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Sharp, unique, and beloved comics Amber Nelson…
…and Kate Berlant each perform 30 minutes of stand-up at Long Sets
Tonight’s recommendations for the best in New York City comedy (in chronological order, with top picks noted and shows over $10 marked with $) include:
[MEGA-TOP PICK] [$] 7:00 pm ($25 at the door or $31.50 online, and no food/drink min.; please note Mike says discount code DAISEY will get you $20 tickets, and while it’s not working online it might if you buy at the box office): MIke Daisey is one of the finest and most respected storytellers alive; and he’s not resting on his prior achievements. Just within the past year Mike churned out an amazing nine new shows at Joe’s Pub (including such instant classics as Fucking Fucking Fucking Ayn Rand and Five Technical Rehearsals in India)…and that was a mere prequel. Mike is now embarked on telling 29 new shows in a row in a 29-night, 44-hour monologue that’s “a living theatrical novel.” See it live at Joe’s Pub (425 Lafayette Street, between East 4th Street & Astor Place), or experience it at your convenience for FREE via iTunes (I’ll be doing a mix of both): All the Faces of the Moon
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 7:00 pm: Big Jay Oakerson (Comedy Central Presents, Louie, HBO, Showtime, MTV, IFC) tries out new material every night this week at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City: Week at the Creek: Big Jay Oakerson
7:00 pm ($5): “Theatrical improv that blurs the boundaries between scenes, allowing for disparate characters to affect each other in unexpected ways” at The Magnet theatre: Crosstalk
7:00 pm ($8): Sketch comedy set in the Old West at The PIT upstairs theatre: Outlaw, Kansas
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): At UCB Chelsea, four-gal comedy group Georgie Aldaco, Danielle Gibson, Viviana Olen, and Katie Simon perform a series of surreal sketches that are both unsettling and charged with comedic energy. A long bit about a mother threatening to do something surprising to her husband and son is an instant classic (when you see it, you’ll have no doubt what sketch I’m talking about…). The show could be greatly improved with periodic nuanced emotion to create a roller coaster effect—right now the audience is hit with surface shock after shock, which after a while desensitizes and loses impact—but if you’re open to the purity of conceptual comedy that challenges your sanity, you’ll enjoy Former Business Partners: Everything Must Go…
…and in the other half of this double-bill, a musical “based on the true history of the founding of America, in which Jesus Christ embarks on a journey to help build a country that’s courageous, pious, and gun-crazy enough for his precious Constitution…as long as the evil King Barack Hussein George III doesn’t get in the way,” written by Eric Gersen and directed by John Flynn: Seventeen Seventy-Something
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($8 at the door or $9.47 online): Great lineup of Josie Long (visiting UK star who’s among my favorites; BBC New Comedy Award), Sean Patton (one of the finest stand-ups in the country; killer sets on Jimmy Fallon and Conan O’Brien, upcoming Comedy Central Half Hour, VH1, feature film Wifed Out; co-host of Comedy as a Second Language, frequent guest-host of Whiplash), Mike Lawrence (nerd persona but razor-sharp mind has made this stand-up a rapidly rising star; Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central Half Hour, John Oliver’s NY Stand-Up, comedy album Sadamantium), Brooke Van Poppelen (brilliant writer, stand-up, and storyteller; writer and/or producer for MTV’s Guy Code, Girl Code, Failosophy, and Nikki & Sara Show; trutV, TLC, co-host of Dive Comedy), Brent Sullivan (Comedy Central; for video about crying while reading The Giving Tree, please click here), and Tony Deyo performing at Brooklyn’s Littlefield (622 Degraw Street) hosted by Wyatt Cenac (former star correspondent for The Daily Show, Comedy Central hour-long special, Adult Swim): Night Train
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Nick Vatterott (Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central Half Hour, MTV, Second City, 2012 Andy Kaufman Award), Katina Corrao (HBO, Logo, co-host of Lasers in the Jungle), Ben Kronberg (Jimmy Kimmel, Comedy Central Half Hour, MTV, ABC), and Nate Fernald (Team Submarine) performing stand-up at UCB East hosted by Adam Newman (David Letterman, Comedy Central, MTV): Comedy Central Corporate Retreat
[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm ($12 plus 2-item food/drink min.): Colin Quinn (SNL, Comedy Central’s Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, HBO, NBC, Broadway), 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), 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), Big Jay Oakerson (Comedy Central Presents, Louie, HBO, Showtime, MTV, IFC), Jermaine Fowler (MTV’s Guy Code and Wildn Out, Comedy Central, Adult Swim’s The Eric Andre Show), Jeff Lamp (Jay Leno, Comedy Central), and Jerrod Carmichael performing stand-up at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane) hosted by Erik Rivera (Jay Leno, MTV): Colin Quinn, Hannibal Buress, Big Jay Oakerson, and More
[FREE] 8:00 pm: Four improvisers form teams with comics they’ve never performed with before at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City: The Kaleidoscope
[TOP PICK] 8:30 pm ($5): Elana Fishbein performs an usual one-woman improv show at The Magnet theatre: Pepita; plus improv group Weekend of Regret
