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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Sunday 7/15/12

July 15, 2012

For more, please visit HyReviews.com.
Grab tickets to see SNL’s Kate McKinnon on stage by clicking here.

Michelle Buteau briefly returns from LA to perform at Electro Shock Therapy Comedy Hour…

…and a stellar cast of musical comedy actors—including John Flynn as a singing shark—perform in Jaws: The Musical

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] [FREE] 2:00 pm: Carmen Lynch (Last Comic Standing finalist, Comedy Central), Louis Katz (HBO, Comedy Central), Carolyn Castiglia (Last Comic Standing, VH1), Giulia Rozzi (Jimmy Kimmel, MTV, VH1, Playgirl Magazine, co-host of Dive comedy and Stripped Stories), and Sam Morril performing for a free outdoor show at Washington Square Park (at Holley Plaza): Laughter in the Park

[TOP PICK] 3:00 pm ($10 plus 1 drink min.): “Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the theater, a shark swims right into your heart.” Beloved storyteller/stand-up/sketch comic John Flynn stars—superbly—as a singing shark, along with two wonderful finds, powerhouse singer Laura Daniel and comedy dynamo Brett Douglas, in this 40-minute musical written & composed by Wayne Henry at the Broadway Comedy Club (318 West 53rd Street, between 8th & 9th Avenues) that really should be doubled in length via a second act but in the meantime is worth catching as is: Jaws: The Musical

[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 Showcase

[FREE] 6:30 pm: Magnet sketch comics performing new material: Ripe Sketch Comedy

[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

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

[FREE] 7:30 pm: Sketch, improv, and more at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City from comedy troupe Froduce

[FREE] 8:00 pm: Brooke Van Poppelen (writer for MTV’s Epic Fall; trutV, TLC, co-host of Dive Comedy; for stand-up videos about overindulging at 30 and impersonating Morrisey, please click here and here), Nato Green (writer of FX’s Totally Biased), Greg Johnson, Team Submarine, Bredan Eyre, and Morgan Jay performing at RG Daniels’ free weekly show at the Three of Cups lounge (83 First Avenue at 5th Street): Sunday Night Stand-Up

8:00 pm ($8): “Funny people on the Internet being funny on stage” at The PIT upstairs theatre hosted by Mikala Bierma & Tyler Coates: IRL

8:00 pm ($5): Magnet sketch comics performing new material (for a fun sample co-starring Danielle Tolley about dating a telemarketer, please click here): Alchemy

8:00 pm ($8): Christine Pineiro and Kelly Ann Rockwell spearhead a mix of sketch and improv at The PIT downstairs lounge: Christine & Kelly’s Comedy Bonanza

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

[FREE] 9:00 pm: NYC stand-ups may or may not be performing at Brooklyn’s Knitting Factory (361 Metropolitan Avenue); for an update, please click Comedy Night

[FREE] 9:00 pm: Barry Rothbart (Jay Leno, Comedy Central, MTV’s Punk’d, IFC), Emily Fleming, Charlie Kasov, JF Harris, and Taylor Clarke performing stand-up 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

9:30 pm ($5): At Magnet, sketch comedy from The Weird Sisters, Listen Kid!, We’re Matt Weir, Darth Vader Ginsberg!, Beth Newell, Christian Paluck, and Nick Kanellis: Sketch Sundays

9:30 pm ($5): NYC stand-ups (not announced) perform sets that are then used as springboards for improv troupes to make up scenes at The PIT upstairs theatre: Daws of Jeath

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

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 10:00 pm: Michelle Buteau (Conan O’Brien, NBC’s Whitney, Chelsea Lately; briefly visiting from LA), Jami Smith (comedy reporter & Tweetmaster for The Advocate), and William Mullin (writer for Jane Lynch & Jennifer Coolidge) performing stand-up at this free weekly gay-themed show at Therapy hosted by Brad Loekle: Electro Shock Therapy Comedy Hour

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

For more, please visit HyReviews.com.

Leave a Comment » | Best New York Live Comedy Shows | Tagged: Brett Douglas, Comedy NYC Tonight, Improv, Jaws: The Musical, John Flynn, Laura Daniel, Michelle Buteau, Sketch, Stand-Up | Permalink
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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Saturday 7/14/12

July 14, 2012

For more, please visit HyReviews.com.
Grab tickets to see SNL’s Kate McKinnon on stage by clicking here.

Arden Myrin is back for summer fun hosting Brooklyn’s The Party Machine…

…and the delightful Katey Healy-Wurzburg hosts her quirky trivia game show The Fascinator

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 weekly open-mic stand-up show (“starts late enough to sleep off that hangover but ends just in time to begin a new one”) at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City hosted by Jhoel Walkowski & Evan Davis: The Amateur Hour

6:00 pm ($5): Improv troupes Bottom Gun, Human Pyramid, and GCA at The Magnet kicking off your Saturday evening: The Rundown

[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm ($5): A comedy quiz show full of heavily researched quirky facts in which brilliant contestants (typically UCBT stars) get points if their answers are correct but get more points if their answers are “quite interesting” at UCB East created & hosted by Katey Healy-Wurzburg: The Fascinator…

…and in the other half of this double-bill, UCBT house manager and tech guy supreme Pat Baer hosts a show about the very medium you’re using to read this: 404ing It: Breaking (Down) the Internet

7:00 pm ($8): At this PIT double-bill, Dan Hodapp & Natasha Rothwell “bring more than five years of improv collaboration to stage for an evening of bold, committed characters and probably a fart joke for good measure” as Hodapp & Rothwell, and then all-gal improvisors Alexis Saarela, Brigid Boyle, Elizabeth Findlay, and Ashley Ward perform as troupe Taco Supreme

7:30 pm ($10): Talented improvisors at UCB Chelsea interview an audience member about where he or she grew up and then “turn that town’s tourist attractions, landmarks, hangouts, local celebrities, urban legends, and more into a hilarious show made up on the spot:” The Curfew: Not From Around Here

7:30 pm ($7): Andrew Yurman-Glaser and Dustin Drury first go solo and then join forces at The Magnet as improv duo Upstate

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5 at the door or $7.63 online): Arden Myrin (Conan O’Brien, Chelsea Lately, Mad TV, numerous other TV shows & films; for Mad TV samples, please click here and here and here) and Lisa deLarios (Comedy Central) host this delightful monthly mix of stand-up and sketch, with tonight’s guests musical group Summer & Eve, Carmen Lynch (Last Comic Standing finalist, Comedy Central), Jon Friedman (Jimmy Fallon, The Rejection Show), John F. O’Donnell, and more performing at Brooklyn’s Union Hall: The Party Machine

8:00 pm ($10): Two of the most respected PIT improv troupes performing on this weekly double-bill—and occasionally with comedy giants Kristen Schaal and/or Kurt Braunohler participating: Big Black Car and The Baldwins

8:30 pm ($10): Streeter Seidell (Editor-in-Chief of College Humor; Jimmy Kimmel, MTV),Liz Miele (Conan O’Brien, Comedy Central), John Roy (Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno, Comedy Central), Seaton Smith (Opie & Anthony Virus Tour), Paige Weldon, and Jono Zalay performing stand-up at UCB East hosted by Kara Klenk: If You Build It

