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Arden Myrin is among the stars at tonight’s Gravid Water
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: Weekly hour-long open-mic storytelling show, with audience members chosen from a bucket of names getting to tell tales for 8 minutes each at The PIT downstairs lounge along with host Jake Hart: The Dump
6:00 pm ($5 cover & $5 drink min.): The perfect show for short attention spans—open-mic stand-up with 4 1/2 minutes per set and 20 comics crammed into 2 hours—at the Greenwich Village Comedy Club (99 MacDougal Street) for John Morrison’s Village Motel
[FREE] 6:00 pm: An open-mic stand-up show running about 90 minutes at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City with host Chris Gaynor: Open Mic Mondays
7:00 pm ($8): A sketch and improv show featuring the “PIT Puppets”—who I’m hoping are puppeteers—performing with tonight’s guest Glennis McCarthy at The PIT upstairs theatre: Puppet
7:00 pm ($5): Christine Holt & Mary Guiteras tend bar for a living, then let off steam by performing improv at The PIT downstairs lounge where they unleash the secrets they’ve heard: Bartenders
[FREE] 7:30 pm: Four improvisers form teams with comics they’ve never performed with before atThe Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City: The Kaleidoscope
7:30 pm ($10; sign-up starts at 7:00 pm): Open mic for stand-ups, storytellers, singers, poets, actors, and more, with 5 minutes per performer and 25 slots available, at One and One Bar’s Downstairs Nexus Lounge (76 1st Street, corner of First Avenue) hosted by Nathan P., followed by a raucous afterparty with dancing & drink specials from 10:00 to midnight: Inspired Word’s Open Mic Joint
[MEGA-TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Broadway & off-Broadway stars mixing it up with such star improvisors as Arden Myrin (MAD TV), Neil Casey (SNL, Death by Roo Roo), Michael Delaney (The Other Guys, The Stepfathers), and Glennis McCarthy (I Eat Pandas) as they crash improv into classic theatre scenes at UCB Chelsea for actor/director Stephen Ruddy’s Gravid Water
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($10; includes admittance to Ben Lerman’s raucous singing show at 10:00, Big Band Madonna): TV & Broadway star Colin Quinn, Christian Finnegan (Conan O’Brien, co-star of TBS’ Are We There Yet?; three Comedy Central specials; MSNBC, VH1’s Best Week Ever, Chappelle’s Show, The Today Show), Jessica Delfino (enjoys singing songs about her vagina, as demonstrated by her CDs Dirty Folk Rock and I Wanna Be Famous; created the hilarious and wildly popular YouTube animated short film I Wanna Be Famous; to get a feel for Jessica’s range and talent, please click here), Ben Lerman (nuanced raunchy comedic singer/songwriter; Logo TV’sNewNowNext, Sirius Radio’s Frank DeCaro Show), musical sketch comedy by Political Subversities, and found footage from Derrick Beckles (Street Carnage), all performing at The Ace Hotel’s Liberty Hall (20 West 29th Street) hosted by Victor Varnado (TV, movies, you name it): The Company Picnic
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($9.47 online or $8 at the door): Matt McCarthy (HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasmand Bored to Death, host of AMC’s Action Pack, Comedy Central, hilarious shorts with Pete Holmes for Front Page Films, national TV ads as Verizon FIOS guy, feature film The Other Guys), Janine Brito (Totally Biased), Jay Larson (Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central), and “a secret guest” performing at Brooklyn’s Littlefield (622 Degraw Street) hosted by by Kurt Kurt Braunohler (Comedy Central; creator & host of IFC game show Bunk; co-creator & co-star of UK TV seriesPenelope: Princess of Pets; triple 2011 ECNY Award winner): Hot Tub Variety
[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm ($18): A former roommate & drinking buddy of such comedy giants as David Cross and Marc Maron performed a one-man show at last month’s FringeNYC—and it’s now enjoying an extended run as part of the FringeNYC Encore Series. Please read my review by clicking here, and Jason Zinoman’s New York Times review by clicking here; and then come share an intimate hour with Matt Graham at the Soho Playhouse’s downstairs Huron Club so he can explain life and meaning and why This Too Shall Suck
