NYC Top Comedy Choices for Friday 8/7/10

August 7, 2010

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

For Hy’s take on Last Comic Standing, please click here.

For Hy’s pre-festival coverage of FringeNYC 2010, please click here.

Amy Schumer

Amy Schumer is among the Last Comic Standing performers appearing tonight at Comix for Still Standing Up

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 ($15 including one drink; reservations via calling Cornelia Street Cafe at 212.989.9319 highly recommended): Four world-class writer/performers tell personal stories. Three of them are true…but one is a pack of lies. Then the audience asks questions to try to figure out who’s fibbing. Tonight’s yarn-spinners are Jim O’Grady (The New York Times, The Huffington Post), Dan Allen (razor-sharp stand-up; Comedy Central), Michele Carlo (author of new book Fish Out of Agua), and Peter Aguero (Moth Grandslam Champion—and tonight’s guest host) at The Liar Show

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10): Genius improvisor Christina Gausas and friends she originally made in Chicago—which include writers & performers from 30 Rock, The Colbert Report, and The Daily Show—plus a rotating cast of stellar visitors, all joyously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] 7:30 pm & 10:00 pm ($19.33 online if you use code VIPAUG, plus 2-item minimum): Past and current contestants of NBC’s Last Comic Standing—including Amy Schumer, Rachel Feinstein, and Calise Hawkins—perform at the elegant Comix Comedy Club: Still Standing Up: A Last Comic Standing Showcase

7:30 pm (no cover, 1-item min.): Gorgeous Brooke Van Poppelen (TLC’s American Chopper, Maxim and Cosmo Radio, So-Low Show; popular blogs NYisretarded.blogspot.com and RockBottom; for stand-up videos about overindulging at 30 and impersonating Morrisey, please click here andhere), Ben Kissel, Scott Moran, John F. O’Donnell, and Harrison Greenbaum performing in Ochi’s Lounge at Lil’ Seany Boy

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm & 10:30 pm ($31.25 & 2-drink min.): The host of the Jerry Seinfeld-produced NBC comedy The Marriage Ref who’s appeared numerous times on David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, and Jay Leno, and has performed two Comedy Central specials (with a third in the works) headlining at Carolines: Tom Papa

[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 8:00 pm Tuesday-Saturday ($39.50 online or at the box office using discount code PPBBOX): This is a show for which I have enormous affection; although my joy came from watching not only what occurred on stage, but the faces of the women in the audience turning stonier and stonier as they visibly projected the thought, “Dick tricks? This entire show really consists of dick tricks? All my suspicions about men have just been confirmed…” If you cherish bravery in performers, go forth to the 45 Bleecker Theatre (right next to the #6 subway’s Bleecker Street stop) and experience Puppetry of The Penis

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): One of the gutsiest and most hilarious troupes in comedy history—and the Cage Match Champion 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!

9:30 pm ($10): “A cabaret of darkly funny songs and topical sketch comedy about culture and politics,” following sold out shows at Joe’s Pub: Political Subversities

[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

Midnight ($5): Sketch troupes Wrestling Team and Ninja Sex Party, stand-up Jake Young, musical guest Sciryl, and more “celebrate the seedy and urbane life in America; think of us as The Prairie Home Companion, just a little more fucked up” at Andy Rocco’s Underground Americana

[$] 12:30 am ($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

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

For Hy’s take on Last Comic Standing, please click here.

For Hy’s pre-festival coverage of FringeNYC 2010, please click here.


NYC Top Comedy Choices for Tuesday 7/13/10

July 13, 2010

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

For Hy’s take on Last Comic Standing, please click here.

