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Please note that these listings are updated frequently. The best way to be instantly notified about new show postings is to subscribe to this BestNewYorkComedy.com blog and allow for email notifications. Other ways to keep up are to follow me on Twitter (@hybender) or Instagram (@hybenderny), and/or to visit the desktop version of this site at HyReviews.com.
In addition, you can use the links below to explore the schedules of all the major comedy venues in NYC; and you can find excellent live comedy recommendations weekly via The New York Times.
That said, my top NYC comedy recommendations for August 2018 (with more to come) include:
Wednesday 8/1: Dan St. Germain (Jimmy Fallon, Conan O’Brien, John Oliver, Comedy Central Half Hour, Crashing, @midnight, This is Not Happening, The Electric Company, MTV, VH1; currently writing for Netflix’s The Break with Michelle Wolf, previously staff writer for CBS’ Superior Donuts and TruTV’s Ten Things) celebrates his upcoming stand-up album No Real Winners Here with a national tour that starts tonight in Brooklyn. Joining Dan for this extravaganza are stand-ups Sam Morril, Sean Donnelly, Rosebud Baker, Evan Williams, and Samantha Ruddy: Dan St. Germain: No Real Winners Here Album Tour (8:30 pm, $15, Brooklyn’s Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Wednesday 8/1-Saturday 8/4: Have you ever known someone with whom you wanted to fall in love, but who had a flaw that made it impossible? Until now, that’s been my relationship with this musical.
To start with the positive: This has one of the great titles of all time. I dare you to read it and not a) laugh and b) want to know more. Four years ago, director/composer Christian De Gré kindly shared with me how the show began: “One day I casually asked my girlfriend Serrana Gay how she was feeling, and she said, ‘Oh, you know. Fatty fatty no friends.'” Christian reacted appropriately and convinced her to write an entire musical based on that delightful line. Serrana reacted appropriately in turn by having Christian write the music for it, direct it, and co-star in it (memorably, as a demon…).
The resulting production was in most ways extraordinary. The operatic music by De Gré was haunting and exquisite, the visuals—especially the two demons on stilts, courtesy of costume designer Ashley Soliman & make-up designers Kate Marley & Louiza Diavolitsis—were deliciously nightmarish, and the key singers/performers—particularly Tommy/Fatty, played by Jason Sofge—had impressive pipes.
And the core of the story is dark hilarity: When skinny kids make a fat classmate’s life a living hell, he has a simple solution—eat them.
How could I not love this show?
And I mostly do…except for the flaw. It’s a joke without a punchline.
Until now, this show has had no idea how to end. The original version, back in 2014, had a climax that was emotionally unsatisfying. To my great dismay, subsequent reworkings—while improving on all other aspects of the production—had endings that were progressively worse. (I’d characterize the last ending I saw as “traumatizing.”)
I’ve expressed my feelings to the producers, and have been promised that this latest production—which debuts tonight at 7:00, and will also be performed on Thursday at 9:30 and Saturday at 7:00—finally fixes things.
I’ll be at the opening to find out. Why not come join me? Whether the ending has finally been repaired or not, this is a musical unlike anything else you’re likely to see, and well worth experiencing: Fatty Fatty No Friends at the 2018 New York Musical Festival (8/1 at 7:00 pm, 8/2 at 9:30 pm, and 8/4 at 7:00 pm; $31.75; The Green Room 42 at 570 Tenth Avenue between 41st and 42nd Streets, inside YOTEL on the Fourth Floor)
August: I’m taking most of August off to complete some major book and media projects, including my cross-genre fiction anthology and podcast Ghosts On Drugs. I’ll still post occasionally in August, though, and will be back as usual in September.
You can find the vast majority of notable NYC live comedy shows by using the links below to explore the schedules of the following top NYC comedy venues:
Best Inexpensive Stand-Up, Improv, Sketch, and Storytelling
Upright Citizens Brigade Hell’s Kitchen
555 West 42nd Street; 152-seater; one of the most respected comedy showcases in the world; especially strong on improv, sketch, solo shows, and one-act comedic plays; shows free-$12
Upright Citizens Brigade East
153 East 3rd Street; 99-seater; a top comedy venue that focuses more than sister theatre UCB Hell’s Kitchen on stand-up and screenings, and on experimental shows taking big risks; shows free-$12
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/W 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—moving to Union Square this summer; 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
moving to Brooklyn in June 2018, please stay tuned; 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!
NYC Stand-Up Open Mics & Improv Jams
If you want stage time, you can find one or more stand-up open mics virtually any night at Manhattan’s The PIT, Eastville Comedy Club, and Stand Up NY Comedy Club, and at Queens LIC’s The Creek and Astoria Queens’ QED.
In addition, at the East Village’s UCB East you can typically find a stand-up open mic Thursdays at 6:00 pm, an improv jam Wednesdays at 11:15 pm, and a rare bring-your-own-group improv/sketch open stage Sundays at 11:00 pm. And in Chelsea, The Magnet offers an improv jam on Wednesdays at 6:00 pm, and a rare musical improv jam on Tuesdays at 6:00 pm.
All of the venues above typically provide you the stage time either for free or for $5.
There are also numerous other open mics throughout the city. For a more comprehensive list, please visit FreeMicsNYC.
Special Thanks to Mindy and Anya
Special thanks to comedy photographers supreme Anya Garrett and Mindy Tucker for creating so many of the stellar photos that grace this site…and the sites of hundreds of NYC comics.
Contact Hy
From legendary NYC comedy site Brooklyn Vegan: Thank God for Hy Bender’s religiously updated show bible Best New York Comedy (and HyReviews.com). He is literally the only person in NYC providing daily summaries of what’s happening comedy-wise. 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.
From comedy & rock goddess Lane Moore (host of smash hit Tinder Live; author of How to be Alone; lead singer of Brooklyn band It Was Romance): Hy Bender lives and breathes comedy. He knows what he’s talking about. Listen.
Please feel encouraged to reach out to tell me about comedy shows, provide feedback on my cross-genre short story anthology Ghosts on Drugs, hire me to develop your book or screenplay (please visit BookProposal.net or HyOnYourScript.com), or for any other reason by emailing me at hy@hyreviews.com.
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