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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 July 2018 (with more to come soon) include:
Monday 7/16: Isaac Mizrahi (above; fashion icon and top cabaret performer), Jen Kirkman (HBO, VH1, Chelsea Lately, After Lately, Craig Ferguson, Comedy Central’s Drunk History, staff writer for NBC’s Perfect Couples, author of I Can Barely Take Care of Myself), Nimesh Patel (exceptionally sharp stand-up; staff writer for Saturday Night Live; Comedy Central, TruTV; written for Chris Rock hosting the 2016 Oscars; co-host of Broken Comedy), Martin Urbano (Jimmy Kimmel), and Amy Miller (co-host of Who’s Your God? podcast) perform stand-up and/or music for hosts Jo Firestone (staff writer for Jimmy Fallon, co-author of #1 bestselling Punderdome: A Card Game for Pun Lovers), Aparna Nancherla (one of the very finest stand-ups in the country; co-star of HBO’s Crashing and 2 Dope Queens, Netflix’s Master of None and The Standups, and Comedy Central’s Corporate; former writer for Seth Meyers), and/or Maeve Higgins (Maeve in America, co-host of Nat Geo’s Star Talk): Butterboy with Jo, Aparna, and Maeve (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn’s Littlefield at 635 Sackett Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Monday 7/16: “Bonjour! Hola! Guten Tag! Ni Hau! Claire & Jessie are giving up on America and looking overseas for better dating options. This month they’ve put together a panel of their favorite foreigners to discuss dating customs from all over the globe and decide where their next vacation needs to be. They’re also exploring dating shows too crazy for America, and might even fill out applications for each other. You don’t want to miss!” hosted by Claire Burns & Jessie Jolles: No Such Thing as Love: Dating Around the World (7:00 pm, $8, The PIT Underground at 123 East 24th Street)
Monday 7/16: Seth Herzog (above; long-time staff comic for Jimmy Fallon; 30 Rock, @midnight, CBS, VH1; host of Sweet), Adam Conover (star of TruTV’s Adam Ruins Everything; cast member of BoJack Horseman), Sam Jay (writer for Saturday Night Live; performed on Jimmy Kimmel, Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents, Take My Wife), Mitra Jouhari (writer for Full Frontal with Samantha Bee), Chris Laker (Jimmy Kimmel; opens for Mike Birbiglia; stand-up album Moments of Greatness), Rell Battle (Superior Donuts, Comedy Central Roast Battle), Pat Regan (The Eric Andre Show, Last Comic Standing), and Ryan Mazer (Adult Swim) are scheduled to perform stand-up for this free weekly show hosted by the multi-talented Morgan Miller (immensely likeable improvisor, sketch comic, stand-up, and juggler): Dirty Laundry (11:00 pm, Free! (make reservation here), UCB Hell’s Kitchen at 555 West 42nd Street)
Tuesday 7/17: Comics Nore Davis (HBO, Showtime, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Netflix; album You Guys Are Dope), Sydnee Washington (MTV2’s Vidiots, co-host of podcast The Unofficial Expert), Ayo Edebiri, and Karmen Naidoo share their horrible experiences of being profiled, hosted by Marcela Onyango (host of Feel the News) & Lauren Clark (The Story Pirates): Profiled (7:00 pm, $10, LES’ Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Tuesday 7/17: Comedic storytellers Al Jacobs, Mollena Williams-Haas, and more join pioneering sketch comic and storyteller Kevin Allison (The State) to celebrate the release date of RISK! True Stories People Never Thought They’d Dare To Share, a collection of some of the best true stories to be featured on the RISK! stage and/or podcast, which is typically one of the finest storytelling shows in the country: Risk! Book Launch (9:30 pm, $15, LES’ Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Tuesday 7/17: A monthly event that showcases physical comedy and “the weird, the beautiful, the gross, and, ultimately, the human” tonight features comics Morgan Miller (fabulous host of Dirty Laundry), Karen Chee (The New Yorker, The Washington Post, McSweeney’s), Larry Owens (writer for TruTV’s Paid Off; feature film To Dust), Alise Morales (Managing Editor/Video Producer of Betches), and Amanda Justice (half of Comedy Cunt Collective—and producer of this show) hosted by Arti Gollapudi (the other half of Comedy Cunt Collective): Yourself, Your Body (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn’s Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Tuesday 7/17: Jo Firestone (one of the most relentlessly inventive comics in the biz; staff writer for Jimmy Fallon; star of Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents special; HBO’s Crashing, Comedy Central’s Broad City; radio host of WFMU’s Dr. Gameshow, live-on-stage co-host of Butterball; co-author of #1 bestselling Punderdome: A Card Game for Pun Lovers), Neel Nanda (Jimmy Kimmel, Comedy Central, MTV), Calvin Cato (Oxygen’s My Crazy Love, host of Ed Sullivan on Acid), Abby Rosenquist, and Thiago Macklin perform stand-up hosted by Keenan Steiner: Comedy at the Corner (8:20 pm, $5, Brooklyn’s Hungry Ghost Cafe/Bar at 781 Fulton Street, between Fulton and South Oxford Streets)
