Michael Showalter | Best New York Comedy

NYC Top Comedy Choices for June 2018: Last Updated Tuesday 6/19

June 19, 2018

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Please note that these listings are updated frequently. The best way to be instantly notified about new show postings is to subscribe to this BestNewYorkComedy.com blog and allow for email notifications. Other ways to keep up are to follow me on Twitter (@hybender) or Instagram (@hybenderny), and/or to visit the desktop version of this site at HyReviews.com.

In addition, you can use the links below to explore the schedules of all the major comedy venues in NYC; and you can find excellent live comedy recommendations weekly via The New York Times.

That said, my top NYC comedy recommendations for June 2018 (with more to come soon) include:

Tuesday 6/19: Michael Showalter (director of movies Big Sick and Hello My Name Is Doris; co-creator, co-writer, and producer of TBS’ Search Party and CW’s upcoming The Dark; co-star & co-writer of film Wet Hot American Summer and TV spin-off on Netflix; previously MTV seminal sketch show The State and comedy troupe Stella), Michelle Collins (host of E!’s Daily Pop, People Mag TV’s Search History, and SiriusXM’s The Michelle Collins Show; former co-host of ABC’s The View and Bachelor in Paradise: After Paradise), Jamie Lee (co-star of & writer for HBO’s Crashing; TruTV, Conan O’Brien, MTV’s Girl Code, The Pete Holmes Show), Clark Jones (co-host of Comedy Night at the Knit), and more perform for this seminal weekly stand-up & variety show hosted by Seth Herzog (long-time staff comic for Jimmy Fallon; 30 Rock, @midnight, CBS, VH1): Sweet (9:00 pm, $10, The Slipper Room at 167 Orchard Street)

Tuesday 6/19: Rebecca Vigil (rising star improv singer; Your Love Our Musical, The Vigilante) sings powerhouse songs she makes up on the spot, backed by a superb improv band headed by keyboardist Dan Reitz. Plus she’s joined by the wonderful Ophira Eisenberg (one of the finest comedic storytellers and stand-ups in the country; host of weekly NPR/WNYC show Ask Me Another, author of bestselling book Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy, comedy album Bangs!; NBC, CBS, Comedy Central, VH1, Showtime), Matt Rogers & Bowen Yang (hosts of the acclaimed Las Culturistas podcast and live show), Katie Hartman (brilliant, fearless dark comedy writer/performer; HBO’s High Maintenance, Netflix’s The Week Of; sketch groups Skinny Bitch Jesus Meeting and Hartman & Carl, ace improv group Straight to Video), Sydnee Washington (MTV2’s Vidiots, co-host of podcast The Unofficial Expert), and Eman El Husseini (opens for Patton Oswalt): Kick It! with Rebecca Vigil (7:30 pm; $11 online using code KICKIT [otherwise $18], plus 2-drink min.; Carolines Comedy Club at 1626 Broadway)

Tuesday 6/19: The unsinkable Becca Beberaggi (above; emcee of Comedy Night at Paste Magazine) hosts an evening about “our flaws, our fears, and our issues,” featurina a great lineup of Josh Gondelman (one of the sharpest comics in the country; Emmy & Peabody Award-winning writer/producer for HBO’s phenom Last Week Tonight with John Oliver; Conan O’Brien, The New Yorker; stand-up album Physical Whisper), Jena Friedman (wry dark political stand-up; Conan O’Brien, Stephen Colbert, @midnight, The New Yorker, Adult Swim, Netflix mockumentary Undecided; former staff writer for David Letterman and Roseanne; former producer for The Daily Show), Marie Faustin (co-host of 99.5 FM’s Tall Tales in the Big City and podcast The Unofficial Expert; former host of Oxygen’s Very Real Talk; VH1, TruTV, MTV’s Girl Code and Vidiots), Dan Perlman, Ariel Elias, Gracie Canaan, and Matt Hunziker: So Many Problems (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn’s Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)

Thursday 6/21: Stand-ups TBA perform for stellar hosts (above) Ashley Brooke Roberts (energetic, enormously likeable rising star stand-up, sketch comic, and actress; former writer for NatGeo Explorer and MTV’s Guy Code; UCB Maude sketch groups The Prom and Absolutely) and/or Jim Tews (Louie, Last Comic Standing; host of Homeschooled; New York Times bestselling author of Felines of New York; comedy album I Was in Band): Fresh Out (9:00 pm, $9, UCB East at 153 East 3rd Street)

Friday 6/22: Comics & game nerds Jo Firestone, Samantha Ruddy, Eli Yudin, Alex Navarro, and Robert Dean play and make merciless fun of some of the worst video games of all time (e.g., Shaq-Fu) hosted by Mike Drucker (hilarious stand-up and staff writer for TBS’ Full Frontal with Samantha Bee; previously staff writer for Comedy Central’s The President Show and nearly 400 episodes of NBC’s Jimmy Fallon, and contributing writer for Saturday Night Live): Shit Arcade (10:30 pm, $10, Brooklyn’s Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)

Friday 6/22: Highly talented hip-hop improv group North Coast attempts to create a Hamilton on the spot by making up a musical based on an audience suggestion of a famous historical figure: Anybody: An Improvised Historical Hip-Hopera (9:30 pm, $16.89 online or $20 at the door, LES’ Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street; take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)

Saturday 6/23: Guests TBA perform stand-up, songs, characters, and/or more, then enthusiastically endorse some product they love…which will be handed out to lucky members of the audience! Hosted by the wonderful Chris Duffy (staff writer for NatGeo Explorer, host of You’re the Expert), who makes this promise for one audience member per show: You Get A Spoon (4:00 pm; $13.71 online, $15 at the door; LES’ Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)

Sunday 6/24: NYLaugh.org’s free summer stand-up shows, which happen Sundays 2:00-4:00 pm at parks all over the city, kicks off its 2018 series today at Staten Island’s Wolfe’s Pond Park. All subsequent shows will take place in Manhattan—specifically, The Battery (on Castle Clinton Lawn, in front of the National Monument) July 1st and 15th, Washington Square Park (at Garibaldi Plaza, on the east side of the Fountain) July 8th, and Tompkins Square Park (on the Old Bandshell Lawn) July 22nd—with lineups TBA: Laughter in the Park (2:00 pm-4:00 pm, Free!, Staten Island’s Wolfe’s Pond Park at 420 Cornelia Avenue)

Monday 6/25: Singer/songwriter/musician Julian Velard (pianist for NPR’s Ask Me Another; albums include Fancy Words For Failure) fulfills his lifelong dream is to be a Late Night Talk Show Sidekick, “playing Paul Shaffer to different David Lettermans in the hopes of finding his soulmate,” with tonight’s stellar guests Wyatt Cenac (star of TBS’ Friends of Earth; former star correspondent for The Daily Show; writer for South Park; albums Comedy Person, Brooklyn, and Furry Dumb Fighter; host of Night Train), Nikki Glaser (host of You Up on SiriusXM Comedy Central Radio; star of former Comedy Central series Not Safe; films Trainwreck and I Feel Pretty; hour-long special Perfect; Jimmy Fallon, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central Half Hour, Inside Amy Schumer, @midnight; NBC’s America Ninja Warrior: Celebrity Edition; podcast You Had to Be There), Brooke Van Poppelen (co-host of TruTV’s Hack My Life; The View, @midnight, HBO, CBS, VH1), Michael Cruz Kayne (HBO’s Crashing, The Chris Gethard Show; ace musical improv group Baby Wants Candy, UCB Saturday night improv group What I Did For Love, co-host of monthly comedy show The Exhibition), and more: Sidekickin’ It with Julian Velard (8:30 pm, $12, Rockwood Music Hall, Stage 3 at 196 Allen Street, near the F subway’s Second Avenue stop)

Monday 6/25: Roy Wood Jr. (correspondent for Comedy Central’s The Daily Show and host of This is Not Happening) and more TBA—mostly stand-ups, but maybe also something different such as an extreme character, a juggler, or a magician—perform for this free weekly show hosted by the multi-talented Morgan Miller (above; sharp improvisor, sketch comic, and stand-up): Dirty Laundry (11:00 pm, Free! (make reservation here), UCB Hell’s Kitchen at 555 West 42nd Street)

Thursday 6/28: A glorious collection of hilarious film & TV clips and lectures by mass media experts hosted by super-fan Kevin Maher (Emmy-nominated writer whose work has appeared on HBO, Comedy Central, and AMC; former host of AMC’s The Sci-Fi Dept.) and guest co-host Kate Wilkinson (Wig Wurq website “judging pop culture’s wigs from lace fronts to split ends”), this month focusing on dance (for a trailer, please click here), with scheduled guests Tallie Medel (immensely talented comedic dancer/actress and rising star who’s a member of the fabulous Cocoon Central Dance Team), Rob Paravonian (Comedy Central, VH1; to watch his hit video Pachelbel Rant, which has been viewed by over 13 million people on YouTube, please click here), Wendy Mays (host of the Pet Cinematary podcast), and Cristina Cacioppo (cinema programmer for Alamo Drafthouse): Kevin Geeks Out About Dance (7:30 pm; $15—buying in advance is recommended, as this show crammed with rich imagery and fascinating ideas often sells out; Brooklyn’s Alamo Drafthouse Cinema at 445 Albee Square West—take the 2/3 subway to Hoyt Street)

Thursday 6/28: Learn the early history of the MTA via fun lectures, sketches, and more at the second of this comedic history series about NYC transit, with guests TBA, hosted by Meg Pierson (TEDx, Alchemy Comedy) and Justin Williams (Comedy Central; host of Death Comedy Jam): Why Your Train is F*cked: A Love/Hate Show About the History of the MTA (7:00 pm; $16.89 online, $18 at the door; LES’ Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)

