FILM
40th Anniversary screening of Karate Kid II and Angry Asian Man 25th Anniversary celebration at LAAPFF: This 40th anniversary screening, presented in celebration of the 25th anniversary of Angry Asian Man, will feature a live “Crane Kick Commentary” with star Tamlyn Tomita, and guest commentators Phil Yu, Jenny Yang, Jeff Yang, Rebecca Sun… and me!
And here’s the synopsis of Karate Kid II in case you forgot: Summoned by his dying father, Miyagi returns to his homeland of Okinawa, with Daniel, after a 40-year exile. There he must confront Yukie, the love of his youth, and Sato, his former best friend turned vengeful rival. Sato is bent on a fight to the death, even if it means the destruction of their village. Daniel finds his own love in Yukia’s niece, Kumiko, and his own enemy in Sato’s nephew, the vicious Chozen. Now, far away from the tournaments, cheering crowds and safety of home, Daniel will face his greatest challenge ever when the cost of honor is life itself. Democracy Center at the Japanese American National Museum, 100 N Central Ave., Los Angeles.
High and Low (Tengoku to jigoku) in 35mm – 7 PM, May 2: It’s the movie that inspired Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest! Kingo Gondo (Toshiro Mifune), an executive of a prominent shoe business, mortgages his life to leverage an acquisition of the company. He is about to make the move when he receives a call from a man who has abducted his son, Jun, asking for a significant ransom. When it’s discovered… that the son of Gondo’s loyal chauffeur was mistakenly kidnapped instead of Jun, he is still asked to pay, placing him in a moral dilemma. High and Low set a benchmark for the police procedural genre; influenced by noir, the film portrays the harsh realities and class divide of a country still grappling with the trauma of war. Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, 6067 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles.
The Warriors – 7 PM, May 1: Warriors…. come out to Plaaaaaay! Last week, The Warriors played at the Academy Museum and this week, it stops by Vidiots! Run for your life with the Warriors, a Coney Island gang falsely accused of the assassination of Cyrus – a gang leader with a plan to unify all the New York City gangs into an unstoppable force. With the local radio station blasting their information along with the funkiest of tunes, every hyper-stylized gang in town is out the get the Warriors, including the Baseball Furies, the Orphans, and the Lizzies. Can they make it back to Coney Island safe? Can they clear their name and nail the real assassins? Will Michael Beck from Xanadu fall in love along the way? You’ll just have to throw on your leather vest and ride the subway down to Vidiots with your gang to find out in Walter Hill’s ultimate cult classic! Vidiots, 4884 Eagle Rock Blvd., Los Angeles.
Horror Bizness Movies presents The Monster Squad with special guests – 7 PM, May 3: WOLFMAN’S GOT NARDS! Gardena Cinema is hosting a special screening of the cult classic The Monster Squad with an introduction and Q&A with a special guests! Come by and find out who the mysterious guests are! Also, FREE mini poster for all attendees! Gardena Cinema, 14948 Crenshaw Blvd., Gardena.
COMEDY
The Neurodivergent Variety Hour 10 PM, April 28: Featuring a cast of some of UCBs most talented neurodivergent comedians, musicians and performers and special guests, the Neurodivergent Variety Hour is a celebration of what makes neurodiversity so special. A night of improv with some of UCB’s most talented neurodivergent comedians.
This show will be celebratory and fun, with accommodations made to ensure the comfort and enjoyment of neurodivergent performers and audience members. The audience are welcome to use personal sound mufflers and quiet fidgets. Exclamations and stims from the audience are expected. You may get up and leave to the lobby if you need a quiet space. Need another accommodation? Please let us know! The show features Taryn Leggett, Stephen Sanow, Lindsay Jaye, Dahlya Glick, Shelby Barnett, Ronnie Bloom, Luna Bloom, Troy Cwynar, Sami Haeli, Tori Chancellor, Shane Hartline, Jordy Martin, Courtney Haney, Amy Shank, Scott Thiede, Mitch Brown, Matt Manser, Justin Baker, and Gabe Sanchez. Upright Citizens Brigade, 5919 Franklin Ave, Los Angeles.