Marina Franklin

Delightful stand-up Marina Franklin headlines tonight at Carolines

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 [FREE] 8:00 pm: Myq Kaplan (finalist on this summer’s Last Comic Standing; Comedy Central), master sketch comic Kurt Braunohler (Comedy Central; co-creator & co-star of UK TV series Penelope: Princess of Pets), Stuckey & Murray (superb comedic singing duo), Ryan Hamilton (semi-finalist on Last Comic Standing), and Kara Klenk performing at Brooklyn’s Bell House Front Lounge hosted by the breathtaking Sara Schaefer (Emmy-nominated staff writer forJimmy Fallon): Get Off Your Knees

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Comics industry pros join super-hosts Alex Zalben, Justin Tyler, and Pete LePage in a lively & hilarious discussion about four-color pop culture at Comic Book Club

8:00 pm to midnight ($5): Four full hours of improv for only five bucks—tonight featuring UCBT house troupes The Opera, Robber Baron, Badman, Sandino, and DeCoster ; and at 11:00 pm advanced UCBT students improving scenes taking place simultaneously—all at Harold Night

[FREE] 8:00 pm: NYC stand-ups Katina Corrao (Conan O’Brien), Katrin Hier, Arthur Carlson, and Nate Kushner performing at Cellar 58 (58 Second Avenue) alongside delightful host Abbi Crutchfield and comedic rapster Andrew Singer: Positively Awesome

[TOP PICK] 8:30 pm ($3): Wyatt Cenac (correspondent for The Daily Show), Arden Myrin(Conan O’Brien, Mad TV, numerous other TV shows & films; for Mad TV samples, please click hereand here and here), Myq Kaplan (finalist on Last Comic Standing; Comedy Central), and David Rees (witty cartoonist of Get Your War On; for fun video interview with him, please click here) performing at the Housingworks Bookstore Cafe for an almost-free weekly show hosted by Joe DeRosa (new comedy CD The Depression Auction): Punch Up Your Life

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($5): Two sharp NYC stand-ups each perform hour an hour of stand-up (to be edited for their DVD demos) at The Creek and the CaveNick Turner and Mark Normand

[TOP PICK] [$] 9:30 pm ($16.50 & 2-drink min.): Irresistible stand-up who’s performed on Last Comic Standing, Chappelle’s ShowPremium BlendTough Crowd with Colin Quinn, and The Awkward Comedy Show headlining tonight only at Carolines: Marina Franklin

[FREE] 11:00 pm: Free open-mic stand-up show that’s seldom much fun for audience members but is a nice opportunity if you want 4-5 minutes to test out your comedy material on stage: Bring It

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

For Hy’s take on Last Comic Standing, please click here.


NYC Top Comedy Choices for Thursday 7/8/10

July 8, 2010

For videos of Last Comic Standing star Natasha Leggero, click here.

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

Rachel Feinstein

Last Comic Standing finalist Rachel Feinstein performs tonight at Comedy Below Canal

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 ($15): Top comics and comedic storytellers—who tonight are Elna Baker (brilliant storyteller, talented cartoonist, and bestselling author of the comedic book The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance), Matt McCarthy (beloved stand-up and comedic actor; Comedy Central, AMC, Verizon FIOS guy, Front Page Films, comedy CD Come Clean), Victor Varnado (Conan O’BrienJimmy Kimmel, Comedy Central, NBC’s My Name is Earl, Adult Swim, The Awkward Comedy Show; films Pluto Nash, End of Days, A Guy Thing), Katina Corrao (HBO, Logo), and Lee Camp (Comedy Central, The Onion)—joining brilliant sketch comic and storyteller Kevin Allison (The State) to share tales on tonight’s theme “Heroism: Saving the Day” at one of the finest storytelling shows in the country: Risk!