Tuesday 7/17: Jacqueline Novak (exceptionally smart, fresh stand-up; Jimmy Fallon, James Corden, Comedy Central Half Hour, Inside Amy Schumer, HBO; comedy album Quality Notions; book How to Weep in Public) performs this new solo show she describes—eerily, in third person—as follows: “Jacqueline finds everything embarrassing…except for the obvious. Revealing intimate details of her life to strangers? Her chosen profession. Crying in public? She wrote a book encouraging it. Being caught for even a moment having something resembling self-esteem? Unbearable. As a woman, shame is constantly dumped upon you…in regards to body, beauty, sexual behavior, and more. As a human, the indignities are near constant. This show weaves Novak’s personal stories with stand-up to parse what does and does not deserve our embarrassment:” Jacqueline Novak: How Embarrassing for Her (10:30 pm, $9, UCB East at 153 East 3rd Street)
Wednesday 7/18: A live band proves musical accompaniment to jokes for this monthly show that tonight features a great lineup of Chris Gethard (comedy genius; star of HBO 90-minute special Career Suicide; star of TruTV’s & Fusion’s The Chris Gethard Show; co-star of Mike Birbiglia film Don’t Think Twice; host of Webby-winning podcast Beautiful Stories From Anonymous People; The Office, Comedy Central, IFC; author of A Bad Idea I’m About to Do and Weird New York), Jo Firestone (one of the most relentlessly inventive comics in the biz; staff writer for Jimmy Fallon; star of Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents special; HBO’s Crashing, Comedy Central’s Broad City; radio host of WFMU’s Dr. Gameshow, live-on-stage co-host of Butterball; co-author of #1 bestselling Punderdome: A Card Game for Pun Lovers), Friends Who Folk (delightful singing duo Rachel Wenitsky & Ned Riseley; TheNewYorker.com), Nore Davis (HBO, Showtime, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Netflix; album You Guys Are Dope), Farah Brook (Reductress, Someecards, viral video Kiss Me NYC), and Wanjiko Eke hosted by Yedoye Travis (Stephen Colbert, Comedy Central): Rent Party (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn’s Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Thursday 7/18: Taking the very reasonable position that Halloween is too glorious a holiday to happen only once a year, this show brings you Halloween in July at Brooklyn’s spooky House of Wax Bar (just one floor below the Alamo Drafthouse theatres), with comics Christi Chiello (Comedy Central’s Roast Battle, MTV’s Girl Code, TruTV, stellar solo show It’s Christi, B*tch!, co-host of Battle of the Divas and White Chocolate), Sydnee Washington (Conan O’Brien, MTV2’s Vidiots, co-host of podcast The Unofficial Expert), 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), Molly Austin (TruTV’s Late Night Snack) performing stand-up, plus music from band Free The Mind, hosted by Kelsey Caine (The New York Times; Miss New York State finalist; for a video sample, please click here) & Martin Urbano (Jimmy Kimmel) and produced by Jamie Rabinovitch: Summertime Halloween Comedy Show (7:30 pm, $15, Brooklyn’s House of Wax Bar at 445 Albee Square West, 4th Floor—take the 2/3 subway to Hoyt Street)
