Best New York Comedy

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Todd Barry (above with Koala bear in cuteness contest) performs tonight with Kurt Braunohler, Ben Lerman, and more at Comedy Below Canal

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:

7:30 pm ($5): Sharp improvisors directed by James Eason “take an audience suggestion and break it into a million funny pieces,” and veteran improvisors play with “elements of monoscene, deconstruction, and La Ronde,” in the double-bill The Deconstruction and Sleepover

[$] 7:30 pm ($32.75 & 2-drink min.)  A comic perhaps best known for his appearances on celebrity roasts, but who’s also performed on David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno, and more, headlining through Sunday at Carolines: Jeffrey Ross

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): “Seven family members, friends, coworkers and a neighbor of seven weeks accidentally ruin their final goodbyes,” performed by such stellar talents as Lennon Parham and Leslie Meisel; and “seemingly unrelated or meaningless episodes of multiple personalities, bizarre delusion, and general perversion, suggesting a deranged mind,” co-written and performed by Paul W. Downs, in the double-bill Oh My God, I Heard You’re Dying! and The Paul Downs Syndrome

8:00 pm & 9:00 pm & 10:00 pm ($5 at the door, $5.99 per show online): NYC improv and sketch troupes—many of whom perform at The PIT—compete against each other via this unusual annual contest in which each group, regardless of specialty, will perform both improv and sketch…as well as a comedy form known as sketchprov using the Second City routine The Pad. The competition, running through Saturday, is SketchProv

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($12): Todd Barry (one of the finest stand-ups in the country; HBO, David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Comedy Central Presents, The Sarah Silverman Program, Adult Swim, feature films The Wrestler and Pete Smalls is Dead), master sketch comic Kurt Braunohler (Comedy Central; co-creator & co-star of UK TV series Penelope: Princess of Pets), hilarious comedic singer/songwriter Ben Lerman, Jiwon Lee, and David Angelo performing at 92Y Tribeca’s Comedy Below Canal

9:30 pm ($5): If you’re a fan of CollegeHumor.com, you can see the folks behind it on stage—along with stand-ups Sheng Wang, Calise Hawkins, Dan Gurewitch, The Gregory Brother, and hosts Streeter and Jeff—at CollegeHumor Live

[TOP PICK] 11:00 pm ($5): Brilliant improv troupe Rogue Elephant, which has crushed five opponents in a row, tonight competes with improv troupe Dog Court for audience laughs and votes at the raucous Cage Match

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.