Best New York Comedy

[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm (no cover, 1-item min.): Superb storyteller Tom Shillue, pundit Leighann Lord, and musical comedy duo The Knuckleheads performing at host Eric Vetter’s No Name & a Bag O’ Chips

[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 8:00 pm ($10 online using discount code TODDB & 2-drink min.): A wryly brilliant stand-up who’s one of the very best in the biz, having performed on David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Comedy Central Presents, HBO’s Flight of the Conchords, Adult Swim, The Wrestler, and much more, delivering a deliciously long headlining set tonight at Carolines—and with the $25 tickets discounted to $10, how can you pass this up?: Todd Barry

[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 8:00 pm ($15 both online and at the door using discount code JODY, otherwise $20): This top musical improv troupe has wowed audiences around the world with its skill at making up an hour-long musical moment by moment. The plot and characters, the musical accompaniment, even the song lyrics and the “choreography” are invented on the spot, with no pre-planned structure. Come see why BWC won a FringeNYC Award this August for Outstanding Unique Theatrical Event during this magical five-night NYC run, starting tonight: Baby Wants Candy

8:00 pm ($5): Nick Ross performing a show about his combating cancer, with a deliciously vibrant and adorable performance by actress Leslie Meisel as a variety of secondary characters (including the cancer itself…); and superb sketch troupe Trophy Dad performing a comedic play about a college buddy returning after 10 years to ruin his friend’s life, in the double-bill Highly Evolved Human and The Worst Guy Ever!

8:00 pm ($5): A sketch show self-described as “silly, abstract, a little bit touching, and very entertaining” from comedy duo Hobart & Michael

8:00 pm ($5): Sharp improvisors directed by James Eason “take an audience suggestion and break it into a million funny pieces,” and veteran improvisors play with “elements of monoscene, deconstruction, and La Ronde,” in the double-bill The Deconstruction and Sleepover

[FREE] 8:30 pm: Sharp comics Rob Cantrell, Thomas Dale, Kendra Cunnigham, and Tony Woods performing at Brooklyn’s Building on Bond for a free stand-up show hosted by Yannis Pappas: A Very Good Comedy Show

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): Colin Quinn (SNL, Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn), Brooke Van Poppelen (Chicago Public Radio), Shayna Ferm (brilliant comedic singer/songwriter), Tom Shillue (Conan O’Brien, Comedy Central), Rory Albanese (Executive Producer of The Daily Show), and more performing at a blockbuster edition of Comedy Below Canal

[TOP PICK] [$] 9:30 pm ($20 & 2-item min.): One of the finest, sharpest, funniest comics in comedy history—who’s barely started his career, but is already a staff writer for Jimmy Fallon, and has performed killer sets on Conan O’Brien, HBO’s Down and Dirty, and a Comedy Central Presents half-hour special—headlining for one night only at the elegant Comix Comedy Club: Anthony Jeselnik

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): Movie & TV comedy superstar Janeane Garofalo, Jason Trachtenburg (Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players), and Amelie Gillette (The Onion’s The Hater columnist) joining the fresh, sexy, and razor-sharp gals of comedy group Variety SHAC

[MEGA-TOP PICK] [DISCOUNTED] [$] ($15 online or at the door with discount code ISCTHR): Genius improvisors from Chicago delivering one of the funniest shows you’ll ever see by making up a play on the spot using the language and themes of the Bard. This is the finest improv troupe in the world, and one of the best comedy shows of any kind, anywhere. Tonight begins a five-night NYC run, with every evening utterly different from the last. Try to catch every single performance of the breathtakingly skilled Improvised Shakespeare Company

[TOP PICK] 11:00 pm ($5): Vibrant improv troupes The Brothers Hines and The Scam battling for audience laughs and votes at the raucous Cage Match[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm ($5): In this fun new show, 16 musical performers turn an audience member’s suggestion into two musical fairy tales that tell what happened from the viewpoint of first the hero and then the villain, with “all the music and magic of a Disney flick…plus the darkness of the Brothers Grimm:” Once Upon a Time

