Nikki Glaser (star of former Comedy Central series Not Safe, co-star of former MTV interview series The Nikki and Sara Show; Jimmy Fallon, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central Half Hour, @midnight, NBC’s America Ninja Warrior: Celebrity Edition; upcoming hour-long special Perfect; podcast You Had to Be There), Hari Kondabolu (David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, Comedy Central Presents, @midnight; former writer & correspondent for FX’s Totally Biased), Kevin McCaffrey (former warm-up comic for David Letterman; TruTV), Lance Weiss (CMT, co-host of Gandhi, Is That You?), and more perform for Seth Herzog’s Sweet (9:00 pm, $10, The Slipper Room at 167 Orchard Street)
More recommendations for the best in New York City comedy tonight (in chronological order, with top picks noted and shows over $10 marked with $) include:
6:00 pm ($7): An improv show revolving around the song & CD Jock Jamz. Specifically, every scene will be edited with someone screaming “Jock Jams!;” music from Jock Jams will play over the sound system; and all members of the host improv group—which coincidentally is named Jock Jamz—will dance wildly no matter where they are in the theatre until the music stops. This special energy happens with 2-3 guest improv troupes at The PIT Underground: Jock Jamz
[TOP PICK] [$] 7:00 pm ($5 plus 2-item food/drink min.): Broadway, TV, and film star Colin Quinn (Trainwreck, comedy national treasure) hones material for a one-man show at The Fat Black Pussycat Lounge (130 West 3rd Street): Colin Quinn: Law Abiding Criminals
[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm-11:00 pm ($7 for the whole evening): In this 4-hour extravaganza, eight singing & dancing improv groups at The Magnet make up musicals based on audience suggestions, preceded at 6:00 pm by an improv jam open to the audience: Magnet Musical Megawatt
[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm ($7): Guest host Aaron Jackson (stellar improv groups Rumpleteaser, What I Did For Love, Fuck That Shit) and guest character comic Alli Brown (UCB’s Characters Welcome, Laugh or Die, College Humor, Buzzfeed) join this show’s regulars Filip Jeremic (extraordinary character actor and rising star; UCB’s Characters Welcome) & Brittany Lee McDonald creating a myriad of extreme characters tied to a theme—which this month is Jobs—at The PIT Mainstage, typically accompanied by lots of silly costumes and wigs: The Wigging Hour
7:00 pm ($7): Improvisors play outside their comfort zones at The PIT Underground hosted by Dan Pozmanter: Fear Corner
7:00 pm ($7): Stand-ups (not announced) perform at The PIT Underground: Heaps of Comedy: A Stand-Up Show
[TOP PICK] [$] 7:30 pm, 9:30 pm, and 11:30 pm ($12 plus 2-item food/drink min.): Some of the finest stand-ups in the country spread among three shows at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane): Comedy Cellar Tuesday
[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($7): Aparna Nancherla (one of the very finest stand-ups in the country; co-star of HBO’s Crashing and Netflix’s Master of None; former writer for Seth Meyers; Conan O’Brien, @Midnight, Comedy Central Half Hour, comedy album Just Putting It Out There; opens for Tig Notaro; hosts top weekly NYC stand-up show Whiplash), Jordan Temple (writer for MTV’s Decoded), Alyssa Limperis, and Sagar Bhatt perform stand-up on the theme of Therapy & Mental Health at the UCB East theatre hosted by Charles Gould (Comedy Central; co-host of the Dan + Joe + Charles Show): Corporate Retreat: Therapy and Mental Health
[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm ($20 plus 2-item food/drink min.): 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, co-star of feature film The Wrestler, star of delightful documentary The Crowd Work Tour) performs a one-man show mixing improvised crowd work and highly polished jokes at the Village Underground (130 West 3rd Street, off Sixth Avenue): At Least 45 Minutes of Todd Barry
[TOP PICK] [FREE, plus “light refreshments;” RSVP at comedynight@paste.com] 8:00 pm: Josh Gondelman (writer/producer for HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver; Conan O’Brien, The New Yorker), Sasheer Zamata (cast member for three seasons of Saturday Night Live; Comedy Central’s Inside Amy Schumer, Amazon’s Transparent, TBS’ People of Earth), Kendra Cunningham (SNL, Jimmy Fallon, The Tyra Banks Show, Law & Order), Nat Towsen (VICE, College Humor, host of Downtown Variety), Gianmarco Soresi (Seeso; sketch group Uncle Function; acclaimed FringeNYC play <50%), and Dan Perlman (TruTV) perform stand-up at Paste Magazine (350 West Seventh Avenue, Suite 500) hosted by Becca Beberaggi: Comedy Night at Paste Studio
