Best New York Comedy

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Violet Krumbein

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

[TOP PICK] Violet Krumbein demonstrating she’s one of the most darkly funny talents in NYC, and 30 Rock actor Anthony Atamanuik performing a very funny autobiographical show, in the deliciously oddball double-bill Human Painkiller and Pissing My Pants on Vine (8:00 pm),

absurdist cult fave sketch comedy troupe Spurn (8:00 pm),

[TOP PICK] Jon Fisch (Comedy Central), Jacqueline Novak (CollegeHumor.com), and Wendy Ho (kinetic risque singer) as guests on the best sexy storytelling comedy show in NYC: Margot Leitman’s & Giulia Rozzi’s Stripped Stories (9:30),

[TOP PICK] master sketch comic and talented storyteller Kurt Braunohler in his new one-man show Back to Kurt (9:30 pm), and

[TOP PICK] two superb improv troupes, The Stepfathers and Fat Penguin, competing for audience laughs & votes at the raucous Cage Match (11:00 pm).

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

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] sharp NYC writer/comics including Kevin Allison (legendary sketch troupe The State), Christian Finnegan (Comedy Central, VH1, MSNBC), Joselyn Hughes (Sirius Radio, Macho!), and Max Silvestri (VH1, Big Terrific) telling very funny tales of woe about their material being turned down at the wonderful Jon Friedman’s The Rejection Show (8:00 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.

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

John Oliver

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 Joe DeVito, Lisa Kaplan, Doug Adler, Luke Cunningham, and Phil O’Reilly—at John Morrison’s Broadway Motel (6:00 pm),

[TOP PICK] Marvel Comics editors Jordan D. White, Lauren Sankovich, and Charlie Beckerman 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 F*cking Kennedys, Law Firm, Ragnaröck, Bastian, and The Scam—at Harold Night (8:00 pm),

[TOP PICK] comedy giants John Oliver (star correspondent of The Daily Show) and Marc Maron (one of the most passionate and dedicated stand-ups in the counry), plus Eddie Brill (famed long-time David Letterman booker), Liam McEneaney (host of Tell Your Friends), and more at a blowout 5th Anniversary edition of John Morrison’s Morrison Motel (8:30 pm),

[TOP PICK] and the brilliant and hard-working John Oliver racing over from Morrison Motel (see directly above), plus stand-up Nick Stevens (VH1), burlesque performer Legs Malone, and actor Josh Charles (HBO’s In Treatment) in a late-evening edition of the wonderful Seth Herzog’s Sweet (10:30ish pm).

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

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 Amy Beckerman, Joselyn Hughes, Margie Kment, Emily Epstein, Mara Herron, Jiwon Lee, Becky Ciletti, Chelsea White, Blaine Perry, Sean Donnelly, Aalap Patel, Matteson Perry, and John Morrison—at John Morrison’s Ochi’s Motel (6:30 pm & 9:00 pm),

terrific comics Rich Vos, Helen Hong, Bonnie McFarlane, Sean O’Connor, and The Money Kids, plus singer/songwriter Dawn Landes, at a free weekly comedy show in Brooklyn hosted by the razor-sharp Jena Friedman: Entertaining the Bartender (8:30 pm),

[TOP PICK] and a free weekly show featuring some of the finest comics in the country—who tonight include NIck Kroll, Arj Barker, and Hannibal Buress—hosted by the wonderful Leo Allen (Saturday Night Live, Comedy Central) at Whiplash (11:00 pm).

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

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-ups at one of the funniest productions in NYC—and winner of the 2008 ECNY Award for Best Variety Show—President Johnson (8:00 pm),

terrific NYC comics Tom McCaffrey (Comedy Central, VH1, The Onion), Erin Judge (Comedy Central), Pat Stango (Don’t Touch Me There), Jamie Lee (VH1.com, Collegehumor.com), and Sean Crespo (Drink at Work) at RG Daniels’ Sunday Night Stand-Up (8:00 pm),

[TOP PICK] superb eclectic comics Sara Schaefer (VH1, E!), Team Submarine (SketchFest NYC), Luke Thayer (The Living Room), and Eliot Glazer (New York Sh*tty) at Vince Averill’s & Jesse Popp’s free show Beauty Bar Comedy (9:00 pm),

[TOP PICK] following a blowout 7:30 anniversary Maya show from Eugene Mirman (which isn’t listed here only because it’s sold out), one of the best and most respected stand-up comics in the biz performing a deliciously long set in Brooklyn’s Union Hall—for free!: Marc Maron (9:30 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 (9:30 pm).

