NYC Top Comedy Choices for Tuesday 11/30/10

November 30, 2010

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

Sara Schaefer

The luminous Sara Schaefer (above), world-class stand-up Ted Alexandro, and more perform tonight at Seth Herzog's Sweet

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

[TOP PICK] 6:30 pm ($5): Chris Gethard (star of Comedy Central’s Big Lake; author of Weird New York; The Stepfathers, The Nights of Our Lives) is one of the most razor-sharp and uproariously funny storytellers in the country. Chris is reviving his wonderful one-man show for one night only, and it should not be missed: Chris Gethard’s Magic Box of Stories

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Todd Barry (HBO, David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Comedy Central Presents, The Sarah Silverman Program, Adult Swim, feature films The Wrestler and Pete Smalls is Dead), Jamie Kilstein (Conan O’Brien), Chris DeLuca (creator/writer/star of Spike TV’s MoCap LLC), Charles Star (host of Adult Ed), and musical guest Supercute (Rachel Trachtenburg’s band, just returned from a European tour opening for Kate Nash) performing in the Lolita Bar at Liam McEneaney’s Tell Your Friends

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Dan McNamara (hilarious animated Web series The Bear & The Cloud, sketch troupe Upset Triangle), and—via phone—comics creator Marjorie M. Liu (X-23, Dark Wolverine), joining super-hosts Alex Zalben, Justin Tyler, and Pete LePage in a lively & hilarious discussion about four-color pop culture at Comic Book Club

[FREE] 8:00 pm: The debut of an an-female stand-up show hosted by Amy Beckerman (Dykes on Mics), with tonight’s guests Mindy Raf (brilliant singer/songwriter; check out Mindy’s character Leibya Rogers here and here and here), Cara Kilduff (Here TV), Adrienne Iapalucci (Last Comic Standing), Amy Albert (Edinburgh Comedy Festival), and Irene Bremis performing at The Sullivan Room (218 Sullivan Street): It’s Herlarious

[FREE] 8:00 pm: South-Asian stand-up night, with Sagar Bhatt, Ruhbin Mehta, and Dan Nainan performing at Cellar 58 (58 Second Avenue) alongside delightful host Abbi Crutchfield and comedic rapster Andrew Singer: Positively Awesome

8:00 pm to Midnight ($5): Four full hours of improv for only five bucks—tonight featuring UCBT house troupes DeCoster, Badman, Bastian, Ragnaröck, and The Opera, followed by small groups of UCBT students each performing long scenes that seem to have nothing in common with each other but magically converge at the end, all at Harold Night

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 9:00 pm: Wyatt Cenac (star correspondent for The Daily Show), Brooke Van Poppelen (brilliant stand-up, writer, and storyteller; blogger for trutV; TLC, Maxim and Cosmo Radio; popular blogs NYisretarded.blogspot.com and RockBottom; for stand-up videos about overindulging at 30 and impersonating Morrisey, please click here and here), Mark Normand (co-host of We’re All Friends Here), Kurt Metzger, and Damien Lemon performing at the Ace of Clubs (9 Great Jones Street, underneath Acme Bar & Grill) hosted by Joe DeRosa (HBO’s Down and Dirty,Comedy Central Presents, comedy CD The Depression Auction) and Jared Logan (Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central): Righteous Kill

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($5): Ted Alexandro (one of the finest stand-ups in the world, and who recently delivered a perfect set at Carnegie Hall opening for Louis C.K.; David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, two Comedy Central Presents half-hour specials), Sara Schaefer (inventive, luminous comic; Emmy-nominated staff writer for Jimmy Fallon; VH1’s Best Week Ever), and more performing at Ella (9 Avenue A) hosted by the wonderful Seth Herzog (Jimmy Fallon, VH1): Sweet

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

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Tuesday 9/28/10

September 28, 2010

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

Wyatt Cenac

Daily Show stars Wyatt Cenac (above) and Kristen Schaal perform tonight in Brooklyn at Sara Schaefer's Get Off Your Knees

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): “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

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 8:00 pm: A blowout debut for this terrific weekly show that’s just switched venues: wonderful The Daily Show correspondents Kristen Schaal and Wyatt Cenac, Nick Turner (co-host of Too Cool for School), and more performing at Brooklyn’s Southpaw Downstairs Lounge DownSouth (125 Fifth Avenue in Park Slope), hosted by the breathtaking Sara Schaefer (Emmy-nominated staff writer for Jimmy Fallon): Get Off Your Knees