Wednesday 7/18: Free stand-up at the elegant Hotel Mondrian Park Avenue, featuring 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), Seth Herzog (long-time staff comic for Jimmy Fallon; 30 Rock, @midnight, CBS, VH1; host of Sweet), and Jane Harrison (co-host of Casual Town) hosted by Greg Barris (MTV’s All That Rocks, host of Heart of Darkness): Luxury Comedy (8:30 pm, Free!, Hotel Mondrian at 444 Park Avenue South—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Wednesday 7/18: Emmy Blotnick (brilliant rising star stand-up who’s performed on Stephen Colbert and stars in an upcoming Comedy Central Half Hour; writer for Stephen Colbert; Head Writer for Comedy Central’s The President Show; former writer for Comedy Central’s @midnight, Roast of Rob Lowe, and Not Safe with Nikki Glaser; MTV, VH1), 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), Sasheer Zamata (cast member for three seasons of Saturday Night Live; Comedy Central’s Inside Amy Schumer, Amazon’s Transparent, TBS’ People of Earth), and Lauren Ashley Smith (Head Writer of The Rundown with Robin Thede) perform stand-up for this fundraiser hosted by Alison Leiby (writer for The Opposition with Jordan Klepper, previously writer for The President Show; VICE, Triumph The Insult Comic Dog; host of It’s a Long Story): Night of Self(Less) Care (8:00 pm, $15, Brooklyn’s The Bell House at 149 7th Street; take R subway to 9th Street or F/G to Fourth Avenue)
Thursday 7/19: 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 7/20: A game show that describes itself as follows: “Ever talk to a straight guy and think, ‘Jesus Christ you’re boring!’ Two straight men enter the arena, but only one leaves with the title of Queen of the Straights. Lifelines include a Woman Who Gets It and a Wise Queer,” with guest comics TBA, hosted by Matt Rogers & Dave Mizzoni, who invite you to “come witness the ultimate test of who Is honorarily Gay As Fuck:” GAYme Show (9:00 pm, $10, LES’ Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street; take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Friday 7/20: This new free stand-up show features Emmy Blotnick (brilliant rising star stand-up who’s performed on Stephen Colbert and stars in an upcoming Comedy Central Half Hour; writer for Stephen Colbert; Head Writer for Comedy Central’s The President Show; former writer for Comedy Central’s @midnight, Roast of Rob Lowe, and Not Safe with Nikki Glaser; MTV, VH1), Sonia Denis (above; HBO’s High Maintenance, Netflix’s Set It Up, Emmy-nominated webseries Brown Girls), Justin Williams (Comedy Central; host of Death Comedy Jam), Joe Rumrill (The Chris Gethard Show; co-host of Cartoon Monsoon), and Mary Kate Doherty (MTV’s 420 Theater) performing for hosts Matt Strickland & Colby Smith: Knapsack (8:30 pm, Free!, Crystal Lake Brooklyn at 647 Grand Street; take L subway to Brooklyn’s Lorimer Street or Graham Avenue)
Saturday 7/21: Jacqueline Novak (exceptionally smart, fresh stand-up; Jimmy Fallon, James Corden, Comedy Central Half Hour, Inside Amy Schumer, HBO; comedy album Quality Notions; book How to Weep in Public) practices this solo show she’ll be performing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which she describes—eerily, in third person—as follows: “Jacqueline finds everything embarrassing…except for the obvious. Revealing intimate details of her life to strangers? Her chosen profession. Crying in public? She wrote a book encouraging it. Being caught for even a moment having something resembling self-esteem? Unbearable. As a woman, shame is constantly dumped upon you…in regards to body, beauty, sexual behavior, and more. As a human, the indignities are near constant. This show weaves Novak’s personal stories with stand-up to parse what does and does not deserve our embarrassment.” For tonight only, it’ll be hosted by John Early (Netflix’s The Characters and Wet Hot American Summer, NBC’s 30 Rock, Comedy Central’s Broad City). “Exquisite banter between J and J will unfold into Jacqueline performing the show—sweaty, personal, passionate, and full notionry—and then afterward John will praise it:” Jacqueline Novak, Hosted by John Early: How Embarrassing for Her (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn’s Union Hall at 702 Union Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Saturday 7/21: A guest celebrity answers arcane questions on a topic he or she claims to be expert in by hosts J. Keith van Straaten & Helen Hong for this live podcast recording: Go Fact Yourself (Noon; $11.59 in advance online or $15 at the door; LES’ Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street; a second edition of this show happens Sunday)
Saturday 7/21: World-class singing improvisors Evan Kaufman & Rebecca Vigil interview an audience couple about their love life and then turn it into a musical—with breathtaking skill (see my review of their award-winning FringeNYC 2015 shows here). I highly recommend the phenomenal Your Love, Our Musical (7:00 pm; $16.89 in advance online or $20 at the door; LES’ Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Sunday 7/22: NYLaugh.org’s free summer stand-up series concludes today with a show at the East Village’s Tompkins Square Park, with comics TBA: Laughter in the Park (2:00 pm-4:00 pm, Free!, at Tompkins Square Park on the Old Bandshell Lawn; take the F subway to Second Avenue)
