Best New York Comedy

For more, please visit HyReviews.com.

My favorite fast food place, Tuck Shop, got hit hard by Sandy. Please check out its amazing meat & veggie mini-pies; the 68 East 1st Street store is near UCB East and open very late…and is run by a fiery Aussie redhead who’s a delight.

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] 2:00 pm doors, 2:15ish show ($8): Select clips of Muppets in tribute to the late Jerry Nelson, who over six decades performed hundreds of characters including The Count, Herry Monster, Camilla the Chicken, Kermit’s nephew Robin, and Gobo Fraggle, screened at Brooklyn’s Union Hall, plus Muppet-themed drink specials, cool giveaways, sing-along fun, and more: The Muppet Vault: The Man of a Thousand Muppets

[TOP PICK] [$] 3:00 pm ($65): This isn’t pure comedy, but an enchanting hodgepodge of original tall tales fueled by laughs. The 2-hour play from the wonderful guys of PigPen blends shadow puppetry, songs, inventive staging, and more to create living dreams. For my review of PigPen’s two previous shows at FringeNYC, please click here and here. This newest work is their most ambitious, and that sometimes results in the story feeling too slow or padded; but it also yields a deeper emotional payoff. And even though not all the bits hit the mark, so many of them do that you’re likely to feel satisfied—and missing PigPen’s world after the show is over. The production is at The Gym at Judson (243 Thompson Street) in the West Village: The Old Man and the Moon

[FREE] 4:00 pm: An unusually early walk-in open-mic stand-up show at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City: Face-Plant Comedy Open Mic

[FREE] 6:00 pm: A smorgasbord of of stand-up, comedic music, comedic dance, sketch, and more at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City: Mishmash Variety Hour (and a Half)

 6:30 pm ($5): Two shows audition for a spot on The Magnet schedule: A Child’s Garden of Maritime Disasters and The Jen Sanders’ Show

[FREE] 6:30 pm: Open-mic stand-up, with 3 minutes per comic (unless not many folks show up, in which case there’ll be more time), with names drawn out of a bucket at UCB East in the bar area (“Hot Chicks Room”) hosted by Emmy Blotnick, Matt Nedostup, and/or Sachi Ezurafor: Sledgehammer

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 7:00 pm: TV & Broadway stand-up star Colin Quinn performs a brand new show exploring US history “from the Founding Fathers to the Kardashians” at Queens LIC’s The Creek upstairs theatre: Unconstitutional with Colin Quinn

7:00 pm ($8): An all-gal sketch troupe performs “prank calls, girl talk, Bloody Mary, makeovers, light to moderate bulimia, games, murder, gossip, giggles, and some completely natural and healthy experimentation” at The PIT upstairs theatre: Doctors Quinn Medicine Women’s Super Cute Sleepover

[MEGA-TOP PICK] [$] 7:30 pm ($20): The return of one of the funniest comedies—and finest comedic ensembles—to grace New York, and what ended up as the very best show of this year’s FringeNYC Festival, playing at the Soho Playhouse’s upstairs theatre. Please read my review by clicking here, and then take advantage of this opportunity to see the Chicago-based 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10) and 9:30 pm [FREE]: UCB Chelsea’s signature improv comedy extravaganza, which typically includes stars in the improv world, and sometimes even TV & movie stars such as Amy Poehler and Horatio Sanz: ASSSCAT 3000

[TOP PICK] [$] 7:30 pm ($38.25 & 2-drink min.) An Iranian-American stand-up (for a sample set, please click here) who’s a founding member of the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour that featured top Middle Eastern-American comics, and an actor who’s performed on ABC’ s Better off Ted and Knights of Prosperity, FOX’ s Life on a Stick, HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, NBC’s The West Wing and ER, and many other shows & feature films, headlining tonight through Sunday at the Carolines Comedy Club: Maz Jobrani

7:30 pm ($5): Improv troupes not affiliated with any comedy school compete at UCB East for audience laughs and votes—and the privilege to go on to perform at the primary Cage Match show at UCB Chelsea—in this show hosted by the delightful Amey Goerlich & R an Karels (Krompf): Indie Cage Match

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($7): John Hodgman (The Daily Show, PC vs. Mac commercials, bestselling author), Dan St. Germain (quick-witted & enormously likeable rising star; Jimmy Fallon, The Electric Company, MTV, VH1), Rob Cantrell (Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, VHI, documentary Metaphysical Graffiti, High Times), and more performing stand-up at Brooklyn’s Union Hall guest-hosted tonight by Nick Turner: Pretty Good Friends

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:30 pm ($50, plus 2-drink min. or $20 unlimited nonalcoholic drinks): Cast members and writers of Saturday Night LIve—John Mulaney (one of the finest stand-ups in the country; writer/performer for Saturday Night Live; Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central Presents, one hour special & CD/DVD New in Town, VH1’s Best Week Ever; for John’s great bit on Weekend Update, please click here), Colin Jost (Head Writer of SNL), Jay Pharoah, Vanessa Bayer, Tim Robinson, and Mike O’Brien—plus Judah Friedlander (one of the quickest minds in comedy; 30 Rock, Meet the Parents, Along Came Polly, author of How to Beat Up Anybody) performing stand-up to raise funds for Hurricane Sandy relief at the Comic Strip Live Comedy Club (1568 2nd Avenue off 81st Street): Saturday Night Live Cast plus 30 Rock’s Judah Friedlander