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): One of the gutsiest and most hilarious troupes in comedy history—with honors including being Cage Match Champion for three years in a row, and winning the 2011 ECNY Award for Best Improv Group—UCB Chelsea’s genius improvisors Death by Roo Roo

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($8): From the producers of The Scene, improvisors—tonight including Casey Jost & Jodi Lennon— make up one-act plays on the spot at The PIT downstairs lounge: Act One

9:00 pm ($7): Magnet improvisors team up with poets at Kiss*Punch*Poem

9:30 pm ($15): “A cabaret of darkly funny songs and topical sketch comedy about culture and politics,” following sold out shows at Joe’s Pub and now enjoying a long run at The PIT upstairs theatre: Political Subversities

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

[FREE] 10:00 pm: “Zachary Sims has a grandfather…only he doesn’t find out until the old guy dies. That’s when Zach gets the will and learns that the grandfather he’d never met has a gift for him—his mansion. There’s only one catch: Zach has to follow in his Grandpa’s footsteps and host a talk show out of the basement” at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City: Grandpa’s Mansion

[TOP PICK] 10:30 ($8): NYC’s heavy metal version of a sketch troupe, which doesn’t always ht the mark but provides odd, unsettling, and fearless dark comedy—and won last year’s ECNY Award for Best Sketch Group, tonight joined by guest sketch duo Rue Brutalia: Murderfist: Late and Dirty

[TOP PICK] 10:30 pm ($10): Improv troupe Grandma’s Ashes—which includes stellar talents Ryan Karels, Morgan Grace Jarrett, Brandon Scott Jones, and more—promises to “take your stories of the tragic and depraved and scatter them into laughter” at this newest UCB Chelsea show to be honored with a weekend time slot—and which is currently kicking ass at Cage Match: Grandma’s Ashes Gets Dark

[TOP PICK] 10:30 pm ($10): UCBT Harold Night improv troupe Airwolf—which in a phenomenal run has crushed 12 improv troupes in a row so far at Cage Match—makes stuff up at UCB East for an entire hour: Airwolf: Let’s Go Back to Your Place

10:30 pm ($7): Nick Kanellis & Peter McNerney perform at The Magnet as comedy duo Trike

11:00 pm ($8): A young new all-guy improv troupe making stuff up at The PIT upstairs theatre: Gentlemen Party

Midnight ($5): Caitlin Bitzegaio directs this UCB Chelsea sketch show that’s “a super-positive lifestyle program for teenage girls hosted by two guys with a huge passion for glossy pop music, Lisa Frank school supplies, and all that the world presents as ‘hip’ to young women during the melodramatic years of adolescence. With help from their outstanding panel of experts, Dan Chamberlain & Jason Flowers rap about entertainment, fashion, boys, and more in an effort to bring empowerment and enlightenment to the teen girl inside all of us:” Cool Show 4 Teen Girlz

[FREE] Midnight: A weekly chance for you to shine at The Magnet, as students and veteran improvisors share the stage to form “rare and wonderful one-night-only teams,” with sign-up starting at 11:30 pm: Magnet Mixer

For more, please visit HyReviews.com.

Leave a Comment » | Best New York Live Comedy Shows | Tagged: Arden Myrin, Comedy, Comedy NYC Tonight, Improv, Katey Healy-Wurzburg's The Fascinator, Sketch, Stand-Up, Storytelling | Permalink
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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Friday 7/13/12

July 13, 2012

For more, please visit HyReviews.com.

Grab tickets to see SNL’s Kate McKinnon on stage by clicking here.

Stand-up giant Ted Alexandro performs with Janeane Garofalo at 9:00 at Eastville, and then…

…with Reggie Watts at midnight at UCB Chelsea for a fascinating comedy experiment called “Set List”

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 happen at 5:45-6:00 pm) at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City with hosts Erin Lennox and Eli Sairs: The Orphanage

[TOP PICK] 6:30 pm ($10 plus 1 drink min.): “Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the theater, a shark swims right into your heart.” Beloved storyteller/stand-up/sketch comic John Flynn stars as a singing shark, along with Laura Daniel, Brett Douglas, Wayne Henry, Jason Salmon, and Suzanne Stein in this 40-minute musical written & composed by Wayne Henry at the Broadway Comedy Club (318 West 53rd Street, between 8th & 9th Avenues), running tonight and Sunday: Jaws: The Musical

7:00 pm ($7): “Evan Barden went on 100 dates in one year. Having completed the project, Evan is now going on his 101st date in front of a live audience. Get an inside look at what it’s like to date a pretty average guy in NYC” at The Magnet starring Cathryn Mudon, Connor Ratliff, and Chris Simpson:” 100 Dates

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10): Stone Cold Fox is the only sketch troupe (vs. improv troupe) to ever be honored with an ongoing spot on the prestigious UCB Chelsea weekend schedule. It’s earned this slot because its cast is one of the finest in comedy, with each performer strong enough for potential stardom; and, at their best, the troupe’s writers sizzle too. That said, this new show actually sounds more like improv with a dash of sketch: “The only live comedy sketch show all about you! Each week, we select two lucky audience members and craft a sketch show all about their lives. You probably think we’re crazy. We are! You probably think too much. We don’t! You probably think this show is about you. It is!“—directed by ace improvisor Ryan Karels: Stone Cold Fox: You Probably Think This Show Is About You!

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10): UCBT Artistic Director Nate Dern, Zhubin Parang (writer for The Daily Show), Tracey Wigfield (writer for 30 Rock), Michael Kayne (Baby Wants Candy, Diamond Lion), Abra Tabak (Grandma’s Ashes), and more perform improv at UCB East springboarding scenes off interviewing an audience member about his or her love life: What I Did For Love

[FREE] 7:45 pm sharp: John Roy (Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno, Comedy Central), Annie Lederman (Comedy Central, co-host of Pirate Party), Ben Kronberg (Jimmy Kimmel, MTV), Lukas Kaiser, and J.F. Harris performing stand-up at One and One (76 1st Street, corner of First Avenue) produced by Ben Conrad: Cranky Pants Comedy Hour

[FREE] 8:00 pm: This third annual comedy tournament features 40 improv groups…only one of which will triumph. Tonight the last remaining improv troupes battle for superiority, pride, and glory at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City hosted by James Ferrarella: The Arena Finals

[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

8:30 pm ($5): Jarret Berenstein performs a one-man show at The Magnet that “mixes stand-up, sketch, and poorly executed animation:” Boosh. Kla-Klau.