Thursday 6/28: Stand-ups TBA perform for stellar hosts (above) Ashley Brooke Roberts (energetic, enormously likeable rising star stand-up, sketch comic, and actress; former writer for NatGeo Explorer and MTV’s Guy Code; UCB Maude sketch groups The Prom and Absolutely) and/or Jim Tews (Louie, Last Comic Standing; host of Homeschooled; New York Times bestselling author of Felines of New York; comedy album I Was in Band): Fresh Out (9:00 pm, $9, UCB East at 153 East 3rd Street)

Friday 6/29: Fifty comics (TBA) gather to each share a minute’s worth of observations about a bit of pop culture with which he or she can’t be bothered, with hosts Matt Rogers & Bowen Yang (above; hosts of the acclaimed Las Culturistas podcast): Las Culturistas Live: I Don’t Think So, Honey (8:00 pm, $20, Brooklyn’s The Bell House (149 7th Street; take R subway to 9th Street or F/G to Fourth Avenue)

Friday 6/29: A one-woman show by Sydnee Washington (MTV2’s Vidiots, co-host of podcast The Unofficial Expert) about her decade as a high-earning cocktail waitress and why, after a decade of working in NYC nightlife, she decided to hang up her server dress forever: Death of a Bottle Girl (9:00 pm; $12, LES’ Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)

You can find the vast majority of notable NYC live comedy shows by using the links below to explore the schedules of the following top NYC comedy venues:

Best Inexpensive Stand-Up, Improv, Sketch, and Storytelling

Upright Citizens Brigade Hell’s Kitchen
555 West 42nd Street; 152-seater; one of the most respected comedy showcases in the world; especially strong on improv, sketch, solo shows, and one-act comedic plays; shows free-$12

Upright Citizens Brigade East
153 East 3rd Street; 99-seater; a top comedy venue that focuses more than sister theatre UCB Hell’s Kitchen on stand-up and screenings, and on experimental shows taking big risks; shows free-$12

The PIT Striker (Upstairs) Theatre
123 East 24th Street; 88-seater; a top venue that’s a powerful rival of UCB, and often surpasses UCB when blending comedy with music and/or theatricality; shows free-$20

The PIT Underground (Downstairs) Theatre
123 East 24th Street; 40-seater; often more quirky & experimental than upstairs Striker; shows free-$10

The PIT Loft
154 West 29th Street; 50-seater; the third of The PIT theatres, located separately on the West side, hosts a wide range of comedy, but is especially effective as a home for intimate solo and/or theatrical shows; free-$20

The Magnet
254 West 29th Street; 60-seat theatre; strong on improv, musical improv, sketch, and energy; shows $5-$10

The Creek and the Cave
Queens’ Long Island City; 40-seat theatre upstairs, 25 downstairs; virtually all weeknight shows free; weekend shows free-$10

Union Hall
702 Union Street in Brooklyn; R to Union Street; 50-seat theatre; shows $5-$20

Littlefield
635 Sackett Street in Brooklyn; R to Union Street; 100-seat theatre; shows $5-$20

Bell House
149 7th Street in Brooklyn; R to 9th Street or F/G to Fourth Ave.; 200-seat theatre; shows $10-$25

QED: A Place to Show & Tell
27-16 23rd Avenue in Astoria Queens; N/Q to Ditmars Boulevard; 40-seat theatre; shows free-$10

Best NYC Stand-Up Comedy Clubs

Comedy Cellar
117 MacDougal Street; among the finest daily stand-up lineups in the world; 2-item min.

Village Underground
130 West 3rd Street; Comedy Cellar’s larger sister venue, just around the corner with the same top comics; 2-item min.

The Stand
239 Third Avenue—moving to Union Square this summer; competitor to Comedy Cellar; no drink min.—support this policy!

Carolines Comedy Club
1626 Broadway; focuses on the world’s top headliners, who perform hour-long sets; 2-drink min.

Gotham Comedy Club
208 West 23rd Street; headliners on weekends, specialty & lineup shows weekdays; 2-drink min.

Eastville Comedy Club
moving to Brooklyn in June 2018, please stay tuned; strong weekend lineups; no cover using code HyReviews; 2-drink min.

Greenwich Village Comedy Club
99 MacDougal Street; convenient if Comedy Cellar’s sold out; no cover using code HyReviews; 2-drink min.

Comic Strip Live
1568 Second Avenue, off 81st; Upper East Side club with typically solid lineups; 2-drink min.

Stand Up NY
236 West 78th Street, off Broadway; Upper West Side club with typically solid lineups; 2-drink min.

The Standing Room
4738 Vernon Blvd., by #7 train; Queens LIC club; no drink min.—support this policy!

NYC Stand-Up Open Mics & Improv Jams

If you want stage time, you can find one or more stand-up open mics virtually any night at Manhattan’s The PIT, Eastville Comedy Club, and Stand Up NY Comedy Club, and at Queens LIC’s The Creek and Astoria Queens’ QED.

In addition, at the East Village’s UCB East you can typically find a stand-up open mic Thursdays at 6:00 pm, an improv jam Wednesdays at 11:15 pm, and a rare bring-your-own-group improv/sketch open stage Sundays at 11:00 pm. And in Chelsea, The Magnet offers an improv jam on Wednesdays at 6:00 pm, and a rare musical improv jam on Tuesdays at 6:00 pm.

All of the venues above typically provide you the stage time either for free or for $5.

There are also numerous other open mics throughout the city. For a more comprehensive list, please visit FreeMicsNYC.

Special Thanks to Mindy and Anya

Special thanks to comedy photographers supreme Anya Garrett and Mindy Tucker for creating so many of the stellar photos that grace this site…and the sites of hundreds of NYC comics.

Contact Hy

From legendary NYC comedy site Brooklyn Vegan: Thank God for Hy Bender’s religiously updated show bible Best New York Comedy (and HyReviews.com). He is literally the only person in NYC providing daily summaries of what’s happening comedy-wise. It must be exhausting keeping that monster of a website alive. It is your daily comedy itinerary and it scares me how on top of his shit this guy is.

From comedy & rock goddess Lane Moore (host of smash hit Tinder Live; author of How to be Alone; lead singer of Brooklyn band It Was Romance): Hy Bender lives and breathes comedy. He knows what he’s talking about. Listen.

Please feel encouraged to reach out to tell me about comedy shows, provide feedback on my cross-genre short story anthology Ghosts on Drugs, hire me to develop your book or screenplay (please visit BookProposal.net or HyOnYourScript.com), or for any other reason by emailing me at hy@hyreviews.com.

Leave a Comment » | Best New York Live Comedy Shows | Tagged: Anybody: An Improvised Historical Hip-Hopera, Ashley Brooke Roberts, Becca Beberaggi, Jim Tews, Jo Firestone, Kevin Geeks Out About Dance, Laughter in the Park, Live Comedy shows in NYC tonight, Matt Rogers & Bowen Yang: "Las Culturistas Live: I Don't Think So Honey", Michael Showalter, Mike Drucker, Mike Drucker: "Shit Arcade", Morgan Miller: "Dirty Laundry", New York Comedy, NYC Comedy, NYC Improv, NYC Sketch, NYC Stand-Up, NYC Storytelling, Ophira Eisenberg, Rebecca Vigil, Shalewa Sharpe, Why Your Train is F*cked: A Love/Hate Show About the History of the MTA, Wyatt Cenac | Permalink
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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Tuesday 2/5/13

February 5, 2013

For more, please visit HyReviews.com.
Amy Schumer’s just-released DVD Mostly Sex Stuff is great. Buy it here.

Amy Schumer performs at Comedy Cellar, Seth Herzog’s Sweet, and ComedyJuice…

…The Story Collider explores Love & Science…

…Opus Moreschi, head writer of The Colbert Report, is interviewed about his career at Beginnings…

…and superb storytellers including Michael Showalter tell tales about being a fan at Geeking Out

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] [ALMOST FREE] 6:00 pm ($1): In this delightful weekly open-mic show, each comic has 3 minutes to try out a character-based bit (e.g., for a solo show, sketch, or audition) at The PIT downstairs lounge, hosted by Jen Kwok (Comedy Central) and Keisha Zollar (Doppelganger): Imposter Open Mic

[ALMOST FREE] 6:00 pm ($1): Open-mic sketch that allows you to either perform a sketch with your own performers or bring in pages for the audience to perform at The PIT upstairs theatre, followed by feedback on your bit from PIT “sketch-perts:” Pens & Pencils

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

[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm ($10 at the door, $12.75 in advance online; the latter is highly recommended since this will probably sell out): Personal stories about the intersection of science and love from biologist Kelly Weinersmith, storyteller Peter Aguero, comic book artist Zach Weinersmith, novelist Diana Spechler, and journalists Robin Marantz Henig, Samantha Henig, and Jon Ronson at Brooklyn’s Union Hall hosted by Ben Lillie & Erin Barker: The Story Collider: Love & Science

[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm-Midnight ($7 for the whole evening): In this 5-hour extravaganza, four of The Magnet’s singing improv troupes make up a musical on the spot based on an audience suggestion: Mint Condition and Legned (at 7:00) and Aquarius and BEEES! (at 8:30); followed at 10:15 by a free show that lets audience members join in with musical improv troupe BEEES! to make up stories in song: Magnet Musical Megawatt

