NYC Top Comedy Choices for Thursday 11/20/08

November 20, 2008

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

Tonight’s recommendations for the best in New York City comedy (in chronological order, with top picks marked by brackets) include:

[TOP PICK] two brilliant comics who enjoy pushing at boundaries: Glennis McMurray and Jawnee Conroy (6:30 pm),

[TOP PICK] stellar stand-up Andrea Rosen (VH1, Comedy Central, Variety SHAC) and superb comedic singer/songwriter Mindy Raf (VH1) as guests on the best sexy storytelling comedy show in NYC: Margot Leitman’s & Giulia Rozzi’s Stripped Stories (9:30),

[TOP PICK] and the final raucous evening of 2008 quarter-final competition at Pat Baer’s 3-on-3 Improv Tournament (11:00).

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.


NYC Top Comedy Choices for Wed. 11/19/08

November 19, 2008

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

Tonight’s recommendations for the best in New York City comedy (in chronological order, with top picks marked by brackets) include:

five free hours of improvisation in The PIT’s Super Free Wednesday (7:00 pm-midnight),

[TOP PICK] Violet Krumbein demonstrating she’s one of the most breathtakingly original and darkly funny talents in NYC, and Thomas Middleditch (member of genius improv troupe Baby Wants Candy) showing off a myriad of comedic characters via a dynamic one-man show, in a don’t-miss double-bill: Human Painkiller and Littlebitch (8:00 pm),

[TOP PICK] a fun auction of dreadful art, hosted with style by the hilarious Judah Friedlander (30 Rock) and featuring a musical full set by indie band Xiu Xiu, at New York Magazine’s Bad Art Auction (8:00 pm),

[TOP PICK] three of the finest stand-ups in NYC—Pete Holmes (Comedy Central, VH1), Chelsea Peretti (Comedy Central, Variety SHAC), and Seth Herzog (VH1, Sweet)—plus New Zealand/UK star Rhys Darby (HBO’s Flight of the Conchords) at a new weekly show hosted by 92YTribeca: Comedy Below Canal (9:00 pm),

[TOP PICK] some of most razor-sharp and uproariously funny storytellers in the country—Anthony Atamanuik, Jonathan Gabrus, Curtis Gwinn, Joe Mande, and Dave Martin—telling tales of “The Guiltiest Night Of My Life” at one of the finest shows in NYC, The Nights of Our Lives (9:30 pm),

[TOP PICK] an exciting monthly event bringing NYC theatre and comedy folks together, tonight featuring a networking party at 9:30, and then a comedy show at 10:00 with top stand-ups Demetri Martin (The Daily Show, star of upcoming series Important Things), John Mulaney (Conan O’Brien, writer for Saturday Night Live), Dan Mintz (HBO, Comedy Central, MTV), and Giulia Rozzi (VH1, Stripped Stories) at Margie Kment’s Hold for the Laughs (9:30 pm),

[TOP PICK] and typically stellar stand-up comics who perform their sets but are periodically interrupted by the host—one of the funniest men on the planet, Doug Benson—at a very special show called The Benson Interruption (11:00 pm).

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.


NYC Top Comedy Choices for Tuesday 11/18/08

November 18, 2008

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

Tonight’s recommendations for the best in New York City comedy (in chronological order, with top picks marked by brackets) include:

the perfect show for short attention spans—open-mic stand-up with 4½ minutes per set and 25 comics crammed into 2½ hours, who tonight include Vicky Kuperman, Margie Kment, Doug Adler, Gilad Foss, Sarah Fearon, and John Morrison—at John Morrison’s Broadway Motel (6:00 pm),

a blowout fundraiser featuring some of the most talented and hilarious female comics in NYC—Livia Scott, Shayna Ferm, Carolyn Castiglia, Becky Donohue, Desiree Burch, Ophira Eisenberg, and Helen Hong—at a 3-hour bash of Empowerment, Pampering, and Great Entertainment (7:00 pm),

16 NYC stand-ups—including Taylor Williamson (Late Late Show), Josh Homer (Comedy Central), Andy Pitz (David Letterman), Julian McCullough (2008 NYCF Champion), Liz Miele (Comedy Central), and Mike Drucker (The Onion)—competing for audience laughs and votes at Eric I’s Comedy Showdown (7:30 pm),

[TOP PICK] brilliant stand-up Pete Holmes (Comedy Central, VH1, The New Yorker), rising star Kumail Nanjiani (Comedy Central), Big Jay Oakerson (HBO, Comedy Central , Showtime, MTV), Joselyn Hughes (Macho!), Sean Patton (Just for Laughs Festival), and Cassidy Henehan in the debut of VH1’s biweekly live comedy show VH to the One Comedy Showcase (8:00 pm),