Sunday 7/22: “Eliot Glazer, a classically trained vocalist-turned-comedian, takes some of pop music’s most infamous songs and turns them into highbrow, sweeping ballads. Like a twisted version of MTV Unplugged, Austin City Limits, or VH1 Storytellers, it’s an intimate night of bad music made good,” with guests Matt Robers & Bowen Yang (hosts of the acclaimed Las Culturistas podcast) and Yamaneika Saunders (Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central Roast Battle): Haunting Renditions (8:30 pm, $15, Brooklyn’s The Bell House at 149 7th Street; take R subway to 9th Street or F/G to Fourth Avenue)
Sunday 7/22: In the second of two editions this weekend, a guest celebrity answers arcane questions on a topic he or she claims to be expert in by hosts J. Keith van Straaten & Helen Hong for this live podcast recording: Go Fact Yourself (Noon; $11.59 in advance online or $15 at the door; LES’ Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Sunday 7/22: A show for hypochondriacs and victims of terrible insurance, these comedic stories of healthcare nightmares range from self-diagnosis via Internet to at-home surgery, with this month’s topic Women’s Health by comics TBA, hosted by Sarah Burton and Allie Kokesh: I’m a Doctor Now: Stories About Self-Diagnosis (7:00 pm, $10, LES’ Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Monday 7/23: Hari Kondabolu (above left; fresh, sharp, rising star stand-up; David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Comedy Central Presents; fascinating TruTV documentary The Problem with Apu; Netflix special Warn Your Relatives; co-host of Kondabolu Brothers podcast), Michelle Biloon (Craig Ferguson, Chelsea Lately, Comedy Central), Sam Taggart (Live on Broadgay, Lake Homo High), and Maria Shehata perform stand-up for hosts Jo Firestone (staff writer for Jimmy Fallon, co-author of #1 bestselling Punderdome: A Card Game for Pun Lovers), Aparna Nancherla (one of the very finest stand-ups in the country; co-star of HBO’s Crashing and 2 Dope Queens, Netflix’s Master of None and The Standups, and Comedy Central’s Corporate; former writer for Seth Meyers), and/or Maeve Higgins (Maeve in America, co-host of Nat Geo’s Star Talk): Butterboy with Jo, Aparna, and Maeve (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn’s Littlefield at 635 Sackett Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Monday 7/23: Tales of humiliating failure from comedic storytellers Vanessa Golembewski (NBC, Moth StorySlam winner), David Hu (Moth StorySlam winner), Harmon Leon (VICE), Alan I. Ross (Risk!), and ChaChanna Simpson (writer) hosted by Tija Mittal: Mistakes Were Made: Storytelling About Failure (7:00 pm, $15, LES’ Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Monday 7/23: Jessica Walter (Archer, Arrested Development, Play Misty For Me, Grand Prix) is tonight’s guest of this NPR weekly comedy trivia show taped live in Brooklyn and hosted by the wonderful Ophira Eisenberg (one of the finest comedic storytellers and stand-ups in the country; author of bestselling book Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy, comedy album Bangs!; NBC, CBS, Comedy Central, VH1, Showtime): Ask Me Another (7:30 pm, $20, The Bell House at 149 7th Street; take R subway to 9th Street or F/G to Fourth Avenue)
Monday 7/23: Terrific lineup of Rebecca Vigil (above; rising star powerhouse improv singer; Your Love Our Musical, The Vigilante, Kick It!), 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), Bowen Yang (Comedy Central’s Broad City; co-host of podcast & stage show Las Culturistas), Michael Hartney (TV Land’s Throwing Shade, Broadway’s School of Rock, ; co-host of Characters Welcome), and and Scott Rogowsky (NBC’s The Voice; host of wildly popular trivia game app HQ Trivia) are scheduled to perform stand-up for this free weekly show hosted by the multi-talented Morgan Miller (immensely likeable improvisor, sketch comic, and stand-up): Dirty Laundry (11:00 pm, Free! (make reservation here), UCB Hell’s Kitchen at 555 West 42nd Street)
Tuesday 7/24: 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 typically terrific NYC comics (TBA): 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)