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 7:00 pm: A podcast crossover, with guests Matt & Brett Love Comics joining super-hosts Alex Zalben, Justin Tyler, and Pete LePage in a lively & hilarious discussion about four-color pop culture at Fontana’s (105 Eldridge Street), with giveaways of comics and gift certificates: Comic Book Club

7:00 pm ($5): Two-person improv that launches from two chairs at The PIT downstairs lounge hosted by Gabe Capone & Kate Defeo: Two Chairs

[FREE] 7:00 pm: This weekly 2-hour open-mic storytelling show allows each performer a full 8 minutes to tell a compelling and funny tale at Queens LIC’s The Creek downstairs lounge hosted by Jake Hart and guest-hosted tonight by Mike Guild (A Funny Thing): Jake Hart’s Open-Mic Storytelling Show

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

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Wow. Interviews with Opus Moreschi (head writer of The Colbert Report), Reggie Watts (musical improv comedy genius; Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central special, IFC’s Comedy Bang Bang, Electric Company; for video samples, please click here), Chris Gethard (brilliant improvisor and comedic storyteller; star of Comedy Central sitcom Big Lake and Manhattan Cable Access’ The Chris Gethard Show; The Stepfathers, The Nights of Our Lives, author of new bestseller A Bad Idea I’m About to Do and Weird New York), Andrew WK (music, partying), and Marnie Stern (Kill Rock Stars) 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

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($10 at the door or $12.75 online): A show featuring storytellers, book & TV writers, and stand-ups focusing on various aspects of being a fan, with tonight’s guests Michael Showalter (MTV’s The State, comedy troupe Stella, writer/star of feature films The Baxter and Wet Hot American Summer and Comedy Central’s Michael & MIchael Have Issues; author of bestselling book Mr. Funny Pants), Juliet Hope Wayne (Moth GrandSlam Winner), Jeff Simmermon (NPR’s The American Life, Moth StorySlam Champion, host of And I Am Not Lying), and Carolyn Castiglia (Last Comic Standing, VH1; for sample of Carolyn as white rapper, please click here) performing at Brooklyn’s Union Hall with hosts Kerri Doherty & Nate Fernald: Geeking Out

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm ($12 plus 2-item food/drink min.): Amy Schumer (one of the very finest stand-ups in the country; Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central Presents, Last Comic Standing, 30 Rock, great new DVD/CD Amy Schumer: Mostly Sex Stuff), Nick DiPaolo (star stand-up, with numerous appearances on David Letterman, Jay Leno, Louie; Emmy-nominated comedy writer, talk show host), Lenny Marcus (David Letterman, MTV), Keith Robinson (HBO, Comedy Central, Wanda Sykes Show), Robert Kelly (Louie, Comedy Central, Opie & Anthony), and Jeff Lamp (Jay Leno) performing stand-up at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane) hosted by William Stephenson: Amy Schumer, Nick DiPaolo, and More

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm (no cover, 1 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 reasons to hire Joe, please click here), Al Jackson (Comedy Central Presents, Last Comic Standing, John Oliver’s NY Stand-Up, Upload with Shaq, MTV), Greg Warren (Comedy Central Presents), Emily Heller (Comedy Central; staff writer for Rooftop Comedy; for ruminations on pregnancy, please click here), Zach Broussard (Onion News Network, sketch troupe Fambly), and Barbara Gray performing stand-up on this week’s theme Dedicated to the One I Love at Sidewalk NYC (94 Avenue A) produced by Chenoa Estrada, Emily Heller, and George Gordon and hosted tonight by Josh Gondelman & George Gordon: The Afterlife: Dedicated to the One I Love

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm (just $10, and no drink minimum): A dozen stand-ups audition to perform a set on Comedy Central at The Stand Comedy Club (239 Third Avenue & 20th Street): Comedy Central’s New Faces Showcase

[FREE] 8:00 pm: NYC stand-ups (not announced) performing at Queens LIC’s The Creek upstairs theatre hosted by Joe Pera, Charles Gould, and/or Dan Licata: Dan + Joe + Charles’ Show

8:00 pm ($8): Sketch comedy at The PIT upstairs theatre from troupe National Scandal

[FREE] 8:30 pm: Typically sharp NYC stand-ups (for an update, please click here) performing at Cake Shop (152 Ludlow Street, between Rivington & Stanton) hosted by Kate Berlant (MTV, CNN, notable hair): Crime & Punishment

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($5): Amy Schumer (one of the very finest stand-ups in the country; Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central Presents, Last Comic Standing, 30 Rock, great new DVD/CD Amy Schumer: Mostly Sex Stuff), 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), RG Daniels (host of Sunday Night Stand-Up), NIck Stevens (host of AMC’s Action Park), and more performing at The Slipper Room (167 Orchard Street) hosted by Seth Herzog (Jimmy Fallon, VH1): Sweet

9:15 pm-Midnight ($5): Long form improv known as The Harold from UCB Chelsea house troupes Salmon Diane, Sherlock & Cookies, and Guthrie—plus advanced improv students “get too close or too far from each other” for Intimacy Issues—at this second half (continued from 7:30 pm) of Harold Night

9:30 pm ($5): A storytelling show paired with song parodies at The PIT downstairs lounge hosted by Anna Roisman & Katie Haller: You Probably Think This Song is About You

9:30 pm ($5): A monthly stand-up competition at UCB East in which “new and emerging stand-up comics face off against each other in front of a panel of judges eager to provide unsolicited advice and even more unsolicited scores”—the judges being Brian Cichocki and Shannon Coffey. Tonight’s contestants are Naomi Ekperigin, Katie Hannigan, Scott Schachter, Emmy Harrington, and Jason Sprung: Stand-Up Smackdown

[TOP PICK] [$] 10:00 pm ($12 plus 2-item food/drink min.): Dave Attell (one of the most respected stand-ups in the biz; star of Showtime’s Dave’s Old Porn and Comedy Central’s Insomniac; HBO, David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno, The Daily Show, Comedy Central Presents), 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), Sherri Shepherd (co-host of The View), Gregg Rogell (Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno, Louie, Comedy Central), Godfrey (Comedy Central Presents, Louie, 30 Rock, VH1; films Zoolander, Original Gangsters, Soul Plane; 7 Up Yours ads), Sherrod Small (writer/performer on TBS’ Are We There Yet?, Comedy Central, VH1), and Mike Vecchione (Last Comic Standing, Howard Stern), performing stand-up at Comedy Cellar (117 MacDougal Street, between 3rd Street & Minetta Lane) hosted by William Stephenson: Dave Attell John Mulaney, Sherri Shepherd, and More

[TOP PICK] [$] 10:00 pm ($15 & 2-drink min.): Amy Schumer (one of the very finest stand-ups in the country; Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central Presents, Last Comic Standing, 30 Rock, great new DVD/CD Amy Schumer: Mostly Sex Stuff), Jessica Kirson (Jay Leno, Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, HBO, Showtime, Bravo, VH1, Logo one-woman show My Cookie’s Gone), Rob Cantrell (Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, VHI, documentary Metaphysical Graffiti, High Times), Mark Normand (hilarious stand-up; Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central; co-host of Hot Soup and We’re All Friends Here), Maddog Mattern (Sirius Radio, Howard Stern TV; to see Maddog handle a heckler, please click here), Susan Prekel (Comedy Central), and Eleanor J. Kerrigan performing stand-up at the Gotham Comedy Club hosted by Jared Logan (rising star; Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, CNN, TBS): ComedyJuice

[FREE] 10:00 pm: Big Jay Oakerson (Comedy Central Presents, HBO, Showtime, MTV), Luis J. Gomez, Dave Smith, and other NYC stand-ups performing live on stage for this podcast show at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City: Legion of Skanks

[ALMOST FREE] 11:00 pm ($1): 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

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.

Leave a Comment » | Best New York Live Comedy Shows | Tagged: Amy Schumer, Comedy, Improv, Love and Science, Michael Showalter, New York Comedy, Opus Moreschi, Sketch, Stand-Up, Storytelling, The Story Collider | Permalink
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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Thursday 11/15/12

November 15, 2012

For more, please visit HyReviews.com.

Stars Michael Showalter and Todd Barry are tonight’s guests at Running Late with Scott Rogowsky…

…UK star Simon Amstell launches a six night run at Theatre 80 of his one-man show Numb; and nerd comics Kevin Maher & Mark Douglas tape bits for their new Web series Andrew 12-Sided Dice Clay

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: Kate Tellers (Producer and Corporate Trainer for The Moth) 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 receiving two minutes—and if that goes well, maybe a hug (but not actual puppies)—at The Creek’s upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City hosted by Ross Parsons & Trey Galyon: Free Puppies

[TOP PICK] 6:30 pm ($5): A comedic mini-play written by Gavin Speiller (Death by Roo Roo, Rogue Elephant) and directed by Christine Nangle (staff writer for SNL) with a superb cast—Gavin Speiller, D’Arcy Carden, Sue Galloway, Jim Santangeli, Frank Hejl, and Samantha Warnick—auditioning for a spot on the schedule of the prestigious UCB Chelsea stage: The Last Double Date

[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm ($5 at the door or $6.17 online): TV & Broadway stand-up star Colin Quinn performs a brand new show looking at US history “from the Founding Fathers to the Kardashians” at Queens LIC’s The Creek upstairs theatre: Unconstitutional with Colin Quinn