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): At UCB East, an improv troupe that earlier this year clobbered top rivals at Cage Match—thanks to such talents as Don Fanelli, Kate Riley, and Tim Martin—attempts to abandon rules for the sake of achieving new levels of hilarity in Fuck That Shit

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

[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): Ted Alexandro (one of the very finest stand-ups in the country; David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, two Comedy Central Presents half-hour specials; frequently opens for Louis C.K.; performing 9:00 pm only), TV & movie Janeane Garofalo (performing 9:00 pm only), Big Jay Oakerson (Comedy Central Presents, HBO, Showtime, MTV), and more performing at the only comedy club in the East Village: Eastville Comedy Club

9:30 pm ($10): A PIT improv troupe making up a musical on the spot after a friendly greeting: Hello

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

[FREE] 10:00 pm: Improv from ace troupe Doppelganger, duo The Brothers Hines, Couples Retreat, The Charlies, and Froduce at The Creek upstairs theatre hosted by Sean Donnelly: Froduce Four Year Anniversary Show

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

10:30 pm ($10): NYC comics (not announced) performing at UCB East hosted by Emily Axford, D’Arcy Carden, Alden Ford, Brandon Scott Jones, and/or Justin Tyler: Gentrify

[TOP PICK] 11:30 pm ($7): Ace improvisors Tami Sagher & Christina Gausas make up scenes at The Magnet as duo Sagher & Gausas

[TOP PICK] Midnight ($5): Blowout lineup of Reggie Watts (musical improv comedy genius; IFC’s Comedy Bang Bang, Comedy Central special; Jimmy Fallon; Electric Company; Conan O’Brien’s Legally Prohibited tour; for video samples, please click here), Ted Alexandro (one of the very finest stand-ups in the country; David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, two Comedy Central Presents half-hour specials; frequently opens for Louis C.K.), James Adomian (hilarious, super-charged character comic/impressionist; finalist on most recent Last Comic Standing; Harold and Kumar 2), and Seth Herzog (staff comic for Jimmy Fallon; 30 Rock, Comedy Central, CBS, VH1, film actor; host of Sweet) for this special show in which “top comics are given a never-before-seen ‘set list’ of strange, challenging, and outrageous topics, and perform seamlessly as if it’s the act they normally do while the audience follows their list on the projection screen” at UCB Chelsea. I can’t believe this show hasn’t sold out yet! Grab tickets to see this amazing event: Set List with Reggie, Ted, James, and Seth

[FREE] Midnight: NYC stand-ups at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City, with host Andy Haynes promising “a rowdy late night comedy melee with beers being thrown, jokes being told, partial nudity, audience participation…there’s no telling what might happen:” Midnight Run

Midnight ($5): A three-person improv competition at UCB East hosted by Brian Glidewell, Josh Patten, and Ben Rameaka: Three for All

For more, please visit HyReviews.com.

Leave a Comment » | Best New York Live Comedy Shows | Tagged: Comedy, Comedy NYC Tonight, Improv, Reggie Watts, Set List, Sketch, Stand-Up, Storytelling, Ted Alexandro | Permalink
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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Thursday 7/12/12

July 12, 2012

For more, please visit HyReviews.com.
For best video previews of FringeNYC 2012 shows, please click here.

Ophira Eisenberg is this month’s guest of comedic musical duo Mel and El

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] [FREE] 6:00 pm: Tami Sagher (30 Rock, Mad TV, Psych, staff writer for How I Met Your Mom) is tonight’s guest at this weekly open-mic storytelling show, with each performer given a whopping eight minutes to captivate & impress, at UCB East hosted by John Flynn: Oh, Hey Guys!

[FREE] 6:00 pm: Veteran musical improvisors at The PIT mix with novices on-stage at Pitch

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

6:30 pm ($5): Two shows about which I know nothing audition for a regular spot on the prestigious UCB Chelsea schedule: Fox News Channel Presents: Fox ‘N Kidz! and Lonely People. These might be great or awful; but at $2.50 per show, you can’t go far wrong either way. That’s part of the fun of Spank

[TOP PICK] [$] 7:00 pm ($15): Ophira Eisenberg (brilliant storyteller with notable bangs; Comedy Central, VH1, Showtime, host of NPR’s trivia/puzzle show Ask Me Another) joins a delightful comedic singing duo (according to Molly, “really smart, funny, talented, awesome people with great bods; Molly is bitter, heavily medicated and she reads poetry”) performing at 92Y Tribeca for an intimate hour of music and more: Mel & El: Our Time of the Month

7:00 pm ($5): Two singing improv troupes make up entire musicals on the spot in this double-bill at The PIT downstairs lounge: Hot Diner and THEM

[FREE] 7:00 pm: In this free Magnet show, audience members (signing in at 6:00) can join in with improv troupe Hello Laser to make up scenes on the spot: Magnet Mixer

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($5): Pat Dixon (Comedy Central Presents, FOX, VH1, E!), John Roy (Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno, Comedy Central), James Adomian (hilarious, super-charged character comic/impressionist; finalist on most recent Last Comic Standing; Harold and Kumar 2), Robert Dean, and Team Submarine performing at UCB East produced by Mark Normand, Matt Ruby, and David Cope: Hot Soup

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Mamrie Hart is a rising star who somehow manages to be razor-sharp and immensely warm & accessible at the same time—and is always worth catching. Mamrie and her superb comedy partner Stephen Soroka tonight perform puns, wild facial expressions, dance, rock trivia, audience pranks, murder reenactments, and more as sketch duo BoF: Friends Without Benefits…

…plus in the other half of this double-bill, “Matt Hobby & Mary Grill have a love deeper than one thousand really deep oceans. Through storytelling and sketch comedy, Matt & Mary show you the characters who helped them on their journey from fiancés to newlyweds:” Tying the Knot

8:00 pm ($5): Two singing improv troupes make up entire musicals on the spot in this double-bill atThe PIT downstairs lounge: The East Side Orphan Riot and Harvey

8:00 pm-MIdnight ($7 for the entire evening): The Magnet house troupes The Boss, Hello Laser, Phooka, and Junior Varsity performing improv, followed at 10:00 pm by by Alex Marino directingEvents (improv that explores a single event through flashbacks, dashes, and other time-bending techniques), and then at 11:00 improv competition Inspirado (like UCBT’s Cage Match, but with agame-like challenge component), featuring North Coast against Old Timey Radio Show: The Magnet’s Night Out

[FREE] 8:00 pm: “A stand-up comedy showcase and baking competition—come to eat or come to compete” at The Creek’s upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City hosted by Cody Hess & Jessica Gross: Cookies!

