Keep the 4th party spirit going with this monthly wild pun competition hosted by father-daughter duo Fred Firestone and Jo Firestone (one of the most relentlessly inventive and adventurous comics alive; staff writer for Jimmy Fallon; radio host of WFMU’s Dr. Gameshow, live-on-stage host of The Unexpectashow and The Incredible Game Show Showcase, co-author with Fred of #1 bestselling Punderdome: A Card Game for Pun Lovers). Enjoy the spectacle as 18 audience members—maybe including you—compete in Punderdome 3000 (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn’s Littlefield at 635 Sackett Street; take R subway to Union Street)
NYC Comedy Picks for Thursday 7/6/17
Stand-ups try to solve the world’s problems, with tonight’s sages Mark Normand (above with a friend; one of the very finest stand-ups in the country; Conan O’Brien, Stephen Colbert, stellar Comedy Central special Don’t Be Yourself; Comedy Central Half Hour, Inside Amy Schumer, @midnight, Last Comic Standing, VH1’s Best Week Ever; comedy album Still Got It; opens for Amy Schumer), Josiah Madigan (Emmy-winning writer/producer; ABC, MTV, NatGeo, NPR’s Ask Me Another), Brock Mahan (Emmy-winning writer/producer; Comedy Central, Discovery, VH1, NatGeo, NPR; co-publisher of magazine Eel Fancy), and Scott Sharp (Sharp Stories podcast) hosted by Kevin McCaffrey (former warm-up comic for David Letterman; TruTV): Serious Matters (8:00 pm, $7, Brooklyn’s Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)…
…and Dylan Brody (former writer for Jay Leno; FOX, A&E; author of novel Laughs Last; for samples of his comedy, please click please click here and here and here) blends storytelling and stand-up in a one-man show about his childhood and his working as a comic in LA. This show has toured internationally, and is being performed eight evenings at NYC’s The PIT during July—starting tonight: Dylan Brody’s Driving Hollywood (7:30 pm, $25, The PIT Underground at 123 East 24th Street)
NYC Comedy Picks for Friday 7/7/17
David Carl (hilarious, charismatic co-star of Point Break Live) tonight begins an open run of his second one-man show, this time about “a fictional solo performer named Carl David who receives critical acclaim playing Donald Trump performing King Lear as a one-man (one-President) show. Trump hears about Carl’s parody and requests Mr. David’s presence.” Considering a series of bizarre events eventually led David to change the title of his award-winning first solo show Gary Busey’s One Man Hamlet (As Performed by David Carl) to David Carl’s Celebrity One-Man Hamlet, this “sequel” just might be inspired by actual events. Come judge for yourself at Trump Lear (8:00 pm, $20, Under St. Marks at 94 St. Marks Place, off First Avenue)…
…and Kevin McDonald (founding member of The Kids in the Hall) hosts 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), and more for a live podcast taping: Kevin McDonald’s Kevin McDonald Show (8:00 pm; $20, Brooklyn’s Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
NYC Comedy Picks for Saturday 7/8/17
A star of NBC sitcom The Carmichael Show; previously a cast member of seminal sketch series In Living Color, and such shows as DAG, Life with Bonnie, and Chocolate News; and a comic who Comedy Central once included on its list of 100 Greatest Stand-ups headlines one last night at Carolines: David Alan Grier (7:30 pm & 10:00 pm, $42 plus 2-drink min., Carolines Comedy Club at 1626 Broadway)…
…and Jamie Lee (writer for HBO’s Crashing; TruTV, Conan O’Brien, MTV’s Girl Code, The Pete Holmes Show) is promoting her first book Weddiculous (co-authored with Jacqueline Novak) with a national stand-up tour that lands tonight in Brooklyn: Jamie Lee: The Weddiculous Tour (10:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn’s Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
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
(635 Sackett 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 