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($10): A classic play by Pulitzer & Tony Award-winning playwright John Patrick Shanley is performed by Alexis Di Gregorio, Nicholas Thomas, and George Walsh with direction by Patrick McCartney at The PIT Loft (154 West 29th Street): The Dreamer Examines His Pillow
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 8:00 pm: Comics creators join super-hosts Alex Zalben, Justin Tyler, and Pete LePage in a lively & hilarious discussion about four-color pop culture at the intimate PIT Attic (up the stairs behind the Mainstage), with giveaways of comics and gift certificates: Comic Book Club
8:00 pm ($7): Storytellers share tales “so horrible they are hilarious, all for your entertainment” at The PIT Mainstage hosted by Francisco Breton & Corey Easley (We’re a Genius): Good, Bad Stories
[FREE; plus FREE DRAFT BEER 8:00-8:30!] 8:00 pm: Clark Jones (co-host of Comedy Night at the Knit), Rojo Perez (MTV’s Decoded), Amy Shanker, and Gilbert Lawand perform stand-up at Brooklyn’s Two Boots Pizza Williamsburg (558 Driggs Avenue) hosted by Lucas Connolly, David Piccolomini, and/or Jake Fromm: Ambush Comedy
8:00 pm ($5): UCB house groups Ice Cold Bev and Flufty make up scenes using the long improv form called The Harold at the UCB Chelsea theatre (see also 9:30 pm): Harold Night, Part 1
[TOP PICK] [$] 8:30 pm ($5 plus 2-item food/drink min.): A former writer/performer for Comedy Central’s The Nightly Show does a one-man stand-up show at The Fat Black Pussycat Lounge (130 West 3rd Street): Mike Yard: I Love This Job
[FREE] 8:30 pm (reserve your free spots by clicking here): Typically terrific stand-ups (for the line-up, usually posted by 1:00 pm, please click here) performing at The Irish Exit (978 Second Avenue, off 52nd Street, in the back room) produced every Tuesday by Mark Normand, Matt Ruby, Gary Vider, and Sachi Ezura: Hot Soup
8:30 pm ($7): In this unique show, improvisors make up a complete family & friends intervention based on an audience suggestion at The PIT Underground: Impro-vention
[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($7): Stand-ups (not announced) present funny lectures on silly topics—e.g., “Octopuses: Squishy Satans of the Sea”—at the UCB East theatre produced by Kara Klenk (writer for MTV’s Girl Code & Guy Code and contributor to Broad City; producer of If You Build It) and hosted by Jim Tews (rising star; Louie, Last Comic Standing; co-host of Fresh Out; New York Times bestselling author of Felines of New York, comedy album I Was in Band): Homeschooled—A Comedic Lecture Series
9:00 pm ($7): Stand-ups Katie Haller, Chris Gersbeck, Sam Bourne, Haley Sacks, and Michael Stanisz are challenged to make up self-important lectures based on topics provided to them on the spot—e.g., “If McDonalds can serve breakfast all day, then shouldn’t I be able to own a gun?” and “‘Do iPhones fool the elderly into thinking they’re living in the future?”—at Astoria Queens’ QED: A Place to Show & Tell (27-16 23rd Avenue) hosted by Ryan Stanisz: Stand-Ups Improvise TED Talks
[FREE] 9:00 pm: NYC stand-ups Adam Friedland, Derek Humphrey, Alex Sprecher, Justin Auslaender, and Mike Guild perform after being introduced by “gloriously bad metalcore music” at Brooklyn’s Tender Trap (66 Greenpoint Avenue; take J/M/Z to Marcy Avenue or L to Lorimer Street) hosted by Tim Unkenholz & Justin Hancock: Buttery Riffz
9:30 pm ($7): Improvisors springboard scenes off readings from Charlie Shulman’s blog People Say I’m Funny at The PIT Mainstage: 700 Mondays
9:30 pm ($5): UCB house groups Moose and Mermaids make up scenes using the long improv form called The Harold at the UCB Chelsea theatre (see also 8:00 pm): Harold Night, Part 2
9:30 pm ($5): Latino comics perform storytelling, improv, and/or more at The PIT Underground: Latinx
[FREE] 10:00 pm: This interactive monthly themed show blends storytelling and stand-up. It begins with one of the hosts doing material on the theme. Then an audience member is asked to share an anecdote on the theme; a stand-up uses the anecdote to begin his or her set; and the cycle repeats. It all happens at The Creek’s upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City hosted by Alex Payne, Ryan Papazian, and Connor McClausland: You Were Saying
[TOP PICK] 10:30 pm ($7): “Once a month the ghosts of two 1940s radio hosts take over the airwaves and force us to listen to their outdated nonsense,” tonight with Jo Firestone, Aaron Jackson, Liz Noth, Morgan Phillips, Lou Gonzales, and Nick Guercio at the UCB East theatre hosted by Rudy Behrens & Mark Dowling: The Golden Age of Radio