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($5): TV & movie star Janeane Garofalo, Jared Logan (rising star; Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, host of ComedyJuice), Jermaine Fowler (cast member of FOX’s new In Living Color), Barry Rothbart (Jay Leno, Comedy Central, MTV’s Punk’d, IFC), Kate Hendricks, and Zach Broussard performing at UCB East hosted by Adam Conover: Fresh Out

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 9:00ish pm: Terrific NYC stand-ups (the lineup is typically announced by 3:00 pm; for an update, please click here) performing on this weekly show at the Kabin Bar and Lounge hosted by Chesley Calloway: Comedy as a Second Language

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): The host of NYC comedy show Heart of Darkness performs an hour of stand-up (with musical guest The Mast) at UCB Chelsea: Greg Barris: Better and Better

9:30 pm ($5): Improvisors (not announced) make up one-act plays on the spot at The PITdownstairs lounge for The Scene

[FREE] 10:00 pm: NYC stand-ups (lineup not announced) performing at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City, hosted by Justin Williams: Death Comedy Jam

[TOP PICK] 11:00 pm ($5): Grandma’s Ashes last week chased improv troupe Out of the Woodsback in, winning 116-43. Tonight it battles Captain America’s partner Bucky as these two teams compete for audience laughs and votes at UCB Chelsea for the raucous Cage Match

[TOP PICK] 11:00 pm ($5): “Will Meatloaf commit the gluttonous sin and eat himself? Or will he sleep on it? That’s up to you! You, the audience, decide who plays Meatloaf. Throughout the show, you will also decide when we belt out into an improvised Meatloaf song! So come on out for this fully improvised suicide saga where you play the biggest role of all! Because we will do anything for laughs, but we won’t do that” at The PIT downstairs lounge: Meatloaf Might Eat Himself

11:00 pm ($5): “Secret movie screenings of movies you probably haven’t seen and/or should see again” at UCB East (which used to be a movie theatre) hosted by Ryan Karels (Grandma’s Ashes, Krompf), Connor Ratliff (The Stepfathers), JD Amato (Harold Night), and Mike Roth (Two Boots Video): Secret Movie Show Presented by Two Boots Video

For more, please visit HyReviews.com.

Leave a Comment » | Best New York Live Comedy Shows | Tagged: Comedy, Comedy NYC Tonight, Improv, Mel and El, Sketch, Stand-Up, Storytelling | Permalink
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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Wednesday 7/11/12

July 11, 2012

For more, please visit HyReviews.com.

Grab tickets to see SNL’s Kate McKinnon on stage by clicking here.

A comedy legend makes a rare NYC stage appearance at Bob Odenkirk and UCB Pals…

…and Summer and Eve (above), The Vigilante, Keisha Zollar, Ashley Ward, and Sarah Nowak sing song parodies at Totally Requesty

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 to midnight: Six free hours of improvisation at The PIT upstairs theatre for PIT Super Free Wednesday

[FREE] 6:00 pm: Open-mic stand-up providing four minutes per comic, with “15 people chosen randomly through e-mail, and five walk-ins; and a guaranteed spot to anyone who performs in character as a famous explorer” at Queens LIC’s The Creek upstairs theatre: Comedic Exploration Club of Long Island City, West

7:00 pm-12:30 am ($7 for the entire evening): Magnet house troupes The Party Lions, Silver Fox, The Wrath, Featherweight, Horses, Chet Watkins, Leviathan, and Brick performing improv, followed by a free audience interactive show with Leviathan at 11:30 pm: The Magnet’s Megawatt

7:30 pm ($5): Expanding the UCB longform improv showcased on Harold Night is this weekly show at UCB East which tonight features troupes Kinsey and Hoops: Lloyd Night

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 8:00 pm: Joe Pera (very funny deadpan comic; I recently saw him sing beautifully and then smash three dozen plates to pieces; for reasons to hire Joe, please click here), musical group Summer & Eve, and more performing at the Niagra Bar (112 Avenue A & 7th Street) for this biweekly show hosted by Charla Lauriston: Fun Comedy Good Times Why Not?!

[FREE] 8:00 pm: 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

8:00 pm (no cover, 1-item min.): Keisha Zollar (member of red-hot improv/sketch troupeDoppelganger), Greg Johnson, Taylor Clark, Garry Garry N. Hannon, and Carolina Hidalgo performing at McSwiggan’s (393 Second Avenue off 23rd Street) hosted by Selena Coppock, Dan Cartwright, and Emily Epstein: Connotation

[FREE] 8:30 pm: Typically terrific NYC comics (not announced) performing at this free weekly comedy show at Brooklyn’s Cameo (behind Lovin’ Cup) typically hosted by Jenny Slate, Gabe Liedman, and/or Max Silvestri: Big Terrific

9:00 pm ($5): Sharp improv troupes not affiliated with any school/theatre—tonight including Jump on Three—performing at UCB East for Indie Improv Showcase

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($5 if you say “Mahna Mahna,” otherwise $8): Stand-up Adi Blotman, solo sketch from Angel Yau and from Harry Terjanian, duo sketch from The Chris & Paul Show and from FireCracker, and Philly sketch troupe Campwoods performing at Under St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place, off First Avenue) hosted by Mike Allen: July Sketch Block

9:00 pm ($5): NYC stand-ups Calise Hawkins, Damien Lemon, Nathan Macintosh, and more performing at The PIT downstairs lounge hosted by Leah Bonnema & Jessimae Peluso: The K-Hole Comedy Show

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): Bob Odenkirk (Mr. Show, Breaking Bad) performs some stand-up and then puts on sketches performed by UCBT stars at UCB Chelsea—plus “a suprise guest:” Bob Odenkirk and UCB Pals

[TOP PICK] 10:00 pm ($5): Superb NYC musical comics Summer and Eve, The Vigilante, Keisha Zollar, Ashley Ward, and Sarah Nowak sing their own song parodies at The PIT downstairs lounge hosted by Justin Perez & Shaina Stigler: Totally Requesty

[TOP PICK] 10:00 pm ($5): The instructors of UCB’s classes include some of the finest improvisors in the country. In this new weekly show a bunch of them get on stage at UCB East, along with hosts Betsy Stover and Ari Voukydis: Hot for Teacher: The UCB Faculty Show

[MEGA-TOP PICK] 11:00 pm ($5): I’m not sure he’s in NYC tonight, but one of the finest improvisors alive, Joe Bill (Bassprov, iO, co-founder of the Annoyance Theatre) will either personally spearhead or lead in spirit a breathtakingly brilliant group of improvisors from Chicago and New York who will blow the roof off The PIT downstairs lounge with lightning-quick dark comedy unlike anything else in NYC. The other superb players typically are Doug Stoley (Conan O’Brien, The Scene), Amey Goerlich (Indie Cage Match, Krompf, The Scene), Jodi Lennon (Exit 57, Annoyance Theatre), Jed Resnik (Annoyance Theatre, UCB), Silvija Ozols (The Stepfathers), Betsy Stover (UCB), Ari Voukydis (VH1’s Best Week Ever, UCB), Russ Armstrong (iO Chicago, The Magnet), Micah Sherman (Second City, co-host of The Scene, host of Fun), Rick Andrews (Magnet teacher/performer), and Michael Burton (Act One, The Magnet), all declaring Chica Go Go

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 11:00 pm: As many as a dozen guests packed into 75 minutes performing stand-up, improv, sketch, and occasionally acts that defy categorization. The level of talent can vary wildly, but for some (like me), that’s part of the laid-back fun; and this is often one of the most amazing comedy shows in town. (Tonight’s scheduled lineup wasn’t up this morning but will hopefully be posted sometime today here.) Come support the experimentation, and periodic magical surprises, that this uniquely organic rollercoaster of a weekly show at UCB Chelsea makes possible—and don’t forget to toss $1 in the bucket on your way out: School Night

[FREE] 11:00 pm: Your opportunity to perform on the stage of UCB East with improv veterans, hosted by UCBT Harold Night house troupe Grandma’s Ashes: The Improv Jam

[FREE] 11:00 pm: Open-mic stand-up running until 1:00 am, with time divided evenly between performers (up to five minutes), at The Creek downstairs lounge in Queens’ Long Island City with host Rob Stern: Bucket ‘O Buckets

For more, please visit HyReviews.com.

