Downtown: REDCAT, McSweeny's and The World Explained

The exploration of downtown Los Angeles continues...

We took the Gold Line from our home station to Union Station and then the Red Line one stop to Civic Center to see the local premiere of McSweeny's "The World Explained" at the CalArts REDCAT theater. Disney Hall (the beautiful home of the REDCAT space) was visible from the station entrance but hunger called so we headed one block south and then 4 blocks east to the corner of 2nd and Werdin to Pitfire Pizza. The walk was pleasant and the streets were virtually empty. The well lit "Daily Planet" (City Hall) provides a nice point of orientation by the way. The Pitfire is a highly recommended spot for a downtown meal on a downtown trip like ours. Collectively we ordered three personal pizzas: BBQ chicken, Sausage and Veggie Deluxe. We also ordered pasta and a salad and, while they looked tasty, turned out to be less exciting than our pizza. The soda bar seemed like a good deal but there's also a good selection of Jones soda and pink lemonade. (Still no beer but a pending liquor license was posted in the window!) The bathrooms were clean, the staff was friendly and the clientele was a diverse mix of downtown denizens / families and nighttime visitors like us. The music was a fun mix of 80s and 90s (ok I can only remember one REM song. But it was enjoyable without being painfully hip. (Pitfire offers KCRW members a 15% discount and also one free entree after you buy 10.) Safe to say that we'll be back for our next downtown night on the town.

The McSweeny's show was awesome (though not without some slow parts and what seemed like an illadvised intermission) and was hosted / MC-ed by comedian Patton Oswald and included inspired musical interstitial by Jon Brion . The night began with two clips from McSweeny's new DVD video compilation including a brief visit by a Hovercraft and a Dutch performance artist who sings classic rock songs (in this case "Stairway to Heaven") but with an interesting twist. Satirical comic strip artist David Rees shared some of his new strips and his revelation that maybe -- because of Up-State NY grocery shopping and spacious truck space -- our invasion of Iraq was worth some young men's lives. Rees ended with a strip of alienated office workers who ride motorcycles around their offices prompting Jon Brion to do a great instrumental version of Gary Numan's "Cars." Other highlights included the editorial staff of Yeti Researcher discussing Teddy Roosevelt’s obsession with Sasquatch, Mike Colton recounting his coming of age with his mom (as heard on This American Life), and McSweeny's own Eli Horowitz leading the debut fashion show of plural / multi-user garmentry !

My favorite visiting scholar of the night was world renowned John Hodgman who discussed the history of the late great Furry Old Lobster with musical accompaniment by the brilliant andferall mountain man Jonathan Coulton. His web site includes a version of the song Furry Old Lobster

To top it off the event was a fundraiser for the LA chapter of the great non-profit writing / tutoring program 826 LA. FYI: other benefits happen from time to time at Largo.

Our night ended with a pleasant walk from Disney Hall through Little Tokyo to Union Station where we hopped the last train home, which is 12:52 am. (Seriously the MTA needs to re-extend service until 2:30 am so people can actually make use of downtown all night long.)

REDCAT directions / parking
REDCAT Theater at Disney Hall map
KCRW downtown restaurant discounts
Red Line Schedule
Gold Line Schedule
826 LA