NYC Top Comedy Choices for Thursday 7/21/11

July 21, 2011

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.

Andrea Rosen

UCBT is the place to be tonight, with four incredible shows in a row:
Andrea “Might Give Birth Any Second” Rosen’s Ding Dong Meow…

Amy Heidt

…Amy Heidt’s & Jeff Hiller’s The Last Resort…

John Lutz

…improv genius John Lutz with Meagan O’Brien in Just One Scene…

Fran Gillespie

…and sole improvisor (and reigning champ) Fran Gillespie vs. stellar musical improv troupe Diamond Lion at Cage Match

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: Open-mic stand-up with comics drawing names from a bucket, with each chosen one receiving three minutes at The Creek’s upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City: Corby Haas

[MEGA-TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Two of the finest comedic actors in NYC, Amy Heidt and Jeff Hiller, debut a one-act comedy about love and murder that you don’t want to miss (and schedule permitting, I’ll be there too): The Last Resort …

…and the second half of this double-bill features one of the very best shows at UCBT. Andrea Rosen is already famed as a comic—in fact, she 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 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

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($8): Wonderful comic Kurt Braunohler “relates how he destroyed a 13-year relationship in the dumbest, most complicated way possible, with bar fights, naked men, walruses, and an audition for Sasha Baron Cohen” in the one-man show The Amish Guide to Fucking

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($7): Some of the Magnet Theatre’s finest improvisors make up theatrical plays on the spot: Playhouse

8:00 pm ($5): David Foster (HBO, Showtime, MTV), Jamie Lee (VH1, Last Comic Standing), and Damien Lemon, and more performing stand-up at The PIT’s downstairs lounge hosted by comedic rapper Andrew Singer and the delightful Abbi Crutchfield: Positively Awesome

[FREE] 9:00ish pm: Typically terrific NYC stand-ups performing on this weekly show at the Kabin Bar and Lounge hosted by Chesley Calloway and comedy genius Sean Patton: Comedy as a Second Language

[MEGA-TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): John Lutz co-stars on 30 Rock, and previously spent six years as a staff writer for Saturday Night Live; but what’s most important to know for this show is John’s one of the most hilarious improvisors alive. Tonight he teams with Meagan O’Brien to focus on Just One Scene

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm (no cover, 1-item min.): Movie star Janeane Garofalo, Molly Knefel (Naked in a Fishbowl, John & Molly Get Along), Nick Rutherford, and more performing stand-up at Luca Lounge (222 Avenue B off 14th Street) for Sean Crespo’s & Carol Hartsell’s weekly comedy show Lasers in the Jungle

9:30 pm ($5): Improvisors (not announced) make up one-act plays on the spot at The PIT’s basement lounger for The Scene

[$] 10:00 pm ($31.25 & 2-drink min.) A provocative comedy star who’s written for Richard Pryor, Red Foxx, and Saturday Night Live, and performed on Chappelle’s Show and David Letterman, headlining through Sunday at Carolines: Paul Mooney

[MEGA-TOP PICK] 11:00 pm ($5): In a squeaker, superb improv troupe Doppleganger was toppled by audience votes of 74 to 62 for a lone performer: Fran Gillespie. Tonight Fran attempts to repeat her remarkable feat against one of the finest musical improv troupes in the country, DIamond Lion. This is a show you don’t want to miss, as brilliant improviors fight for audience laughs and votes at the raucous Cage Match

11:00 pm ($5): NYC stand-ups (not announced) performing at The PIT for this comedy club-style (i.e., long set) weekly show hosted by Harrison Greenbaum: The Big One

11:00 pm ($5): Magnet improv troupes Listen, Kid! and Brick compete for audience laughs and votes—yes, like UCBT’s Cage Match, but with a game-like challenge component—at Inspirado

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.

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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Thursday 6/23/11

June 23, 2011

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.

Julie Klausner and Marina Franklin

Sharp comic & bestselling author Julie Klausner tells hilarious tales tonight at The PIT for Kevin Allison's Risk!, while Marina Franklin performs stellar stand-up tonight at the Broadway Comedy Club and Stand Up New York...