[FREE] 8:00 pm: Maddog Mattern (to see Maddog handle a heckler, please click here), Roger Hailes (Chappelle’s Show, VH1, MTV; writer for FUSE’s A Different Spin with Mark Hoppus), Jordan Carlos (The Colbert Report, MTV, VH1), Nimesh Patel, Liam McEneany, Jude Destin, Upa, and Steve Carr performing stand-up for this monthly show at Brooklyn’s Way Station (683 Washington Avenue) hosted by Jordon Ferber and Sarah Shanok: I Got a Bad Feeling About This

8:00 pm ($5): A mini-play at The Magnet in which Robert Weinstein and friends present a horror/comedy: Smooching & Slashing: Anatomy of a First Kiss

8:00 pm ($8): Three improv troupes make up scenes at The PIT upstairs theatre: Martha, Kissing Disease, and Flip Flops and Socks

[FREE] 8:00 pm: Sketch, improv, and more at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City from comedy troupe Froduce

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 9:00 pm: Sean Patton (one of the finest stand-ups in the country; killer sets on Jimmy Fallon and Conan O’Brien, Comedy Central, VH1, feature film Wifed Out; co-host of Comedy as a Second Language, frequent guest-host of Whiplash), Louis Katz (Jimmy Fallon, HBO, Comedy Central Presents), Seth Herzog (staff comic for Jimmy Fallon; 30 Rock, Comedy Central, CBS, VH1, film actor; host of Sweet), Al Jackson, Leonard Robinson, David Huntsberger, and more performing stand-up at Brooklyn’s Knitting Factory (361 Metropolitan Avenue) hosted by the wonderful Hannibal Buress (staff writer for 30 Rock, Saturday Night Live; David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon, Louie, The Eric Andre Show; one-hour Comedy Central special Animal Furnace): Comedy 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): Christian Finnegan (Conan O’Brien, co-star of TBS’ Are We There Yet?; three Comedy Central specials; MSNBC, VH1’s Best Week Ever, Chappelle’s Show, The Today Show), Dean Edwards (Saturday Night Live, MTV’s Celebrity Deathmatch, HBO’s The Sopranos, feature film Scared Shrekless), Andrew Schulz (MTV 2’s Guy Code), and more performing at the only comedy club in the East Village: Eastville Comedy Club

[FREE] 9:00 pm: Jermaine Fowler (FOX’s new In Living Color, Adult Swim’s The Eric Andre Show), Brent Sullivan (Comedy Central; for video about crying while reading The Giving Tree, please click here), Sean Donnelly (Comedy Central; host of many shows), Michelle Wolf (IFC’s Bunk), and more performing at RG Daniels’ free weekly show at the L’asso East Village lounge (107 First Avenue, off 7th Street): Sunday Night Stand-Up

[FREE] 9:00 pm: NYC stand-ups Abigoliah Schamaun, Mike Cody, Sam Morrill, and Diana Da Luna performing in the East Village’s Beauty Bar for this free weekly show hosted by Adam Sokol, Brad Austin, and/or Nate Fridson: Comedy at the Beauty Bar

9:00 pm ($5): Improv veterans Brandon Gardner, Chelsea Clarke, and Phillip Jackson hosting & performing in a show at UCB East with guest improvisors: Improv Nerds

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): All-gal storytelling show of “true tales with feelings; so many feelings…,” tonight starring Elna Baker (genius storyteller, and bestselling author of the comedic book The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance; writer for Glamour, Elle; NPR’s This American Life; co-host of red-hot The Talent Show; for sample tales, please click here), Giulia Rozzi (Jimmy Kimmel, MTV, VH1, Playgirl Magazine, co-host of Dive comedy and Stripped Stories), and Anna Roisman at The PIT upstairs theatre hosted by Caitlin Brodnick and Lisa Kleinman: Shut Up: An All-Female Storytelling Show

9:30 pm ($5): Magnet sketch comedy teams Jacktown and Risky Bottom try out new material at this show with the on-the-nose title Magnet Sketch Teams

9:30 pm ($1): Open-mic stand-up, with four minutes per comic, at The PIT downstairs lounge hosted by Molly Austin & Mike Brown: Vicious Cycle

10:00 pm ($5): Improv veterans Brandon Gardner, Chelsea Clarke, and Phillip Jackson hosting & performing in a show at UCB East with improvisors taken from the audience…and who may include you: Improv Nerds Jam

From legendary NYC comedy site Brooklyn Vegan: If you want to know what is happening in NYC comedy on a particular day, you gotta get hip to this dude Hy Bender and his site Best New York Comedy. The site is updated daily and features a super exhaustive look at what is happening in the NYC comedy world that particular day. The site is updated religiously…It is your daily comedy itinerary and it scares me how on top of his shit this guy is.