7:00 pm ($5): Two singing improv troupes make up entire musicals on the spot in this double-bill at The PIT downstairs lounge: Punchbowl 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): Typically sharp comics (not announced) are guests at this monthly open-mic storytelling show at UCB East hosted by Todd Bieber (Commercial Interruption, Director of Content & Production for UCBComedy.com) that at the end selects a favorite from the audience tales to be turned into an animated short film premiering the following month (for hilarious samples, please click here): Animated Stories

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm ($26): Brilliant and exceptionally skinny UK star Simon Amstell (BBC’s Do Nothing, Grandma’s House) performs a one-man show for six nights only in NYC (through November 21st) “skewering his insecurities with a sharp wit and hopeful optimism, confronting the anxieties of modern life” at Theatre 80 (80 St. Marks Place, off First Avenue): Simon Amstell: Numb

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm ($20): A former roommate & drinking buddy of such comedy giants as David Cross and Marc Maron performs a one-man show that was such a hit at August’s FringeNYC it’s been extended indefinitely. Please read my review by clicking here, and Jason Zinoman’s New York Times review by clicking here; and then come share an intimate hour with Matt Graham at the Soho Playhouse’s downstairs Huron Club so he can explain life and meaning and why This Too Shall Suck

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Kevin Maher (creator of the smash hit Kevin Geeks Out shows; HBO, Comedy Central, AMC) and Web superstar Mark Douglas (The Key of Awesome) team up to tape material for their new Web series Andrew 12 Sided Dice Clay, plus stand-up from Casey Jost, Adam Conover, Rusty Ward, Ritch Duncan, and Matt Wilson, all performing at Under St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place, off First Avenue): Andrew 12-Sided Dice Clay Live Taping

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 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

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 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) through November 26th: The Old Man and the Moon

[$] 8:00 pm ($32.75 & 2-drink min.) A stand-up who’s starred in his own Comedy Central Presents special, is a cast member of the NBC sitcom Whitney (starring the wonderful Whitney Cummings), and has performed on Showtime’s Live Nude Comedy (to view his set, please click here) and TBS’ Glory Daze, headlining tonight and Sunday at the Carolines Comedy Club: Chris D’Elia

8:00 pm ($5): Two singing improv troupes make up entire musicals on the spot in this double-bill at The PIT downstairs lounge: Team Black and Team White

8:00 pm ($5): Wonderful improvisor Ellena Chmielewski co-wrote and directed this comedy mini-play about modern romance at UCB Chelsea co-written & co-starring John Zachary Townsend: Standards & Practices…

…and in the other half of this double-bill, frankly, the worst scripted show I’ve seen all year on the UCBT schedule—terrible writing, acting, direction, a perfect storm of bad—but the folks involved are very nice (sometimes things just don’t work out…): The State vs. Josh: The Trial of the Millennials

8:00 pm-MIdnight ($7 for the entire evening): The Magnet house troupes Junior Varsity, Hello Laser, The Wrath, and The Boss performing improv for two hours, followed at 10:00 pm by Medusa (all improvisers stay on stage at all times, and alternate between speaking roles and playing inanimate objects), 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 vs. Featherweight: The Magnet’s Night Out

[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 comedy genius Sean Patton: Comedy as a Second Language

9:00 pm ($5): Carolyn Castiglia (Last Comic Standing, VH1; for sample of Carolyn as white rapper, please click here), Dan Soder (Comedy Central, VH1; for set about being a hypochondriatic drug user, please click here), Kyle Dunnigan, Billy Wayne Davis, and Trevor Williams performing stand-up at UCB East hosted by Adam Conover and/or Emily Heller: Fresh Out

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($10 at the door, $11.34 in advance online): Killer lineup of Michael Showalter (MTV’s The State, comedy troupe Stella, writer/star of feature films The Baxter and Wet Hot American Summer and Comedy Central’s Michael & MIchael Have Issues; author of bestselling book Mr. Funny Pants), 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), and Andrew Gregory (The Gregory Brothers, Auto-Tune the News) with the Color Red Band performing and sharing insider stories at The PIT upstairs theatre hosted by Scott R.: Running Late with Scott Rogowsky

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

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): Improvisors make up one-act plays on the spot at The PIT downstairs lounge, produced by Dan Hodapp & Micah Sherman: The Scene

[FREE] 9:30 pm: A monthly showcase of both stand-ups and improvisors at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City, hosted by stand-up Zach Broussard and improv troupe Priest & the Beekeeper: Pig Pile

[TOP PICK] 11:00 pm ($5): Shannon O’Neill (comedy genius), Morgan Grace Jarrett (wonderful comedic actress), Lydia Hensler (member of red-hot improv troupe Grandma’s Ashes), and/or Brandon Scott Jones (top sketch troupe Stone Cold Fox, red-hot improv troupe Grandma’s Ashes, top comedic play Death Wears Stilettos) host a showcase of female comics at UCB East who tonight are Katey Healy-Wurzburg (stand-up), JiJi Lee (storytelling), Cocoon Central Dance Team (dance), and Summer and Eve (musical performance): Ladies Night: Men Welcome

[TOP PICK] 11:00 pm ($5): The quarter-finals of a beloved annual November tradition at UCB Chelsea—Pat Baer’s 3-on-3 Improv Tournament

11:00 pm ($5): Stand-ups Danny Jolles and Aaron Glaser each perform 30-minute sets at The PIT downstairs lounge: Glaser & Jolles Split the Hour

Leave a Comment » | Best New York Live Comedy Shows | Tagged: Andrew 12-Sided Dice Clay, Comedy, Improv, Michael Showalter, New York Comedy, Running Late with Scott Rogowsky, Simon Amstell, Sketch, Stand-Up, Storytelling, Todd Barry | Permalink
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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Tuesday 10/2/12

October 2, 2012

For more, please visit HyReviews.com.
For free & $5 Greenwich Village Comedy Club tickets, please click here.

Michael Showalter, Dave Hill, and other stars will attempt to put aside their differences and raise funds for school bands at Elna Baker’s & Kevin Townley’s The Talent Show…

…and The Daily Show’s Al Madrigal and ace stand-up Ted Alexandro will fight for the people at ComedyJuice

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 sketch that allows you to either perform a sketch with your own performers or bring in pages for the audience to perform at The PIT downstairs lounge, followed by feedback on your bit from PIT “sketch-perts:” Pen & Pencils

[TOP PICK] [$] 7:00 pm ($15 & 2-drink min.): 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.), Al Madrigal (correspondent for The Daily Show), Nate Bargatze (David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Comedy Central Presents), and more performing stand-up at the Gotham Comedy Club hosted by Jared Logan (rising star; Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central): ComedyJuice

[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm-11:30 ($7 for the whole evening): In this 4 1/2-hour extravaganza, each of six of The Magnet’s singing improv troupes make up a musical on the spot based on an audience suggestion: The Montels and Aquarius at 7:00, Atticus and BEEES! at 8:30, and Legend and Mint Condition at 10:00: Magnet Tuesday Musical Megawatt

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 7:00 pm: Ben Acker & Ben Blacker, the creators of The Thrilling Adventure Hour (a staged show in the style of old-time radio), joining super-hosts Alex Zalben, Justin Tyler, and Pete LePage in a lively & hilarious discussion about four-color pop culture at Fontana’s (105 Eldridge Street), with giveaways of comics and gift certificates: Comic Book Club

7:00 pm ($5; includes FREE COOKIES): Mostly-gal improv “specializing in upbeat montages that explore real human emotions in a fun way,” plus free cookies, at The PIT downstairs lounge: Baked by MMDK

7:30 pm-9:00 pm ($5): Long form improv known as The Harold from UCB Chelsea house troupes Bucky, Rocks, and Johnny Romance at this first half (see 9:15 pm for more) of Harold Night

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm ($20 at the door, or $24 in advance online): This fundraiser for a school band program is a tad pricey, but the lineup is great: Michael Showalter, Eugene Mirman, Dave Hill, Supercute, and more performing at Brooklyn’s The Bell House (149 7th Street, between Second and Third Avenues), with hosts movie & TV actor Kevin Townley (Men in Black III, The Sitter, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Law & Order) and storytelling jewel Elna Baker (NPR’s This American Life, author of The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance): The Talent Show: Save the Band!

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Shannon O’Neill (comedy genius), Morgan Grace Jarrett (wonderful comedic actress), Lydia Hensler (member of red-hot improv troupe Grandma’s Ashes), and/or Brandon Scott Jones (top sketch troupe Stone Cold Fox, red-hot improv troupe Grandma’s Ashes, top comedic play Death Wears Stilettos) host a showcase of female comics at UCB East who tonight include Julie Kraut (storytelling), Pirate Sugar (sketch), Kara Klenk (stand-up), and The Reformed Whores (musical performance): Ladies Night: Men Welcome

[TOP PICK] 8:00ish pm (no cover, 1 drink min.): Emily Heller (Comedy Central; staff writer for Rooftop Comedy; for ruminations on pregnancy, please click here), Emmy Blotnick (Jimmy Fallon), Roger Hailes (Chappelle’s Show, VH1, MTV; writer for FUSE’s A Different Spin with Mark Hoppus), Brian Moote (MTV’s Money from Strangers), and Josh Gondelman performing on this week’s topic River Styx at Sidewalk NYC (94 Avenue A) produced by Chenoa Estrada, Emily Heller, and George Gordon and hosted tonight by George Gordon: The Afterlife: River Styx

8:00 pm ($10): Rob Cantrell (Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, VHI, documentary Metaphysical Graffiti, High Times), Nick Vatterott (Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central’s The Half Hour, MTV, Second City, 2012 Andy Kaufman Award), Dan Crossley, and Marcus Monroe performing stand-up at The PIT upstairs theatre: The Andy Kaufman Fun House

8:00 pm ($8): A house sketch troupe performs at The PIT downstairs lounge: 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

9:15 pm-Midnight ($5): Long form improv known as The Harold from UCB Chelsea house troupes Guthrie, A Sparrow, and The Regulars—plus advanced improv students make up an entire feature film for a form called The Movie—at this second half (continued from 7:30 pm) of Harold Night

[MEGA-TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): A weekly wild experiment in dark comedy, blending sketch and improv, starring brilliant, fearless, and innovative John Gemberling (Death by Roo Roo, Adult Swim, Comedy Central)—who is moving back to LA this week, so catch him while you can—and Anthony Atamanuik (Death by Roo Roo, 30 Rock, Conan O’Brien, Huffington Post, The Nights of Our Lives) at UCB East with tonight’s guests 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), Craig Baldo (Conan O’Brien, Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, VH1, The Onion), and Nimesh Patel (co-host of Broken Comedy): The Tony and Johnny Show

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] 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: Al Madrigal, Comedy, Dave Hill, Improv, Michael Showalter, New York Comedy, Sketch, Stand-Up, Storytelling, Ted Alexandro | Permalink
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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Monday 12/19/11

December 19, 2011

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

Comedy genius John Oliver performs tonight at both the Morrison Motel and Whiplash...