Pat Baer and Ellena Chmielewski

...and it'll be a vicious battle for victory tonight between improvisors Pat Baer and Ellena Chmielewski at "Cage Match"

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:

[TOP PICK] 6:00 pm ($5): The debut of three comedic one-act plays: Pig: A Restaurant, a one-woman show performed by Lauren Conlin Adams, written by Leila Cohan-Miccio, and directed by Caitlin Tegart about “the opening party for East Gowanus’ hottest new restaurant. Join luminaries like sex-obsessed food critic The Ravenous Foodie, the editor of email blast Experience Junkie, and model/actress/hostess Aurora as they usher Brooklyn’s porkiest new eatery restaurant into the spotlight;” Acts of Distraction: A Superhero Sketch Show, written by Brett White, directed by Matt Fisher, and performed by eight UCBT talents; and Once Upon A Sub Prime (about which I know nothing), all at the UCBT audition showcase Spank

[FREE] 6:00 pm: Open-mic stand-up with comics drawing names from a bucket, with each chosen one receiving three minutes at The Creek in Queens’ Long Island City: Corby Haas

7:00 pm ($8): A sketch show parodying acting classes: Meagan & David’s Original Low-Cost Creativity Workshop

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Young Abbi Jacobson (Broad City) has the makings of a new UCBT star in this one-woman show in which she engagingly plays oddball characters you might encounter at summer camp: Welcome to Camp!

…and in the other half of this double-bill, Ryan Karels (Conan O’Brien; member of stellar improv troupe Krompf) playing a radio host who does “a show for people on the verge of a nervous breakdown. If you’ve already had a nervous breakdown, this show will be like reminiscing with an old friend:” Radio Rogue: Riding the Paradox Express

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Magnet Theatre co-owner Armando Diaz directs “veteran Magnet performers throwing down for an improv revue featuring classic long forms such as the montage, monoscene, time dash, and maybe even a little freeze tag:” Old School

8:00 pm ($8): A new sketch show from troupe FreeLoveForum

[FREE] 8:00 pm: A mix of three booked stand-ups and six open-mic stand-ups (the latter drawing their names from a bucket) at The Creek in Queens’ Long Island City, hosted by comedy duo Team Submarine: A Time to Kill

[TOP PICK] [$] 9:00 pm (no cover if you mention HyReviews.com, but 2-drink min.)  An always superb comic who’s developing into one of the finest stand-ups in the country, with an uncommonly gentle, graceful style that’s pure joy—and who’s performed on Last Comic Standing, Chappelle’s Show, VH1, and Comedy Central’s Premium Blend—on stage tonight with Mike Vecchione and Joe DeVito at the Broadway Comedy Club: Marina Franklin

[FREE] 9:00ish pm: Typically terrific NYC stand-ups performing on this weekly show at the Kabin Bar and Lounge hosted by Chesley Calloway and comedy genius Sean Patton: Comedy as a Second Language

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($10): Top comics and comedic storytellers—who tonight are Julie Klausner (razor-sharp comic & storyteller, and author of I Don’t Care About Your Band), Wyatt Cenac (star correspondent for The Daily Show), Gary Belsky (Editor in Chief of ESPN Magazine), comedian Beowulf Jones, and Hallie Haglund (Web writer for The Daily Show)—joining brilliant sketch comic and storyteller Kevin Allison (The State) to share tales on tonight’s theme “Once in a Lifetime” at one of the finest storytelling shows in the country: Risk!

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): The Emmy-winning writers of The Colbert Report gather on stage to perform an all-improvised show at Seize the Mustard

[TOP PICK] [$] 10:00 pm ($10 plus 2-drink min.) Thoroughly wonderful comics Chris “Shockwave” Sullivan (amazing human boombox; The Daily Show, The Electric Company, Freestyle Love Supreme, co-host of The BEATdown), Marina Franklin (developing into one of the finest stand-ups in the country, with an uncommonly gentle, graceful style that’s pure joy; Last Comic Standing, Chappelle’s Show, VH1, and Comedy Central’s Premium Blend), Julian McCullough (fiercely funny rising star; Comedy Central Presents, MTV, VH1), Joe DeRosa (HBO’s Down and Dirty, Comedy Central Presents, co-host of Righteous Kill, comedy CD The Depression Auction), Kurt Metzger (Comedy Central’s Ugly Americans), Jordan Carlos (Comedy Central, College Humor), and Theo Von (MTV’s The Real World, Comedy Central) performing at at the Stand Up New York Comedy Club (236 West 78th Street) hosted by the delightful Carolyn Castiglia (VH1’s White Rapper Miss CKC): Love Machine Comedy Show

