Best New York Comedy

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Comedy giant Kate McKinnon and other brilliant comedic performers debut an exciting new sketch troupe at midnight: "Tremendous Machine"

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:

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 7:00 pm: Chicago-trained improv veterans gather in NYC to make you laugh, with tonight’s scheduled participants Ali Farahnakian (former SNL writer, 30 Rock, owner of The PIT, Chicago Improv troupe The Family), Jodi Lennon (Comedy Central’s Exit 57, The Annoyance Theater, Second City, iO), Ari Voukydis (VH1’s Best Week Ever, UCBT), Doug Stoley (Conan O’Brien), Jordan Klepper (Second City, UCBT), and possibly more performing at this free show atThe PIT’s basement lounge: Chicago Improv Gorillas

[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm ($8): The delightful Jen Kwok debuting a one-woman show that “introduces you to a magical world where wishes can come true with music, strange creatures, and an exceedingly wacky fairy godmother:” Wish Come True

7:30 pm ($10): Abbi Jacobson (Broad City) performing a one-woman show in which she engagingly plays a variety of oddball characters you might encounter at summer camp, and sketch troupe Bleak performing a show about what goes on in your stomach, in the double-bill Welcome to Camp!and Stomachtown

[FREE] 7:30 pm: NYC stand-ups Streeter Seidell (College Humor, Jimmy Kimmel), Jared Logan (Comedy Central, co-host of Righteous Kill), Victor Varnado (Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, Comedy Central, NBC’s My Name is Earl, Adult Swim, Comedy Central’s The Awkward Comedy Show; films Pluto Nash, End of Days, A Guy Thing), and Eliza Faria-Santos (Comedy Central), plus the usual sketch comedy gang, and musical band Fortress of Solitude, all performing at Karma Lounge with hosts Pat Stango & Blaine Perry for this endearingly oddball monthly comedy show: Don’t Touch Me There

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($18.88 online; buying in advance highly recommended as this will probably sell out): Kristen Schaal and Wyatt Cenac (star correspondents of The Daily Show), Kurt Braunohler (award-winning comic and rising TV star), Arden Myrin (MadTV), and much more performing at this fundraiser for Japan relief at Brooklyn’s The Bell House hosted by Liam McEneaney: Japan Benefit

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($10): Groundbreaking and highly acclaimed improvisors Matt Higgins, Jay Rhoderick, and Kevin Scott performing with a three-piece rock ensemble: Centralia

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm ($49.50): One of the finest comics in the country, Mike Birbiglia’s credits include the hour-long Comedy Central special What I Should Have Said is Nothing; two Comedy Central Presents half-hour specials; multiple appearances on David Letterman and Conan O’Brien; comedy CDs Two Drink Mike and My Secret Public Journal—Live; the book Sleepwalk with Me & Other Painfully True Stories; and his hit off-Broadway show Sleepwalk with Me. Mike’s now returned to the stage, once again creating his unique blend of stand-up and storytelling, for an all-new one-man show at the Barrow Street Theatre (27 Barrow Street, just one block from the #1 subway’s Christopher Street stop) slated to run through May 15th: Mike Birbiglia: My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend

[FREE] 8:00 pm: Award-winning dark comedy sketch troupe Murderfist, plus stand-ups Andy Haynes, Nick Vatterott, Reese Waters, and Scott Moran, performing at Brooklyn’s Red Star Bar (37 Greenpoint Avenue) for host Nick Turner’s & guest-host Neal Stastny’s Too Cool for School

[FREE] 8:00 pm: Stand-ups Barry Rothbart, Michael Che, Jermaine Fowler, Todd Womack, and “a special guest from LA” performing at O’Hanlon’s (14th Street off 1st Avenue) hosted by Matt Ruby: Hot Soup

 8:00 pm ($7): “In March of 2009 a gaggle of performers were born. Some died, some wandered off into the woods, others went to work in the private sector. Those that remained grew strong by feeding on the nectar of specific choices and the gruel of strong character work. The 2-year-old terror that exists today is akin to watching a Tsunami of hair and teeth attack a baby Blue Whale and destroy it with the will of a thousand hungry Burnese Mountain Dogs. What does it all mean? We don’t know.” In other words, improv from Chet Watkins

[FREE] 8:00 pm: Stand-ups Mo Diggs (MTV’s Choose or Lose), Brendan Fitzgibbons (The Onion, McSweeney’s, Gandhi Is That You?), Jesse Jones, Subhah Agarwal, and TJ Amick performing at Brooklyn’s The Royal Oak (594 Union Avenue) with hosts Calvin S. Cato, Justin Murray, and Chad Plaines: The Pregame Comedy Show

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:30 pm & 10:30 pm ($30 & 2-drink min.) A cast member for four seasons of Saturday Night Live who’s also performed on Conan O’Brien, MTV, VH1, and feature films, headlining through Saturday at the Gotham Comedy Club: Jim Breuer

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): Some of the finest improv in NYC from the comedy genius members of The Stepfathers

[TOP PICK] [$] 9:30 pm ($15): Always fresh and imaginative world-class sketch troupe that uses song, movement, and clever scenarios to turn familiar rituals on their head (for a video about awkward goodbyes at the end of a party, please click here) delivering a brand new collection of sketches: The Harvard Sailing Team

[TOP PICK] 10:30 pm ($10): Thomas Middleditch and Nate Lang (back after pilot season in LA), plus Craig Rowin, Matt Fisher, Fran Gillespie Sue Galloway, and other superb improvisors make up scenes about an audience member’s legal dispute at The Law Firm: Law & Disorder

[TOP PICK] Midnight ($5): The debut of an exciting new sketch troupe, with brilliantly talented comedic performers including Kate McKinnon, Leslie Meisel, Fran Gillespie, and Nate Lang, and steered by superb writer/director Caitlin Tegart—as well as writers Beth Appel, Leila Cohan-Miccio, Matt Fisher, Frank Hejl, Chris Schell, Alex Scordelis, and Michael Trapp—that I’ll be going out of my way to catch tonight: Tremendous Machine

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

If you know anyone who might have a thyroid problem, please tell them about my new book: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Thyroid Disease.