10:30 pm ($7): Improv group Hulsh performs and hosts other improv groups at The PIT Mainstage: Improv with Hulsh and Friends
10:30 pm ($7): Comics show off their range by singing original songs—which don’t have to be funny—at The PIT Underground: Comedians Make Music
Tuesday 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
6:00 pm ($3): A chance for gals to get on stage and improvise with veteran female comics at The PIT Loft (154 West 29th Street) hosted by Blair Silverman and friends: Lady Jam
[FREE] 6:00 pm: In this free Magnet show, audience members can join in with musical improv veterans to make up stories in song on the spot: Musical Magnet Mixer
6:00 pm ($5 for both comics and audience members): Open mic stand-up providing 5-7 minutes per comic, running 2 1/2 hours. Arrive 30 minutes before the show 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: Open mic for comedy of all types providing 2 minutes for each performer (with sign-up starting at 6:00) at Queens LIC’s The Creek upstairs theatre hosted by Tim Unkenholz: Butt Factory
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 8:00 pm: This weekly two-hour open mic storytelling show allows each performer 8 minutes to tell a compelling and funny tale at Queens LIC’s The Creek downstairs lounge hosted by Jake Hart and a guest co-host: The Dump
[FREE] 9:00 pm: Weekly open mic for any kind of act (with sign-up starting at 8:30) at Brooklyn’s Little Skips (941 Willoughby Avenue) hosted by Joe Crow Ryan: Tuesday Night Open Mic
10:30 pm ($3): A chance for you to get on stage and improvise with PIT faculty at The PIT Loft (154 West 29th Street): Tuesday After Class: Slow Jam
[FREE] 11:00 pm: Weekly walk-in open mic stand-up providing 3 minutes for each comic whose name is pulled from a bucket at Queens LIC’s The Creek upstairs theatre hosted by Michelle Slonim: Rapid Fire
For many more shows, please click the following links to top NYC comedy venues:
Best Inexpensive Stand-Up, Improv, Sketch, and Storytelling
Upright Citizens Brigade Chelsea
(307 West 26th Street; 150-seater; one of the most respected comedy theatres in the world; especially strong on improv, sketch, solo shows, and one-act comedic plays; shows free-$10)
Upright Citizens Brigade East
(153 East 3rd Street; 99-seater; a top comedy venue that focuses more than sister theatre UCB Chelsea on stand-up and screenings, and on experimental shows taking big risks; shows free-$10)
The PIT Striker (Upstairs) Theatre
(123 East 24th Street; 88-seater; a top venue that’s a powerful rival of UCB, and often surpasses UCB when blending comedy with music and/or theatricality; shows free-$20)
The PIT Underground (Downstairs) Theatre
(123 East 24th Street; 40-seater; often more quirky & experimental than upstairs Striker; shows free-$10)
The PIT Loft
(154 West 29th Street; 50-seater; not at the level of its two sister PIT theatres, but evolving; shows free-$10)
The Magnet
(254 West 29th Street; 60-seat theatre; strong on improv, musical improv, sketch, and energy; shows $5-$10)
The Creek and the Cave
(Queens’ Long Island City; 40-seat theatre upstairs, 25 downstairs; virtually all shows free)
Union Hall
(702 Union Street in Brooklyn; R to Union Street; 50-seat theatre; shows $5-$20)
Littlefield
(622 Degraw Street in Brooklyn; R to Union Street; 100-seat theatre; shows $5-$20)
Bell House
(149 7th Street in Brooklyn; R to 9th Street or F/G to Fourth Ave.; 200-seat theatre; shows $10-$25)
QED: A Place to Show & Tell
(27-16 23rd Avenue in Astoria Queens; N/Q to Ditmars Boulevard; 40-seat theatre; shows free-$10)
Best NYC Stand-Up Comedy Clubs
Comedy Cellar
(117 MacDougal Street; among the finest daily stand-up lineups in the world; 2-item min.)
Village Underground
(130 West 3rd Street; Comedy Cellar’s larger sister venue, just around the corner with the same top comics; 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.)
Comic Strip Live
(1568 Second Avenue, off 81st; Upper East Side club with typically solid lineups; 2-drink min.)
Stand Up NY
(236 West 78th Street, off Broadway; Upper West Side club with typically solid lineups; 2-drink min.)
The Standing Room
(4738 Vernon Blvd., by #7 train; Queens LIC club; no drink min.—support this policy!)
From legendary NYC comedy site Brooklyn Vegan: Thank God for Hy Bender’s religiously updated show bible BestNewYorkComedy.com…It must be exhausting keeping that monster of a website alive. It is your daily comedy itinerary and it scares me how on top of his shit this guy is.
Please feel encouraged to reach out to tell me about comedy shows, submit material to my short story anthology Ghosts on Drugs, or for any other reason by emailing me at hy@hyreviews.com.
Best New York Comedy 