[$] 10:00 pm ($31.25 & 2-drink min.) A provocative comedy star who’s written for Richard Pryor, Red Foxx, and Saturday Night Live, and performed on Chappelle’s Show and David Letterman, headlining through Sunday at Carolines: Paul Mooney

[TOP PICK] 11:00 pm ($5): Adorable improv troupe Boy Butter, which last week edged out spitfire Bethany Hall and her talented 8GirlsHarold via the strategically shrewd move of aligning itself with audience sympathy for Holocaust survivors—and has a highly effective “secret weapon” in its lone female member, Ellena Chmielewski—tonight faces formidable troupe Hanging Out with Pat Baer as they compete for audience laughs and votes at the raucous Cage Match

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 11:00 pm: Jason Trachtenburg hosts “special guests from bawdy burlesquers to perverted puppeteers to freak folk rockers and twisted comedic storytellers, taking you on a weekly journey through the wonderful world of weird, wild and wow” at The PIT’s basement lounge: Trachtenburgs’ Variety Show featuring The Pendulum Swings

[TOP PICK] 11:00 pm ($5): Jenna Kim Jones (two-time Emmy Award-winning Producer of The Daily Show), Sam Morril, and Jim Tews performing stand-up at The PIT for this comedy club-style (i.e., long set) weekly show hosted by Harrison Greenbaum: The Big One

11:00 pm ($5): Two improv groups competing for audience laughs and votes—yes, like UCBT’s Cage Match, but with less well-known troupes and a game-like challenge component—at Inspirado

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.

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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Thursday 6/16/11

June 16, 2011

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.

Bethany Hall and Andrea Rosen

Bethany Hall, the producer of The Chris Gethard Show, demonstrates her own fierce talent tonight at "Cage Match," while Andrea Rosen performs one of the finest one-person shows of the year in "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:

[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, Paul Welsh performs a one-man show about a hall of portraits: Men in Paintings

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm ($27.25 & 2-drink min.)  A star stand-up who’s done half-hour comedy specials for HBO, Comedy Central, and Showtime; was a regular on Comedy Central’s Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn and cast member on FOX’s The Jury; appeared repeatedly on Late Night with Conan O’Brien; and guest starred on such TV shows as NBC’s The Office and FOX’s Arrested Development, headlining for one night only at the Carolines Comedy Club: Patrice Oneal

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Magnet Theatre co-owner Armando Diaz directs “veteran Magnet performers throwing down for an improv revue featuring classic long forms such as the montage, monoscene, time dash, and maybe even a little freeze tag:” Old School

8:00 pm ($5): Jamie Lee, Damien Lemon, and David Foster performing stand-up at The PIT’s basement lounge hosted by comedic rapper Andrew Singer and the delightful Abbi Crutchfield:Positively Awesome

8:00 pm ($8): A new sketch show from troupe FreeLoveForum

[FREE] 9:00ish pm: Typically terrific NYC stand-ups performing on this weekly show at the Kabin Bar and Lounge hosted by Chesley Calloway and comedy genius Sean Patton: Comedy as a Second Language

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Mike Still (Death by Roo Roo, Diamond Lion) performs a one-man show directed by Neil Casey: Dictator For Life…

…and in the other half of this double-bill, Seth Kirschner (30 Rock, Lipstick Jungle) plays every character in a half-hour one-man TV episode parodying 90s sitcoms titled Sertainly Seth

9:30 pm ($5): Sharp improvisors—tonight including Neil Casey, Jeff Hiller, Silvija Ozols, and Micah Sherman—make up one-act plays on the spot at The PIT’s downstairs lounge in The Scene

9:30 pm ($5): Kelli Porterfield performs a one-woman show about five residents of Joplin, MO: Mirror Mirror On The Wall

[TOP PICK] 11:00 pm ($5): NYC stand-ups (not yet announced) performing at The PIT for this comedy club-style (i.e., long set) weekly show hosted by Harrison Greenbaum: The Big One

[TOP PICK] 11:00 pm ($5): Vibrant improv troupes Boy Butter and 8GirlsHarold (Susan Casey, Shalyah Evans, Bethany Hall, Jackie Jennings, Marie Latagan, Fiona Mallek, Cathryn Mudon, and Verónica Osorio Videtta) competing for audience laughs and votes at the raucous Cage Match

11:00 pm ($5): Two improv groups competing for audience laughs and votes—yes, like UCBT’s Cage Match, but with less well-known troupes and a game-like challenge component—at Inspirado

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.

