Best New York Comedy

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John Hodgman hosts the end of the world…

…at “That Is All”

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 happen at 5:45-6:00 pm) at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City with hosts Erin Lennox and Eli Sairs: The Orphanage

[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm & 10:00 pm ($15 at the door or $18.88 in advance here and here; both performances of these shows are SOLD OUT, but you can check https://twitter.com/bellhouseny for any tickets suddenly becoming available): John Hodgman (The Daily Show, PC vs. Mac commercials, bestselling author) hosts a show with his friends to celebrate the Mayan calendar’s end of the world. “Learn what to hoard after the collapse of civilization, how to ride The Blood Wave, and which wines to enjoy before the imminent catastrophe experts call The Coming Global Superpocalypse but which you may call Ragnarok for short. Along with musician Cynthia Hopkins and other special guests, Hodgman will count down to midnight, when his predictions will be proved TRUE! Or else FALSE! Whatever happens, it will be a night of cathartic comedy, song, and strange emotions that you will either immediately or never forget” at Brooklyn’s The Bell House (149 7th Street, between Second and Third Avenues): That Is All

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 7:00 pm: Matt Koff (Onion News Network, WitStream, 9 Am Meeting) debuts a sketch show written by him, directed by Will Hines, and tonight starring Amber Nelson, Ashley Brooke Roberts, Rob Stern, Dan St. Germain, and Matt Koff at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City: The Matt Koff Show

[FREE] 7:00 pm: Open-mic stand-up, with 3 minutes per comic (unless not many folks show up, in which case there’ll be more time), with names drawn out of a bucket at UCB East in the bar area (“Hot Chicks Room”) hosted by Nate Dern and Paul Oddo: The Friday Night Hot Chicks Mic

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10): The unsinkable Mamrie Hart (rising star who’s snared over 330,000 visits to date with her Harry Potter viral video) hosts eulogies at UCB East for one of the finest actors of our time: Celebrity Funeral: Johnny Depp

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Brent Sullivan, Greg Barris, Jacqueline Novak, comedic rappers James & Crosby Romberger, and more perform at Brooklyn’s Union Pool (484 Union Avenue) along with sketches from Moon cast members who now along such superb talents as Joe Pera and Riley Soloner, and hosts Nat Towsen & Bob Walles: The Moon Show: End of the World Party

[$] 8:00 pm & 10:30 pm ($20 plus 2-item food/drink min.): Myq Kaplan (one of the quickest minds in comedy, and rapidly rising star; finalist on most recent Last Comic Standing; David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno, Comedy Central Presents, hit comedy CD Vegan Mind Meld), Brian Mcfadden, Scott Sharp, and more performing stand-up at Queens LIC’s Laughing Devil Comedy Club (4738 Vernon Blvd.): Myq Kaplan and More

[FREE] 8:00 pm: Ben Kronberg (Jimmy Kimmel, Comedy Central, MTV), Claudia Cogan (Last Comic Standing, MTV, Logo, here! TV), John Moses, and Julie Kottakis performing in the East Village’s Beauty Bar for this free weekly show hosted by Josh Carter, Josh Homer, and/or Adam Mamawala: Zebra Cake

[FREE] 8:00 pm: NYC stand-ups Ashley Brooke Roberts, Chris Laker, Zach Broussard, Peggy O’Leary, and Adam Sokol perform sets to be used as audition tapes—so they’ll be trying hard to make you laugh—at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City hosted by Jordan Carlos: Caught on Tape

[$] 8:00 pm & 10:30 pm ($38.25 & 2-drink min.): A cast member of the much-missed Chappelle’s Show headlining one last night at the Carolines Comedy Club: Donnell Rawlings

[TOP PICK] 8:30 pm ($5): Before this Magnet show, audience members may anonymously submit written confessions, secrets, rants, advice and opinions which will be used onstage by the improvisors—who include such talents as Laura Grey (stellar old-time radio style theatrical podcast Horrorgasm, top Maude sketch troupe Gramp’s, sketch/improv duo Klepper & Grey). Tonight’s special “end of the world” episode includes troupe Eaglefox and guest female comics joining in: The Friday Night Sh*w: Sh*wmageddon Edition

[FREE] 8:30ish pm: Bonnie McFarlane, Seaton Smith, Matt Ruby, Alice Wetterlund, and more performing stand-up at Brooklyn’s Red Star (37 Greenpoint Avenue) hosted by Annie Lederman and followed by wild Karaoke: Pirate Party

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): A gathering of superb comedic musicians, who tonight are Chris “Shockwave” Sullivan (amazing human boombox; The Daily Show, The Electric Company, Freestyle Love Supreme, co-host of The BEATdown), 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), Afterbirth Monkey, and Katie & Lance, performing at UCB East hosted by superb musical group Summer & Eve (for samples, please click here): Earworm Funny Music Party Show

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($5): One of my favorite people, Julie Sharbutt—who’s performed with some of the greatest improvisors alive at UCBT’s Gravid Water—goes for improv gold herself with comedy partner Cathleen Carr (Birds, The Scene, Dos Experimentos) as they “hope to establish themselves as the leading voices in contemporary South Boston crime noir improv comedy. Watch them, along with tonight’s guests Erick Hellwig, Bob Kulhan, and  Chris Roberti, unspool a suspenseful, heavily-accented mystery thrilla” at The PIT downstairs lounge: Mystic Improv

[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 9:00 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): TV & movie star Janeane Garofalo, Todd Barry (David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Comedy Central Presents, FX’s Louie, HBO’s Flight of the Conchords and Bored to Death, Adult Swim, feature films The Wrestler and Pete Smalls is Dead), and more performing at the only comedy club in the East Village: Eastville Comedy Club

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10, 1 drink min.): Wyatt Cenac, Nikki Glaser, and more performing stand-up to ease our leaving this plane of existence at Sidewalk NYC (94 Avenue A) hosted by Emily Heller, Erin Judge, George Gordeon, and Josh Gondelman : The Afterlife: End of the World Anniversay Show

9:30 pm ($10): A PIT improv troupe making up a musical on the spot after a friendly greeting: Hello

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 10:00 pm: An army of stand-ups—Mike Lawrence, Dan St. Germain, Michael Che, Amber Nelson, Ashley Brooke Roberts, Jermaine Fowler, Erik Bergstrom, Bonnie McFarlane, Jeffrey Joseph, Pat Dixon, Michelle Wolf, and many more—gather to celebrate the end of the planet at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City, hosted by Nick Vatterott, to ensure the world ends with a laugh: Joke’s Over

[TOP PICK] 10:00 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”—quite beautifully, in fact, as Rebecca is not only a sharp improvisor but a powerhouse singer—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

10:30 pm ($5): NYC comics (not announced) performing at UCB East hosted by Emily Axford, D’Arcy Carden, Alden Ford, Brandon Scott Jones, and/or Justin Tyler: Gentrify

11:30 ($5): Comics (not announced) are talk show guests at The PIT upstairs theatre hosted by Paul Gutkowski (for a brief video promo, please click here): Sex in the Late Night Air

[TOP PICK] [FREE] Midnight: NYC stand-ups—sometimes stellar ones—pushing boundaries for a show designed for looseness and experimentation at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City with hosts Jacqueline Novak and Chris Laker: Permission to Fail

Midnight ($5): Screenings at UCB East (which used to be an indie film theatre) of brand new comedy videos that haven’t yet been released, tonight focusing on material from UCB video team Scraps and UCBComedy.com: Test Screening

 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.