local storiesNovember 20, 2025

Life & Work with Elisha Shapiro of mid town

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Elisha Shapiro.

Hi elisha, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
started making challenging and amusing art in the 80s. got media attention. still putting on a film festival every year. writing and publishing stuff.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I decided early to get a “day job” because I saw my friends trying to make a living as artists, and I saw how hard that was. So I found something I enjoyed, which was teaching college students. And that fed me while I put on my funny nihilist art events, starting with the 1984 nihilist Olympics. It was successful because others wanted to laugh with me about the 1984 LA Olympics, including the media. I did not think there was a way to make a living putting on things like the Nihilist Olympics, so I taught. And kept making my events, and then my calendar, and then a public access tv show, and my film festival. A lot of odd art events that I and others enjoyed.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
A person (me) becomes an artist because he/she sees the world differently than others, and works to find a way to communicate that vision to others who see it the traditional way. And I guess that is me. and humor is an important part of the way I see the world.
The risks I take are to find humor in things others take very seriously. And to communicate the humor through my art.

What were you like growing up?
I loved growing up in LA. We moved here around 1965 when I was in the 6th grade. It’s a creative place where everyone wants to be a star. And that was funny to me. I ended up writing a book about that stuff called LA Freak. Just funny stories about me being the only one who did not want to be a star. But it’s about my love for this creative town also. In LA, I found Hollywood creatives and weird creatives. And it’s nice to have other weird creatives in my community. Weird filmmakers, weird comedians, weird artists. I fit right in.

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