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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Friday 2/24/11

February 24, 2011

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

If you have a thyroid, or know someone with a thyroid, please consider buying my latest book The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Thyroid Disease.

Outlook of the Poet

The heavens will shake tonight as Outlook of the Poet (above)...

The Stepfathers

...clashes with The Stepfathers at an all-star edition of the improv competition extravaganza "Cage Match"

Tonight’s recommendations for the best in New York City comedy (in chronological order, with top picks noted and shows over $12 marked with $) include:

7:00 pm ($12): Terrific NYC stand-ups Tom Shillue (Comedy Central Presents), Victor Varnado (Conan O’Brien), James Smith (Comedy Central), Rory Albanese (Executive Producer of The Daily Show), Chuck Nice (VH1’s Best Week Ever), Jon Fisch (In the Tank), Tom McCaffrey (The Onion), Michael Somerville (Wingman), and Dan Naturman (Last Comic Standing) performing with host Sean Donnelly at Comedy Below Canal

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Brilliant improvisor Scott Adsit (cast member of 30 Rock, co-writer/director/producer & cast member of Adult Swim’s awesome & Emmy-winning Moral Orel, UCBT’s John & Scott) and veteran improvisor Rachel Hamilton perform as a duo—if Scott gets out of shooting 30 Rock in time tonight—as Hamilton & Adsit

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($10): Matt Higgins (Centralia) and Stuart Bogie (FELA!) “let loose in a radically improvised theater show:” Amphibian

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): A double-bill of vibrant improv troupes: Neil Casey & Anthony Atamanuik make up an entire feature film as The Two-Man Movie; and “fast, furious, and fearless” visiting Chicago-based improv troupe Ragdolls

[TOP PICK] [$] 9:00 pm ($15): A comic excavation of teen angst artifacts (journals, letters, poems, lyrics, home movies, stories, and more) are shared by their original authors before total strangers at Mortified

[FREE] 9:00ish pm: Typically terrific NYC stand-ups performing on this weekly show at the Kabin Bar and Lounge hosted by Chesley Calloway and (throughout February) by the wonderful Brooke Van Poppelen:Comedy as a Second Language

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): If you’re a fan of CollegeHumor.com, you can get a behind-the-scenes peak—plus comics Streeter Seidell & Jeff, Kevin Barnett, Sam Morril, and possibly some special surprises—at CollegeHumor Live

9:30 pm ($10): “Ever wonder how you become a writer for an Emmy winning TV show? So does J. D. Durkin. Since no one has told him, here is his one-man show performing all original material to become a writer for The Colbert Report. Durkin channels Colbert live on stage to present political punditry as only The PIT could do it…and only The PIT, since he was escorted off the Comedy Central premises:” Stephen Colbert: Hire Me

[MEGA-TOP PICK] 11:00 pm ($5): Titans walk the stage tonight as all-star genius improv troupes Outlook of the Poet (Jon Gabrus, Ben Rodgers, and Gavin Speiller) and The Stepfathers (Michael Delaney, Chris Gethard, Will Hines, Bobby Moynihan, Shannon O’Neill, Silvija Ozols, Andy Secunda, and Zach Woods) compete for audience laughs and votes at the raucous Cage Match

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

If you have a thyroid, or know someone with a thyroid, please consider buying my latest book The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Thyroid Disease.

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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Thursday 1/20/11

January 20, 2011

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

For my all-time favorite oddball comedy videos, please click here.

Mamrie Hart

The irresistible Mamrie Hart will demonstrate why she's a rising star tonight at her sketch show "BōF: It’s Pronounced ‘Boaf’!"...