...Julie Klausner and Michael Showalter (above), Andrea Rosen, and more perform at The Moon Show...

...and Reggie Watts makes unique music at Comedy Central Corporate Retreat

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

[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] 7:00 pm ($5): World-class storyteller Adam Wade (two-time Moth GrandSlam Storytelling Champion (2006 & 2009) and record-breaking 17-time StorySlam Champion; The New York Times Magazine; host of The Adam Wade Show; for Adam’s award-winning tale of being an NBC page on Conan O’Brien, please click here) hosts a show at The Magnet that’s “like watching the characters of The Wonder Years and Freaks & Geeks all grown up and telling coming-of-age tales of love, lost, regret, and redemption,” with tonight’s guests Dale Davidson (invaluable FringeNYC staffer & Magnet improvisor), Matt Sheerfek, and John Brennan: Adam Wade’sWhatever Happened to the Nerds?

[FREE] 7:00 pm: NYC stand-ups Calvin S. Cato, Patrick J. Mitchell, Kate Hendricks, Joe Larson, and Asie Mohtarez performing at a free weekly show in the Manchester Pub hosted by Phoebe Robinson: Case of the Mondays Comedy

7:00 pm & 9:00 pm (no cover, 1-item min.): The perfect show for short attention spans—open-mic stand-up with 4 minutes per set and 25 comics crammed into 2 hours—with an early show hosted by Sean Donnelly & Blaine Perry at 7:00 pm, and an entirely different group of stand-ups hosted by Dan Cartwright & Dave Greek at 9:00 pm—at the Luca Lounge (222 Avenue B off 14th Street) for John Morrison’s Motel Luca

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

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($12): Michael Showalter (MTV’s The State, comedy troupe Stella, writer/star of feature films The Baxter and Wet Hot American Summer and Comedy Central’s Michael & MIchael Have Issues; author of bestselling book Mr. Funny Pants), Julie Klausner (razor-sharp comic & storyteller, and author of I Don’t Care About Your Band), Andrea Rosen (brilliant stand-up & storyteller; HBO’s Flight of the Conchords, Comedy Central’s Stella, Variety SHAC, The Nights of Our Lives, Ding Dong Meow, winner of the 2011 ECNY Award for Best Stand-Up), and more performing at 92Y Tribeca, along with sketches from Moon regulars such as co-producer Jordan Clifford, the delightful Camille Harris, and hosts Nat Towsen & Bob Walles at this special edition of The Moon Show

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($14.83 online or $12 at the door): Hannibal Buress (staff writer for 30 Rock, Saturday Night Live; David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon, Louie, upcoming one-hour Comedy Central special), Jon Glaser (creator/star of Adult Swim’s Delocated, long-time writer & sketch performer forConan O’Brien, voiceover actor for Comedy Central and Adult Swim), “Adam the Real Man,” and musical guest River City Extension performing at Brooklyn’s Littlefield (622 Degraw Street) with sketches and more from a duo who between them won four 2011 ECNY Awards—including Best Variety Show and Best Hosts—Kristen Schaal and Kurt Braunohler: Hot Tub Variety with Kurt & Kristen

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): A top comedy musical night featuring Reggie Watts (musical improv comedy genius; Comedy Central special; Jimmy Fallon; Electric Company; Conan O’Brien’sLegally Prohibited tour; for video samples, please click here), Tom Shillue’s barbershop quartet Scollay Square, Buckwheat Groats, and more performing at UCB East hosted by Max Silvestri (co-host of Big Terrific): Comedy Central Corporate Retreat

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 8:00 pm: Joe DeRosa (HBO’s Bored to Death and Down and Dirty, Comedy Central Presents, co-host of Righteous Kill, comedy CD The Depression Auction), Andy Haynes (Jimmy Fallon, Last Comic Standing), Alice Wetterlund (College Humor), John F. O’Donnell (Comedy Central, co-host of 50 First Jokes), Robbie Collier, and “a special guest” performing at the One and One Bar (1st Street & First Avenue) for this new weekly stand-up show hosted by Louis Katz, Tim Dimond, and J. F. Harris: Raw Guts

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): A silly holiday sketch/character comedy tradition at UCB Chelsea that makes fun of all things preppy, tonight featuring such talents as Violet Krumbein, Will Hines, Rob Lathan, Craig Rowin, Katie Schorr, and many more, hosted by Alex Scordelis and Chris Schell: The Brooks Brothers Christmas Clambake

8:30 pm ($5): Improv at The Magnet revolving around “the anticipation, the fall-out, that fragile moment when love blooms or dies” in Double Date, plus improv from troupe Honey

[TOP PICK] 8:30 pm doors, 9:00 pm show ($20, which includes 1 drink; please note this show hassold out, but there’s a small chance of getting in via a stand-by line if folks who made reservations don’t show up): A killer lineup of John Oliver, Myq Kaplan, Hannibal Buress, Carmen Lynch, Lee Camp, Liz Miele, and Steve Rosso performing stand-up at the Cornelia Street Cafe for John Morrison’s Morrison Motel

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 9:00 pm: PIT owner Ali Farahnakian and the school’s razor-sharp instructors perform improv at The PIT downstairs lounge in The Faculty Part 2: Electric Boogaloo; plus improv troupe Technicolor

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): One of the most respected and influential improv troupes of all time that was legendary for its lightning-fast reactions is reunited for one night only at UCB Chelsea with members Andy Secunda, Sean Conroy, and Michael Delaney: The Swarm

[FREE] 9:30 pm: Pat O’Shea (host of Ed Sullivan on Acid) and Brooke Van Popplen & Giulia Rozzi (hosts of Dive Comedy), who normally alternate their biweekly shows at the same time and location, join forces tonight by welcoming NYC stand-ups Carla Rhodes, Kara Klenk, Jessimae Peluso, Stone and Stone, John F. O’Donnell, and more at Brooklyn’s Freddy’s Backroom (627 5th Avenue): Ed Sullivan on Acid & Dive Comedy Join Forces Spectacular

[FREE] 9:30 pm: “In moments of exhaustion, in the space of a hesitation, when a faltering spirit looms large, the sixth man comes off the bench and sparks a revolt against complacency and routine. The sixth man powers the team and washes over that faltering spirit with a cleansing energy. A show in which awesome teams are made even greater with the addition of a special guest improviser. Tag-ins, walk-ons, lay-ons, swinging doors, all manner of support work is allowed and encouraged” at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City hosted by Andy Beckerman and Cory Palmer: Sixth Man

10:00 pm ($5): Improv is dominated by guys, so this is a rare treat—a dozen female improvisors “for an evening of comedy that will delight men, women, babies, and kittens” at The Magnet hosted by Megan Gray: We Might Just Kiss

10:00 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] 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—with tonight’s guests John Oliver (star correspondent of The Daily Show, co-star of NBC’s Community, star of Comedy Central’s New York Stand-Up Show, screenwriter, and genius stand-up comic), star storyteller Tom Shillue (Conan O’Brien, The Daily Show, Comedy Central Presents, 2011 ECNY Award for Best Storyteller), Sean Conroy (Conan O’Brien, Comedy Central, legendary improv troupe The Swarm), Nick Turner (Jimmy Fallon; co-host of Too Cool For School and If You Bu=ild It), Sean O’Connor, and Zach Sherwin—performing at UCB Chelsea with wonderful Sean Patton (killer sets on Jimmy Fallon and Conan O’Brien, Comedy Central, VH1; co-host of Comedy as a Second Language): Whiplash

[FREE] 11:00 pm: If you’re an audience member who loves stand-up, Monday at 11 should beWhiplash! 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 stand-up open-mic at The PITupstairs theatre hosted by Michelle Wolf and the hilarious Erin Lennox (for a sample of Erin’s dynamite Seriously Sports show, please click here): Fresh

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

If you know anyone who might have a thyroid problem, please tell them about my latest book: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Thyroid Disease.

Leave a Comment » | Best New York Live Comedy Shows | Tagged: Comedy, Comedy NYC Tonight, Improv, John Oliver, Julie Klausner, Michael Showalter, Reggie Watts, Stand-Up, The Swarm | Permalink
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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Monday 11/14/11

November 14, 2011

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

Michael Showalter performs stand-up tonight at Whiplash...

