Best New York Comedy

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Please click for best clips from The Jeselnik Offensive and Kroll Show.

The wonderful Eileen Kelly performs funny songs & stories at The Magnet in Two Voices, Four Kidneys…

…Bobcat Goldthwait performs stand-up in Brooklyn for Creaghead & Company…

…Top Gun goes Shakespearean at The PIT in the cleverly executed Jester’s Dead…

…and Joe Pera performs for a rare free show (no cover, no min.) at top comedy club The Stand

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] 4:00 pm: An unusually early walk-in open-mic stand-up show at The Creek downstairs lounge in Queens’ Long Island City: Face-Plant Comedy Showcase

6:00 pm ($8): “Becky Flaum thinks she’s Julia Roberts. And Sandra Bullock, Meg Ryan, Drew Barrymore, even Katherine Heigel. But her high cinematic hopes for her love life get in the way of reality on her quest to find the perfect co-star.” This one-woman show is at The PIT upstairs theatre: Hopeless Romantic Comedy

[FREE] 5:30 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] [$] 6:00 pm ($15, no drink min.): Judah Friedlander (one of the quickest minds in comedy; 30 Rock, Meet the Parents, Along Came Polly, author of How to Beat Up Anybody), Sean Lynch (Comedy Central, MTV, Spike TV), Frank Vignola (Comedy Central), Dante Nero (Comedy Central, HBO, ABC, FOX), and Rob Shapiro performing stand-up—and raising funds to pay the medical bills of a fellow comic—at the Comedy Bar (134 West 29th Street): Comedy Benefit for Nick Cimato

[FREE] 6:00 pm: “Short-form improv teams battle it out for the most points and a prize. C’mon, admit it! You miss the quick-witted fun and audience involvement of short-form improv. A different short-form team joins Mishmash! each month and struts their stuff for a panel of judges (including one judge chosen from the audience) until a winner emerges. There will be a series of completely improvised scenes, stories and musicals all based on your suggestions. Come ready to shout out suggestions, and even shout at the judges,” at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City: The Scrimmage

6:00 pm ($5): Open-mic stand-up that includes professional feedback on each comic’s 5-minute set at Queens LIC’s Laughing Devil Comedy Club (4738 Vernon Blvd.): Mic-Shop: Open Mic Workshop

[TOP PICK] 6:30 pm ($5): Eileen Kelly (one of the finest storytellers in the country; also a superb stand-up; NBC’s Today Show, Showtime, staff comic for Lifetime; for video samples please click here and here, and for my review of her FringeNYC show please click here) and Marian Rosin (Conan O’Brien) perform comedic songs & stories at The Magnet theatre: Two Voices, Four Kidneys…

…and in the other half of this double-bill, Andy Moskowitz performs an improvised one-man show: Andy, Please!

7:00 pm ($8): Long-time friends Jessica van Campen & Danielia Donohue perform a two-woman show “exploring the 90s, Groupons, cats, sweaters, and being their own worst enemies” at The PIT upstairs theatre: Yarn Robot

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

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 & Ryan Karels (Krompf): Indie Cage Match

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($7): TV & movie star Bobcat Goldthwait (David Letterman, Jay Leno, HBO, Showtime, Comedy Central, Police Academy, Shakes the Clown, Windy City Heat, etc.), Dave Hill (one of the most original and hilariously sharp alternative comics in the country; HBO, Comedy Central, MTV, VH1, NPR, The Dave Hill Explosion, bands Valley Lodge and Diamondsnake, champion rapper, author of Tasteful Nudes), Brooke Van Poppelen (brilliant writer, stand-up, and storyteller; writer and/or producer for MTV’s Guy Code, Girl Code, Failosophy, and Nikki & Sara Show; trutV, TLC, co-host of Dive Comedy), Jim Tews, and Alex Koll performing stand-up at Brooklyn’s Union Hall hosted by Caroline Creaghead: Creaghead & Company

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm ($14 plus 2-item food/drink min.): Colin Quinn (SNL, Comedy Central’s Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, HBO, NBC, Broadway), Judah Friedlander (one of the quickest minds in comedy; 30 Rock, Meet the Parents, Along Came Polly, author of How to Beat Up Anybody), Gary Gulman (David Letterman, Jay Leno, Last Comic Standing, Tourgasm, Comedy Central hour-long special), Modi (HBO’s The Sopranos, Comedy Central), and Jeff Lamp (Jay Leno) performing stand-up at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane) hosted by Ardie Fuqua: Colin Quinn, Judah Friedlander, Gary Gulman, and More

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm ($15, no drink min.): Carmen Lynch (David Letterman, Last Comic Standing finalist, Comedy Central), Carole Montgomery (Comedy Central, ABC’s Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, Oprah, Showtime, MTV, VH1, A&E), and other gal stand-ups at The Stand Comedy Club (239 Third Avenue & 20th Street): Girls Gone Funny: Carmen Lynch, Carole Montgomery, and More