...and Gavin Speiller will play both sides as improv giants Death by Roo Roo and Outlook of the Poet fight for the championship tonight at "Cage Match"

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:

7:00 pm ($5): UCBT improv and sketch veteran and The Onion writer Eddie Brawley tries out new material in Eddie Brawley Unleashed

7:00 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:” The Vigilante

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): The unsinkable Mamrie Hart and her comedy partner Stephen Soroka areBest of Friends, and their new sketch show educates you about how to effectively promote it when you tell all your friends to see it: BoF: It’s Pronounced ‘Boaf’!; and in the other half of this double-bill, a two-man sketch show from very smart and somewhat nerdy comics Dan St. Germain (MTV; quick-witted rising star) and Jared Logan (Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, co-host ofRighteous Kill) about history’s most infamous rivalries in They Hated Each Other

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Arden Myrin (Mad TV), Jon Friedman (Jimmy Fallon, The Rejection Show), Joe Schiappa (MTV), and other fine comics express themselves through poetry and dance in Dealing With My Feelings

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($28 online using discount code TMANIA): UK-based Daniel Kitson is one of the sharpest and most respected writer/performers alive. This is a rare opportunity to spend an intimate 90 minutes with a true genius of comedy. Please note this is a sprawling, detail-packed theatrical show, not stand-up…and not for every taste. But whether you’re ultimately grabbed by the story or not, it’s worth experiencing if only for Daniel’s lightning-quick flashes of humor. For example, at the performance I attended a woman sitting in the front row had the incredible gall to start reading. Daniel sweetly responded, “Ooh, that’s a subtle yet effective form of criticism. I’m certainly not cross with you, just too nosy about what you’re reading to plow on. Look, you’re still reading. What a lack of faith you have in live entertainment.” Place your faith in Daniel, check out write-ups in The New York Times by clicking here andhere, and catch this show running every day except Mondays through January 30th at Brooklyn’s St. Ann’s Warehouse (38 Water Street): The Interminable Suicide of Gregory Church

[$] 8:00 pm ($35 & 2-drink min.)  An energetic regular on Chelsea Lately who’s also appeared onJay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel, VH1, and his own Comedy Central special headlining tonight through Sunday at the Carolines Comedy Club: Jo Koy

8:00 pm ($5): Veteran improvisors play with “elements of monoscene, deconstruction, and La Ronde” in Sleepover

9:00 pm ($12): Kurt Braunohler (Comedy Central, co-host of Hot Tub Variety), Jesse Joyce (Comedy Central, Last Comic Standing), DC Benny (Comedy Central Presents), Ray Elkin, and more performing stand-up at Comedy Below Canal

[FREE] 9:00ish pm: Typically terrific NYC stand-ups performing on this weekly show at the Kabin Bar and Lounge hosted by Chesley Calloway and comedy genius Sean Patton (red-hot rising star; killer set onJimmy Fallon, Comedy Central, VH1): Comedy as a Second Language

9:00 pm (no cover, 1-item min.): Star storyteller Tom Shillue (Conan O’Brien, The Daily Show, Comedy Central Presents), and NYC including Jordan Carlos and Jon Rineman performing stand-up at the Luca Lounge (222 Avenue B off 14th Street) for a show hosted & produced by recently engaged couple Sean Crespo & Carol Hartsell: Lasers in the Jungle

[MEGA-TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): A spectacular and unforgettable demonstration of the artful power of mime when combined with a wickedly sharp modern sensibility, executed with great wit and style. Street performers have given mime a bad rep; but if you think about it, what mime does is boil a situation down to its essential elements, and then express those elements in a manner that’s instantly and universally understood. That’s really what art is all about; and that’s also what Billy the Mime does, often brilliantly. (For my review of his FringeNYC show in 2006, please click here.): Billy the Mime

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($8): A unique sports-themed stand-up, sketch comedy, and interview show hosted by Scott Rogowsky and Neil Janowitz that features both professional sports stars and comics doing sports-themed comedy: 12 Angry Mascots

[$] 10:00 pm ($31.25 & 2-drink min.) A provocative comedy star who’s written for Richard Pryor, Red Foxx, and Saturday Night Live, and performed on Chappelle’s Show and David Letterman, headlining through Sunday at Carolines: Paul Mooney

[MEGA-TOP PICK] 11:00 pm ($5): The final showdown! Two of the finest improv troupes in the world, Death by Roo Roo (Anthony Atamanuik, Neil Casey, John Gemberling, John Murray, Gil Ozeri, Gavin Speiller, and Mike Still) and Outlook of the Poet (Jon Gabrus, Ben Rodgers, and Gavin Speiller) square off to learn who Gavin Speiller really loves best as they compete for audience laughs and votes at the raucous Cage Match

For my all-time favorite oddball comedy videos, please click here.

