Best New York Comedy

For more, please visit HyReviews.com.

Catch a new Kroll Show tonight at 10:30 on Comedy Central.

Author Ted Travelstead (new book above) celebrates the Fourth Anniversary of storytelling show How I Learned…

…and Ophira Eisenberg, Adam Wade, John Flynn, Dave Martin, and Christian Cappozoli celebrate the Seventh Anniversary of storytelling show The Nights of Our Lives

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:

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 6:00 pm: Comics performing funny characters audition at The Magnet to appear in the most prestigious comedy festival in Canada: Just for Laughs Character Auditions

[FREE] 6:00 pm: Open-mic stand-up for 15 comics performing for 5 minutes each at Queens LIC’s Laughing Devil Comedy Club (4738 Vernon Blvd.)—with drinks at half price: Happy Hour Open Mic

[FREE] 6:00 pm: Open-mic stand-up providing 3 minutes per comic at Queens LIC’s The Creek upstairs theatre hosted by Max Corbel & Benel Germosen: Cracking It

[FREE] 7:00 pm to midnight: Six free hours of improvisation at The PIT upstairs theatre: Super Free Wednesday

7:00 pm-12:30 am ($7 for the entire evening): Magnet house troupes Dr. Champagne, Nintendo, Flower Girl, Featherweight, Bloomer, Brick, The Wrath, and Chet Watkins performing improv, followed by a free audience interactive show with The Wrath at 11:30 pm: The Magnet’s Megawatt

7:30 pm ($5): Expanding the UCB longform improv showcased on Harold Night is this weekly show at UCB East which tonight features troupes Graceland and Spooky Ghost: Lloyd Night

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 8:00 pm: Celebrating this monthly show’s Fourth Anniversary are storytellers Ted Travelstead (brilliant writer/comic; Vanity Fair, author of The Petraeus Files and Sex: Our Bodies, Our Junk), Katherine Lanpher (WNYC), David Crabb (co-host of Ask Me Stories), Kambri Crews (author of Burn Down the Ground), and Elicia Berger (Real Characters) performing at Happy Ending (302 Broome Street) hosted by Blaise Allysen Kearsley: How I Learned: Fourth Anniversary

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): A dozen stand-ups—including Kurt Metzger, Adrienne Iapalucci, Brooke Van Poppelen, Sam Morril, Harrison Greenbaum, and Nore Davis—audition for a Nebraska festival inspired by Johnny Carson at The PIT downstairs lounge, hosted by Chris Grace: Great American Comedy Festival Showcase

8:00 pm (no cover, 1-item min.): Sasheer Zamata (highly charming, innovative rising star; Comedy Central’s Inside Amy Schumer, FX’s Totally Biased; host of UCBT’s School Night, member of red-hot improv troupe Doppelganger, sketch troupe The Prom, and Harold Night troupe Bucky), Matt Ruby (MTV; co-host of Hot Soup and We’re All Friends Here, blog Sandpaper Suit), Catie Lazarus, Dawn Fraser, Rojo Perez, and Brendan Eyre performing performing at McSwiggan’s (393 Second Avenue off 23rd Street) with hosts Selena Coppock, Dan Cartwright, and/or Emily Epstein: Connotation

[FREE] 8:00 pm: 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

[$] 8:00 pm ($14 plus 2-item food/drink min.): Nick DiPaolo (star stand-up, with numerous appearances on David Letterman, Jay Leno, Louie; Emmy-nominated comedy writer, talk show host), Keith Robinson (HBO, Comedy Central, Wanda Sykes Show), Sherrod Small (writer/performer on TBS’ Are We There Yet?, Comedy Central, VH1), DC Benny (Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, ABC’s The Unusuals), and Jeff Lamp (Jay Leno) performing at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane) hosted by Ardie Fuqua: Nick DiPaolo and More

[FREE] 9:00 pm: Nick Vatterott (Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central’s The Half Hour, MTV, Second City, 2012 Andy Kaufman Award), Roger Hailes (Jimmy Fallon, Chappelle’s Show, VH1, MTV; writer for FUSE’s A Different Spin with Mark Hoppus), Sabrina Jalees (Last Comic Standing, MTV’s Failosophy), Tim Warner, Alexis Guerreros, and Joe Harrington performing stand-up at this free weekly comedy show at Lucky Jack’s Bar (129 Orchard Street) produced by Kyle Fincham, Lance Weiss, and Brendon Fitzgibbons: Gandhi, Is That You?