7:30 pm ($10): Raunchy comedic singer/songwriter Cock Lorge and friends performing at his monthly show at Pianos in Thank Cock It’s Friday

[MEGA-TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($10): Wearing wigs and waistcoats, extraordinarily quick-witted improvisors Neil Reynolds and Matt Tucker portray “two of America’s angriest founders: Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr” and the events leading up to their historic duel—while crafting deliciously silly scenes. For example, when the duo performed during the magical Del Close Improv Marathon in 2007, Burr proposed a law declaring US land as “international waters” so he’d have more freedom to sleep with married women. When Hamilton thwarted him, the villain seceded and declared his body his own country, “the United State of Burr.” These Boston-based improvisors are among the sharpest in the country, and it’s thrilling that they’re gracing NYC for this one night only with their unique themed improv. Expect something quite special at Code Duello: Hamilton &. Burr

[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 8:00 pm ($15 both online and at the door using discount code JODY, otherwise $20): This top musical improv troupe has wowed audiences around the world with its skill at making up an hour-long musical moment by moment. The plot and characters, the musical accompaniment, even the song lyrics and the “choreography” are invented on the spot, with no pre-planned structure. Come see why BWC won a FringeNYC Award this August for Outstanding Unique Theatrical Event during this magical NYC run through Monday night: Baby Wants Candy

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 8:00 pm: The debut of a new monthly comedy show featuring top NYC stand-ups and musical comics, with tonight’s guests brilliant singer/songwriter Shayna Ferm, stellar storytellers Tom Shillue and Giulia Rozzi, and superb stand-ups Leo Allen, Claudia Cogan, and Craig Baldo performing at Happy Ending for wonderful stand-up/comedic rapper host Carolyn Castiglia’s Splurge!

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm & 10:30 pm ($46.50 & 2-drink min.): A comedy superstar headlining tonight through Sunday at Carolines: D. L. Hughley

[FREE] 8:00 pm: NYC sketch comics & stand-ups Murderfist (fearless sketch troupe), Rob Lathan (performed sketch on Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Human Giant), Jordan Carlos (The Colbert Report, Ghost Town), Jesse Popp (Comedy Central, co-host of Beauty Bar Comedy), Pat O’Shea, and Jake Young performing at Brooklyn’s Coco 66 for host Nick Turner’s and new co-host Jason Saenz ‘s Too Cool for School

9:00 pm (no cover, 1-item min.): NYC stand-up comics Allison Castillo (Comedy Central), Yamaneika Saunders (NBC’s Stand-Up for Diversity), Tom Ragu (The Tom Ragu Revue), and Garry Hannon performing in Ochi’s Lounge at a gay-themed show hosted by the lovely Jenny Rubin: The Back Room

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($10): Some of the finest improv in NYC from the comedy genius members of The Stepfathers

[MEGA-TOP PICK] [DISCOUNTED] [$] ($17 online or at the door with discount code ISCCFBK): Genius improvisors from Chicago delivering one of the funniest shows you’ll ever see by making up a play on the spot using the language and themes of the Bard. This is the finest improv troupe in the world, and one of the best comedy shows of any kind, anywhere. Tonight is the second of a five-night NYC run, with every evening utterly different from the last. Try to catch every single performance of the breathtakingly skilled Improvised Shakespeare Company

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

[TOP PICK] 11:00 pm ($5): Top UCBT talents—tonight featuring Jeff Hiller, Fran Gillespie, Nate Lang, Jim Santangeli, Mike Still, and Andree Vermeulen as the performers, and Neil Casey, John Frusciante, Dan Gregor, Dan Gurewitch, Anthony King, Craig Rowin, Eric Scott, Nate Smith, Caitlin Tegart, and Greg Tuculescu as the writers—creating a one-night-only sketch comedy show directed by Will Hines, with musical guest McGinty & White: Beneath Gristedes

[FREE] 12:20ish am: A free opportunity for you to perform sketch on the UCBT stage at Liquid Courage