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Saturday 1/30/10

January 30, 2010

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

Cage Match Champions for two years in a row...

...and one of the finest & funniest improv troupes ever: Death by Roo Roo

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:

[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm ($10): One of my favorite sketch troupes, making great use of physical comedy and music, returns to the NYC stage tonight for what I hope is a long run. It consists of Mary Theresa Archbold (for my review of this star’s funny & touching 2007 FringeNYC show Jazz Hand, please click here), Tim Girrbach, Jason Salmon, Rodney Umble, and director Larry Rosen, and has received acclaim at numerous top comedy and theatre festivals. For a brief medley of memorable moments, please click here; and then come tonight to experience all-new material from Drop Six

7:00 pm (no cover, 1-item min.): Sharp NYC stand-ups & sketch comics Pat Stango & Blaine Perry (hosts of Don’t Touch Me There), Luke Cunningham (The Colbert Report), Jason Saenz (co-host of Too Cool For School), Steve Bossous (CNN’s Breaking the News with DL Hughley), Team Submarine, Moe and Mary, Robert Dean, and James Harris performing in Ochi’s Lounge at Lil’ Seany Boy

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10): Genius improvisor Christina Gausas and friends she originally made in Chicago—which include writers & performers from 30 Rock, The Colbert Report, and The Daily Show—plus a rotating cast of stellar visitors, all joyously declaring Let’s Have a Ball

[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 8:00 pm & 10:30 pm ($28 online if you use code VIPJAN [otherwise $35], plus 2-item minimum): A star stand-up and writer who’s also the author of the 2008 book Cancer on $5 a Day (Chemo Not Included): How Humor Got Me Through the Toughest Journey of My Life, headlining at the elegant Comix Comedy Club: Robert Schimmel

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): One of the gutsiest and most hilarious troupes in comedy history—and which this Thursday won the Cage Match Championship for two years in a row!—genius improvisors Death by Roo Roo

9:00 pm ($5): Organic & energetic improv by the four guys of 4 Track!

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($10): Always fresh and imaginative world-class sketch troupe that uses song, movement, and clever scenarios to turn familiar rituals on their head (for a video about awkward goodbyes at the end of a party, please click here): The Harvard Sailing Team

[TOP PICK] [$] 10:00 pm ($15): Ted Greenberg (Emmy-winning David Letterman writer) performing a fun, quick-paced theatrical comedy show—complete with audience rides home!—at The Complete Performer

[TOP PICK] 10:30 pm ($10): An all-star improv troupe led by brilliant UCBT artistic director Anthony King: Reuben Williams

10:30 pm ($5): Vibrant improv from Nick Kanellis & Peter McNerney (Statues of Liberty) and Leslie Korein as comedy trio Trike

[TOP PICK] [$] 11:30 pm ($12): According to their Web site,”God’s Pottery is a Christian acoustic duo formed to spread the Word using their unique blend of music, people-skills and Biblical know-how to inspire all who are willing to listen with open hearts.” Some in the secular world have called them Wilson Hall and Krister Johnson; others have called them harsher things. But most have called them very funny. Come catch these stars of Last Comic Standing and authors of the book What Would God’s Pottery Do?, along with such stellar guests as Tom Shillue, performing at Joe’s Pub: The Wonderful World of God’s Pottery

Midnight ($5): A rotating comedic cast—tonight consisting of Dan Avidan, Alex Charak, Shaun Diston, Kelly Hudson, Ben Kissel, Matt Mayer, Jill Marie Morris, Amber Nelson, Ninja Sex Party, Jim Santangeli, Nate Smith, and Emily Strachan—performing very silly stage acts at Eliot & Ilana Glazer’s High School Talent Show

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Friday 7/24/09

July 24, 2009

About Last Night: Special kudos to Thursday’s Cage Match for putting on one of the greatest shows I ever expect to see. Musical improv troupe Veal delivered a wonderful series of scenes & songs about airplanes, and proved it deserves more appearances on the UCBT stage. And much love always to hosts Ben Rodgers and Eric Scott. But an extra special acknowledgement goes to the almost superhuman skill, timing, and comedic mastery displayed by last night’s Death by Roo Roo improv focused on, of all things, a bake-off, from Curtis Gwinn, Gavin Speiller, John Gemberling, Adam Pally, and Gil Ozeri. Guys, you are all superstars.

