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Star stand-up Ted Alexandro performs at Comedy Cellar and Schtick a Pole In It for Xmas…
…and autotune masters The Gregory Brothers make the holidays sing at Sweet
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: 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, four of The Magnet’s singing improv troupes make up a musical on the spot based on an audience suggestion: Legend and Aquarius (at 7:00) and Fisticuffs and Vulcan (at 8:30); followed at 10:15 by a free show that lets audience members join in with musical improv troupe Vulcan to make up stories in song: Musical Magnet Mixer
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 7:00 pm: Comics creators Brandon Perlow & Paul J. Mendoza (Watson and Holmes) joining super-hosts Alex Zalben, Justin Tyler, and Pete LePage in a lively & hilarious discussion about four-color pop culture at Fontana’s (105 Eldridge Street), with giveaways of comics and gift certificates: Comic Book Club
7:00 pm ($5): A one-man show by Shawtane Monroe Bowen featuring storytelling, characters, and a song at The PIT downstairs lounge: I Don’t Even Have Shoes
7:30 pm-9:15 pm ($5): Long form improv known as The Harold from UCB Chelsea house troupes The Regulars, Sherlock & Cookies, and Salmon Diane at this first half of Harold Night
[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 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.), Hannibal Buress (former staff writer for 30 Rock, Saturday Night Live; David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon, Louie, The Eric Andre Show, host of Comedy Night, one-hour Comedy Central special Animal Furnace), Gregg Rogell (Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno, Louie, Comedy Central), Keith Robinson (HBO, Comedy Central, Wanda Sykes Show), Jeff Lamp (Jay Leno), and Dan Soder (Comedy Central, VH1; for set about being a hypochondriatic drug user, please click here) performing at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane) with emcee William Stephenson: Ted Alexandro, Hannibal Buress, and More
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm (no cover, 1 drink min.): Mike Lawrence (nerd persona but razor-sharp mind has made this stand-up a rapidly rising star; Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central’s John Oliver’s NY Stand-Up), Kyle Dunnigan (Comedy Central Presents), Louis Katz (Jimmy Fallon, HBO, Comedy Central Presents), Emily Heller (Comedy Central; staff writer for Rooftop Comedy; for ruminations on pregnancy, please click here), Chazz Hawkins, and Josh Gondelman performing stand-up on this week’s topic Story of Us at Sidewalk NYC (94 Avenue A) produced by Chenoa Estrada, Emily Heller, and George Gordon and hosted tonight by Emily Heller: The Afterlife: Story of Us
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Shannon O’Neill (comedy genius), Morgan Grace Jarrett (wonderful comedic actress), Lydia Hensler (member of red-hot improv troupe Grandma’s Ashes), and Brandon Scott Jones (top sketch troupe Stone Cold Fox, red-hot improv troupe Grandma’s Ashes, top comedic play Death Wears Stilettos) host a showcase of female comics at UCB East who tonight are Sue Smith, Athena Reich, Nicole Pasquale, Julie Kraut: Ladies Night: Men Welcome
8:00 pm ($5): Jeffrey Joseph (Jay Leno, HBO, FOX’s In Living Color, Comedy Central), Michael Che (David Letterman, Comedy Central), Jim Tews, Zach Broussard, Nate Fridson, and more performing stand-up at Brooklyn’s Union Hall for this show hosted by Calvin Cole & Sharron Paul that calls attention to its inexpensive price: Cheap Date
8:00 pm ($10 at the door or $11.75 online): A bizarre mix of comedy and pole dancing for the holidays, featuring world-class stand-up Ted Alexandro (David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, two Comedy Central Presents half-hour specials; frequently opens for Louis C.K.), plus stand-ups Adam Lehman, Dan Goodman, Kerryn Feehan, and JoAnna Ross, and a whole bunch of gal pole dancers, at R Bar (218 Bowery, between Rivington and Prince Streets): Schtick a Pole In It for Xmas