“Self Help Me” with Jenny Yang – 7 PM, April 29: “Self Help Me” is a competitive self-care comedy show hosted by comedian, writer and actor Jenny Yang. Every show features comedians, celebrities and wellness experts ready to test their knowledge of the latest wellness trends and reveal their own self-care obsessions. It’s like if Lovett or Leave It and at midnight made a baby that was obsessed with wellness and lymph node massages–but also cared about the cultures and origins of these splashy trends. Self-care already felt competitive. We just made our anxieties into a show. This week’s show features Gracin, EJ Marcus, Ify Nwadiwe, Aparna Nancherla, Dr. Ally, and Kate Zasowski. Dynasty Typewriter, 2511 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles.
Asian AF – 8:30 PM, April 30: Just in time for Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month!
Established in 2016, ASIAN AF (Asian As F***) quickly cemented its status as a must-see comedy show in Los Angeles, New York, and beyond — spotlighting the hottest rising stars and powerhouse Asian American talent in improv, stand-up, sketch, characters, musical comedy, storytelling, and more.
This week’s show features Special Guest Ji-young Yoo (KPop Demon Hunters), stand-up from Ray Lau and Will Pepper, and musical comedy by Chrissa Sparkles. Also improv by:
Voltron: Lilan Bowden, Sarah Claspell, Allyn Pintal, Dhruv Uday Singh with guest improvisers Keiko Agena, Alfred Aquino II, Sam Di
South Asian AF / Zindabaddies: Anne Akhila, Parvesh Cheena, Shilpa Das, Nikhil Deshpande, Ru Kazi, Rekha Shankar, Dhruv Uday Singh
Upright Citizens Brigade, 5919 Franklin Ave, Los Angeles.
Virtuoso – 9:30 PM, 1st and 3rd Fridays: Twelve fearless improvisors. A whirlwind of games, scenes, and unscripted fun. But here’s the twist — YOU call the shots. After each round of fast-paced, laugh-out-loud competition, the audience votes on what they thought of the scene 1 – 5. One by one, the players fall… until only one is left standing – THE VIRTUOSO. OutsideIn Theatre, 5317 York Blvd, Los Angeles.
COMMUNITY
Golden Hour 2026 – 6 PM, May 2: The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s annual AANHPI Heritage Month event returns with a vibrant night market, performances, and immersive cultural experiences. Golden Hour is the Center’s annual community celebration honoring the intersection of queer identity and AANHPI heritage. This year, the event returns to The Village at Ed Gould Plaza with a vibrant night market experience by Mayumi Market.
Inspired by the Chinese zodiac and the Year of the Fire Horse, this year’s event will center themes of courage, transformation, and bold self-expression—qualities found across queer AANHPI communities. Since its inception in 2024, Golden Hour has grown into a local favorite, drawing more than 1,500 attendees. The Village at Ed Gould Plaza, 1125 N. McCadden Pl. Los Angeles.
The Music Center’s Very Special Arts Festival: Family Day – 11 AM, May 2: Get ready for a day of fun, music, creativity and play at The Music Center’s Very Special Arts Festival: Family Day! Parents, guardians, caregivers, kids and their friends are invited to this free, one-day outdoor festival where children and families of all abilities will enjoy an exciting lineup of live music and dance performances, interactive art-making activities and a magic show, all in a vibrant, inclusive atmosphere. Join us on Jerry Moss Plaza at The Music Center for an inspiring and memorable Saturday exploring how the arts unite us all! The Music Center, Jerry Moss Plaza, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles.
May the Balls be with You: Drag Queen Bingo 7 PM, Tuesdays and Wednesdays: Legendary Bingo is LA’s most popular Drag Queen Bingo & charity event! Come play at Hamburger Mary’s every Tuesday and Wednesday! Hamburger Mary’s, 8288 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood.