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 8:00 pm: An all-musical edition, with brilliantly funny writer/singer Jessica Delfino (enjoys singing songs about her vagina, as demonstrated by her CD Dirty Folk Rock;created the hilarious and wildly popular YouTube animated short film I Wanna Be Famous; has a cool MySpace page, and an even cooler blog; to get a feel for Jessica’s amazing range and talent, please click here) and Esther Ku (seemingly bubble-headed finalist on the 2008 edition of Last Comic Standing) performing at Cellar 58 (58 Second Avenue) alongside delightful host Abbi Crutchfield and comedic rapster Andrew Singer: Positively Awesome

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): The creative team of comics series Feeding Ground—Michael Lapinski, Swifty Lang, and Chris Mangun—join super-hosts Alex Zalben, Justin Tyler, and Pete LePage in alively & hilarious discussion about four-color pop culture at Comic Book Club

8:00 pm to midnight ($5): Four full hours of improv for only five bucks—tonight featuring UCBT house troupes Bastian, The Opera, Badman, Ragnaröck, and Robber Baron; and at 11:00 pm UCBT students make up a story taking place in a single location in real time (i.e., Death by Roo Roo’s near-unbeatable technique at Cage Match)—all at Harold Night

8:30 pm ($5—but you get free pizza from New PIzza Town!): Dan St. Germain (quick-witted, hilarious stand-up; for reenactment of Dan’s breakup, please click here), Stone and Stone (Last Comic Standing), and Katina Corrao (Comedy Central) performing at the Magnet Theatre for Adam Lerman’s and Willy Appleman’s Deep Traffic

8:30 pm ($3): Adam Lowitt (producer of The Daily Show, co-host of It Is It!), Yannis Pappas, and more performing at the Housingworks Bookstore Cafe for an almost-free weekly show hosted by Joe DeRosa (HBO’s Down and Dirty, Comedy Central Presents, new comedy CD The Depression Auction) and Jared Logan (Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central): Punch Up Your Life

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

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Saturday 2/13/10

February 13, 2010

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

Two of the sharpest and funniest stand-ups in NYC, Sara Schaefer and Brooke Van Poppellen, perform tonight at a Valentines Day edition of Lil' Seany Boy

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] 5:00 pm ($18): One of the highlights of FringeNYC 2008 was Hot Cripple, a superb and heartfelt one-woman show by Hogan Gorman about her experiences with the US health care system, legal system, and government programs for the down-but-not-out. (The performance I attended was especially memorable because a small fire broke out on the second floor of the venue. Hogan had to stop two-thirds into her monologue so the building could be evacuated; and she did so with a wry smile, telling a comforting audience member “Oh, I’ve been though a whole lot worse than this.” Three fire trucks and 30 minutes later, the fire was out…and Hogan made a quick joke about the Hot in her show’s title and then resumed performing as if nothing had happened…) Running through February, come see it uninterrupted: Hot Cripple

[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm (no cover, 1-item min.): Valentine’s Day edition with gorgeous ace stand-ups Sara Schaefer and Brooke Van Poppellen, plus Shawn Hollenbach, Jeff Rubin, Sergio Chicon, Kara Klenk, and “a very special guest”—plus an opportunity to “win a date with Pat Stango”—performing in Ochi’s Lounge at Sean Donnelly’s  Lil’ Seany Boy

7:00 pm ($10): A musical about “a pious Pope framed for a crime he didn’t commit…betrayal, Holy War, foot-stompin’ musical numbers” and everything else it takes “to entertain the Hell right out of you” in Pope: The Musical

7:00 pm ($10): Dave Ahdoot and Ethan Fixell relating their YouTube-documented romantic adventures live on stage—possibly accompanied by visits from some of the gals—on Double Date Us

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10): Genius improvisor Christina Gausas and friends she originally made in Chicago—which include writers & performers from 30 Rock, The Colbert Report, and The Daily Show—plus a rotating cast of stellar visitors, all joyously declaring Let’s Have a Ball

[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 8:00 pm & 10:30 pm ($30 online if you use code VIPFEB [otherwise $35], plus 2-item minimum): A cast member of 30 Rock, and a performer on VH1’s Best Week Ever, HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, MTV’s Wonder Showzen, NBC’s The Tonight Show, and over 20 films headlining tonight and Sunday at the elegant Comix Comedy Club: Judah Friedlander

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($10): Always fresh and imaginative world-class sketch troupe that uses song, movement, and clever scenarios to turn familiar rituals on their head (for a video about awkward goodbyes at the end of a party, please click here): The Harvard Sailing Team

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm ($18): One of the highlights of FringeNYC 2008 was Allen Warnock and Andrea Alton (members of sketch troupe Freedumb) teaming up to create hilarious characters in a very silly and fun show—for my review, please click here. The production has now been revived for a commercial run through February 28th: Carl & Shelly: Best Friends Forever

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): One of the gutsiest and most hilarious troupes in comedy history—and which recently won the Cage Match Championship for two years in a row!—genius improvisors Death by Roo Roo

9:00 pm ($5): Organic & energetic improv by the four guys of 4 Track!

