Best New York Comedy

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

D. L. Hughley headlines through Sunday at the Carolines Comedy Club...

...and musical comedy "Nightfall on Miranga Island" debuts tonight at The Magnet

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] 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 ($10): A respected improv troupe returns to perform at The PIT downstairs lounge: Sid Viscous

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10): In one of the best scripted ensemble shows to grace UCB West for some time, troupe Stone Cold Fox performs hilarious parodies of off-off-Broadway theatre, as well as some of the very best sketches it’s crafted over the years, in a tight hour-long show directed by comedy genius Neil Casey (who, after also recently directing stellar one-person shows by Kate McKinnon and Mike Still, apparently can do no wrong), featuring delightful performances by Fran Gillespie, Molly Lloyd, D’Arcy Carden (watch for these three gals playing existential Truth or Dare), John Murray, Nate Smith, Brandon Scott Jones, and Jonathan Fernandez, and the writing of Leila Cohan-Miccio, Evan Greenspoon, Brandon Gulya, Matt Hunziker, Owen Parsons, and Michael Trapp: Stone Cold Fox: This Is Not Art

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10): Sharp improvisors at UCB East—tonight featuring guests Connor Ratliff (The Stepfathers), Lauren Adams (Onassis), and Emily Axford (Airwolf)—making up a musical on the spot: Diamond Lion

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm & 10:30 pm ($46.50 & 2-drink min.) A comedy superstar (for a sample set, please click here) headlining tonight through Sunday at the Carolines Comedy Club: D.L Hughley

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 8:00 pm: At this unique show, comics play videos they’ve made about themselves and then perform sets, with tonight’s guests Matt McCarthy (Comedy Central, AMC, hilarious shorts with Pete Holmes for Front Page Films, national TV ads as Verizon FIOS guy, feature film The Other Guys), Phoebe Robinson (host of Case of the Mondays Comedy), Joe Pera (very funny deadpan comic; for reasons to hire Joe, please click here), and Gonzalo Cordova at Queens LIC’s The Creek upstairs theatre hosted by Charlie Kasov & Gabe Pacheco: Anecdotal Evidence

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

[$] [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: 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 debuting 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

[$] 8:30 pm & 10:30 pm ($25 & 2-drink min.): A stand-up who’s starred in his own Comedy Central Presents half-hour special, and performed on HBO’s Tourgasm, FX’s Louie, MTV, and VH1 headlining tonight through Sunday at the Gotham Comedy Club: Robert Kelly

[FREE] 8:30 pm: Jared Logan (hilarious angry rising star; Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, co-host of Righteous Kill), Rob Cantrell (organic & delightful pothead stand-up who’s performed onLast Comic Standing, Comedy Central, and VH1, and written for High Times), Travis Irvine, Team Submarine, Damien Lemon, Kyle Chandler, Ryan Conner, and more performing stand-up at Brooklyn’s Red Star Bar (37 Greenpoint Avenue) for hosts Nick Turner’s & Jason Sáenz’s Too Cool for School

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

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): The unsinkable Mamrie Hart (rising star who’s snared over 195,000 visits to date with her Harry Potter viral video) hosts eulogies at UCB East for universally loved actor Will Smith, with participants Matt McCarthy, Henry Zebrowski, Skinny Bitch Jesus Meeting, Steve Soroka, Carla Rhodes, and a small army of other comics: Celebrity Funeral: Will Smith

[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): Judah Friedlander (30 Rock, Meet the Parents, Along Came Polly, author of How to Beat Up Anybody), Gary Gulman (Last Comic Standing, Tourgasm, Comedy Central hour-long special), and more performing at the only comedy club in the East Village: Eastville Comedy Club

9:30 pm ($5): “Where there is a stage and a piano, she will be there. Where there are strangers with embarrassing stories, she will be there. Where there is a group of people willing to sit and watch someone make up songs, she will be there. A one-woman musical improv journey through the lives of the audience. You tell the story, Rebecca Vigil sings the soundtrack” at The PIT downstairs lounge: The Vigilante

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

[FREE] 10:00 pm: Typically terrific NYC comics performing at Queens LIC’s The Creek upstairs theatre hosted by Jackie Zebrowski, Julia Johns, and Sharron Paul: Twat’s Up!

[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 ($8): J Hobart and Grace Helbig welcome NYC talents for a morning chat show…that’s happening late at night. Tonight’s guests are Corn Mo (stellar musician), Gregg Goldston (expert mime), and Ashley C. Williams (Human Centipede): The Morning Show with Hobart and Grace

11:00 pm ($5): Ten NYC stand-up comics compete at The PIT downstairs lounge for audience votes, starting tonight, hosted by Max Newman: The PIT Stand-Up Comedy Competition

11:00 pm ($5): Comedy troupe Creature, comedy duo Byer & Alan, and stand-up David Cope performing at UCB East hosted by Emily Axford, D’Arcy Carden, Alden Ford, Brandon Scott Jones, and/or Justin Tyler: Gentrify

11:30 pm ($10): Magnet improvisers Bianca Casusöl as Madam Ant, Nina Klemow as Fanny Price, and Alex Marino as Larry Lazlo use burlesque dancing to tell a story “and titillate the audience with some seductively fun choreographed burlesque numbers:” Whisky Tango Foxtrot: Burlesque Improv Revue

[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: Sketches from participants of this past September’s National Sketch Month, which challenged writers to craft 30 sketches in 30 days, brought to life on the UCB West stage, and hosted by Andy Beckerman & Mark Bisi (sketch duo Wrestling Team):NaNaSkeWriMoSkeShow: The National National Sketch Writing Month Sketch Show

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

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