8:00 pm ($8): “A special cancery retelling of A Christmas Carol that will warm your heart and make you get a cancer screening” starring H. Alan Scott at The PIT upstairs theatre: A SRSLY Grumpy Holiday
8:00 pm ($5): Four sketch comics (not announced) each show off his or her best solo character work for this unique show at The PIT downstairs lounge, hosted by Sam Martin & Matthew Robert Gehring: Comedy Expo
[FREE] 8:00 pm: NYC stand-ups (sadly, not announced) performing at Queens LIC’s The Creek upstairs theatre, hosted by the wonderful Joe Pera, Dan Licata, and Charles Gould: Dan + Joe + Charles’ Show
[TOP PICK] [$] 8:30 pm ($15 plus 2-drink min.): Big Jay Oakerson (Comedy Central Presents, HBO, Showtime, MTV), Joe Matarese (David Letterman, Chelsea Lately, Comedy Central Presents, Bravo, IFC), Dave Smith, Luis J. Gomez, and more 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
[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($5): Neal Brennan (razor-sharp, edgy comedy veteran; HBO, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, co-creator of Chappelle’s Show), The Gregory Brothers (awesome autotune guys), Seaton Smith (Opie & Anthony Virus Tour), Kara Klenk (Comedy Central, Spike, Nickelodeon; host of If You Bring It), and more performing stand-up at The Slipper Room (167 Orchard Street) hosted by Seth Herzog (Jimmy Fallon, 30 Rock, VH1): Sweet
[FREE] 9:00 pm: Andy Sandford (member of The Beards of Comedy), Nick Maritato (Meatsteak, This American Life), Erin Lennox (host of DTF, co-host of The Orphanage; for a sample of Erin’s dynamite Seriously Sports show, please click here), Gibran Saleem (The Gun Show), and Zach Sims (MTVU) 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 Guthrie, A Sparrow, 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 Buttcracker, some old communist’s stupid dance-play about a common worker, a plumber, who fixes a politburo elites shit-stuffed toilet on Christmas eve. Bring your children so we can fondle them”—at UCB East, plus tonight’s guests Jamie Lee (Conan O’Brien, Last Comic Standing, MTV’s Ridiculousness, VH1), Trevor Williams (Comedy Central, CollegeHumor), and Brian Frange, plus producer Andy Rocco: The Tony and Johnny Show
9:30 pm ($8): A dozen sharp talents deliver brand new sketch comedy at The PIT upstairs theatre: Big Business
[TOP PICK] [$] 10:00 pm ($12 plus 2-item food/drink min.): Dave Attell (star of Comedy Central’s Insomniac, David Letterman, IFC), Godfrey (Comedy Central Presents, Louie, 30 Rock, VH1; films Zoolander, Original Gangsters, Soul Plane; 7 Up Yours ads), Jermaine Fowler (FOX’s new In Living Color, MTV, Adult Swim’s The Eric Andre Show), Modi (HBO’s The Sopranos, Comedy Central), Ryan Hamilton (Conan O’Brien, Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, Showtime), Sherrod Small (writer/performer on TBS’ Are We There Yet?, Comedy Central, VH1), and Mike Vecchione (Mike Vecchione (Last Comic Standing, Howard Stern) performing at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane) with emcee William Stephenson: Dave Attell, Godfrey, and More
[$] 10:00 pm ($15 & 2-drink min.): Jessica Kirson (Jay Leno, Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, HBO, Showtime, Bravo, VH1, Logo one-woman show My Cookie’s Gone), Matt Fulchiron (Comedy Central Half Hour, Tosh.O), Pete Lee (Comedy Central Half Hour), Adam Lowitt (Co-Executive Producer of The Daily Show), Andrew Schulz (MTV 2’s Guy Code), and more performing stand-up at the Gotham Comedy Club hosted by Jared Logan (rising star; Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central): ComedyJuice
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 10:00 pm: NYC stand-ups (not announced) performing dirty, smutty, filthy jokes at Queens LIC’s The Creek upstairs theatre hosted by Jefferson: Blue
[ALMOST FREE] 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 