...Ted Alexandro is at Hot Tub Variety...

...and stellar storytellers Tom Shillue, Andy Christie, Sara Schaefer, John Sellers, and Mike Albo (above) tell us How I Learned You Can't Go Home Again

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 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] 7:00 pm ($5): A monthly storytelling show from the wonderful Adam Wade (two-time Moth GrandSlam Storytelling Champion (2006 & 2009) and record-breaking 15-time StorySlam Champion; The New York Times Magazine; host of Real Tales of College; for Adam’s award-winning tale of being an NBC page on Conan O’Brien, please click here), along with guest storyteller Martin Dockery (The Moth, The Liar Show; acclaimed as “fantastic” by The New York Times), with improv illustrator Sharon Spell drawing scenes as they’re described, all at Under St. Marks: The Adam Wade from New Hampshire Show: Tales of Life, Love, and Little League

[TOP PICK] [FREE] Seating starts at 5:00 pm (with priority to those buying the book), show at 7:00 pm: A brilliant comedic author, correspondent for The Daily Show, and evil PC in Mac ads reads from his new book That Is All at the Barnes & Noble at Union Square (33 East 17th Street): John Hodgman

[TOP PICK] [$] 7:00 pm ($15): My #1 pick for the 2007 FringeNYC Festival, this wonderful group of actresses/improvisors portray characters as if they were in a play, but improvise everything they say and do. The luminous performers include Katharine Heller, Brenna Palughi, Lynne Rosenberg, Lauren Seikaly, and Molly Knefel, each of whom is immensely appealing and quick-witted. Further, they have an intimate, lovely chemistry with each other; and they’ve all committed to baring their personal lives, thinly disguised via their characters (hence the title’s Naked). As a result, this is one of the most honest & nuanced improvised shows you’ll ever see. The show returns tonight at the elegant Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce Street, near the #1 subway’s Christopher Street stop):Naked in a Fishbowl

[FREE] 7:00 pm: NYC stand-ups Selena Coppock, Amanda Baramki, Gary Vider, Kate Hendricks, and Chris Thayer performing at a free weekly show in the Manchester Pub hosted by Phoebe Robinson: Case of the Mondays Comedy

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

[MEGA-TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Scott Adsit (cast member of 30 Rock, and co-writer/director/producer & cast member of Adult Swim’s awesome & Emmy-winning Moral Orel) teaming up with fellow 30 Rock actor John Lutz (who previously spent six years as a staff writer forSaturday Night Live) to form a super-smart and hilarious star improv duo that’s become one of the very best attractions at UCB Chelsea and should not be missed: John & Scott

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($8): “Stories about where we grew up, how we grew up, and what we think of when we think of home,” with stellar storytellers Tom Shillue (Conan O’Brien, The Daily Show, Comedy Central Presents, 2011 ECNY Award for Best Storyteller), Andy Christie (host of The Liar Show; The New York Times, NPR, Moth GrandSlam Champion), Sara Schaefer (inventive, luminous comic; Emmy-nominated staff writer for Jimmy Fallon; VH1’s Best Week Ever; co-host of hit podcast You Had to Be There), Mike Albo (author of The Junket), and John Sellers (author of The Old Man and the Swamp, Perfect From Now On) performing at Brooklyn’s Union Hall hosted by Blaise Allysen Kearsley: How I Learned You Can’t Go Home Again

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($9.47 online or $8 at the door): Ted Alexandro (one of the very finest stand-ups in the country; David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, two Comedy Central Presentshalf-hour specials; frequently opens for Louis C.K.), Eliza Skinner (Conan O’Brien, genius musical improvisor), and Ben Lerman (nuanced raunchy comedic singer/songwriter; Logo TV’sNewNowNext, Sirius Radio’s Frank DeCaro Show) performing at Brooklyn’s Littlefield (622 Degraw Street) with sketches and more from a duo who between them won four 2011 ECNY Awards—including Best Variety Show and Best Hosts—Kristen Schaal and Kurt Braunohler: Hot Tub Variety with Kurt & Kristen

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 8:00 pm ($5): Dan St. Germain (quick-witted & enormously likeable rising star;Jimmy Fallon, MTV, VH1; for reenactment of Dan’s breakup, please click here), Nat Towsen (co-host of hit Brooklyn variety show The Moon), and Annie Lederman (host of Mustache Party) each performing a 30-minute stand-up set at UCB East for a show titled one “30” shy of being accurate: The 30/30 Club

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:30 pm ($18): The winning team that created Pope!: An Epic Musical (a big hit at last year’s FringeNYC) and The Spidey Project (a media sensation) is now developing a pirate musical at The Magnet about “the dashing young hero Declan as he seeks out the vicious Martin La Foe, the second most famous pirate ever,” with book and lyrics by Justin Moran & Jon Roufaeal, and music by Adam & Matt Podd: Nightfall on Mirango Island

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($5): A monthly mix of storytelling & music at Under St. Marks from rockin’ hosts Peter Aguero & the BTK Band, with tonight’s yarn-spinners Brad Lawrence, Ben Lillie, Rory Scholl, and Jeff Scherer, plus GoGo by Dangrrr Doll & Apathy Angel, and spontaneous illustrations by in-the-moment artist Sharon Spell: The BTK Band: Aguero-Scholl-Scherer Birthday Extravaganza

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 9:00 pm: PIT owner Ali Farahnakian and razor-sharp PIT instructors perform improv at The PIT downstairs lounge in The Faculty Part 2: Electric Boogaloo; plus improv troupe Technicolor

[FREE] 9:00 pm: Hari Kondabolu (Comedy Central Presents, Jimmy Kimmel), Adrienne Iapalucci (Last Comic Standing), Erik Bergstrom (cartoonist/author of Grimmer Tales), Becky Yamamoto, Team Submarine, and Mike Denny performing stand-up 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

9:30 pm ($5): Two of UCB Chelsea’s house sketch troupes trying out new bits: Gramp’s (which sadly no longer includes comedy genius Kate McKinnon, but might still kick some ass) andOnassis (which includes talented comedic actress Lauren Adams): Maude Night

10:00 pm ($5—and possibly free pizza from New PIzza Town):Ed Gavagan (The Moth), Chris Fleming, and more performing at The Magnet for hosts Willy Appleman’s & Adam Lerman’s final 2011 edition of Deep Traffic

10:00 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] 10:30 pm: Improv students are welcomed onto the stage at The PIT downstairs lounge for this weekly open session hosted by Gary DeNoia & Keith Huang: Base Jam

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 11:00 pm: Some of the finest comics in the world—tonight includlng Michael Showalter (MTV’s The State, comedy troupe Stella, writer/star of feature films The Baxter and Wet Hot American Summer and Comedy Central’s Michael & MIchael Have Issues; author of bestselling book Mr. Funny Pants), Ian Edwards (Conan O’Brien, HBO’s Bad Boys of Comedy, Comedy Central), and Mark Normand (hilarious stand-up; Last Comic Standing; co-host of Hot Soup andWe’re All Friends Here)—at UCB Chelsea hosted by the wonderful Leo Allen (HBO, Saturday Night Live, Conan O’Brien, Comedy Central): Whiplash

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

If you know anyone who might have a thyroid problem, please tell them about my latest book: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Thyroid Disease.

Leave a Comment » | Best New York Live Comedy Shows | Tagged: Comedy, Comedy NYC Tonight, Improv, Michael Showalter, MIke Albo, Sketch, Stand-Up, Storytelling, Ted Alexandro | Permalink
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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Sunday 10/9/11

October 9, 2011

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

Michael Showalter performs at "Pretty Good Friends;" stellar writers & comics are at Kevin Maher's "Sexy Nerds & Dirty Words".....

...and music from The Bandana Splits, and more, at The Moon Show

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] 6:30 pm: Advanced Magnet students performing improv as couples directed by Magnet co-owner Armando Diaz: Dynamic Duos

[TOP PICK] 6:00 pm ($5): Justin Shanes (writer for Jimmy Fallon), Streeter Seidell (College Humor), and Dan Gurewitch (College Humor) participate in “a weekly podcast that assembles a new panel of comedians and weird characters to give funny advice, or at the very least relate to the people’s problems with their own stories” at UCB East hosted by Andy Rocco: Here to Help

[MEGA-TOP PICK] 7:00 pm ($5): A one-time-only event “where erotica meets neurotica, where the obscene meets the obscure, with geeks providing comedy for geeks” from Kevin Maher (creator of the smash hit Kevin Geeks Out shows; HBO, Comedy Central, AMC). Performers include Web superstar Mark Douglas (The Key of Awesome) doing stand-up, Mike Edison (author of Dirty! Dirty! DIrty!) chronicling the history of America’s greatest girlie magazines, M. Sweeney Lawless revealing a secret conspiracy in comic book covers, and Iris Explosion doing burlesque dancing; plus Geek Bingo! It all happens at Under St. Marks: Sexy Nerds & Dirty Words

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10) and 9:30 pm [FREE]: UCBwest’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 ($5): Star storyteller Tom Shillue (Conan O’Brien, The Daily Show, Comedy Central Presents, 2011 ECNY Award for Best Storyteller), Jared Logan (hilarious angry rising star;Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, co-host of Righteous Kill), utterly adorable comedic singers The Bandana Splits (for video samples, please click here and here), delightful comedic singer Camille Harris, and more performing at UCB East along with sketches from Moon regulars Camille Harris, Jordan Clifford, Stephanie Fagan, Bryan Condon, and Tim Skinner, and hosts Nat Towsen & Bob Walles: The Moon Show