[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($8): Amber Nelson (fearless, innovative rising star; Comedy Central; sketch troupe The Prom) and Kate Berlant (MTV, CNN, host of Crime & Punishment, notable hair) each perform delicously long 30-minute stand-up sets at The PIT upstairs theatre hosted by John Early: Long Sets with Amber Nelson and Kate Berlant
[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): At this UCB Chelsea double-bill, first sketch troupe Boat performs 30 minutes of bits at Boat: Comedic Sketches; and then a legendary improv group that includes Gavin Speiller, Silvija Ozols, Jim Santangeli, and Eddie Dunn perform: Rogue Elephant
9:30 pm ($5): Improv veterans Brandon Gardner, Chelsea Clarke, Phillip Jackson, and/or Steve Theiss hosting & performing in a show at UCB East with guest improvisors: Improv Nerds
[FREE] 9:30 pm: Long-form improv from troupe CSO at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City: Casual Sex Offenders
10:00 pm ($5): Duo improv from groups Megalou, Candy Van, MalBec, and McLarnon & Atwood at The Magnet theatre: The Duo Show
[$] 10:00 pm ($12 plus 2-item food/drink min.): Dave Attell (one of the most respected stand-ups in the biz; star of Showtime’s Dave’s Old Porn and Comedy Central’s Insomniac; HBO, David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno, The Daily Show, Comedy Central Presents), Greer Barnes (David Letterman, Chappelle’s Show, For the Love of the Game), Wil Sylvince (Comedy Central, BET’s Comic View), Marina Franklin (Jay Leno, Last Comic Standing, Chappelle’s Show, VH1), Andrew Schulz (MTV’s Guy Code, Girl Code, Failosophy), TuRae (Comedy Central), Phil Hanley (Craig Ferguson, Comedy Central), and Modi (Comedy Central) performing stand-up at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane) hosted by Erik Rivera (Jay Leno, MTV): Dave Attell, Greer Barnes, Wil Sylvince, and More
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 11:00 pm: Some of the finest comics in the world—who aren’t announced in advance, but it’s virtually always a great lineup—at UCB Chelsea hosted by the wonderful Leo Allen (HBO, Saturday Night Live, Conan O’Brien, Comedy Central): Whiplash
Monday Open Mics & Jams
5:00 pm ($5): Two-hour open-mic for 20 stand-ups performing for 5 minutes each, with sign-up online here, at the Stand Up NY Comedy Club (236 West 78th Street): Stand Up NY Open Mic
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 6:00 pm: Open-mic storytelling, with names drawn out of a can at Tammany Hall (152 Orchard Street), hosted by Susan Kent & Victoria Scroggins: Tell It Manhattan Open-Mic Storytelling
6:00 pm & 8:00 pm (no cover, 1 drink min. for both comics and audience members): Open mic stand-up providing 5-7 minutes per comic, with each show running 1 hour and 45 minutes. Arrive 30 minutes before the show you want to be in to get on the signup sheet. This is a fine opportunity to perform at the only comedy club in the East Village: Eastville Comedy Club Open Mic
[FREE] 6:00 pm: An open-mic stand-up show, with 10 comics each performing for 5 minutes, at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City hosted by Abigoliah Schamaun & Peggy O’Leary: Dicks Open Mic
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 6:30 pm: Open-mic storytelling, with names drawn out of a bucket at UCB East in the bar area (“Hot Chicks Room”), hosted by Julia Wiedeman: Happy Hour Open-Mic Storytelling with Julia Wiedeman
7:00 pm ($2, which includes a free beer or water): Open mic stand-up providing a whopping 10 minutes per comic. Email PhoningItInMic@gmail.com with subject line Phoning Monday to sign up; or take a chance at lottery sign-up live between 6:45 and 7:45 at Brit Pack Studios (153 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor) hosted by Tim Duffy: Comics Phoning It In
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
10:30 pm ($5): Improv veterans Brandon Gardner, Chelsea Clarke, and Phillip Jackson hosting & performing in a show at UCB East with improvisors taken from the audience…and who may include you: Improv Nerds Jam
[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 & Langston Belton: Base Jam
[ALMOST FREE] 11:00 pm ($1): If you’re an audience member who loves stand-up, Monday at 11 should be Whiplash! night. 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 Jarrid Reed: Fresh
Best Inexpensive Stand-Up, Improv, Sketch, and Storytelling
Upright Citizens Brigade Chelsea
(307 West 26th Street; 150-seater; shows free-$10; one of the most respected comedy theatres in the world)
Upright Citizens Brigade East
(153 East 3rd Street; 99-seat main theatre, bar area for open mics; shows free-$10)
The PIT
(123 East 24th Street; 99-seat upstairs theatre, 40-seat downstairs theatre; shows free-$15)
The Magnet
(254 West 29th Street; 60-seat theatre; shows $5-$10)
The Creek and the Cave
(Queens’ Long Island City; 40-seat theatre upstairs, 25 downstairs; virtually all shows free)
Best NYC Stand-Up Comedy Clubs
Comedy Cellar
(117 MacDougal Street; among the finest daily stand-up lineups in the world; 2-item min.)
The Stand
(239 Third Avenue; recent competitor to Comedy Cellar; no drink min.—support this policy!)
Carolines Comedy Club
(1626 Broadway; focuses on the world’s top headliners, who perform hour-long sets; 2-drink min.)
Gotham Comedy Club
(208 West 23rd Street; headliners on weekends, specialty & lineup shows weekdays; 2-drink min.)
Eastville Comedy Club
(85 East 4th Street; strong weekend lineups; no cover using code HyReviews; 2-drink min.)
Greenwich Village Comedy Club
(99 MacDougal Street; convenient if Comedy Cellar’s sold out; no cover using code HyReviews; 2-drink min.)
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 