Leave a Comment » | Best New York Live Comedy Shows | Tagged: Bob Odenkirk, Comedy, Comedy NYC Tonight, Improv, Sketch, Stand-Up, Summer and Eve, Totally Requesty | Permalink
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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Tuesday 7/10/12

July 10, 2012

For more, please visit HyReviews.com.
For best video previews of FringeNYC 2012 shows, please click here.

Ali Wong (above), Eric Andre, Todd Barry, and more perform at ComedyJuice…

…and FOX’s Maronzio Vance (above) and SNL’s Vanessa Bayer perform at Sweet

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] 6:30 pm: Open mic for comedy of all types (with sign-up starting at 6:00) at Queens LIC’sThe Creek upstairs theatre hosted by Chesley Calloway (co-host of renowned Comedy as a Second Language): The Ches Club

[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm, 8:30 pm, and 10:00 pm ($7 for the entire evening): In three double-bill shows,The Magnet singing improv troupes Team Oprah, Mint Condition, Team Tyra, BEEES!, Team Montel, and Aquarius will make up a musical on the spot based on an audience suggestion: Magnet Musical Megawatt

7:30 pm-9:15 pm ($5): Long form improv known as The Harold from UCB Chelsea house troupes Creature, The Regulars, and Bucky at this first half (see 9:15 pm for more) of Harold Night

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Nick Vatterott (Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central’s The Half Hour, MTV, Second City, 2012 Andy Kaufman Award), Dapwell and Heems (Das Racist), and moreare interviewed about “their earliest creative experiences and the nuances of having a creative career” for a weekly podcast that once a month goes live on the UCB East stage with hosts Andy Beckerman & Mark Bisi: Beginnings

8:00 pm ($5 at the door or $7.63 online): Delightful singing duo The Reformed Whores, Sheng Wang (Comedy Central Presents), Greg Barris (host of Heart of Darkness), and Sean Donnelly (host of many shows) performing stand-up at Brooklyn’s Union Hall for this show hosted by Calvin Cole and Sharron Paul that calls attention to its inexpensive price: Cheap Date

8:00 pm ($5): Cathleen Carr (Two Girls for Five Bucks, Birds, The Scene) and Bob Kulhan (Second City, The Scene) host a show featuring established two-person improv teams challenged with separation anxiety—the audience is asked to scramble them and create one-night-only pairings—atThe PIT downstairs Lounge: Carr Kulhan: Dos Experimento

8:00 pm ($8): A house sketch troupe performs at The PIT upstairs theatre: National Scandal

[FREE] 8:00 pm: This weekly show features “a swarthy selection of fine stand-up comics and mildly entertaining recurring segments” at Queens LIC’s The Creek upstairs theatre, hosted by Jim Tews & Brendan Eyre: Chest Hair

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($5): Vanessa Bayer (cast member of Saturday Night Live), Maronzio Vance (cast member of FOX’s new In Living Color, Jay Leno), Nato Green (writer for FX’s Totally Biased), Team Submarine, and more performing at Ella (9 Avenue A) hosted by Seth Herzog (Jimmy Fallon,30 Rock, VH1): Sweet

9:00 pm (no cover, 1 drink min.): Dave Waite (Jimmy Fallon), Michael Che (Comedy Central), Paige Weldon, Nato Green, and George Gordon performing on this week’s topic Tears in Heaven atSidewalk NYC (94 Avenue A) hosted tonight by Josh Gondelman: The Afterlife: Tears in Heaven

9:15 pm-Midnight ($5): Long form improv known as The Harold from UCB Chelsea house troupes Johnny Romance, Surfing, and Sandino—plus advanced improv students make up scenes based on “the news and the fears of today” in a form called The Current—at this second half (continued from 7:30 pm) of Harold Night

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($10): Sharp Chicago-trained improvisors led by Susan Messing make up scenes at The PIT upstairs theatre, with tonight’s guests including Bob Kulhan (Baby Wants Candy, Dos Experimento [see 8:00 pm], The Scene): Messing with New York

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): Shannon O’Neill (comedy genius), Morgan Grace Jarrett (wonderful comedic actress), and Lydia Hensler (member of red-hot improv troupe Grandma’s Ashes) host a showcase of female comics performing at UCB East: Ladies Night: Men Welcome

9:30 pm ($5): NYC stand-ups (not announced) performing stand-up at The PIT downstairs lounge hosted by Chris Grace: Cold Soda Comedy

[FREE] 9:30 pm: Stand-up and sketch at Queens LIC’s The Creek upstairs theatre, typically hosted by sketch troupes Savage Animal and/or Jerk Practice: Savage Animal

[TOP PICK] [$] 10:00 pm ($15 & 2-drink min.): Killer lineup of Eric Andre (hilarious wild man; creator and co-star of genius new Adult Swim series The Eric Andre Show; HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, ABC’s Apartment 23, Comedy Central, FOX, TBS), a rare NYC appearance by Ali Wong (fearless, razor-sharp, hilarious comedy dynamo; Jay Leno, FOX, NBC’s Are You There Chelsea?, filmSavages), 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), Liz Miele (Conan O’Brien, Comedy Central), and Al Jackson (Comedy Central The Half Hour special, upcoming SYFY Channel show, MTV, VH1) performing stand-up at the GothamComedy Club hosted by Jared Logan (rising star; Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central): ComedyJuice

[FREE] 11:00 pm: A breathtaking 40 comics are given 2 minutes each in this rapid-fire open-mic stand-up show at The PIT upstairs theatre hosted with wit and energy by Jay Welch: Bring It

[FREE] 11:00 pm: Open-mic stand-up at UCB East hosted by Boris Khaykin, John Trowbridge, and/or Katie East: Tuesday Night Open Mic

For more, please visit HyReviews.com.

Leave a Comment » | Best New York Live Comedy Shows | Tagged: Ali Wong, Comedy, Comedy NYC Tonight, Improv, Maronzio Vance, Sketch, Stand-Up, Storytelling | Permalink
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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Monday 7/9/12

July 9, 2012

For more, please visit HyReviews.com.
For best video previews of FringeNYC 2012 shows, please click here.

