The Groundlings still rock.

A little while ago we went to The Groundlings, a comedy club in Los Angeles which I'm embarrassed to say I'd never been to before.

I went because my husband had tickets since he's currently working on a piece about Orange County native, Mikey Day (Probably best known for his You Tube spoof "David Blaine Street Magic".)

UPDATE: Link to the story Peter Larsen (finally) wrote about Mikey Day, here.

(took him long enough...)

Anyhow, I can't believe it took me so long to go, because I totally forgot how funny really great comedy sketch work is.

However, will admit that when I heard the title of this show -- "The Groundlings. In the study. With the candlestick" -- that I almost bailed out on going because I can't bear to sit through any spoof even loosely based the board game "Clue."

But, this show is great -- (not even remotely associated with Clue, thank you, Jesus.) we had a wonderful time, and by the way, our hometown OC boy, Mikey Day, is awesomely funny. Actually, funny and cute, so catch him now at The Groundlings, before you have to pay a whole lot more to see him not-even-live on the big screen later. Besides the folks up there with him are just as talented and experienced comics, if not even more so. That place is chock full 'o talent right now.

So, Newsflash To Myself: Live comedy is so not dead, but very much alive and relevant and I can't believe this kind of live-and-funny really isn't on TV, much, anymore, because I have to tell you, I'm a tough audience, and I laughed my ass off.

Hey, if this Groundlings cast were actually on SNL, maybe I'd actually Tivo it, again, because unlike that cast, these guys were on-fire good.

They came up with original characters, the writing was witty and fast-paced scenes and they actually produced stuff which hasn't been done 1118 times, before.

(Note: They have a cool Groundlings Myspace page where you can view some of their work.)

(Tell me, again, why are these guys are not on SNL, right now?)

Also, not to bang this "you gotta go see The Groundlings, now" thing into the ground(ling) but, there's a recession on, so bargains are good. And, escapism, is good. So, duh, go.

One of the best things about living here is that we can actually go see live entertainment that really is top quality...and lot's of people, can't. (Okay, that's a lame sentence, but, fuck it, I'm not getting paid to say any of this, so just shoot me, okay?)

Wow, I guess it's sad how much I forgot how much better live shows are. We've all been so spoiled with TiVo and cable we forget how hard it is to get things right in "one take" or that to be really funny you actually need an audience, and visa versa.

Truthfully, I can honestly say I haven't seen characters as wacky as those since I saw Curb Your Enthusiasm or Napoleon Dynamite.

So, I don't know about you, but I'm planning to be a Groundling regular, now.

Besides: The Groundlings theater is a cultural icon. How can I not live here and not have seen them till now?

Oh, yeah, and check out the work of comic and OC native, Mikey Day. He's young, adorable and totally hilarious. (My favorite character of his was a nerdy dude trying to get a waiters job at The Cheesecake Factory.)

And a few of my favorite comics of all time (and former Groundlings members.)

-- Kathy Griffin and Pee Wee Herman
And the list goes on and on...That theater gave us major talent over the past, what, 30+ years, and my point is, they still are.

And that's pretty cool.