Since opening in 2009, SideShow Rare and Remarkable Books, Art & Curiosities has hosted readings and workshops, poetry and spoken word evenings, music, comedy and myriad film screenings.
Highlights include our first event in 2011, an electric car weekend in our parking lot in support of the film THE REVENGE OF THE ELECTRIC CAR with electric car makers from around the world discussing their vehicles — including an afternoon with a younger Elon Musk.
Another early highpoint was the celebration of Ken Kesey’s ELECTRIC KOOL-AID road trip featuring Grateful Dead cover bands, light shows and non-electric kool-aid!
On November 20, 2019, SideShow was converted to the BLADERUNNER universe complete with floating blimp advertising, spinners, a Voight-Kampff machine, food stands, and a screening of BLADE RUNNER — The White Dragon Version!
Literary Evenings celebrating Clarice Lispector, Edgar Allen Poe, and Los Angeles Poets, in addition to new-author readings/signings;
COLLAGE COLLEGE workshop run by prominent LA artists, Pam Smith Hudson, Jesse Watt, Dakarai Akil, and Nora Simon happened every Thursday night from 2018 through the start of the pandemic and continues now on a bi-monthly basis.
Jenna Dorn’s BACKYARD Poetry and Music Open Mic nights in 2018-2019 featured LA poets and musicians presenting new works.
Comedy Nights, NOVELTY COMEDY and STACKS COMEDY showcased rising stand-up comedians such as Netflix’s Milan Patel, HBO’s Hannah Einbinder and Saturday Night Live’s James Austin Johnson, Brent Flyberg among others.
A variety of writing workshops focused on short fiction, memoir and screenwriting ran weekly — pre-pandemic.
Scores of musicians played here on the back patio and in front of the bookstore presenting all genres of music from folk singers to acid jazz and electronica.