Rising star Amber Nelson sets the UCBT stage on fire with extreme women on the verge of breakdowns in Snapped!…

…and today kicks off one of the most fun events of the summer for theatre fans: the New York Musical Festival

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 storytelling show, with audience members chosen from a bucket of names getting to tell tales for 8 minutes each at The PIT downstairs lounge, along with tonight’s guest storyteller Kathryn Dunn (improv troupe 1-800-L-O-N-D-O-N, stand-up at The Grass Route) and host Jake Hart: The Dump

[FREE] 6:00 pm: An open-mic stand-up show running about 90 minutes at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City with host Chris Gaynor: Open Mic Mondays

[TOP PICK] 6:30 pm ($5): Amber Nelson performs an energy-packed show that’s witty, fearless, sexy, and surreal, and in the process proves she’s a rising star very much worth keeping an eye on, in sketches about extreme personalities on the verge of nervous breakdowns: Snapped!; and in the second half of this double-bill at UCB Chelsea, the audition of a show I know nothing about but I like the title: Crotch the Throne

[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm ($5): A monthly storytelling show from the wonderful Adam Wade (two-time Moth GrandSlam Storytelling Champion (2006 & 2009) and record-breaking 18-time StorySlam Champion; The New York Times Magazine; host of hilarious monthly storytelling extravaganzas Tales of the Cosmos and Whatever Happened to the Nerds?; for a sampling of Adam’s award-winning tales, please click here), along with guest storyteller David Martin, at Under St. Marks: The Adam Wade from New Hampshire Show: Tales of Life, Love, and Little League

7:00 pm ($8): A sketch show by The Quanrudes about The Dark Knight and other pop culture topics at The PIT upstairs theatre: Got Ham? A Batman Sketch Show

[FREE] 7:30 pm: Four improvisers form teams with comics they’ve never performed with before at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City: The Kaleidoscope

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): At UCB Chelsea, one of the very best sketch shows of 2012. It’s a noir mini-play written & directed with immense wit by Michael Trapp (Stone Cold Fox), who with this script demonstrates he’s a rising star with a surefire career in the biz. And beyond the pages, Michael’s put together an all-star cast, including John Murray (simultaneously gripping and hilarious as a hardboiled detective with an absurdly short attention span), Brandon Scott Jones (who delivers an unforgettable scene with John that’s worth the trip all by itself), and D’Arcy Carden (who abandons her usual laid-back persona here to be smoking hot). These are all total pros who are virtually assured careers in TV and film. Catch them while they’re honing their craft and waiting to be noticed in one of the most consistently fun shows in NYC: Death Wears Stilettos…

…and in the other half of this double-bill, a (mostly) one-man show by George Kareman titled Incredibly Extreme and Extremely Incredible

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($9.47 online or $8 at the door): Kevin Meany (David Letterman, Jay Leno), brilliant UK star Simon Amstell (Numb, Never Mind the Buzzcocks), Joselyn Hughes (staff writer for Comedy Central’s Tosh O, Huffington Post), and the Lucas Brothers (Jimmy Fallon) performing at Brooklyn’s Littlefield (622 Degraw Street) hosted by Kurt Braunohler (Comedy Central; creator & host of IFC game show Bunk): Hot Tub Variety

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): At this UCB East improv double-bill, first ace all-gal troupe Doppelganger makes up scenes based around audience tattoos in Doppelganger Gets Inked; and then Sandino—which includes Don Fanelli, Brandon Gulya, and Kate Riley—interviews an audience member about some puzzle and then acts out scenes providing an unexpected answer: Sandino: Unsolved Mysteries

8:00 pm ($8): Bob Kulhan (co-founder of Baby Wants Candy, Second City, The Scene), Nick Vatterott (Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central’s The Half Hour, MTV, Second City, 2012 Andy Kaufman Award), and Micah Sherman (Baby Wants Candy, Second City, The Scene) perform sharp, innovative improv at The PIT upstairs theatre: The Windy Pendejos?

[FREE] 8:30 pm: NYC stand-ups Jamie Lee (Last Comic Standing, MTV’s Ridiculousness, VH1), Nick Vatterott (Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central’s The Half Hour, MTV, Second City, 2012 Andy Kaufman Award), Gordon Baker Bone, Alison Leiby, and David Foster performing at this weekly show at Brooklyn’s Matchless (557 Manhattan Avenue) hosted by Mike Denny, Michael Che, and/or Nimesh Patel: Broken Comedy

[FREE] 9:00 pm: NYC stand-ups Ophira Eisenberg (brilliant storyteller with notable bangs; Comedy Central, VH1, Showtime, host of NPR’s trivia/puzzle show Ask Me Another), Lane Moore, Ray Devito, Paige Weldon, and Jim Tews, plus musician Jesse Bryson of the Robin Electric, performing at Brooklyn’s Freddy’s Bar (627 Fifth Avenue; take R subway to Prospect Avenue) for this free biweekly show hosted by Brooke Van Poppelen (brilliant stand-up, writer, and storyteller; TLC, trutV; for stand-up videos about overindulging at 30 and impersonating Morrisey, please click here and here) and Giulia Rozzi (Jimmy Kimmel, MTV, VH1, Playgirl Magazine, co-host of Stripped Stories): Dive Comedy

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($10): Sharp Chicago-trained improvisors led by Susan Messing make up scenes at The PIT upstairs theatre, with tonight’s guests including Ali Farahnakian (30 Rock, Louie, Adult Swim, owner of The PIT): Messing with New York

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): Two UCB Chelsea house sketch troupes try out fresh material: Gramp’s (the finest of UCBT’s Maude sketch troupes, thanks to such talents as Laura Grey, Morgan Grace Jarrett, Abbi Crutchfield, Don Fanelli, and Eddie Dunn, and a strong writing team) and Onassis (which has seldom been strong on the writing side but includes superb actress Lauren Conlin Adams): Maude Night: Gramp’s and Onassis

[FREE] 9:30 pm: Following a club format, hosts Nore Davis & Andrew Short perform stand-up throughout for a total of 25 minutes, two comics each perform a 15-minute set, and then a seasoned headliner closes out the show with a 20-minute set, all at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City: On the Road

9:30 pm ($5): The debut of the only open-stage show for entire groups of improvisors and sketch comics, running weekly at UCB East hosted by Austin Rodrigues: Bring Your Own Team: Improv/Sketch Team Jam

[TOP PICK] 10:00 pm ($5): Twelve improv comics who are “friends of Dorothy” perform at The Magnet hosted by Andrew Fafoutakis: There’s No Place Like Home: A GLBTQ Event

[FREE] 10:30 pm: Karaoke plus Mad Libs—in which the audience chooses a list of words to swap into a popular song—at the UCB East Bar hosted by karaoke experts Alan Starzinski and Amy Jo Jackson, plus live keyboard accompaniment by Joe McGinty: Karaoke Night at the Hot Chicks Room

[FREE] 10:30 pm: Improv students are welcomed onto the stage at The PIT downstairs lounge for this weekly open access show hosted by Gary DeNoia & Keith Huang: Base Jam

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 11:00 pm: Some of the finest comics in the world—who are no longer being announced in advance, but it’s virtually always a great lineup—at UCB Chelsea hosted by someone wonderful (while usual host Leo Allen is in LA): Whiplash

[FREE] 11:00 pm: If you’re an audience member who loves stand-up, Monday at 11 should be Whiplash! night (see listing above). If you’re a comic who couldn’t get booked on UCBT’s all-star show, though, you can opt to instead practice your skills at this exceptionally supportive stand-up open-mic at The PIT upstairs theatre hosted by Jared Reed: Fresh

For more, please visit HyReviews.com.

