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Joe DeRosa performs at Seth Herzog’s Sweet…
…and NASA’s latest efforts are explored at The Tony and Johnny Show
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:
6:00 pm ($1): Open-mic sketch that allows you to either perform a sketch with your own performers or bring in pages for the audience to perform at The PIT downstairs lounge, followed by feedback on your bit from PIT “sketch-perts:” Pens & Pencils
[FREE] 6:30 pm: Open mic for comedy of all types (with sign-up starting at 6:00) at Queens LIC’s The Creek upstairs theatre hosted by Chesley Calloway (co-host of renowned Comedy as a Second Language): The Ches Club
[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm-Midnight ($7 for the whole evening): In this 5-hour extravaganza, each of four of The Magnet’s singing improv troupes make up a musical on the spot based on an audience suggestion: BEEES! and Mint Condition (at 7:00) and Vulcan and Fisticuffs (at 8:30); followed at 10:15 by a free show that lets audience members join in with musical improv troupe Fisticuffs to make up stories in song: Magnet Musical Megawatt
7:00 pm ($5): Two-person improv scenes from Matthew Yeackel & Alex Grass, Darcy Burke & Grant Norva, and more at The PIT downstairs lounge hosted by Donna Lobello: I Trust (Two-Prov)
7:30 pm-9:15 pm ($5): Long form improv known as The Harold from UCB Chelsea house troupes Sherlock & Cookies, A Sparrow, and Salmon Diane at this first half of Harold Night
[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm ($12 plus 2-item food/drink min.): TV & Broadway star Colin Quinn, Judah Friedlander (one of the quickest minds in comedy; 30 Rock, Meet the Parents, Along Came Polly, author of How to Beat Up Anybody), Lenny Marcus (David Letterman, MTV), Keith Robinson (HBO, Comedy Central, Wanda Sykes Show), Mike Yard (Comedy Central, Def Comedy Jam), Jeff Lamp (Jay Leno), and more performing at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane): Colin Quinn, Judah Friedlander, and More
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Frank Conniff (Frank on Mystery Science Theater 3000, Cinematic Titanic), aratunde Thurston (author of How to Be Black; writer for The Onion), and Jean Grae (Blacksmith Records) are interviewed about “their earliest creative experiences and the nuances of having a creative career” for a weekly podcast that once a month goes live on the UCB East stage with hosts Andy Beckerman & Mark Bisi: Beginnings
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Keyboard Kathy (for a video sample, please click here) and more performing at Queens LIC’s The Creek upstairs theatre, hosted by the wonderful Joe Pera, Charles Gould, and Dan Licata: Dan + Joe + Charles’ Show
8:00ish pm (no cover, 1 drink min.): Sheng Wang (Comedy Central Presents), Emily Heller (Comedy Central; staff writer for Rooftop Comedy; for ruminations on pregnancy, please click here), Aparna Nancherla (FX’s Totally Biased), Janine Brito (FX’s Totally Biased), and Karl Hess performing on this week’s topic A Year in Heaven at Sidewalk NYC (94 Avenue A) produced by Chenoa Estrada, Emily Heller, and George Gordon and hosted tonight by Josh Gondelman: The Afterlife: A Year in Heaven
8:00 pm ($8): A house sketch troupe performs at The PIT upstairs theatre: National Scandal
[TOP PICK] [$] 8:30 pm ($15 plus 2-drink min.): Big Jay Oakerson (Comedy Central Presents, HBO, Showtime, MTV), Carmen Lynch (Last Comic Standing finalist, Comedy Central), Dan Soder (Comedy Central, VH1; for set about being a hypochondriatic drug user, please click here), Dave Smith, and Luis J. Gomez performing stand-up at The Stand Comedy Club (239 Third Avenue & 20th Street) for the Legion of Skanks Live Podcast
[FREE] 8:30 pm: Typically sharp NYC stand-ups (for an update, please click here) performing at Cake Shop (152 Ludlow Street, between Rivington & Stanton) hosted by Kate Berlant (MTV, CNN, notable hair): Crime & Punishment
[FREE] 8:30 pm: Nick Vatterott (Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central’s The Half Hour, MTV, Second City, 2012 Andy Kaufman Award), Matt Ruby (MTV; co-host of Hot Soup and We’re All Friends Here, blog Sandpaper Suit), Andy Hendrickson, Taylor Clark, Matt Fulchiron, and Josh Gondelman performing at Lolita Bar hosted by Steven Forrest, Taylor Ketchum, and/or Andy Sandford: Shipwreck Kelly
