When sheâs not writing or acting
Laura Kightlinger is an extreme hyphenate: producer, actress, stand-up comic and documentarian. In addition to her consulting producer duties on NBCâs âWill & Grace,â she has a recurring role as Nurse Sheila. Her documentary â60 Spins Around the Sunâ is playing at festivals, and sheâs just finished a role in the movie âKicking & Screamingâ with Will Ferrell. She jokes that she and boyfriend Jack Black are âa couple in our 90sâ and that she âtries to keep my catsâ 16-hour sleep schedule.â But she manages to get out of her Beachwood Canyon home to prowl her favorite neighborhoods.
Simple village life
I love to hang out in Fairfax Village, because I hung out there when it was just a street. And thereâs a vintage shop that I like to poke my head into called Catwalk. I like vintage Yves Saint Laurent clothes and old Gucci bags. When Iâm not snooping around for old stuff thatâs priced like new stuff, I hang out at Largo. Thatâs my big outing. I do stand-up there, and I love the club. Flanagan, who runs the club, is this funny Irish guy. He books great acts, like Jon Brion, and a lot of comedy acts like the Naked Trucker. The stand-ups there are better than those at any other club, like Paul F. Thompkins and Reilly Newton.
Sparkly treats
Thereâs a place I go when I think I deserve a treat: Druckerâs jewelry shop on Vermont Avenue. They have amazing vintage jewelry from the â30s to the â70s. Paula and Setrag Drucker, they own the place, and they can custom-make anything. If Iâve ventured that far, I usually go across the street to the Hollywood Hills Coffee Shop and get the Fred Special: scrambled eggs and salmon.
Healthy food
Every once in a while Iâll go over to the health food store Erehwon. I donât really care about health food. But that place I like. To me it doesnât smell like organic sour sweat, like a lot of health food places, and I like their Wake-up Call smoothie, with ginseng and banana and peaches. And so I usually go there and stock up on things that will sit in the cupboard until the Doritos are gone.
I sometimes go skating at World on Wheels on La Brea, near Pico or Olympic. Thatâs when Nick Swardson is having a party. Itâs a lot of stand-ups skating and maybe having a drink or two. World on Wheels seems like it might have sort of an â80s feel -- it defies time.
Better food
Another restaurant I like is the Beverly Hills Hotel diner. The food is amazing. And itâs just a counter. Itâs diner food, but more eclectic. You can get a Reuben, but thereâs also a Grosvenor, a turkey burger with cheese, avocado and Russian dressing. You could call it L.A. diner food because everything has avocado on it.
And Ye Rustic Inn -- theyâve got great wings. Not that I eat them. As of this year Iâm strictly vegetarian.
I went to the Getty not too long ago -- thatâs a friend thing to do. You pretend that you love the place and go there all the time, but itâs really only when your friends were in town. If I were a better person Iâd go there more often and just sit on the grounds and read. But thatâd be time away from Fairfax Village.