Leave a Comment » | Best New York Live Comedy Shows | Tagged: Amber Nelson, Comedy, Comedy NYC Tonight, Improv, New York Musical Festival, NYMF, Sketch, Snapped!, Stand-Up, Storytelling | Permalink
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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Sunday 7/8/12

July 8, 2012

For more, please visit HyReviews.com.
For best video previews of FringeNYC 2012 shows, please click here.

Two of the finest improvisors alive, genius duo Jason Mantzoukas & Ed Herbstman, perform as The Mantzoukas Brothers

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 upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City: Face-Plant Comedy Showcase

[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

[FREE] 7:30 pm: Sketch, improv, and more at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City from comedy troupe Froduce

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): “It’s Judgment Day, and Chuck Black can’t wait to meet Jesus! But things seem to go terribly awry when he has a crisis of faith. Who can blame him? All his pals seem a bit more interested in getting presents from ChristCo than trying to save their souls. And don’t even get Chuck started on Mocha Mint Mel, the know-it-all atheist with two moms.” The debut of a comedic mini-play by Matt Fried at The PIT downstairs lounge: A Charlie Brown Apocalypse

[FREE] 8:00 pm: Joe List, Dave Waite, John Roy, Andrew Short, and Lukas Kaiser performing at RG Daniels’ free weekly show at the Three of Cups lounge (83 First Avenue at 5th Street): Sunday Night Stand-Up

8:00 pm ($5): Short films from Magnet performers and others in the NYC comedy community: Flick

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] [FREE] 9:00 pm: Wyatt Cenac (star correspondent for The Daily Show), Dan St. Germain (quick-witted & enormously likeable rising star; Jimmy Fallon, The Electric Company, MTV, VH1), Seaton Smith (Opie & Anthony Virus Tour), and Maronzio Vance performing 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

[FREE] 9:00 pm: NYC stand-ups Annie Lederman (Comedy Central, co-host of Pirate Party), Chris Jurek, John Roy, and Chris Waelti 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

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): Sharp Chicago-trained improvisors led by Susan Messing make up scenes at The PIT, with tonight’s guests including Christina Gausas (Conan O’Brien, 30 Rock, Louie): Messing with New York

9:30 pm ($5): Magnet sketch comics performing their best material: Sketch Sundays

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

[MEGA-TOP PICK] 10:30 pm ($7; sold out, but there’ll be a waiting list for tickets unclaimed 10 minutes prior to showtime): Jason Mantzoukas (film/TV star; We Used to Go Out, Mother, Baby Mama) and Ed Herbstman (national TV commercial star and stellar comedic actor; co-founder of the Magnet Theater) are improv masters—as they demonstrated by easily winning the $10,000 Friars Club competition for Best Improv Troupe last year. Come see the height of improv as these breathtakingly quick-witted and skillful guys create pure magic during one of the rare evenings when Jason (who now lives in LA) is visiting NYC—and as they then engage in an unusually intimate, and potentially awkward, debriefing session with the audience that can be as much fun as the formal part of the show: The Mantzoukas Brothers

For more, please visit HyReviews.com.

Leave a Comment » | Best New York Live Comedy Shows | Tagged: Comedy, Comedy NYC Tonight, Ed Herbstman, Improv, Jason Mantzoukas, Sketch, Stand-Up, The Mantzoukas Brothers | Permalink
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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Saturday 7/7/12

July 7, 2012

For more, please visit HyReviews.com.
For best video previews of FringeNYC 2012 shows, please click here.

John Flynn continues to star as a shark looking for love in Jaws: The Musical

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 ($10 plus 1 drink min.): “Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the theater, a shark swims right into your heart.” Beloved storyteller/stand-up/sketch comic John Flynn stars as a singing shark, along with Laura Daniel, Brett Douglas, Wayne Henry, Jason Salmon, and Suzanne Stein in this 40-minute musical written & composed by Wayne Henry at the Broadway Comedy Club (318 West 53rd Street, between 8th & 9th Avenues), running tonight, Saturday, and next weekend: Jaws: The Musical

6:00 pm ($5): Improv troupes The Heathers, Sad Kids, and Swagu at The Magnet kicking off your Saturday evening: The Rundown

[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm ($5): “Stories of all sizes that define our place in the universe,” hosted at UCB East by Adam Wade (two-time Moth GrandSlam Storytelling Champion (2006 & 2009) and record-breaking 18-time StorySlam Champion; The New York Times Magazine; host of hilarious monthly storytelling extravaganzas Real Tales of College and The Adam Wade show; for Adam’s award-winning tale of being an NBC page on Conan O’Brien, please click here), and featuring tonight’s guest storytellers Seaton Smith, Diana Spechler, Aaron Wolfe, and Frank Gauthier: Tales of the Cosmos

7:00 pm ($5): All-gal improv at The PIT downstairs lounge 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

[FREE] 7:00 pm: Comedic solo performances—storytelling, sketch, and whatever else isn’t stand-up or improv—at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City with hosts Bill Stiteler & Adam Schwartz: Wank

7:30 pm ($7): Andrew Yurman-Glaser and Dustin Drury first go solo and then join forces at The Magnet as improv duo Upstate

[$] 8:00 pm & 10:00 pm & 11:45 pm ($25 & 2-drink min.) A cast member on FOX’s new In Living Color who’s also performed on Jay Leno and Last Comic Standing headlining tonight and Saturday at the Gotham Comedy Club: Maronzio Vance

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($8): Nick Vatterott (Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central’s The Half Hour, MTV, Second City), Mike Dobbins (unique stream-of-consciousness stand-up), Sheng Wang (Comedy Central Presents), Seaton Smith (Opie & Anthony Virus Tour), and Leah Bonnema (Huffington Post) performing stand-up —plus music from the Jesse Scheinn Band—at The PITdownstairs lounge hosted by Tyler Fischer: Fresh Fisch

[FREE] 8:00 pm: “Want to see your favorite stand-up comics get slapped by Satan himself? He only hosts bringer shows, but join Matt Wayne and Doug Smith as they step into the Big Man’s shoes and put NYC’s finest through comedy purgatory. Hula-hoops, celebrity impressions, unwanted audience participation, all incorporated into each performance! Will they triumph or will the nether world eat their souls? Come see for yourself in this monthly showcase” at Queens LIC’sThe Creek upstairs theatre: See You in Hell

8:30 pm ($10): Nick Vatterott (Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central’s The Half Hour, MTV, Second City), Gabe Liedman (co-host of Big Terrific), Janine Brito, Ryan Conner, Chesley Calloway, and Bryson Turner performing stand-up at UCB East hosted by Kara Klenk: If You Build It

[$] [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): Mike Britt, Maddog Mattern, and more performing at the only comedy club in the East Village: Eastville Comedy Club