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): From Dan Hodapp & Micah Sherman (producers of The Scene), improvisors make up one-act plays on the spot at The PIT downstairs lounge: Act One

[FREE] 8:00 pm: The Lucas Brothers (Jimmy Fallon), Seaton Smith (Opie & Anthony Virus Tour), Ryan McKee (writer for MTV’s Guy Code), Rojo Perez, and more performing at the Three of Cups lounge (83 First Avenue at 5th Street) hosted by RG Daniels: Sunday Night Stand-Up

8:00 pm ($7):A brand new show from The Magnet house sketch troupe Company 29 about “the rite of passage into modern adulthood involving flagrant consumption, waffling definitions of sexual propriety, a general disregard for all grown-up responsibility, and occasional learning:” Company 29 Presents: College

8:00 pm ($8): “ImprovFM is every improv lover’s dream. Not only are the radio station conversations improvised, but so are the names, the stories, the songs, reports, and sound effects! In and by their play, the performers create a parallel world with its own rules, based solely on their imaginations and interactions” at The PIT upstairs featuring Nate Starkey, Ashley Ward, Justin Akin, Michelle Best, and Erick Hellwig: ImprovFM

[FREE] 9:00 pm: Gary Gulman (David Letterman, Jay Leno, Last Comic Standing, Tourgasm, Comedy Central hour-long special), Casey James Salengo, and Andrew Holmgren 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

[FREE] 9:00 pm: Typically terrific NYC stand-ups (not announced this week) performing at Brooklyn’s Knitting Factory (361 Metropolitan Avenue), typically hosted by the wonderful Hannibal Buress (former staff writer for 30 Rock, Saturday Night Live; David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon, Louie, The Eric Andre Show, host of Comedy Night, one-hour Comedy Central special Animal Furnace): Comedy Night

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 ($10): This show begins with a delightful concept—Top Gun performed as if written by William Shakespeare—and then executes it with the joyful craft only a sharp, tight theatrical ensemble can create. Everyone in the cast is terrific, but among the most memorable are Dan Hartley as Maverick, and Vayu O’Donnell who steals every scene he appears in with his hilariously deadpan delivery as Iceman. While this is playing at The PIT upstairs theatre for a mere $10, it’s really legit Fringe theatre, and I hope it eventually makes its way to FringeNYC or Edinburgh—or better yet, develops more songs and gets a commercial run as a musical. Meanwhile, don’t miss this opportunity to see a way fun parody of a cult classic for about half of what you oughta be paying: Jester’s Dead: Top Gun Shakesparody

9:30 pm ($5): Sketch comedy at The Magnet, tonight from troupes Risky Bottom (which includes the spectacularly talented Lauren Olson) and Cookie Mountain: Magnet Sketch Teams

[ALMOST FREE] 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

[$] 9:45 pm ($14 plus 2-item food/drink min.): 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, Craig Ferguson, VH1, Comedy Central’s Premium Blend), Greer Barnes (David Letterman, Chappelle Show, For the Love of the Game), Ryan Hamilton (Conan O’Brien, Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, Showtime), Andrew Schulz (MTV2’s Guy Code), and Erik Rivera (Jay Leno, MTV) performing at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane) hosted by Ardie Fuqua: Marina Franklin, Greer Barnes, Ryan Hamilton, and More

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 10:00 pm (no cover, no drink min.!): Joe Pera (hilarious deadpan Andy Kaufman-like stand-up; one time I saw Joe sing beautifully and then smash three dozen plates to pieces; more recently he ended his set by slicing milk; for Joe’s latest Kaufman awards submissions, please click here and here), Jermaine Fowler (FOX’s new In Living Color, MTV, Adult Swim’s The Eric Andre Show), and more performing stand-up at The Stand Comedy Club (239 Third Avenue & 20th Street) hosted by Seaton Smith (Opie & Anthony Virus Tour). It’s very rare for a top comedy club to offer a show that’s 100% free; come and support this, and order from the acclaimed food menu and/or drink list if the spirit moves you: The Seaton Smith Show: Joe Pera, Jermaine Fowler, and More

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

[FREE] 10:45 pm: Open-mic show for sketch and character bits running 3-5 minutes at The Magnet hosted by Sebastian Conelli. Everyone who signs up—at 10:30 pm at the box office—is likely to get onstage: Sketch in Progress

[$] 11:30 pm ($14 plus 2-item food/drink min.): Nikki Glaser (co-star of MTV’s The Nikki and Sara Show; Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno, Last Comic Standing; podcast You Had to Be There), Joe List (HBO, Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central), Sam Morril (Comedy Central), Godfrey (Comedy Central Presents, Louie, 30 Rock, VH1; films Zoolander, Original Gangsters, Soul Plane; 7 Up Yours ads), and Justin Silver (star of CBS’ Dogs in the City) performing stand-up at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane) hosted by Ardie Fuqua: Nikki Glaser, Joe List, Sam Morril, and More

 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.