9:30 pm ($12): An unlikely matchmaker that’s resulted in actual marriages, and even babies!—followed by a free party at 11:00 pm: The PIT Dating Game

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

[TOP PICK] 10:30 pm ($10): An all-star improv troupe led by brilliant UCBT artistic director Anthony King: Reuben Williams

10:30 pm ($5): Vibrant improv from Nick Kanellis & Peter McNerney (Statues of Liberty) and Leslie Korein as comedy trio Trike

[TOP PICK] 12:00 am ($5): One of the most fascinating performers in comedy finally hosting his own extravaganza—which goes beyond a stage show to have the makings of a hit MTV series—with guests including Shannon O’Neill, Bethany Hall, Vincent Milosevich, Michael Kayne, Don Fanelli, the Kung Fu Monkeys…and maybe Sean “Diddy” Combs: The Chris Gethard Show

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Saturday 1/16/10

January 16, 2010

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

Stellar NYC comics have fun with comic books at Comics Love Comics

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 ($3): Stand-ups doing comic book related material at one of NYC’s best comic book stores, Jim Hanley’s Universe, with tonight’s superb guests Kumail Nanjiani (David Letterman, Saturday Night Live, The Colbert Report, Jimmy Kimmel, writer/performer for Comedy Central’s Michael & Michael Have Issues), Sara Schaefer (brilliant, inventive, luminous comic; staff writer for Jimmy Fallon; VH1’s Best Week Ever), Victor Varnado (Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, Comedy Central, NBC’s My Name is Earl, Adult Swim; films Pluto Nash, End of Days, A Guy Thing, The Awkward Kings of Comedy), Myq Kaplan (Conan O’Brien, Comedy Central Presents, Human Giant), Dan Mintz (HBO’s Lucky Louis, Comedy Central Presents, Important Things with Demetri Martin), Jake Youngmore, and show producer Matt Maragno: Comics Love Comics

[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm (no cover, 1-item min.): Lightning-fast & thoroughly hilarious Pete Holmes (Comedy Central Presents, The Daily Show, John Oliver and Friends, VH1’s Best Week Ever, The New Yorker, host of hit shows Punch Up Your Life and Gutbucket), Matt McCarthy (Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham, Verizon Fios guy, Front Page Films), Giulia Rozzi (VH1, co-host of Stripped Stories), Claudia Cogan (MTV, Logo, here! TV), Pat Stango & Blaine Perry (Don’t Touch Me There), Raquel D’Apice, Morgan Venticinque, and Mark Anthony Ramirez performing in Ochi’s Lounge at Lil’ Seany Boy

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10): Genius improvisor Christina Gausas and friends she originally made in Chicago—which include writers & performers from 30 Rock, The Colbert Report, and The Daily Show—plus a rotating cast of stellar visitors, all joyously declaring Let’s Have a Ball

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($10 suggested donation): Jamie Lee (who’s also the producer and host), Pat Stango, Ray Devito, Kara Klenk, Kate Berlant and Calise Hawkins performing at Karma Lounge for a show benefiting an animal shelter: Diamonds in the Fluff

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): One of the gutsiest and most hilarious troupes in comedy history, genius improvisors Death by Roo Roo

9:00 pm ($5): Organic & energetic improv by the four guys of 4 Track!

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($10): Always fresh and imaginative world-class sketch troupe that uses song, movement, and clever scenarios to turn familiar rituals on their head (for a video about awkward goodbyes at the end of a party, please click here): The Harvard Sailing Team

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

[TOP PICK] 10:30 pm ($10): An all-star improv troupe led by brilliant UCBT artistic director Anthony King: Reuben Williams

10:30 pm ($5): Vibrant improv from Nick Kanellis & Peter McNerney (Statues of Liberty) and Leslie Korein as comedy trio Trike

[TOP PICK] 11:00 pm ($10): Comedy duo Chris O’Neill and Paul Valenti won the Best Sketch Troupe award at the Snubfest Comedy Festival in Chicago and the New Jacks Comedy competition at Comix; and tonight will demonstrate why at The Chris and Paul Show

[TOP PICK] Midnight ($5): An open contest to see who can create the most shockingly funny & filthy sketch running three minutes or less. If you’re easily offended, don’t even consider attending; but if you appreciate comedy that pushes the envelope without hurting anyone (with the possible exception of prudes), you’ll applaud this wild, uninhibited breaking of taboos to get laughs. If a routine is dreadful (many will be), the festivities will be maintained by superb hosts Gil Ozeri, John Flynn, and John Frusciante at The Dirtiest Sketch in NYC Contest

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

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