The late-night-TV landscape took a seismic hit when CBS announced last month the cancellation of “The Late Show” starring Stephen Colbert. A month earlier and without much fanfare at all, Taylor Tomlinson hosted her final episode of the even-later-airing “After Midnight” show on CBS.
Unlike Colbert’s controversial dismissal, however, Tomlinson’s exit from late night was intentional. The Temecula High School graduate chose to move on in order to devote her career to doing what she loves the most: standup comedy.
That’s what brings her back to Southern California this weekend when her “Save Me Tour” lands at the Civic Theatre downtown for performances Friday and Saturday nights. The title of the tour, Tomlinson has said, is a playful reference to her Christian upbringing.
Tomlinson’s San Diego County roots are well documented. She attended both Palomar College and Cal State San Marcos, though while still in her teens she decided that her future resided in standup. A little more than 10 years later, her resume includes three Netflix comedy specials, the “After Midnight” gig and a high profile on social media, to say nothing of the comedy-club circuit.
Yet I still think not enough people know her work and how funny Taylor Tomlinson can be. If you’re among them, this weekend’s your chance to find out.
Theater
Meow. Soroya Rowley, who conceived the immersive “San Diego, I Love You City Heights” last March, is bringing a new work to that neighborhood’s Key and Cleaver café, which was one of the venues used in the spring. It’s an hourlong comedy she calls “Cats (not the musical).”
Directed by Crystal Brandan, the play written by Rowley grew out of the relationship with stray cats that she and her partner forged from their balcony during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I was excited to have a new take on a similar (to the original ‘Cats’) idea,” Rowley said. “The individual personalities of all these cats.”
One of those cats Rowley took into her life, Toaster, is among the three felines portrayed by actors in the play. The other characters are humans, and a racoon. Amid the comedy, look for some commentary as well on the state of healthcare and medical debt.
“Cats (not the musical)” opens on Saturday with performances at 3 and 5 p.m. There will be additional performances at 3 and 5 p.m. on Aug. 16 and 17. Ironically, dogs are welcome at the café – cats are not.
Jeff Buckley appears in the documentary “It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley” by Amy Berg. Sundance
Film
Leonard Cohen’s emotional “Hallelujah’s been covered by everyone from Bob Dylan to Bono to Kate McKinnon on “Saturday Night Live,” and Cohen’s own rendition is much admired. But the song was and ever will be first identified with the late Jeff Buckley.
The son of singer-songwriter Tim Buckley, Jeff was a versatile and sensitive musician who lived to be only 30 and who’s been a cult favorite of fans and fellow music-makers since that passing in 1997. All of this and more is revealed in the new documentary “It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley.”
The film directed by Amy Berg opens Friday for a weeklong run at Media Arts Center San Diego’s Digital Gym Cinema downtown. The trailer alone gets to me, so I hope I can handle the whole movie.
Ed Sullivan, center, with members of the Temptations vocal group. Sullivan’s support of Black artists is the focus of the new Netflix documentary “The Untold Story of Ed Sullivan. (Netflix)
Streaming
When network television during the 1950s and even the supposed free-thinking ‘60s was denying Black artists the opportunity to perform on national TV, Ed Sullivan was giving them that chance. On first his “Toast of the Town” variety show and then “The Ed Sullivan Show” he defied network execs, politicians and critics by booking musicians like Jackie Wilson, Ray Charles, Harry Belafonte, Nina Simone and many, many more.
Hear and learn about this in the compelling new documentary “Sunday Best: The Untold Story of Ed Sullivan” on Netflix. Watching it I gained fresh respect for Sullivan and for the many Black musicians and singers who performed on his shows, sometimes under threats.
The musical clips from the documentary are short but exciting, including the Jackson 5’s “The Love You Save,” Belafonte’s “Muleskinner,” Simone’s “Love Me Or Leave Me” and Nat King Cole’s keyboard solo on “Just One Of Those Things.”
Alabama Shakes, led by singer and guitarist Brittany Howard, will perform Sunday in San Diego. (Chicago Tribune)
Pop music
The three-piece from Athens, Ala., known as Alabama Shakes is on a reunion tour after a hiatus of eight years. Luckily for us, one of the tour stops is San Diego State’s Open Air Theatre on Sunday night. Oakland’s Shannon and the Clams opens the show.
Soul-fusion is the label most often given the musical style of Alabama Shakes, whose roots date back to 2009 and which is fronted by singer/guitarist Brittany Howard. But this is a band that defies labeling, sometimes sounding steeped in hard rock, other times in blues and roots music.
I personally was late to the Alabama Shakes party, unaware of them until I saw the band perform on an episode of “Saturday Night Live” four years after their formation. Then I got my copy of their debut album “Boys & Girls.” It’s still a great listen.
U-T arts and dining stories you may have missed this week
Sisters Ann, left, and Nancy Wilson of Heart are still on the road together 52 years after launching their band. They will perform with Heart Aug. 13 at Pechanga Arena San Diego. (Chris Cain)
UCTV
University of California Television invites you to enjoy this special selection of programs from throughout the University of California. Descriptions courtesy of and text written by UCTV staff:
“Seas the Day: A New Narrative for the Ocean”
Jane Lubchenco, marine ecologist and professor of marine biology at Oregon State University, calls for a transformative new narrative about the ocean — one grounded in science, solutions and partnerships. She critiques two outdated views: one that the ocean is too big to fail, which has driven overuse and pollution; and another that it’s too big to fix, which leads to inaction. Lubchenco presents a third, science-based perspective: The ocean is central to a healthy, just and prosperous future. Drawing on her experience, including service in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, she emphasizes that the ocean is neither too vast to break nor too damaged to heal — it’s too important to ignore.
“’Rain of Ash’: Roma, Jews and the Holocaust”
What happens when two persecuted groups tell their stories side by side? Historian Ari Joskowicz, professor of Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt University, explores this powerful question in “Rain of Ash,” a groundbreaking look at the intertwined histories of Jewish and Romani people under Nazi rule. Speaking on Holocaust Remembrance Day at UC San Diego’s Holocaust Living History Workshop, Joskowicz highlights how both groups were targeted for extermination, yet only one is widely remembered. He reflects on rare moments of shared remembrance and the tension — and potential — of those encounters. Rather than comparing suffering, Joskowicz invites us to consider how memory can be more inclusive, honoring shared trauma while recognizing distinct experiences that still shape public understanding of the Holocaust.
“The Industrialized Gut Microbiome”
The human gut microbiome plays a vital role in our health, and new research reveals just how much our lifestyle influences it. This program highlights a global study comparing the gut microbiomes of diverse populations, including Tsimane horticulturalists in Bolivia and Hadza hunter-gatherers in Tanzania, with those in industrialized societies. Using deep metagenomic sequencing, researchers found striking differences tied to diet and environment. The team also explores whether targeted dietary changes and microbial therapies could restore missing microbes in modern gut communities. To better understand how microbes interact with the human body, scientists use cutting-edge tools such as gnotobiotic mouse models, metabolomics, and quantitative imaging — uncovering pathways that could inform future treatments and improve human health.
Originally Published: August 7, 2025 at 6:00 AM PDT