Best New York Comedy

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2011 ECNY Award winner Andrea Rosen tonight performs one of the best one-woman shows to grace NYC this year: Ding Dong Meow

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:

[FREE] 2:00 pm: “Something worth watching. Could be a movie, or a TV show. Might be populist and unapologetically entertaining, or hard to find and harder to understand. But you will always leave saying, ‘I am glad that I saw that.'” Hosted by The PIT’s Artistic Director Jeff Lepine: Afternoon Playhouse

[FREE] 6:00 pm to midnight: Six free hours of improvisation at The PIT’s Super Free Wednesday

7:00 pm, 8:30 pm, and 10:00 pm ($5): Magnet house troupes performing improv, followed by a free show at 11:30 pm: The Magnet’s Megawatt

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Andrea Rosen is already famed as a comic—in fact, she recently won the prestigious 2011 ECNY Award for Best Stand-Up—but what’s not as well-known is that Andrea’s among the finest comedic storytellers in the country. This new one-woman show should fix that. It offers smart, fearless, hilarious material ranging from fast food you should avoid to the medicinal power of a boyfriend’s penis. It also provides one of the sharpest comedic performances that will grace NYC this year (for which kudos are also deserved by the show’s superb director, John Flynn). Plus if you sit in the first few rows, expect free home-baked cookies. Don’t miss Andrea’s unique blend of dark comedy and silliness: Ding Dong Meow…

…and in the other half of this double-bill, Jordan Klepper and Laura Grey perform an acclaimed sketch show in which “they’re bringing their baggage to the stage and dumping it all on you” in Baggage

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($8 at the door, $6.84 online with discount code Supermango): Dave Hill (one of the most original and hilariously sharp alternative comics in the country; HBO, Comedy Central, MTV, VH1, NPR, star of The King of Miami, band Diamondsnake, champion rapper; The New York Times, The Huffington Post, The Dave Hill Explosion), Ophira Eisenberg (sharp stand-up and brilliant storyteller; Comedy Central, VH1, Showtime), Sean Crespo, and “a special guest’ performing at the Bowery Poetry Club with host Dan Allen: ¡Sacapuntas!

[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 8:00 pm ($15 online or at the door using code MOON): Star comedic storyteller Tom Shillue (Conan O’Brien, The Daily Show, Comedy Central Presents, winner of the 2011 ECNY Award for Best Storyteller) performing a smart, engaging, and often hilarious one-man show at PS 122 (150 First Avenue off 9th Street ) running through April 9th: Tom Shillue is Supernormal

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm ($49.50): One of the finest comics in the country, Mike Birbiglia’s credits include the hour-long Comedy Central special What I Should Have Said is Nothing; two Comedy Central Presents half-hour specials; multiple appearances on David Letterman and Conan O’Brien; comedy CDs Two Drink Mike and My Secret Public Journal—Live; the book Sleepwalk with Me & Other Painfully True Stories; and his hit off-Broadway show Sleepwalk with Me. Mike’s now returned to the stage, once again creating his unique blend of stand-up and storytelling, for an all-new one-man show at the Barrow Street Theatre (27 Barrow Street, just one block from the #1 subway’s Christopher Street stop) slated to run through May 15th: Mike Birbiglia: My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5—which includes a free drink!): Donald Glover (Community, 30 Rock, Mystery Team), Victor Varnado (Conan O’Brien, Comedy Central, Pluto Nash, End of Days), Jordan Carlos (Comedy Central’s Colbert Report and Live at Gotham), and Jon Fisch (Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central) performing at The Creek in Queens’ Long Island City with host Nick Turner: Monsters

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 9:00 pm: Superb storytellers John Flynn (The Nights of Our Lives), Rob Gorden (True Stories, The Moth), and Brian Samonek; sketch comic Andrea Alton (Molly Equality Dykeman); and stand-ups Paul Case (Here! TV, I Love And Hate You All) and Chris Doucette (LOGO TV) performing at this free weekly show at the Luca Bar (119 St. Marks Place) hosted by Sharon Spell: Shrink

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): Scott Adsit (cast member of 30 Rock, and co-writer/director/producer & cast member of Adult Swim’s awesome & Emmy-winning Moral Orel) teaming up with fellow 30 Rock actor John Lutz (who previously spent six years as a staff writer for Saturday Night Live) to form a super-smart and hilarious new improv duo who should not be missed: John & Scott

[FREE] 10:00 pm: NYC stand-ups Rachel Butera (The Howard Stern Show), Reese Waters (Comedy Central), and Brad Loekle (truTV’s World’s Dumbest, host of Electro Shock Therapy Comedy Hour) performing at the Bar-Tini Ultra Lounge (542 Tenth Avenue, between 45th & 46th Streets) for a gay-themed show hosted by Adam Sank: That Sank Show

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 11:00 pm: Host Justin Purnell (The Colbert Report) providing as many as a dozen guests packed into 75 minutes performing stand-up, improv, sketch, and occasionally acts that defy categorization. The level of talent can vary wildly, but for some (like me), that’s part of the laid-back fun; and this is often one of the most amazing comedy shows in town. Come support the experimentation, and periodic magical surprises, that this uniquely organic rollercoaster of a show makes possible—and don’t forget to toss $1 in the bucket on your way out: School Night

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

If you know anyone who might have a thyroid problem, please tell them about my new book: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Thyroid Disease.