Wednesday 7/25: Stellar storytellers TBA tell comedic tales on this month’s theme TBA for this live podcast taping hosted by the wonderful David Martin: The Nights of Our Lives (7:30 pm, $9, UCB Hell’s Kitchen at 555 West 42nd Street)
Wednesday 7/25: Highly talented singing improvisors Eric Gersen, Zack Willis, Aaron Jackson, Josh Sharp, Lauren Adams, Jessica Morgan, Hannah Solow, Carrie McCrossen, Jeff Hiller, Jake Smith, and/or Jeremy Bent make up an entire musical on the spot springboarding off an audience suggestion as group Rumpleteaser; and for the second half of this double-bill, a bio-sketch show about pharmaceutical insider turned prison inmate Martin Shkreli: Shkreli! Portrait of a Pharma Bro (9:30 pm, $9, UCB Hell’s Kitchen at 555 West 42nd Street)
Thursday 7/26: Learn the early history of the MTA via fun lectures, sketches, and more at the third 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 on<line, $18 at the door; LES’ Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Thursday 7/26: 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)
Sunday 7/29: Comedy duo Marty Scanlon (musical improv team Good Catch) & Ali Gordon (musical improv group Rumpleteaser), plus guest Grey Henson (Tony Nominee for Broadway’s Mean Girls; previously Elder McKinley in The Book of Mormon), improvise on-the-fly pitches for sequels to movies that definitely do not need them for this live recording of their podcast: Making Number 2: Sequels = Comedy + Time (9:30 pm; $9.47 online or $12 at the door; LES’ Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Monday 7/30: Historic gastronomist Sarah Lohman (Cooking Channel’s Food: Fact or Fiction?) will unearth the stories behind your favorite ice cream treats and share some of history’s wildest bygone flavors that may be due for a revival. By the end of the night, you’ll be able to answer such questions as “Which came first, chocolate or vanilla? The ice cream sandwich or the ice cream cone? Neapolitan or liquid nitrogen?” Plus Jonathan Soma will show you the science behind making the perfect batch at home; reveal Big Ice Cream’s tricks for plumping up their profit margins; and track frozen desserts across the globe, from Italian gelato to dondurma, the magically stretchy ice cream from Turkey: The Secret History of Ice Cream—Presented by Masters of Social Gastronomy (7:00 pm; $12, LES’ Caveat at 21-A Clinton Street—take F/J/M/Z subway to Delancey Street/Essex Street)
Tuesday 7/31: Comedic storytellers share tales of reclaiming power, with Aparna Nancherla (brilliant stand-up and TV star), Danny Artese (Moth GrandSlam champion), Sandi Marx (7-time Moth StorySlam champion), Elana Lancaster (Moth StorySlam winner), Dawn Fraser (TED@NYC), Stephanie Summerville (The Moth mainstage), Lily Herman (founder of Get Her Elected), and Mark Pagá—plus political organizers Adrienne Lever (Director of Swing Left) and Asher Novek (President of Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats) offer ways to support a blue wave for the 2018 elections, all hosted by Nicole Ferraro: Our House: A Storytelling Benefit for Swing Left (7:00 pm; $20, 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/W 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.
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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.
Monday 9/3: Ace cartoonists Hilary Campbell (above) and Ellis Rosen share work that was rejected by The New Yorker, plus stand-up from Shane Torres (fresh, hilarious stand-up; Conan O’Brien, Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents, IFC’s Comedy Bang Bang, stand-up album Established 1981), and more hosted by Nat Towsen (VICE, College Humor), who will also be giving away prizes to audience members: Downtown Variety Hour (7:30 pm, $9, UCB East at 153 East 3rd Street)
Monday 9/3: Julio Torres (above; marvelously nuanced, outside-the-box stand-up; staff writer for Saturday Night Live; Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Billy on the Street, HBO’s High Maintenance, Louis C.K.’s Horace and Pete), Emmy Blotnick (brilliant rising star stand-up who’s performed on Stephen Colbert and stars in a Comedy Central Half Hour; writer for Stephen Colbert; Head Writer for Comedy Central’s The President Show; former writer for Comedy Central’s @midnight, Roast of Rob Lowe, and Not Safe with Nikki Glaser; MTV, VH1), Rob Cantrell (Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, HBO, VHI, FX’s Totally Biased, documentary Metaphysical Graffiti, High Times, comedy album