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

John Oliver demonstrates his genius at stand-up tonight at Comix

John Oliver demonstrates his genius at stand-up tonight at Comix

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:

[TOP PICK] [$] John Oliver, the star correspondent of The Daily Show and a genius stand-up, will show why he’s universally considered one of the finest comics alive tonight through Sunday as he delivers a deliciously long set Headlining at Comix (8:00 pm & 10:30 pm),

[TOP PICK] [FREE] a blow-out farewell to this weekly free show’s co-host, Cassidy Henehan, with stellar stand-ups Baron Vaughn, Sean Patton, and Jesse Pop, superb sketch comedy troupes Bishop & Douch and The Straightmen, and sexy & hilarious singer/songwriter Shayna Ferm, in Brooklyn at Nick Turner’s Too Cool for School: Bon Voyage, Cassidy Henehan (8:00 pm),

[FREE] superb stand-ups Claudia Cogan, Pat Dixon, and Danny Solomon answering personal questions on stage at Matt Ruby’s & Mark Normand’s We’re All Friends Here (8:00 pm),

NYC stand-up comics Allison Castillo (Comedy Central’s Premium Blend, MTV), Giulia Rozzi (VH1, Playgirl Magazine, co-host of Stripped Stories), Eddie Sarfaty (Comedy Central’s Premium Blend, Logo’s Wisecrack), Jason Saft (here! TV’s Hot Gay Comics), and more at a gay-themed comedy show hosted by Jenny Rubin: The Back Room (9:00 pm),

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

singing improvisors who use an interview with an audience member to craft The Made-Up Musical (10:30 pm),

[TOP PICK] top UCBT talents—including Neil Casey, Eugene Cordero, Sue Galloway, Curtis Gwinn, Anthony King, Adam Pally, Ben Rodgers, Charlie Sanders, Eric Scott, Gavin Speiller, and Caitlin Tegart—writing and/or performing sketch comedy Beneath Gristedes (11:00 pm),

[FREE] and a free opportunity for you to perform sketch on the UCBT stage at Liquid Courage (12:20ish am).

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Thursday 5/14/09

May 14, 2009

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

Battle of Improv Titans: Death by Roo Roo vs. Reuben Williams

Battle of Improv Titans: Death by Roo Roo vs. Reuben Williams

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:

[TOP PICK] an hour-long play made up on the spot by razor-sharp, passionate improvisors Scott Adsit (30 Rock, Moral Orel) and Christina Gausas (Conan O’Brien, The Colbert Report) at Adsit & Gausas (8:00 pm),

[TOP PICK] superb improvisors Tara Copeland and James Eason leading a semi-revival of legendary troupe Mother in this new Magnet show: Sleepover (8:00 pm),

[TOP PICK] Adira Amram, Ophira Eisenberg, Tom McCaffrey, Carla Rhodes, Brent Sullivan, and Chris Sifflet at a free weekly variety show in the East Village hosted by sharp dark comedy stand-up Jena Friedman: Entertaining the Bartender (8:30 pm),

[$] star comics Dave Attell, Greg Giraldo, Marina Franklin, Jessica Kirson, Paul Mercurio, and more performing—though not all on the same lineups—at Comedy Cellar (9:00 pm & 11:00 pm),

[TOP PICK] DC Pierson (brilliant improvisor, sketch comic, filmmaker, and book author; Derrick, Mystery Team), Christina Andrews, and musical guest Thin Skin Jonny performing at the best sexy storytelling comedy show in NYC: Margot Leitman’s & Giulia Rozzi’s Stripped Stories (9:30),

[TOP PICK] [DISCOUNTED] brilliant improvisors making up plays on the spot using the language and themes of the Bard: Improvised Shakespeare (10:00 pm),

[TOP PICK] and two of the finest improv troupes ever, Death by Roo Roo and Reuben Williams, in a battle of titans to win audience laughs & votes at the raucous Cage Match (11:00 pm).

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

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