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

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] clever wordplay, conceptual comedy, and relentless silliness from sketch troupe Elephant Larry (7:00 pm),

[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),

[TOP PICK] jaw-dropping funny Brian Posehn (Comedians of Comedy tour, co-star of Comedy Central’s The Sarah Silverman Program, regular on Late Night with Conan O’Brien) in a rare, not-to-be-missed NYC appearance: Brian Posehn at Comix (8:00 pm & 10:30 pm),

[TOP PICK] Eve Ensler (The Vagina Monologues) co-producing a collection of some of the sharpest and wackiest female comics in the world, including stand-ups Rachel Feinstein (Comedy Central, opens for Sarah Silverman), Shazia Mirza (Last Comic Standing, CBS, BBC), Betsy Salkind (Tonight Show with Jay Leno), Katie Rigg (sly comedic singer/songwriter), Wendy Ho (raunchy singer/songwriter), the Wau Wau sisters (acrobatic musical duo), and host Julie Goldman (Logo TV’s The Big Gay Sketch Show) at the rockin’ comedy event Offensive Women (8:00 pm),

comics experiencing the rush of performing with no clothes on in The Naked Comedy Showcase (8:00 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] Ted Greenberg (Emmy-winning David Letterman writer) performing a fun, quick-paced theatrical comedy show: The Complete Performer (10:30 pm),

[TOP PICK] and razor-sharp UCBT star troupe Hot Sauce hosting a show made special by knowing no boundaries: The Dirtiest Sketch in NYC Contest (midnight).

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

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 Violet Krumbein demonstrating she’s one of the most darkly funny talents in NYC, in the spectacular double-bill Minnesota Muslim and Human Painkiller (8:00 pm),

[TOP PICK] jaw-dropping funny Brian Posehn (Comedians of Comedy tour, co-star of Comedy Central’s The Sarah Silverman Program, regular on Late Night with Conan O’Brien) in a rare, not-to-be-missed NYC appearance tonight and Saturday night: Brian Posehn Headlining at Comix (8:00 pm & 10:30 pm),

[TOP PICK] Eve Ensler (The Vagina Monologues) co-producing a collection of some of the sharpest and wackiest female comics in the world, including stand-ups Rachel Feinstein (Comedy Central, opens for Sarah Silverman), Shazia Mirza (Last Comic Standing, CBS, BBC), Betsy Salkind (Tonight Show with Jay Leno), Katie Rigg (sly comedic singer/songwriter), Wendy Ho (raunchy singer/songwriter), the Wau Wau sisters (acrobatic musical duo), and host Julie Goldman (Logo TV’s The Big Gay Sketch Show) at the rockin’ comedy event Offensive Women (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),

[TOP PICK] a comedic freestyle rap contest, tonight including Carolyn Castiglia (see interview directly below) , DC Pierson and Donald Glover (star comedy troupe Derrick), and genius comedic musical hosts Chris “Shockwave” Sullivan (Freestyle Love Supreme) and Eliza Skinner (I Eat Pandas) at The BEATdown (11:00 pm),

and a free opportunity for you to perform sketch on the UCBT stage at Liquid Courage (12:20ish am).

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

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] star Daily Show correspondents such as John Oliver and Rob Riggle hosted by the former co-Executive Producer of The Daily Show: Rory Albanese and Friends (8:00 pm),

[TOP PICK] two of the most energetic & inventive improv troupes in the country, Death by Roo Roo and C, C + C Improv Factory, competing for audience laughs & votes at the raucous Cage Match (11:00 pm), and

[TOP PICK] a blowout gathering of star stand-up comics, including Nick Kroll, Eugene Mirman, Robin Ince, Kumail Nanjiani, and Hannibal Buress, at FatSmiles (11:30 pm).

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

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:

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

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

[TOP PICK] UK comedy star Robin Ince in a rare NYC appearance performing his one-man show Bleeding Heart Liberal (8:00 pm),

[TOP PICK] Lizz Winstead (The Daily Show), Kurt Braunohler (master sketch comic, ECNY award winner), and terrific stand-ups Jamie Kilstein, Dan St. Germain, Brent Sullivan, and Barry Rothbart (Comedy Central) at Carol Hartsell’s & Sean Crespo’s Drink at Work (8:00 pm),

[TOP PICK] a super-show with star comedy genius Kristen Schaal (The Daily Show, HBO), Kurt Braunohler (master sketch comic & Kristen’s long-time comedy partner), Patrick Borelli (Conan O’Brien, Comedy Central, Adult Swim), and Greg Johnson (host of NYC comedy show President Johnson) in Brooklyn at the hilarious Joe Mande’s & Noah Garfinkel’s Totally J/K (9:30 pm),

[TOP PICK] a holiday-themed show with gay and gay-friendly comics including Kate McKinnon, Mel & El, Murray Hill, Jackie Hoffman, Jonny McGovern, and Wendy Ho, hosted by sharp stand-up Becky Donohue (Comedy Central, TLC) in A Very Gay Christmas (10:00 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.