Pure Uncut Joy), Jordan Carlos (cast member of Netflix’s Friends From College; HBO’s 2 Dope Queens and Girls, Comedy Central’s Broad City and The Nightly Show, Showtime, MTV’s Guy Code and Guy Court, VH1, Adult Swim), Sarah Tollemache (Adam Devine’s House Party), and Norlex Belma perform stand-up for hosts Jo Firestone (staff writer for Jimmy Fallon, co-author of #1 bestselling Punderdome: A Card Game for Pun Lovers), Aparna Nancherla (one of the very finest stand-ups in the country; HBO’s Crashing and 2 Dope Queens, Netflix’s Master of None and The Standups, and Comedy Central’s Corporate; former writer for Seth Meyers), and/or Maeve Higgins (Maeve in America, co-host of Nat Geo’s Star Talk): Butterboy with Jo, Aparna, and Maeve (8:00 pm, $10, Brooklyn’s Littlefield at 635 Sackett Street; take R subway to Union Street)
Monday 9/3: The Reformed Whores (above; raunchy comedic singing duo Marie Cecile Anderson & Katy Frame; CBS, IFC; have opened for Weird Al Yankovic, Alice Cooper, and Lynyrd Skynyrd; albums Ladies Don’t Spit and Don’t Beat Around the Bush), Matt Rogers & Bowen Yang (hosts of acclaimed Las Culturistas stage show & podcast), Brett Davis (HBO’s Animals; TruTv’s Jon Glaser Loves Gear; creator/host of weekly Manhattan cable TV show The Special Without Brett Davis; co-host of The Macaulay Culkin Show; winner of the 2015 Andy Kaufman Award), Jay Malsky (highly talented, super-charged improvisor & character comic; host of This Live Show, co-host of DED Talks; UCB sketch group Pretty Boys; PIT improv group Peaches Galore; FringeNYC solo show Elaine Stritch: Still Here; Solocom & UCB solo show Jay Malsky Slept With My Boyfriend), and more perform for this free weekly show hosted just one last time by the multi-talented Morgan Miller (sharp improvisor, sketch comic, stand-up, and juggler), who is moving to LA to become super-famous: Dirty Laundry: Sadly, Last Morgan Miller Show! (11:00 pm, Free! (make reservation here), UCB Hell’s Kitchen at 555 West 42nd Street)
Thursday 9/6: Mike Drucker (hilarious stand-up and staff writer for TBS’ Full Frontal with Samantha Bee; previously a staff writer for NBC’s Jimmy Fallon and Comedy Central’s The President Show, and contributing writer for Saturday Night Live) hosts comics reading obituaries they wrote for themselves, “honoring the lives they had and making fun of the lives they could h<ave had,” with the dying-as-we-speak guests TBA: My Obituary Show (8:30 pm, $7, Astoria Queens’ QED: A Place to Show & Tell at 27-16 23rd Avenue)
Friday 9/7: Christi Chiello is a delightful stand-up, writer, and actress with infectiousness enthusiasm and a unique voice who’s appeared on Comedy Central’s Roast Battle, MTV’s Girl Code, TruTV, and PBSKids, and is co-host of superb monthly comedy shows Battle of the Divas and White Chocolate. Tonight Christi performs a solo production that demonstrates she’s one of the funniest and most talented comics in NYC. Kudos also go to director Randy Blair for helping Christi show off what a powerhouse she is at her confident best. If you like fun, I happily recommend you come enjoy Christi Chiello: It’s Christi, B*tch! (8:00 pm, $17, Ars Nova at 511 West 54th Street between Tenth & Eleventh Avenues)
Posted by hybender 
Monday 8/6: Ziwe Fumudoh (above left; writer for The Rundown with Robin Thede; host of hilarious webseries 
Monday 7/30: Some of the most brilliant improvisors alive—Scott Adsit (above left), Brian Stack (above middle), Tim Martin, and Michael Delaney—stumble into theatre scenes of plays they’ve never seen performed by superb Broadway, TV, and/or film stars Tess Frazer (above middle), Sarah Stiles (above right), Helen Kim, Todd Buonopane, and Michelle Fix—and make up their dialogue while the actors commit to staying in character and on book. The result is amazingly fun, hosted by actor/director Stephen Ruddy: 
Tuesday 7/31: Comedic storytellers share tales of reclaiming power, with Aparna Nancherla (brilliant stand-up and TV star), Danny Artese (Moth GrandSlam champion), Sandi Marx (7-time Moth StorySlam champion), Elana Lancaster (Moth StorySlam winner), Dawn Fraser (TED@NYC), Stephanie Summerville (The Moth mainstage), Lily Herman (founder of Get Her Elected), and Mark Pagá—plus political organizers Adrienne Lever (Director of Swing Left) and Asher Novek (President of Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats) offer ways to support a blue wave for the 2018 elections, all hosted by Nicole Ferraro: 
Best New York Comedy 