[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($5): Joe DeRosa (razor-sharp rising star stand-up; HBO’s Bored to Death and Down and Dirty, Comedy Central Presents, comedy CD The Depression Auction), Jena Friedman (wry dark comedy stand-up and rising star; producer for The Daily Show, former staff writer for David Letterman, host of Entertaining the Bartender), Rudi Macaggi (acrobat; Jay Leno, three seasons of America’s Got Talent), Dan Wilbur (author of How Not to Read), and more performing at The Slipper Room (167 Orchard Street) hosted by Seth Herzog (Jimmy Fallon, VH1): Sweet
[FREE] 9:00 pm: Brooke Van Poppelen (writer for MTV’s Epic Fall; trutV, TLC, co-host of Dive Comedy; for stand-up videos about overindulging at 30 and impersonating Morrisey, please click here and here), Sachi Ezura, Aaron Glaser, Doug Smith, Karl Hess, and Sean Wilkinson performing stand-up at this weekly show at Brooklyn’s The Alligator Lounge (600 Metropolitan Avenue) hosted by Sean Donnelly, Steve O’Brien, Robert Dean, and/or Kevin McCaffrey: Comedy at Alligator Lounge
9:15 pm-Midnight ($5): Long form improv known as The Harold from UCB Chelsea house troupes Rocks, GoodGirl, and Bucky—plus advanced improv students “are going to challenge themselves by performing a show that they only just learned,” summed up as Instant Gratification—at this second half (continued from 7:30 pm) of Harold Night
[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): A weekly wild experiment in dark comedy, blending sketch and improv, from two of the most brilliant, fearless, and innovative comics in the biz, John Gemberling (Death by Roo Roo, Adult Swim, Comedy Central) and Anthony Atamanuik (Death by Roo Roo, 30 Rock, Conan O’Brien, Huffington Post, The Nights of Our Lives)—with tonight’s theme “the latest NASA space program”—at UCB East, plus tonight’s guests Mark Normand (hilarious stand-up; Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central; co-host of Hot Soup and We’re All Friends Here), Matt Ruby (MTV; co-host of Hot Soup and We’re All Friends Here, blog Sandpaper Suit), Matt Ruby (MTV; co-host of Hot Soup and We’re All Friends Here, blog Sandpaper Suit), and Robert Petric, as well as producer Andy Rocco: The Tony and Johnny Show
9:30 pm ($5): NYC stand-ups (not announced) performing stand-up at The PIT downstairs lounge hosted by Chris Grace: Cold Soda Comedy
[TOP PICK] [$] 10:00 pm ($12 plus 2-item food/drink min.): Ted Alexandro (one of the very finest stand-ups in the country; David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, two Comedy Central Presents half-hour specials; frequently opens for Louis C.K.), Dave Attell (star of Comedy Central’s Insomniac, David Letterman, IFC), Big Jay Oakerson (Comedy Central Presents, HBO, Showtime, MTV), Godfrey (Comedy Central Presents, Louie, 30 Rock, VH1; films Zoolander, Original Gangsters, Soul Plane; 7 Up Yours ads), Louis Katz (Jimmy Fallon, HBO, Comedy Central Presents), Gregg Rogell (Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno, Louie, Comedy Central), Lynn Koplitz (IFC’s Z Rock, host of WB’s Life & Style), and more performing at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane): Ted Alexandro, Dave Attell, and More
[$] 10:00 pm ($15 & 2-drink min.): James Davis (FOX’s new In Living Color, Chelsea Lately, Barack Obama in this viral video), Sean O’Connor (Conan O’Brien, writer for MTV Music Awards), Kevin Bozeman (Comedy Central), and more performing stand-up at the Gotham Comedy Club hosted by Jared Logan (rising star; Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central): ComedyJuice
[FREE] 10:00 pm: Ben Kronberg (Jimmy Kimmel, Comedy Central, MTV), Brian Moylan (Gawker), and Ned Hepburn participating in a talk show at Queens LIC’s The Creek upstairs theatre hosted by Brandon Wetherbee: You, Me, Them, Everybody Live
11:00 pm ($1): A breathtaking 40 comics are given 2 minutes each in this rapid-fire open-mic stand-up show at The PIT upstairs theatre hosted with wit and energy by Jay Welch: Bring It
[FREE] 11:00 pm: Open-mic stand-up at UCB East hosted by Boris Khaykin, John Trowbridge, and/or Katie East: Tuesday Night Open Mic
From legendary NYC comedy site Brooklyn Vegan: If you want to know what is happening in NYC comedy on a particular day, you gotta get hip to this dude Hy Bender and his site Best New York Comedy. The site is updated daily and features a super exhaustive look at what is happening in the NYC comedy world that particular day. The site is updated religiously…It is your daily comedy itinerary and it scares me how on top of his shit this guy is.
Best New York Comedy 