BOOKS
A Night at the Disco: Christian John Wikane & Alice Harris, in conversation with Thelma Houston – 7 PM, April 28: A Night at the Disco is a celebration of groundbreaking dance music from 1970-’79. An unprecedented collection of photographs of more than 100 artists, illuminating the styles and sounds from a decade that sparked a global phenomenon in music and culture. Exclusive comments from Donna Summer, Barry Gibb, Debbie Harry, Giorgio Moroder, founding members of CHIC, Labelle, The Trammps, Village People, Earth, Wind & Fire, and dozens more artists, songwriters and producers, offering fascinating insights that tell the stories behind the beats. From underground New York clubs to discothèques across the globe, A Night at the Disco illustrates how artists spanning soul, pop, disco, funk, jazz and rock defined nightlife during the 1970s and influenced popular music to the present day. Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood.
MUSEUMS AND ART
MONUMENTS – through May 3: Co-organized and co-presented by MOCA and The Brick, MONUMENTS marks the recent wave of monument removals as a historic moment. The exhibition reflects on the histories and legacies of post-Civil War America as they continue to resonate today, bringing together a selection of decommissioned monuments, many of which are Confederate, with contemporary artworks borrowed and newly created for the occasion. Removed from their original outdoor public context, the monuments in the exhibition will be shown in their varying states of transformation, from unmarred to heavily vandalized.
Following the racially motivated mass shooting at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC (2015) and the deadly ‘Unite the Right’ rally organized by white nationalists in Charlottesville, VA (2017), alongside Bree Newsome’s powerful removal of the Confederate flag at the South Carolina Statehouse (2015), the United States witnessed the decommissioning of nearly 200 monuments. These removals prompted a national debate that remains ongoing. MONUMENTS aims to historicize these discussions in our current moment and provide a space for crucial discourse and active engagements about challenging topics. The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, 152 North Central Ave., Los Angeles and The Brick, 518 North Western Ave., Los Angeles.
A New Song: Langston Hughes in the West – through September 13: One of the world’s most famous Black poets, Langston Hughes (1902–1967) is often associated with the writers and artists of the Harlem Renaissance in New York. But starting in the 1930s, though the upheavals of the Great Depression, World War II, and McCarthyism in America, Hughes spent significant time in the West where he maintained deep connections and produced important work, including lectures, film scripts, plays, and his first book of short stories. Through recorded interviews, lyrical texts, archival photographs, and historic posters and prints, A New Song: Langston Hughes in the West reveals little-known aspects of Hughes’s work as a champion for justice and the special relationships he cultivated during his many sojourns in California, Nevada, and Mexico. California African American Museum, 600 State Dr, Los Angeles.
Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955–1985 – through June 14: Amid the turbulent decades of the mid-20th century, African American and Afro-Atlantic diaspora artists sought to celebrate Black culture and advance the struggle for civil rights. Photographic images contributed in myriad ways to the lively exchange of pan-African ideas that propelled the Black Arts Movement. See how an incredible range of artists and activists—from studio and street photographers to graphic designers and community organizers—used photography as a tool for social change. Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles.
THEATRE
Latino Theater Co. presents Level Up! by Gabriel Rivas Gómez – through May 3: Desi, a trans tween, is afraid to come out to her family and only feels like she can be herself in her virtual world. A quest to save her dying dog pushes her to deal with challenges both in the virtual and real worlds. Level Up! is a play about gaming, family and growing up. The Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring St., Los Angeles.
“Master Harold”…and the Boys – through May 10: Step into the charged atmosphere of a 1950s South African tea shop in Athol Fugard’s “Master Harold”…and the Boys, a gripping, deeply personal drama that unflinchingly confronts the realities of race, power, and betrayal. On a rainy afternoon, Hally, a white teenager, passes the time with Sam and Willie, two Black waiters who have helped raise him by filling the gaps of a broken home with warmth, wisdom, and laughter. But as the day unfolds, playful memories give way to painful truths, and a single moment threatens to shatter the fragile bond between them forever. Gil Cates Theater at Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Ave., Los Angeles.
The Storyteller of East LA – through May 17: Evelina Fernandez’s The Storyteller of East LA explores memory loss, caregiving, family conflict, and the sustaining power of love. Developed in our Circle of Imaginistas playwriting group. This is East L.A. storytelling at its most intimate and urgent. The Storyteller of East LA underscores the sustaining power of love, compassion and storytelling, and the resilience of family, despite its conflicts and complexities. The Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring St., Los Angeles.