9:00 pm ($7): Magnet improvisors team up with poets at Kiss*Punch*Poem

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 10:00 pm: Sharp stand-ups Nick Vatterott (Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central’s The Half Hour, MTV, Second City), Joe Pera (very funny deadpan comic; for reasons to hire Joe, please click here), Erik Bergstrom (cartoonist/author of Grimmer Tales, The New Yorker, Comedy Central’s Indecision 2012), Amber Nelson (sketch troupe Thunder Gulch, co-host of Late Night Stand and Mustache Party), and more performing anything except stand-up—e.g., sketch, storytelling, improv, songs, dance, puppetry, and things we can’t even imagine—at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City produced by Kelly Fastuca, Reid Faylor, and Andrew Short, and tonight celebrating its One Year Anniversary (“We’re gonna fill this show with so much stupidity and awesomeness it will make life outside of the show seem worthless“): Underbelly

10:30 pm ($7): Nick Kanellis & Peter McNerney perform at The Magnet as comedy duo Trike

11:00 pm ($8): A young new all-guy improv troupe making stuff up at The PIT upstairs theatre: Gentlemen Party

[TOP PICK] [FREE] Midnight: The delightful Amber Nelson (sketch troupe Thunder Gulch, co-host of Late Night Stand and Mustache Party) debuts with Kat Toledo in a sketch show Amber mostly wrote (with help from Jill Morris, Kat Toledo, and Jeff Seal) that “explores the moment before a breakdown, the breakdown, and what happens after” at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City: Snapped

[TOP PICK] Midnight ($5): Storytellling from star Tom Shillue (Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, The Daily Show, Comedy Central Presents, 2011 ECNY Award for Best Storyteller), sketch/improv from Anthony Atamanuik (30 Rock, Conan O’Brien, Huffington Post, Death by Roo Roo, The Nights of Our Lives, The Tony and Johnny Show), stand-up from Annie Lederman (Comedy Central, co-host of Pirate Party), music from Summer and Eve, and more at UCB Chelsea with host Andy Rocco celebrating the Two Year Anniversary of Underground Americana

[TOP PICK] Midnight ($5): A freestyle rap contest at UCB East that includes typically includes superb NYC comics—plus a volunteer from the audience!, hosted by genius human beatbox Chris “Shockwave” Sullivan (The Daily Show, The Electric Company, Freestyle Love Supreme) and Victor Varnado (Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, Comedy Central) at one of my favorite monthly shows: The BEATdown

For more, please visit HyReviews.com.

Leave a Comment » | Best New York Live Comedy Shows | Tagged: Broadway Comedy Club, Comedy, Comedy NYC Tonight, Improv, Jaws: The Musical, John Flynn, Sketch, Stand-Up, Storytelling | Permalink
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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Thursday 7/5/12

July 5, 2012

For more, please visit HyReviews.com.

For best video previews of FringeNYC 2012 shows, please click here.

TV stars Colin Quinn and Eric Andre perform stand-up at Free Healthcare…

…and one of John Flynn’s dearest friends, Jackie Clarke, visits from LA to celebrate his upcoming birthday at Oh, Hey Guys

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] [FREE] 6:00 pm: Jackie Clarke (NPR’s This American Life, FOX, VH1, Logo, Playgirl, former member of Death by Roo Roo; co-creater/co-star with John of Showgirls: The Best Movie Ever Made Ever!) visits from LA to be tonight’s guest at this weekly open-mic storytelling show, with each performer given a whopping eight minutes to captivate & impress, at UCB East hosted by John Flynn (memorably featured here): Oh, Hey Guys!

[FREE] 6:00 pm: Veteran musical improvisors at The PIT mix with novices on-stage at Pitch

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

7:00 pm ($5): Two singing improv troupes make up entire musicals on the spot in this double-bill at The PIT downstairs lounge: Hot Diner and THEM

[FREE] 7:00 pm: In this free Magnet show, audience members (signing in at 6:00) can join in with improv troupe The Boss to make up scenes on the spot: Magnet Mixer

8:00 pm ($5): Two singing improv troupes make up entire musicals on the spot in this double-bill atThe PIT downstairs lounge: East Side Orphan Riot and Harvey

8:00 pm-MIdnight ($7 for the entire evening): The Magnet house troupes Phooka, Hello Laser, The Boss, and Junior Varsity performing improv for two hours, followed at 10:00 pm by Alex Marino directing Events (improv that explores a single event through flashbacks, dashes, and other time-bending techniques), and then at 11:00 improv competition Inspirado (like UCBT’s Cage Match, but with a game-like challenge component), featuring last week’s winner against Hello Laser: The Magnet’s Night Out

8:00 pm ($8): Sketches from young and forlorn comics at The PIT upstairs theatre hosted by Meredith Hackman: The Saddest Sketch Show Ever

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 9:00ish pm: Terrific NYC stand-ups (the lineup is typically announced around 3:00 pm; for an update, please click here) performing on this free weekly show at the Kabin Bar and Lounge hosted by Chesley Calloway and/or comedy genius Sean Patton: Comedy as a Second Language

9:00 pm ($5): Kurt Braunohler (Comedy Central; creator & host of IFC game show Bunk; co-creator & co-star of UK TV series Penelope: Princess of Pets; co-host of Hot Tub Variety; triple 2011 ECNY Award winner), Jamie Lee (Last Comic Standing, MTV’s Ridiculousness, VH1), Michael Che (Comedy Central), Sean Donnelly (host of many shows), and Alison Leiby performing at UCB Easthosted by Adam Conover: Fresh Out

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($8): TV & Broadway star Colin Quinn, Eric Andre (hilarious wild man; creator and co-star of genius new Adult Swim series The Eric Andre Show; Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon,HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, ABC’s Apartment 23, Comedy Central, FOX, TBS), and DC Benny (Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central), performing stand-up at The PIT downstairs lounge co-produced by Meg Cupernall and hosted by Ryan Conner (freelance writer for SNL, BBC): Free Healthcare

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): Saturday Night Live write Mike O’Brien “performs solo sketch and stand-up, reads a short story, and in general, does things. Come out to see experimental comedy as well as comedy that involves no experimentation” at UCB Chelsea: MIke O’Brien: 45 Minutes of Things

9:30 pm ($5): Improvisors (not announced) make up one-act plays on the spot at The PITdownstairs lounge for The Scene

[FREE] 9:30 pm: Sharp improvisors from UCBT, The Magnet, The PIT, and/or more try their hand at stand-up at The Creek downstairs lounge in Queens’ Long Island City: Improvisers Standing Up

[TOP PICK] 11:00 pm ($5): Grandma’s Ashes beat up a girl last week, besting improv troupe GoodGirl 75-16. Tonight it’s likely to burn down Out of the Woods as these two teams compete for audience laughs and votes at UCB Chelsea for the raucous Cage Match

11:00 pm ($5): “Secret movie screenings of movies you probably haven’t seen and/or should see again” at UCB East (which used to be a movie theatre) hosted by Ryan Karels (Grandma’s Ashes, Krompf), JD Amato (Harold Night), and Mike Roth (Two Boots Video): Secret Movie Show Presented by Two Boots Video

For more, please visit HyReviews.com.

Leave a Comment » | Best New York Live Comedy Shows | Tagged: Colin Quinn, Comedy, Comedy NYC Tonight, Eric Andre, Improv, John Flynn's "Oh Hey Guys", Sketch, Stand-Up, Storytelling | Permalink
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