Cavern of Whimsy #5 began, unexpectedly, with a video. First, Matt Noonan in “The Metamorphosis” – a harrowing depiction of his recent decision to shave an 8-months-in-the-making beard — followed by the above clip. After trading emails with an animator friend and realizing I was woefully lacking in experience and equipment, I went ahead anyway and made it anyway. You’d be surprised what you can do with a digital camcorder on a tripod, a pen, a notebook, a music stand, and an hour and a half. The song, also an original, is a remix of Bing Crosby’s “Some Enchanted Evening” (now in the public domain, unless YouTube says otherwise).

What an enchanted evening it was!

– This month’s Socal Slideshow Tour took us to Downtown LA, where we saw the fashion district, the toy district, and other places LA doesn’t put on postcards.

– Standup Aaron Black did a tight ten, on, among other things, the super depressed whales at Sea World.

– Based on the audience’s suggestion of “hot dogs,” Mike Critelli’s Cavern of Whimsy’s Cavalcade of Weirdos showcased Katie Cunningham as a crazy lady who throws secret parties, Landon Kirksey as the owner of a single-sourced dry-aged vegan hot dog establishment in Venice Beach, and Alex Nelson as a stay-at-home dad who strongly resembles a chronically-masturbating loser.

– Immediately afterward, Katie sang about merkins, Landon about probing humans (from an alien point-of-view), and Alex sang about sexy fraternity hazing in this month’s Filthy Parody Karaoke.

– Finally, Caroline Ashkar sent us all into the night with a gorgeous set of songs and a free iTunes download of her last EP (with a new one to follow).

Did you miss it? Judging by a simple comparison between LA’s census records and Monday night’s attendance, you did.

Don’t worry. November 3rd is right around the corner.

-Mike