[TOP PICK] comics journalist Brian Heater (The Daily Cross Hatch), and comics creators Tom Hart, Sarah Glidden, and John Kerschbaum, joining in on a lively & hilarious discussion about comic books at Comic Book Club (8:00 pm),

three full hours of improv for only five bucks—tonight featuring UCBT house troupes DeCoster, Ragnaröck, Bangs, Bastian, and The Law Firm—at Harold Night (8:00 pm),

[TOP PICK] Leo Allen (Saturday Night Live, Comedy Central), Wyatt Cenac (correspondent for The Daily Show), and Max Silvestri (VH1) at one of the finest and funniest shows in NYC, the wonderful Seth Herzog’s Sweet (9:00 pm),

[TOP PICK] and sharp stand-ups Tom McCaffrey (Comedy Central, VH1, The Onion), Marina Franklin (Last Comic Standing, Chappelle’s Show), Jared Logan (Chicago Comedy Awards), Liz Miele (Comedy Central), plus Team Submarine (hilarious sketch comedy duo) at Sweet Haven (9:00ish pm).

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.


NYC Top Comedy Choices for Monday 11/17/08

November 17, 2008

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

Tonight’s recommendations for the best in New York City comedy (in chronological order, with top picks marked by brackets) include:

the perfect show for short attention spans—open-mic stand-up with 4½ minutes per set and 25 comics crammed into 2½ hours, tonight including Jena Friedman, Emily Epstein, Vicky Kuperman, Margie Kment, Karen Batista, Dan Cartwright, Mark Normand, Sean Donnelly, Blaine Perry, and John Morrison—at John Morrison’s Ochi’s Motel (6:30 pm & 9:00 pm),

[TOP PICK] an entirely improvised musical from a genius improv duo (and among Eliza Skinner’s final NYC performances before moving to LA), and an improvised soap opera, in the double-bill I Eat Pandas and Hot Lather: As the Diamond Burns (9:30 pm),

[TOP PICK] and a free weekly show featuring some of the finest comics in the country—tonight including two of the best comedy hosts in NYC, Seth Herzog (VH1, Sweet) and Greg Johnson (Greg Johnson & Larry Murphy Show)—hosted by the wonderful Leo Allen (Saturday Night Live, Comedy Central) at Whiplash (11:00 pm).

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.


NYC Top Comedy Choices for Sunday 11/16/08

November 16, 2008

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

Tonight’s recommendations for the best in New York City comedy (in chronological order, with top picks marked by brackets) include:

[TOP PICK] UCBT’s playground for celebrities and ace improvisors, ASSSSCAT 3000 (7:30 pm and 9:30 pm),

[TOP PICK] typically stellar stand-up comics joining comedy giants Eugene Mirman & Michael Showalter winners of the 2008 ECNY Award for Best Hosts—for their weekly shindig at Brooklyn’s Union Hall: Tearing the Veil of Maya (8:00 pm),

[TOP PICK] typically stellar stand-ups at one of the funniest productions in NYC—and winner of the 2008 ECNY Award for Best Variety Show—The Greg Johnson & Larry Murphy Show (8:00 pm),

the debut of a new, free weekly comedy show hosted by RG Daniels: Sunday Night Stand-Up (8:00 pm),

[TOP PICK] a blowout free show in Brooklyn with genius comics Dave Hill (HBO, VH1, MOJO) and Anthony Jeselnik (Conan O’Brien, HBO, Comedy Central), superb stand-ups Laura Krafft (The Colbert Report) and Nate Bargatze (Conan O’Brien, Comedy Central), and superb musicians Leah Siegel and The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, at the razor-sharp and delightful Jena Friedman’s Entertaining the Bartender (8:30 pm),

and sharp NYC comics at a free stand-up comedy show hosted by star sketch/improv troupe Derrick in Queens’ Long Island City: This Is New York (9:00 pm).

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.


NYC Top Comedy Choices for Saturday 11/15/08

November 15, 2008

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

[TOP PICK] star improvisation from writers & performers at 30 Rock, The Colbert Report, and The Daily Show who joyously declare Let’s Have a Ball (7:30 pm),

an improv troupe with a theatrical approach: Stray (7:30 pm),

[TOP PICK] one of my all-time favorite improv troupes—which this season broke the Cage Match record for winning streaks with 17 triumphs in a row, and has now taken over UCBT’s prestigious prime-time Saturday night slot—the brilliant and daring members of Death by Roo Roo (9:00 pm),

a small mob of talented comics telling funny, poignant, and at times unforgettable tales about their relatives at the gorgeous Sara Benincasa’s Family Hour (9:00 pm),

organic & energetic improv by the four guys of 4 Track! (9:00 pm),

[TOP PICK] inventive & hilarious sketch comedy from The Harvard Sailing Team (9:30 pm),

[TOP PICK] improvised TV shows about audience members via world-class troupe Reuben Williams (10:30 pm),

[TOP PICK] a blowout party celebrating Gossip Girl, the TV teen drama sensation of the year, hosted by Sara Benincasa (MTV, Family Hour, star Sarah Palin impersonator), and including a small mob of NYC comics, Emmy-winning writers, and other very smart fans having enthusiastic fun at the Gossip Girl Summit (11:00),

and five superb female comics who are also a terrific experimental cover band interviewing a comedy celeb and rockin’ the house as Stickerbook (midnight).

