Best New York Comedy

Joel Hodgson, creator of the legendary Mystery Science Theater 3000 TV series, and the Netflix-revived MST3K’s new host Jonah Ray join forces in this first live touring production to destroy movies for your amusement. Also on stage will be robot companions Crow (Hampton Yount), Tom Servo, and Gypsy, and Synthia (Rebecca Hanson) and her Bonehead henchmen; plus, on video only, Kinga Forrester (Felicia Day) and TV’s Son of TV’s Frank (Patton Oswalt) checking up on their unwilling test subjects. Tonight features two separate and entirely different shows. At 6:00 pm the gang is riffing on MST3K classic Eegah, including all-new jokes and sketches. At 9:30 pm they’re savaging a movie that’ll be a surprise, described only as “a fun sci-fi thriller never before featured on MST3K.” For this one night only in NYC, it’s Mystery Science Theater 3000 Live Tour: “Watch Out For Snakes!” (6:00 pm for Eegah, $39.50-$49.50 and 9:30 pm for “Secret Surprise Film,” $39.50-$49.50, PlayStation Theater at 1515 Broadway between 44th and 45th Streets)…

…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)

NYC Comedy Picks for Sunday 7/9/17

Today kicks off a series of four free outdoor comedy shows Sundays in July at NYC parks in the Village, Brooklyn, and the UWS (see poster above for details). This afternoon’s superb lineup features Mark Normand (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), Greer Barnes (HBO’s Crashing, David Letterman, Louie, Chappelle’s Show, For the Love of the Game; comedy album See What I’m Saying), Gina Yashere (correspondent for The Daily Show; HBO’s Crashing, Jay Leno, Chelsea Lately, @midnight, Showtime 1-hour special Skinny Bitch), and Alingon Mitra (Stephen Colbert, Conan O’Brien, The Daily Show, Last Comic Standing): Laughter in the Park (2:00 pm-4:00 pm, Free!, Washington Square Park at Garibaldi Plaza, on the east side of the Fountain)…

…or if you prefer your comedy indoors, come enjoy an Emmy & Peabody Award-winning writer/producer for HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver who’s also performed stand-up on Conan O’Brien, written for The New Yorker, and released the bestselling stand-up comedy album Physical Whisper headline for one night only at Carolines: Josh Gondelman (7:30 pm, $11 cover using discount code JOSH online (otherwise $20) plus 2-drink min., Carolines Comedy Club at 1626 Broadway)

NYC Comedy Picks for Monday 7/10/17

Chris Colfer (Kurt Hummel on Glee, a role that won him a 2011 Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor and three consecutive (2013-2015) People’s Choice Awards for Favorite Comedic TV Actor; #1 New York Times Bestselling author of book The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell) is tonight’s guest of this NPR weekly comedy trivia show taped live in Brooklyn and hosted by the wonderful Ophira Eisenberg (NBC’s The Today Show, CBS’ The Late Late Show, Comedy Central, VH1, Showtime, bestselling book Screw Everyone, comedy album Bangs!): Ask Me Another (7:30 pm, $25, The Bell House at 149 7th Street; take R subway to 9th Street or F/G to Fourth Avenue)…

…and a show that showcases physical comedy and “the weird, the beautiful, the gross, and, ultimately, the human” tonight features comics Leanna Grennan (above left), Eudora Peterson (above middle), Milly Tamarez, Jes Tom, and Chris Burns hosted by Arti Gollapudi (above right): Yourself, Your Body (7:30 pm, $7, UCB East at 153 East 3rd Street)

NYC Comedy Picks for Tuesday 7/11/17

Joel Kim Booster (Conan O’Brien; Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents special; Billy on the Street; for Joel’s Conan set, please click here) records his first stand-up comedy album, with help from comics Aaron Jackson, Josh Sharp, Patti Harrison, Matt Rogers, Bowen Yang, Henry Koperski, and Tiffany Topol tonight and tomorrow: Joel Kim Booster: Model Minority (8:00 pm tonight & Wednesday; $15—nab 2-for-1 tickets online using code BOGOBOOSTER; Ars Nova Theatre at 511 West 54th Street, off 10th Avenue)…

…and rising stand-up Katie Hannigan (Oxygen, Seeso, College Humor; complains about being 5′ 3″ by observing “The world is not built for a short woman,” then pauses reflectively and adds, ” …or, really, any woman;” for a sample set, please click here) headlines for one night only at Carolines: Katie Hannigan (7:30 pm, $11 cover using discount code MOUSIE online (otherwise $18) plus 2-drink min., Carolines Comedy Club at 1626 Broadway)

Red Hot—Grab Tickets Before They’re Gone:
NYC Comedy Pick for Saturday 7/15/17

A show celebrating the app that redefined online dating, with the lovely and quick-witted Lane Moore (above left; HBO’s Girls; Sex & Relationship Editor of Cosmo; writer for The Onion, McSweeney’s) going on a live Tinder safari for guys while a packed audience watches her every choice with fascination. Offering comments and suggestions during the adventure are tonight’s guests, comedy legend David Cross (Mr. Show, Arrested Development, Modern Family) and Ashley Nicole Black (staff writer for Full Frontal With Samantha Bee). This show will almost certainly sell out, so I recommend nabbing tickets ASAP for Tinder Live (8:30 pm, $15, Brooklyn’s Littlefield (635 Sackett 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; the third of The PIT theatres, located separately on the West side, hosts a wide range of comedy, but is especially effective as a home for intimate solo and/or theatrical shows; free-$20

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 weeknight shows free; weekend shows free-$10

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.