[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 ($7): Michael Showalter (MTV’s The State, comedy troupe Stella, writer/star of feature films The Baxter and Wet Hot American Summer and Comedy Central’s Michael & MIchael Have Issues; author of bestselling new book Mr. Funny Pants), 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), Dan St. Germain (quick-witted rising star; Jimmy Fallon, MTV, VH1; for reenactment of Dan’s breakup, please click here), and Cameron Esposito (acclaimed storyteller; one-woman show Side Mullet Nation; Logo TV) performing at Brooklyn’s Union Hall for comedy giant Eugene Mirman’s Pretty Good Friends

[FREE] 8:00 pm: Mike Lawrence (shrewdly funny curmudgeon; Comedy Central), Seaton Smith, Tess Barker, Frank Liotti, and Reid Taylor performing at RG Daniels’ free weekly show at the Three of Cups East Village lounge: Sunday Night Stand-Up

[$] 8:00 pm ($27.25 & 2-drink min.) A stand-up who’s been called “The African King of Comedy,” and has performed on HBO’s Def Comedy Jam and Bad Boys of Comedy, BET’s ComedyView, and the feature film Next Friday headlining tonight and Sunday at the Carolines Comedy Club: Michael Blackson

[FREE] 8:00 pm: From the producers of The Scene, improvisors at The PIT downstairs lounge make up one-act plays on the spot: Act One

8:00 pm ($5): A troupe that performs a sketch show with an improv segment at the end directed byMagnet co-owner Armando Diaz: Dumbrowsky

8:00 pm ($5): PIT improvisors Nate Starkey & Chris Grace makes stuff up in Two-Prov with Starkey & Grace

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($5): Sean Patton (red-hot rising star; killer set on Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central, VH1; co-host of Comedy as a Second Language, frequent guest-host of Whiplash), Hari Kondabolu (Comedy Central Presents), Nick Turner (Jimmy Fallon, host of Monsters), and Lisa Delarios (Comedy Central; co-host of The Party Machine) performing stand-up at UCB East hosted by Mark Normand, Matt Ruby, Andy Haynes, and/or David Cope: Hot Soup

[FREE] 9:30 pm: Open-mic stand-up, with four minutes per comic, at The PIT downstairs lounge hosted by Rob Stern: Vicious Cycle

[FREE] 10:00 pm: NYC stand-ups Maureen Langan (Jay Leno, Joy Behar), Emily Epstein, and Adam Lehman performing at this free weekly gay-themed show at Therapy hosted by Brad Loekle:Electro Shock Therapy Comedy Hour

11:00 pm ($5): Improv troupes not associated with a particular comedy theatre at UCB East, hosted by Thank You Robot: Indie Improv Showcase

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

If you know anyone who might have a thyroid problem, please tell them about my latest book: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Thyroid Disease.

Leave a Comment » | Best New York Live Comedy Shows | Tagged: Comedy, Comedy NYC Tonight, Improv, Kevin Maher, Michael Showalter, Sexy Nerds & Dirty Words, Sketch, Stand-Up, Storytelling, The Bandana Splits | Permalink
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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Sunday 9/18/11

September 18, 2011

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

For comprehensive coverage of the FringeNYC 2011 Encore Series, please click here.

Comedy legend Marc Maron...

...and TV & movie star Michael Showalter are among the top comics at this final night of the Eugene Mirman Comedy 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] 4:00 pm: An unusually early walk-in open-mic stand-up show (for details, please click here) at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City: Face-Plant Comedy Showcase

[FREE] 5:30 pm: Improv duo The Bedtime Brothers begin by making up scenes based on an audience member’s horrible dating or break-up experience, and end with scenes springboarding off an audience-supplied movie quote; and in between invited stand-ups and sketch comics perform. It all happens at at The Creek in Queens’ Long Island City: Love Sucks! Movies Rock!

[TOP PICK] 6:00 pm-11:00 pm ($20): Top comics from NYC and elsewhere gather tonight, via two different shows in Brooklyn’s Bell House, for the final day of the Fourth Annual Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival

[TOP PICK] 6:00 pm ($5): Thoroughly brilliant comics James Adomian (Last Comic Standing), John Gemberling (Adult Swim, Death by Roo Roo), Anthony Atamanuik (30 Rock, Death By Roo Roo, Two-Man Movie), and Craig Rowin (Please Give Me One Million Dollars) participate in “a weekly podcast that assembles a new panel of comedians and weird characters to give funny advice, or at the very least relate to the people’s problems with their own stories” at UCB East 155 East 3rd Street, between Avenues A & B) hosted by Andy Rocco: Here to Help

7:30 pm ($5): Rob Cantrell (Last Comic Standing, VHI, High Times), Jordan Carlos (MTV), Nick Turner (Jimmy Fallon; host of Monsters, co-host of Too Cool For School and If You Build It), Nick Packard (Mystery Team), and Michael Antonnuci (sketch troupe Bleak Comedy) performing stand-up at UCB East 155 East 3rd Street, between Avenues A & B): The Most Fun Show Ever

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

[$] 8:00 pm ($31.25 & 2-drink min.) A provocative comedy star who’s written for Richard Pryor, Red Foxx, and Saturday Night Live, and performed on Chappelle’s Show and David Letterman, headlining at Carolines: Paul Mooney

[FREE] 8:00 pm: Louie Katz (HBO’s Down and Dirty, Comedy Central Presents), Nick Vatterott (Jimmy Fallon), Dan Soder (Comedy Central), Matt Ruby (MTV, co-host of Hot Soup and We’re All Friends Here), and Chesley Calloway (co-host of Comedy as a Second Language) performing at RG Daniels’ free weekly show at the Three of Cups East Village lounge: Sunday Night Stand-Up

[FREE] 8:00 pm: Sketch troupes The Weirs, Jamaal Sedayao, Paul Barker, Russ Armstrong, and /or Good Morning Ladies performing new material at The Magnet: Ripe Sketch Comedy

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($5): NYC stand-ups Brooke Van Poppelen (brilliant stand-up, writer, and storyteller; blogger for trutV; TLC; co-host of Dive Comedy; for stand-up videos about overindulging at 30 and impersonating Morrisey, please click here and here), Ben Kronberg, Phil Hanley, John F. O’Donnell, and Ken Reid celebrating Mark Normand’s birthday at UCB East (155 East 3rd Street, between Avenues A & B) hosted by Mark Normand, Matt Ruby, Andy Haynes, and/or David Cope: Hot Soup

9:30 pm ($5): A monthly screening of new short filmed sketch and comedy produced by members of The Magnet Theatre comedy community: Flick Video Showcase

11:00 pm ($5): A sketch show at UCB East 155 East 3rd Street, between Avenues A & B) describing itself as follows: “World’s elite, please join us for this month’s conference of The Order of the Owl. The Order’s two leaders, former RNC Chairman Michael Steele and Jared from Subway, will oversee presentations from the secret rulers of our world order, the true Power behind the Throne. Learn how The Order of the Owl has been pulling strings of late and how we are planting seeds for future machinations. BYO wine and cheese:” Order of the Owl: Illuminati Conference to Rule the World

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

If you know anyone who might have a thyroid problem, please tell them about my new book: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Thyroid Disease.

Leave a Comment » | Best New York Live Comedy Shows | Tagged: Comedy, Comedy NYC Tonight, Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival, Improv, Marc Maron, Michael Showalter, Sketch, Stand-Up, Storytelling | Permalink
Posted by hybender

NYC Top Comedy Choices for Monday 7/11/11

July 11, 2011

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

If you know anyone who might have a thyroid problem, please tell them about my new book: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Thyroid Disease.

Star Michael Showalter performs stand-up at Matt McCarthy's "Marking Out"...

...while world-class troupe Baby Wants Candy makes up a musical on the spot in a rare performance at UCBT

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 ($5): A monthly storytelling show from the wonderful Adam Wade (two-time Moth GrandSlam Storytelling Champion (2006 & 2009) and record-breaking 17-time StorySlam Champion; The New York Times Magazine; host of The Adam Wade Show; for Adam’s award-winning tale of being an NBC page on Conan O’Brien, please click here), along with guest storyteller Andy Ross, with improv illustrator Sharon Spell drawing scenes as they’re described and the rockin’ BTK Band following up at 9:00 pm, all at Under St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place, off First Avenue): The Adam Wade from New Hampshire Show: Tales of Life, Love, and Little League

[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm ($5): Stellar stand-ups Marina Franklin (developing into one of the finest stand-ups in the country, with an uncommonly gentle, graceful style that’s pure joy; Last Comic Standing, Chappelle’s Show, VH1, Comedy Central’s Premium Blend) and Joe DeRosa (HBO’s Bored to Deathand Down and Dirty, Comedy Central Presents, co-host of Righteous Kill, comedy CD The Depression Auction) telling jokes, and then having improvisors make up scenes springboarding off the material, at Daws of Death

7:00 pm ($5): “From the invocation of a name pulled from the obituary pages, the recently deceased gets a final chance to have his or her story told on stage through a series of improvised scenes.” Come celebrate the life and death of a complete stranger—good taste optional—at Dearly Beloved Presents The Wake

7:00 pm & 9:30 pm (no cover, 1-item min.): The perfect show for short attention spans—open-mic stand-up with 4½ minutes per set and 25 comics crammed into 2½ hours—with an early show hosted by Sean Donnelly & Blaine Perry at 7:00 pm, and an entirely different group of stand-ups hosted by Dan Cartwright & Dave Greek at 9:30 pm—at the Luca Lounge (222 Avenue B off 14th Street) for John Morrison’s Motel Luca