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Bridey Elliott (David Letterman, Witstream), Dan Wilbur (author of How Not to Read), Katie Compa, and Paul Oddo performing stand-up at UCB East hosted by Sharon Spell and featuring the Shrink Dancers: The Big Shrink
[FREE] 8:30 pm: NYC stand-ups Kate Hendricks, Charlie Kasov, Simeon Goodson, Dave Lester, John Early, and Ben Conrad performing at this weekly show at Brooklyn’s Bar Matchless back room (557 Manhattan Avenue, near the G subway’s Nassau Avenue stop) hosted by Nimesh Patel, Mike Denny, and/or Michael Che: Broken Comedy
8:00 pm ($10): NYC stand-ups (not announced) performing at this monthly show at The PIT hosted by twins Todd & Adam Stone: Stone and Stone Show
[TOP PICK] 8:30 pm ($5): At this Magnet double-bill, first Chris Nester & Ross Taylor are aspiring Country Western musicians who “sneak laughs and toe-tapping-tunes in between serious moral lessons based on suggestions from the audience (sinners welcome!)” as The Oakwood Boys: MoralityProv; and then “strange, mysterious, beautiful, and disgusting, this show will dazzle you with sketch comedy… and magic!” from witchy duo Angela DeManti & Emily Shapiro: The Weird Sisters
[FREE] 9:00 pm: NYC stand-ups Ilana Glazer (Broad City), Kevin McCaffrey, Jacquetta Szathmari, Nick Stevens and Erik Levi, plus musical guest Paper Anniversary, performing at Brooklyn’sFreddy’s Bar (627 Fifth Avenue; take R subway to Prospect Avenue) for this free biweekly show hosted by Brooke Van Poppelen (brilliant stand-up, writer, and storyteller; TLC, trutV; for stand-up videos about overindulging at 30 and impersonating Morrisey, please click here and here) and tonight’s guest host Doug Smith: Dive Comedy
9:30 pm ($5): Two UCB Chelsea house sketch troupes try out fresh material: HUNK (which includes such stellar talents as Leslie Meisel, Aaron Jackson, and Zhubin Parang), and Bellevue (which I haven’t seen yet): Maude Night: HUNK & Bellevue
9:30 pm ($5): The debut of the only open-stage show for entire groups of improvisors and sketch comics, running weekly at UCB East hosted by Austin Rodrigues: Bring Your Own Team: Improv/Sketch Team Jam
[FREE] 9:30 pm: Following a club format, hosts Nore Davis & Andrew Short perform stand-up throughout for a total of 25 minutes, two comics each perform a 15-minute set, and then a seasoned headliner closes out the show with a 20-minute set, all at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City: On the Road
10:00 pm ($8): Diverse forms of puppetry and live music are used to create unique scenes of longform improv by troupe Gameface at The PIT upstairs theatre: Not Quite Human
10:00 pm ($5): Improv is dominated by guys, so this is a rare treat—a dozen female improvisors “for an evening of comedy that will delight men, women, babies, and kittens” at The Magnet hosted by Megan Gray: We Might Just Kiss
[FREE] 10:30 pm: Karaoke at the UCB East Bar for the 9:30 BYOT improvisors and more: Karaoke Night at the Hot Chicks Room
[FREE] 10:30 pm: Improv students are welcomed onto the stage at The PIT downstairs lounge for this weekly open access show hosted by Gary DeNoia & Keith Huang: Base Jam
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 11:00 pm: Some of the finest comics in the world—who are no longer being announced in advance, but it’s virtually always a great lineup—at UCB Chelsea guest-hosted by someone wonderful (while Leo Allen is in LA): Whiplash
[FREE] 11:00 pm: If you’re an audience member who loves stand-up, Monday at 11 should beWhiplash! night (see listing above). If you’re a comic who couldn’t get booked on UCBT’s all-star show, though, you can opt to instead practice your skills at this exceptionally supportive stand-up open-mic at The PIT upstairs theatre hosted by Jared Reed: Fresh
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Best New York Comedy 