7:00 pm ($5): A sketch show from Chris & Rebecca Smith, two members of world-class sketch troupe The Harvard Sailing Team who are married to each other: The New York Smiths

[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 7:30 pm ($34.48 online if you use code VIPJULY, plus 2-item minimum): A hilarious stand-up; cast member of 30 Rock; performer on VH1’s Best Week Ever, HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, MTV’s Wonder Showzen, and NBC’s The Tonight Show; and actor in over 20 films, including such hit comedies as Meet the Parents, Zoolander, Full Grown Men, andAmerican Splendor, headlining tonight through Saturday at the elegant Comix Comedy Club:Judah Friedlander

7:30 pm (no cover, 1-item min.): “Alternative and mainstream comedians who don’t quite fit in” performing in Ochi’s Lounge at a monthly show hosted by Grant Gordon and the delightful Helen Hong: Odd Baggage

7:30 pm ($5): Sharp improvisors directed by James Eason “take an audience suggestion and break it into a million funny pieces,” and veteran improvisors play with “elements of monoscene, deconstruction, and La Ronde,” in the double-bill The Deconstruction and Sleepover

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm ($26.75 & 2-drink min.): A 10-year veteran cast member of Mad TV who’s also performed on numerous other top television shows, headlining tonight through Sunday at Carolines: Michael McDonald

[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 8:00 pm ($37.50 online or at the box office using discount codeALIEN): Sharp comics and 80 Henson puppets collaborating on a show that’s partly scripted and partly improvised: Stuffed and Unstrung

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($12): Christian Finnegan (three Comedy Central specials, commentator on MNBC’sCountdown with Keith Oberman and VH1’s Best Week Ever; Chappelle’s Show, The Today Show), Leo Allen (former writer for Saturday Night LiveComedy Central Presents, Conan O’Brien, HBO’s Funny or Die, host of top NYC comedy show Whiplash), Rachel Feinstein (finalist on this summer’s Last Comic Standing; Comedy Central; opens for Sarah Silverman on tour), Sean Crespo, and musical guest Mike Doughty performing at 92Y Tribeca’s Comedy Below Canal

9:30 pm ($5): Two talented sketch comedy troupes and a delightful solo act—BriTANick, CollegeHumor, and Andrea Rosen—each performing one of their most popular sketches and one of their personal favorites in a fun revue hosted by James Eason & Aaron Kheifets: A-Side/B-Side

11:00 pm ($5): Two vibrant troupe troupes, Doppelganger and The Opera, competing for audience laughs and votes at the raucous Cage Match

For videos of Last Comic Standing star Natasha Leggero, click here.

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.


NYC Top Comedy Choices for Wednesday 1/14/09

January 14, 2009

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

SNL's Seth Myers and Bill Hader

SNL's Seth Myers and Bill Hader

Tonight’s recommendations for the best in New York City comedy (in chronological order, with top picks marked by brackets) include:

five free hours of improvisation in The PIT’s Super Free Wednesday (7:00 pm-midnight),

[TOP PICK] stellar storyteller Adam Wade and comic Jake Goldman hosting a show in which top writers and comedians—who tonight are Mark Katz (former White House humor writer for President Bill Clinton), James Braly (NPR, The Moth), and Ophira Eisenberg (Comedy Central, VH1)—share their favorite campus anecdotes in Real Tales of College (7:30 pm),

[TOP PICK] LA comedy star Jackie Kashian (Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central Presents) performing a long set in a rare NYC appearance: Jackie Kashian Headlining at Gotham Comedy (8:00 pm),

[TOP PICK] brilliant stand-up John Mulaney (Saturday Night Live, Conan O’Brien, VH1), plus sharp comics Adam Newman (VH1, Street Meat), Jiwon Lee (Comedy Central, AMC), Aalap Patel, and Chelsea White performing at Matteson Perry’s New Young Comedians (8:00 pm),

fine NYC stand-up comics Ophira Eisenberg, Becky Ciletti, Bruce Cherry, Rob Gorden, DJ Hazard, and Pat O’Shea trying out new material at the free Shrink (8:00 pm),

[TOP PICK] Saturday Night Live stars Bill Hader and Seth Meyers, and SNL staff writer Simon Rich, presenting their new short comedy film series followed by a fun Q&A session at THE LINE Live! (9:30 pm),

[TOP PICK] and a free, laid-back, and occasionally magical variety show where virtually anything can happen on a School Night (11:00).

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.