Best New York Comedy

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One of the greatest stand-ups of all time, Anthony Jeselnik, headlines tonight through Sunday at the Carolines Comedy Club...

...and comedy giants John Gemberling, Arden Myrin, and more join Rob Lathan at "Stinson's Awesome Movie Night" to analyze...

...the film classic "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"

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] 6:00 pm: An open-mic show on a lottery system (sign-ups start at 5:30 pm) at The Creekdownstairs lounge in Queens’ Long Island City with hosts Mike Recine and Annie Lederman: The Shinebox

[FREE] 7:00 pm: Nikki Glaser (Jay Leno, Last Comic Standing), Louis Katz (HBO, Comedy Central), Calise Hawkins (Last Comic Standing), and Yannis Pappas (VH1) performing at Beauty Bar (231 East 14th Street) at the debut of this new biweekly stand-up show hosted by Peter Ostrovski & Ilya Gofshteyn: Beautiful Comedy

7:00 pm ($5): Alexis Lambright performing a one-woman show at The Magnet about her quest to pop her cherry: Combating Adult Virginity

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10): In one of the best scripted ensemble shows to grace UCB West for some time, troupe Stone Cold Fox performs hilarious parodies of off-off-Broadway theatre, as well as some of the very best sketches it’s crafted over the years, in a tight hour-long show directed by comedy genius Neil Casey (who, after also recently directing stellar one-person shows by Kate McKinnon and Mike Still, apparently can do no wrong), featuring delightful performances by Fran Gillespie, Molly Lloyd, D’Arcy Carden (watch for these three gals playing existential Truth or Dare), John Murray, Nate Smith, Brandon Scott Jones, and Jonathan Fernandez, and the writing of Leila Cohan-Miccio, Evan Greenspoon, Brandon Gulya, Matt Hunziker, Owen Parsons, and Michael Trapp: Stone Cold Fox: This Is Not Art

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10): Sharp improvisors at UCB East—tonight featuring guests Connor Ratliff (The Stepfathers) and Ben Rameaka (Airwolf)—making up a musical on the spot: Diamond Lion

[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 8:00 pm ($15 online or at the box office using discount code TMAN): One of the very best shows at FringeNYC 2010 was an award-winning comedy from NYC’s own Faye Lane, a luminous storyteller and singer who will charm your socks off—and possibly give you a moon pie to boot—at the Soho Playhouse’s downstairs Huron Club. This marvelous event recently received a 2011 Bistro Award for Musical Comedy and 2011 MAC Award for Special Production. Please read my review by clicking here, watch Faye make a pecan pie by clicking here, see Faye be a Green Bean by clicking here, and then take advantage of this revival running Friday nights to experience the hilarious and unforgettable Faye Lane’s Beauty Shop Stories

8:00 pm ($10): An PIT improv troupe making up a musical on the spot after a friendly greeting: Hello

[MEGA-TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm & 10:00 pm ($26.75 & 2-drink min.) Anthony Jeselnik is one of my favorite stand-ups of all time, with a special gift for crafting dark and shocking short jokes, and a lightning-quick mind that allows him to play with any audience in the moment. This genius Emmy-nominated comic is a former writer/performer for Jimmy Fallon, and has also performed on Conan O’Brien, HBO, a Comedy Central Presents half-hour special, and his hit comedy CD Shakespeare. Anthony is headlining tonight through Sunday at the Carolines Comedy Club along with guitar comic Nick Thune: The Greatest: Anthony Jeselnik

[FREE] 8:00 pm: An open-mic show that’s first come, first serve (sign-ups start at 7:30 pm), with each comic getting five minutes on stage at The Creek downstairs lounge in Queens’ Long Island City: Mic and Cheese

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:30 pm & 10:30 pm ($25 & 2-drink min.): Winner of the second season of Last Comic Standing, a frequent performer on Jay Leno and VH1, and star of two Comedy Central Presents half-hour specials and an hour-long Comedy Central special, headlining tonight through Sunday at the Gotham Comedy Club: John Heffron

8:30 pm ($7): Sketch comedy, sometimes interwoven with a live band: Citizen Models

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): Some of the finest improv in NYC from UCB West’s all-star members of The Stepfathers

[MEGA-TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): Rob Lathan (Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, ABC) as his cinema connoisseur character Stinson screens the notoriously awful film Indiana Jones and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull at UCB East along with top comics John Gemberling, Arden Myrin, James Adomian, and more: Stinson’s Awesome Movie Night

[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 9:00 pm & 11:00 pm (FREE TICKETS if you reserve in advance by calling (212) 260-2445 and mention HyReviews.com, but there’s still a 2-drink min. per person): 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, feature films The Wrestler and Pete Smalls is Dead), Rachel Feinstein (finalist on this summer’s Last Comic Standing; Comedy Central; opens for Sarah Silverman on tour), Dan Soder (Comedy Central, VH1), and Aaron Berg performing at the only comedy club in the East Village: Eastville Comedy Club

9:30 pm ($10): All-gal improv at The PIT, first from Brigid Boyle, Lorraine Cink, Leslie Collins, Danielia Donohue, and Ariel Karlin; and then from Lee Eddy, Meg Griffiths, Julia Morales, Sarah Nowak, and Mandy Schmieder, at Lucy

9:30 pm ($5): “Where there is a stage and a piano, she will be there. Where there are strangers with embarrassing stories, she will be there. Where there is a group of people willing to sit and watch someone make up songs, she will be there. A one-woman musical improv journey through the lives of the audience. You tell the story, Rebecca Vigil sings the soundtrack” at The PIT downstairs lounge: The Vigilante

[FREE] 9:30 pm: Long-form improv from troupe Casual Sex Offenders at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City: CSO Improv Comedy

10:00 pm ($7): Singing improvisors at The Magnet using an interview with an audience member to craft The Made-Up Musical

[TOP PICK] 10:30 pm ($10): Jon Gabrus, Nate Lang, Craig Rowin, Matt Fisher, Fran Gillespie Sue Galloway, and other superb improvisors at UCB West making up scenes about an audience member’s legal dispute: The Law Firm: Law & Disorder

11:00 pm ($5): NYC comics The Brothers Hines, CJ Toledano, and Lance & Ray performing at UCB East: Gentrify

11:00 pm ($5): A comedy tribute at The PIT downstairs lounge to a gal on her 26th birthday: The PIT Roast of Corinne Fisher

11:00 pm ($5): All-gal improv at The PIT from troupe Goldie and the Hawns (Jennifer Bild, Christine DeNoon, Julianne Dunn, and Brandy Mitchell), plus guest stand-up and sketch gal comics: Boneless! A Night of Women in Comedy

[TOP PICK] 11:30 pm ($5): Before this Magnet show, audience members may anonymously submit written confessions, secrets, rants, advice and opinions which will be used onstage by the improvisors—who include such talents as Laura Grey (stellar old-time radio style theatrical podcast Horrorgasm, sketch/improv duo Klepper & Grey): The Friday Night Sh*w

[FREE] Midnight: NYC stand-ups do sets “and then have a discussion about what’s going on in the world and the mysteries of life” at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City, hosted by Chris Laker: The Show

[FREE] Midnight: This show typically isn’t much fun for audience members—which is why it hasn’t been on the UCB West schedule for a long time—but it’s an amazing opportunity if you want to perform sketch for free and with almost zero hurdles on the prestigious UCB West stage. Hosted by Maude troupe Onassis: Liquid Courage

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

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