[FREE] 7:30 pm: NYC stand-ups Micah Sherman & Nick Vatterott, Sarah Tollemache, Richard Mercier, Jason Kanter, Dan Carroll, and Jono Zalay performing at a free weekly show in theManchester Pub hosted by Phoebe Robinson: Case of the Mondays Comedy

[MEGA-TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): This top musical improv troupe has wowed audiences around the world with its skill at making up an hour-long musical moment by moment. The plot and characters, the musical accompaniment, even the song lyrics and the “choreography” are invented on the spot, with no pre-planned structure. Come see why BWC won a FringeNYC Award for Outstanding Unique Theatrical Event by catching this special near-free edition (vs. the usual $20 ticket price) of Baby Wants Candy

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($6.50 online or $8 at the door): Eugene Mirman (Conan O’Brien, Comedy Central Presents, HBO’s Flight of the Conchords, VH1, Adult Swim; pioneer of NYC downtown comedy), Sara Benincasa (Sex and Other Human Activities podcast, host of Family Hour), Mark Normand (hilarious stand-up; Last Comic Standing; co-host of Hot Soup and We’re All Friends Here), and JC Coccoli (MTV, VH1, G4) performing at Brooklyn’s Littlefield (622 Degraw Street) with sketches and more from a duo who between them won four 2011 ECNY Awards—including Best Variety Show and Best Hosts—Kristen Schaal and Kurt Braunohler: Hot Tub Variety

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Michael Showalter (MTV’s The State, comedy troupe Stella, writer/star of feature films The Baxter and Wet Hot American Summer and Comedy Central’s Michael & MIchael Have Issues; author of bestselling new book Mr. Funny Pants), Joe Mande (Comedy Central, VH1; host of Joe Mande Presents at Carolines, co-host of Totally J/K; author of new book Look at This F*cking Hipster), Adam Lowitt (Producer at The Daily Show), and musical guests Toys & Tiny Instruments performing at The Ace Hotel’s Liberty Hall (20 West 29th Street) hosted by Matt McCarthy (TV, movies, commercials, you name it): Marking Out

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): One of UCBT’s very finest house sketch comedy troupesDweeb,spearheaded by brilliant writer/actress Amy Heidt (new UCBT sketch show The Last Resortwith Jeff Hiller) and writer/actor Steve Soroka (sketch troupe BoF with Mamrie Hart); plus in the other half of this double-bill house troupe Thunder Gulch, which has devolved to a pale shadow of its former self in terms of material, but includes such talents as Leslie Meisel and Amber Nelson—all trying out new bits at Maude Night

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 9:30 pm: Comedy genius Chris Gethard—who’s one of the rare masters of both improv and stand-up—plus Micah Sherman, Jesse Popp, Maddog Mattern, and Yannis Pappis, in a show “where improv and stand-up bleeds in and out of each other. One comedian starts with stand-up. Soon he or she is joined by a second comedian—and the two improvise scenes inspired by the first comic’s stand-up. Eventually the first comic leaves and the second comedian performs stand-up. When that set is over, her or she’s joined by the first comedian and a third comedian. The three improvise scenes inspired by the second comedian’s set. Then comedians one and two exit, and the third comedian performs his/her set until being joined by comedians one, two and a new fourth comedian…and so on. The process continues till we run out of comedians stashed backstage.” It’s all the brainchild of Nick Vatterott, who hosts this bold & messy new format at The Creek in Queens’ Long Island City: Klusterphuck

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): Four sharp comedic talents each performing a monologue, with Matt Higgins (Centralia), Katie Northlich (four-time National Monologue Champion), Shawn Williams (National Monologue Champion), and Walter Murphy: The PIT-ologues

9:30 pm ($5): “A drama written by teen Jerome McDonough that teaches teens about the evils of alcohol abuse. A talented and twistedly funny group of adults (the Marumsco Valley Players) will present the hard-hitting play, stage directions and all—while under the influence!:” Alky

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 11:00 pm: Some of the finest comics in the world—who tonight include 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, VH1’s Best Week Ever; for John’s great bit on Weekend Update, please click here), Eric Andre (hilarious wild man; HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, TBS’ Lopez Report, Comedy Central), Al Madrigal (The Daily Show), and Jesse Popp (co-host of NYC’s Beauty Bar Comedy for over seven years, and now moving to LA to write forConan O’Brien)—hosted by the wonderful Leo Allen (HBO, Saturday Night Live, Conan O’Brien,Comedy Central) at Whiplash

[FREE] 11:00 pm: If you’re an audience member who loves stand-up, Monday at 11 should beWhiplash! 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 stand-up open-mic hosted by Michelle Wolf and the hilarious Erin Lennox (for a sample of Erin’s dynamite Seriously Sports show, please click here): Fresh

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

If you know anyone who might have a thyroid problem, please tell them about my new book: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Thyroid Disease.

Leave a Comment » | Best New York Live Comedy Shows | Tagged: Baby Wants Candy, Cheap Comedy, Comedian, Comedians, Comedic Storytelling, Comedy, Comedy Clubs, Comic, Comics, Free Comedy, Fun NYC, Funny, Improv, Improvisation, Marking Out, Matt McCarthy, Michael Showalter, New York City Comedy, New York Comedy, New York Comedy Clubs, NY Comedy, NYC Comedy, NYC Fun, Sketch Comedy, Stand-Up Comedy, Standup Comedy, Storytelling, The Magnet Theater, The Peoples Improv Theatre, The PIT, UCB, UCBT, Upright Citizens Brigade | Permalink
Posted by hybender

NYC Top Comedy Choices for Thursday 6/2/11

June 2, 2011

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

If you know anyone who might have a thyroid problem, please tell them about my new book: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Thyroid Disease.

Musical comedy duo Mel and El sing and dance at "Our Time of the Month"...

...and Michael Showalter performs at Variety SHAC

Tonight’s recommendations for the best in New York City comedy (in chronological order, with top picks noted and shows over $10 marked with $) include:

7:00 pm ($5): A smart sketch troupe, consisting of writers for The Onion, trying out new material:Pangea 3000

[TOP PICK] [$] 7:30 pm ($15): 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 an intimate hour of music and more: Mel & El: Our Time of the Month

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Stellar storytellers Tom Shillue (Conan O’Brien, The Daily Show, Comedy Central Presents) and John Flynn (The Nights of Our Lives) performing at The PIT’s basement lounge, with young hosts Michelle Markowitz & Bryan Rucker who say they’re Failing Our Twenties

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

[$] 8:00 pm ($49 & 2-drink min.) A TV and movie star who first earned fame on Chappelle’s Showheadlining through Sunday at Carolines: Charlie Murphy

8:00 pm ($5): A new UCBT sketch show by Ryan Karels, and another by Leah Gotcsik & Marty Johnson, in the double-bill Radio Rogue and Somebody’s in the Doghouse

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

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): Michael Showalter (MTV’s The State, comedy troupe Stella, writer/star of feature films The Baxter and Wet Hot American Summer and Comedy Central’s Michael & MIchael Have Issues; author of bestselling new book Mr. Funny Pants), Jessi Klein (fresh, unique, deliciously organic comic who’s one of the best stand-ups in the country; staff writer for Saturday Night Live; Comedy Central, VH1, NBC, CNN, Adult Swim), Andrea Rosen (most hilarious pregnant stand-up alive; HBO’s Flight of the Conchords, Comedy Central’s Stella, Variety SHAC, winner of the 2011 ECNY Award for Best Stand-Up), and Jon Friedman (Jimmy Fallon, host of The Rejection Show) joining delightful singer/host Shonali Bhowmik for Variety SHAC

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

[TOP PICK] 11:00 pm ($5): Myq Kaplan (one of the quickest minds in comedy, and rapidly rising star; finalist on most recent Last Comic Standing; Jay Leno, Comedy Central Presents, hit comedy CD Vegan Mind Meld), Jon Fisch (Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central), and Craig Baldo (Conan O’Brien; warm-up comic for The Daily Show and The Colbert Report) performing stand-up at The PIT for this comedy club-style (i.e., long set) weekly show hosted by Harrison Greenbaum: The Big One

[TOP PICK] 11:00 pm ($5): Vibrant improv troupes The Curfew and Boy Butter competing for audience laughs and votes at the raucous Cage Match

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

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

If you know anyone who might have a thyroid problem, please tell them about my new book: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Thyroid Disease.

Leave a Comment » | Best New York Live Comedy Shows | Tagged: 92Y Tribeca, Carolines, Carolines Comedy Club, Carolines on Broadway, Cheap Comedy, Comedian, Comedians, Comedic Storytelling, Comedy, Comedy Clubs, Comic, Comics, Free Comedy, Fun NYC, Funny, Improv, Improvisation, Mel & El, Mel and El, Michael Showalter, New York City Comedy, New York Comedy, New York Comedy Clubs, NY Comedy, NYC Comedy, NYC Fun, Our Time of the Month, Sketch Comedy, Stand-Up Comedy, Standup Comedy, Storytelling, The Magnet Theater, The Peoples Improv Theatre, The PIT, UCB, UCBT, Upright Citizens Brigade | Permalink
Posted by hybender

Best New York Comedy

NYC Top Comedy Choices for June 2018: Last Updated Tuesday 6/19

You can find the vast majority of notable NYC live comedy shows by using the links below to explore the schedules of the following top NYC comedy venues:

NYC Stand-Up Open Mics & Improv Jams

Special Thanks to Mindy and Anya

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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Thursday 6/2/11

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