Best New York Comedy

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

Ace stand-ups Amy Schumer and Marina Franklin perform at the Eastville Comedy Club...

...and comedy giants Horatio Sanz, Andy Blitz, Arden Myrin, and Leo Allen join Rob Lathan in analyzing the amusingly terrible film "Halloween H20" at Stinson's Awesome Movie Night

Tonight’s recommendations for the best in New York City comedy (in chronological order, with top picks noted and shows over $10 marked with $) include:

[FREE] 6:00 pm: An open-mic show on a lottery system (sign-ups start at 5:30 pm) at The Creekupstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City with hosts Mike Recine and Annie Lederman: The Shinebox

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 7:00 pm: Jared Logan (hilarious angry rising star; Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, co-host of Righteous Kill), Morgan Venticinque (Jimmy Fallon; for set about cops and fast food, please click here), Nick Ruggia (A&E), and Justy Dodge (Comical Radio) performing at Beauty Bar (231 East 14th Street) at this biweekly stand-up show hosted by Peter Ostrovski & Ilya Gofshteyn: Beautiful Comedy

[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm ($7): Some of The Magnet’s finest comics—including the brilliant and delightful Lauren Olson (powerhouse one-woman show Our Condolences at last year’s FringeNYC)—team up with Magnet co-owner Armando Diaz to deliver comedy as sketch troupe Good Morning, Ladies in this show charmingly titled Fuck You, I’m Reasonable

7:00 pm ($5): At this PIT double-bill, award-winning improv duo Lucas Kavner and Bradford Jordan make stuff up with “a celebrity guest improvisor’ at Swords, while all-gal improvisors Alexis Saarela, Brigid Boyle, Elizabeth Findlay, and Ashley Ward perform as troupe Taco Supreme

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10): Comedy duo Nick Kocher & Brian McElhaney perform new sketches atUCB West, as well as host stand-up and improv guests: BriTANicK: The Monthly Mankerthon

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10): Sharp improvisors at UCB East—tonight featuring guests Fran Gillespie (The Law Firm), Morgan Jarrett (Gramp’s), Terry Withers (Still Mike), and Jaime Hazan—making up a musical on the spot: Diamond Lion

8:00 pm ($10): A PIT improv troupe making up a musical on the spot after a friendly greeting: Hello; plus in the other half of this double-bill, troupe Epic Beards

[$] 8:00 pm & 10:30 pm ($32.75 & 2-drink min.) A stand-up who’s starred in his own Comedy Central Presents special, is a cast member of the NBC sitcom Whitney (starring the wonderful Whitney Cummings), and has performed on Showtime’s Live Nude Comedy (to view his set, please clickhere) and TBS’ Glory Daze, headlining tonight through Sunday at the Carolines Comedy Club:Chris D’Elia

[$] [DISCOUNTED] 8:00 pm ($20 [vs. $25] online or at the box office using discount code BOOK): Telly Savalas returns to life to entertain you and provide life guidance in this 50-minute show that was a hit at FringeNYC 2011 and is now enjoying an open-ended Friday night run at the Soho Playhouse’s downstairs Huron Club. The script is at times very smart, especially in its choices of hilarious video clips and music tracks from the real Savalas…who, in his more intense moments, apparently rivaled William Shatner at his silliest. But even when Hunter Nelson’s writing isn’t consistent, actor Tom DiMenna—who is a professional comic with great timing and skill at engaging an audience—will keep you entertained: Who Loves You, Baby?

[FREE] 8:00 pm: Eight small improv teams compete as part of a 32-team tournament at The Creekupstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City, hosted by James Ferrarella: The Arena Small Team Tournament, Round 3

[FREE] 8:00 pm: An open-mic show that’s first come, first serve (sign-ups start at 7:30 pm), with each comic getting five minutes on stage at The Creek downstairs lounge in Queens’ Long Island City: Mic and Cheese

[TOP PICK] 8:30 pm ($7): The winning team that created Pope!: An Epic Musical (a big hit at last year’s FringeNYC) and The Spidey Project (a media sensation) is now honing a pirate musical atThe Magnet about “the dashing young hero Declan as he seeks out the vicious Martin La Foe, the second most famous pirate ever,” with book and lyrics by Justin Moran & Jon Roufaeal, and music by Adam & Matt Podd. See it for a mere seven bucks before it moves to theatrical houses for $18 and up: Nightfall on Mirango Island

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): Some of the finest improv in NYC from UCB West’s all-star members ofThe Stepfathers

[MEGA-TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): Rob Lathan (Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, ABC) as his cinema connoisseur character Stinson screens the highlights of a notoriously awful film—which tonight isHalloween H2O—at UCB East along with comedy geniuses Horatio Sanz, Andy Blitz, Arden Myrin, and Leo Allen: Stinson’s Awesome Movie Night

[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 9:00 pm & 11:00 pm (FREE TICKETS if you reserve in advance by calling (212) 260-2445 and mention HyReviews.com, but there’s still a 2-drink min. per person): Amy Schumer (red-hot rising star; Comedy Central Presents, Last Comic Standing, Jimmy Fallon), Marina Franklin (developing into one of the finest stand-ups in the country, with an uncommonly gentle, graceful style that’s pure joy; Last Comic Standing, Chappelle’s Show, VH1, Comedy Central’s Premium Blend), Nate Bargatze (Conan O’Brien, Comedy Central), and more performing at the only comedy club in the East Village: Eastville Comedy Club

10:00 pm ($7): Singing improvisors at The Magnet using an interview with an audience member to craft The Made-Up Musical

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 10:00 pm: Very funny comics James Adomian, Henry Zebrowski & Murderfist, Jared Logan, Jeffery Joseph, Nick Vatterott, John Roy, and more performing spooky characters at Queens LIC’s The Creek upstairs theatre: Gallery of Evil with Maximilian Blanc

[TOP PICK] 10:30 pm ($10): Jon Gabrus, Nate Lang, Craig Rowin, Matt Fisher, Fran Gillespie Sue Galloway, and other superb improvisors at UCB West making up scenes about an audience member’s legal dispute: The Law Firm: Law & Disorder

[TOP PICK] 11:00 pm ($10): Top Gun performed as if written by William Shakespeare. I haven’t seen it, but am guessing this sketch-based parody at The PIT upstairs theatre is hilarious: Jester’s Dead

11:00 pm ($5): NYC stand-ups (not announced performing at UCB East hosted by Emily Axford, D’Arcy Carden, Alden Ford, Brandon Scott Jones, and/or Justin Tyler: Gentrify

[TOP PICK] 11:30 pm ($5): Before this Magnet show, audience members may anonymously submit written confessions, secrets, rants, advice and opinions which will be used onstage by the improvisors—who include such talents as Laura Grey (stellar old-time radio style theatrical podcast Horrorgasm, sketch/improv duo Klepper & Grey): The Friday Night Sh*w

[FREE] Midnight: NYC stand-ups do sets “and then have a discussion about what’s going on in the world and the mysteries of life” at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City, hosted by Chris Laker: The Show

[FREE] Midnight: This show typically isn’t much fun for audience members—which is why it hasn’t been on the UCB West schedule for a long time—but it’s an amazing opportunity if you want to perform sketch for free and with almost zero hurdles on the prestigious UCBT stage. Hosted by Maude troupe Onassis: Liquid Courage

[$] 12:30 am ($31.25 & 2-drink min.) A provocative comedy star who’s written for Richard Pryor, Red Foxx, and Saturday Night Live, and performed on Chappelle’s Show and David Letterman, headlining through Sunday at the Carolines Comedy Club: Paul Mooney

 For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

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