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): One of the finest comedic storytelling shows in the country, in which brilliant writer/performers—who tonight are Adam Wade, Ophira Eisenberg, John Flynn, Christian Cappozoli, and wonderful host Dave Martin tell tales that are brutally honest and utterly hilarious for this Seventh Anniversary show, featuring some of its finest past stories, at the UCB Chelsea theatre: The Nights of Our Lives

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($5): Superb improvisors—and actual brothers—Will Hines and Kevin Hines perform color commentary on an improv set by other top improvisors at UCB East for this monthly event: The Brothers Hines: Play by Play

[TOP PICK] [$] 9:45 pm ($14 plus 2-item food/drink min.): John Mulaney (one of the finest stand-ups in the country; writer/performer for Saturday Night Live; Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central Presents, one hour special & CD/DVD New in Town, VH1’s Best Week Ever; for John’s great bit on Weekend Update, please click here), Judah Friedlander (one of the quickest minds in comedy; 30 Rock, Meet the Parents, Along Came Polly, author of How to Beat Up Anybody), Nick Griffin (David Letterman, Jay Leno, Comedy Central Presents), Gregg Rogell (Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno, Louie, Comedy Central), and Godfrey (Comedy Central Presents, Louie, 30 Rock, VH1; films Zoolander, Original Gangsters, Soul Plane; 7 Up Yours ads) performing stand-up at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane) hosted by Ardie Fuqua: John Mulaney, Judah Friedlander, Nick Griffin, and More

[TOP PICK] 10:00 pm ($5): The instructors of UCB’s classes include some of the finest improvisors in the country. In this new weekly show a bunch of them get on stage at UCB East, along with hosts Betsy Stover and Ari Voukydis: Hot for Teacher: The UCB Faculty Show

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 10:00 pm: Rising stand-up stars—Jared Logan, Mike Lawrence, Mark Normand, Dan. St. Germain, Emily Heller, Michael Che, Joe List, Dan Soder, Calise Hawkins, and/or more—at Queens LIC’s The Creek upstairs theatre: The Regulars

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 11:00 pm: The wonderful Sasheer Zamata (Comedy Central’s Inside Amy Schumer, FX’s Totally Biased; comedy troupes Doppelganger, The Prom, Bucky) hosts as many as a dozen guests packed into 75 minutes performing stand-up, improv, sketch, and occasionally acts that defy categorization. The level of talent can vary wildly, but for some (like me), that’s part of the laid-back fun; and this is often one of the most amazing comedy shows in town. (Tonight’s scheduled guests include Abbi Crutchfield, Meghan O’Keefe, Eddie Brawley, and Jason Saenz; for the complete list, please click here.) Come support the experimentation, and periodic magical surprises, that this uniquely organic rollercoaster of a weekly show at UCB Chelsea makes possible—and don’t forget to toss $1 in the bucket on your way out: School Night

[FREE] 11:00 pm: Open-mic stand-up running until 1:00 am, with time divided evenly between performers (up to five minutes), at The Creek downstairs lounge in Queens’ Long Island City with host Rob Stern: Bucket ‘O Buckets

[FREE] 11:00 pm: Your opportunity to perform on the stage of UCB East with improv veterans, hosted by UCBT Harold Night house troupe Grandma’s Ashes: The Improv Jam

[TOP PICK] [$] 11:30 pm ($10 plus 2-item food/drink min.): Uncensored stand-up from Big Jay Oakerson (Comedy Central Presents, HBO, Showtime, MTV), Nikki Glaser (co-star of MTV’s The Nikki and Sara Show; Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno, Last Comic Standing; podcast You Had to Be There), Kurt Metzger (Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central Presents, Ugly Americans), Andrew Schulz (MTV2’s Guy Code), and Wil Sylvince (Comedy Central, BET’s Comic View) performing at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane) hosted by Ardie Fuqua: The Nasty Show: Big Jay Oakerson, Nikki Glaser, Kurt Metzger, and More

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.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 27th, 2013 at 10:42 am and is filed under Best New York Live Comedy Shows. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.