like you stepped into a bistro in Santa Monica. And the sushi rolls are creative, tasty and quite a bargain. Eating out is so much more than taking in food. People want a complete experience, an adventure, if you will.

If you don’t want to be rendered the center of attention at a stand-up comedy performance, don’t sit ringside, and don’t admit you’ve been married 50 years. One septuagenarian couple amiably found themselves setting the tone for the evening of sharp, PG-13-rated humor Sunday at Fritz Coleman’s 18th annual Comedy Night at the Glendale Centre Theatre. The event benefited the Glendale-Crescenta Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross. Ron Farina, executive director of the Red Cross chapter, opened the performance, reminding the audience that the Red Cross had some not-so-funny responsibilities in August and September, maintaining shelters and evacuation centers during the Station fire.

Five years ago, writer Mark Bloom was looking for an illustrator for his sports editorial comics and placed an ad on craigslist.org. Mark Wilson answered it, and the two got along so well that a partnership formed. That creative team worked together for a while, took a break, then started a daily comic strip with a sports theme in late March on their website. Tuesday marks the 100th day of publication for the comic strip “Fans-See This! with Barney and Franklin” on www.fansseethis.

Between the time I agreed to review “Here Lies Jeremy Troy” by Jack Sharkey at the Glendale Centre Theatre and finally saw the production, I had a very difficult time remembering the play’s title. I had never heard of it or the author, and Internet searches revealed very little about either. But do not let relative obscurity deter you from seeing it, because it’s a funny show with a cast that rises above a very simple plot with a clever double meaning in the title.

Most people rarely think of Matt Bellner and romance movies in the same sentence, but this hopeless romantic of a critic always has a soft spot for quality films, and ?He?s Just Not That Into You? is the one of the most passionate movies I?ve ever seen about dating. It?s informative, touching, funny and a must-see for anyone who likes to analyze what makes men and women so different. ?He?s Just Not That Into You? is based on the book of the same name that gives relationship advice to women on what guys are really thinking.

The Burbank United Methodist Players made sure to titillate audience members Saturday with a two-act show steeped in adult themes about life and marriage. The theater group performed Friday, Saturday and Sunday in two plays, “Later Life” and “Me too, then,” at the church’s Trevor Hall stage. “The whole thing is funny and full of laughter,” Burbank resident Joe Lane said, adding that he attended all three performances. “Later Life” — written by A.R. Gurney — was the first act and followed the tumultuous reunion between Austin, played by Doug Engalla, and Sally, played by Cheryl Crosland Butler.

A comedy rock show that began as a fundraiser to pay for the producers’ wedding is celebrating its third year and is open to the public for the first time. The Comedy + Rock Spooktacular on Sunday will feature soloists and groups who sing comical songs that are a tad racy and irreverent, but very funny, said co-producer Erica Meadows, of Burbank. The first show was performed on the anniversary of when she and her husband, Raymond Meadows, met. It drew 150 people. The couple put on last year’s show as a thank you to their friends for helping them pay for their wedding, she said.