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.


NYC Top Comedy Choices for Friday 11/14/08

November 14, 2008

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

Tonight’s recommendations for the best in New York City comedy (in chronological order, with top picks marked by brackets) include:

[MEGA-TOP PICK] rising star Charlie Sanders performing one of the most vibrant and hilarious autobiographical shows you’ll ever see, and 30 Rock actor Anthony Atamanuik delivering another brilliant one-man show, in the double-bill Minnesota Muslim and Pissing My Pants on Vine (8:00 pm),

a gay-themed stand-up comedy show hosted by Jenny Rubin: The Back Room (9:00 pm),

[TOP PICK] some of the finest improv in NYC from the comedy genius members of The Stepfathers (9:30 pm),

singing improvisors who use an interview with an audience member to craft The Made-Up Musical (10:00 pm),

a sketch show (with some improv thrown in) from the superb stars of Derrick (11:00 pm),

[TOP PICK] and UCBT’s free monthly open-mic stand-up show, where deliciously odd things tend to happen around 1:30 am, hosted by lightning-quick & hilarious Pete Holmes (Comedy Central, VH1; one of the finest comics in the country) at Gutbucket (12:20ish am).

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.


NYC Top Comedy Choices for Thursday 11/13/08

November 13, 2008

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

Tonight’s recommendations for the best in New York City comedy (in chronological order, with top picks marked by brackets) include:

[TOP PICK] a world-class sketch troupe and brilliant comedic storyteller provide a hilarious double-bill in Pangea 3000 and Chris Gethard (6:30 pm),

[TOP PICK] a very popular comedy site’s talents coming out from behind the Net tonight, accompanied by stellar comics Arj Barker, Stuckey & Murray, and Donald Glover at CollegeHumor.com, Live on Stage (9:30 pm),

[TOP PICK] and the second raucous evening of 2008 quarter-final competition at Pat Baer’s 3-on-3 Improv Tournament (11:00).

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.


NYC Top Comedy Choices for Wed. 11/12/08

November 12, 2008

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

Tonight’s recommendations for the best in New York City comedy (in chronological order, with top picks marked by brackets) include:

five free hours of improvisation in The PIT’s Super Free Wednesday (7:00 pm-midnight),

stellar storyteller Adam Wade and comic Jake Goldman hosting a show in which comedians share their favorite campus anecdotes in True Tales From College (7:30 pm),

[TOP PICK] superb comics including Seth Herzog (VH1, Sweet), Gabe & Jenny (VH1, Bravo, CNN), Big Jay Oakerson (HBO, Comedy Central, Showtime, MTV), and Julian McCullough (Comedy Central, 2008 New York Comedy Festival award winner) at Matt Goldich’s It’s Always Funny in Philadelphia (8:00 pm),

a hilarious staged reading of a movie parody starring such wonderful comedic performers as Lennon Parham (She Tried to Be Normal), Julie Halston (The Class), David Rakoff (This American Life), and Peter Frechette (Tony Nominee) in Posteriors (8:00 pm),

comics competing for laughs based on an assigned topic in So You Think You Can Stand (9:00 pm),

[TOP PICK] and a free, laid-back, and occasionally magical variety show where virtually anything can happen on a School Night (11:00).

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.


NYC Top Comedy Choices for Tuesday 11/11/08

November 11, 2008

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

Tonight’s recommendations for the best in New York City comedy (in chronological order, with top picks marked by brackets) include:

comedians getting rid of their stuff by telling tales about the items and then selling to the highest bidder at Auction! (7:30 pm),

[TOP PICK] comics creators Brian Michael Bendis (Secret Invasion), Ed Brubaker (Captain America), Matt Fraction (Iron Man), and Jeff Katz (Booster Gold) joining in on a lively & hilarious discussion about comic books at Comic Book Club (8:00 pm),

three full hours of improv for only five bucks—tonight featuring UCBT house troupes The Scam, Bangs, Ragnaröck, Bastian, and Whorenado—at Harold Night (8:00 pm),

[TOP PICK] a small mob of superb comics, headlined by legendary San Francisco comedic singer/songwriter Roy Zimmerman, at John Morrison’s The Morrison Motel (8:30 pm),

[TOP PICK] and star comics TJ Miller (David Letterman, ABC’s Carpoolers, Cloverfield), Ted Greenberg (Emmy-winning writer for David Letterman), Gabe & Jenny (VH1, CNN, Bravo), and Craig Baldo (Conan O’Brien) at one of the finest and funniest shows in NYC, the wonderful Seth Herzog’s Sweet (9:00 pm).

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.