Best New York Comedy

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

UK star Simon Amstell and comedy genius Nick Kroll perform tonight at Whiplash...

...and things are heating up at the now more affordable ($15) and always wonderful theatrical improv show Naked in a Fishbowl

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: Kevin Allison (legendary MTV sketch series The State, HBO, Comedy Central, VH1, host of award-winning storytelling show Risk!) hosts this free open-mic show for storytellers, in which you can put your name in a hat for the chance to tell a five-minute true story…and if it’s a good one, possibly be included in Kevin’s popular podcasts on the Web: Risk! Storyslam

[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 7:00 pm ($15 at the door on $18.50 online with discount codeFISHFAN): 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 and nuanced improvised shows you’ll ever see.
In last week’s show, the gals went camping, and the “into the woods” experience turned hot when Molly Knefel’s character (who’s straight) finally gave in to the insistent flirtations of Brenna Palughi—with the first few moments of the result appearing in the photo above. Seriously, how can you not come to see what happens tonight?
This show used to $35, but I asked if you guys could see it for a downtown comedy price—and you can now catch it every week for $15 using code FISHFAN at the door. Check out some videos of previous episodes here; and then get in the habit of attending the Soho Playhouse to experience the always fresh and surprising Naked in a Fishbowl

[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), with guest storyteller Ed Gavagan and improv illustrator Sharon Spell at Under St. Marks: The Adam Wade from New Hampshire Show: Tales of Life, Love, and Little League

[FREE] 7:00 pm: Brilliant singer/songwriter Shayna Ferm (currently starring in the Thursday night PIT musical Grease 3: Threase), plus stand-ups Justin McClure, Chaunte Wayans, and Josh Homer performing at a free weekly show in the Manchester Pub hosted by Phoebe Robinson: Case of the Mondays Comedy

7:30 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 at the Luca Lounge (222 Avenue B off 14th Street)—at John Morrison’s Motel Luca

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Thoroughly wonderful guests Arden Myrin (Conan O’Brien, Mad TV, numerous other TV shows & films; for Mad TV samples, please click here and here and here), Glenn Wool (star UK comic), Andrea Rosen (fresh, hilarious stand-up and brilliant storyteller;Variety SHAC, The Nights of Our Lives), and David Angelo (writer for Jimmy Fallon) performing stand-up in the Lolita Bar for Liam McEneaney’s Tell Your Friends

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5 online or $8 at the door): Brilliant and irresistible comedic singer/songwriter Adira Amram, world-class storyteller Tom Shillue, Andy Kaufman Award winner Blaine Kneece, and Australian visitor Zoe Coombs performing at Brooklyn’s Littlefield (622 Degraw Street) with sketches and more from NYC comedy royalty Kristen Schaal and Kurt Braunohler: Hot Tub Variety

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Blowout lineup with Anthony Jeselnik (writer/performer for Jimmy Fallon;Conan O’Brien, HBO, Comedy Central Presents; debut comedy CD Shakespeare), Wyatt Cenac (star correspondent for The Daily Show), Brooke Van Poppelen (brilliant stand-up, writer, and storyteller; blogger for trutV; TLC’s American Chopper, Maxim and Cosmo Radio, So-Low Show; popular blogs NYisretarded.blogspot.com and RockBottom; for stand-up videos about overindulging at 30 and impersonating Morrisey, please click here and here), Mark Normand (Last Comic Standing, co-host of We’re All Friends Here), and Greg Stone (Opie & Anthony) performing atAces & Eights (34 Avenue A, off 3rd Street) for John Szeluga’s Not Friday

8:00 pm ($5): Two of UCBT’s fine house sketch comedy troupes, Gramps’ and Thunder Gulch, trying out new bits at Maude Night

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): Comedy duo Leah Rudick & Katie Hartman, whose production at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival was proclaimed “biggest revelation” by the Guardian, performing a brand new sketch show: Skinny Bitch Jesus Meeting

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): Former & current Saturday Night Live writers and performers trained in Chicago do long-form improv at Comiskey

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 11:00 pm: Some of the finest comics in the world—who tonight include Nick Kroll, John Mulaney, UK comedy stsrs Simon Jessi and Adam Buxton, and LA comics Hugh Moore and Matt Champagne—hosted by the wonderful Leo Allen (Saturday Night Live, Conan O’Brien,HBO, Comedy Central) at Whiplash

[FREE] 11:00 pm: If you’re an audience member, Monday at 11 should be Whiplash! night (see listing above). If you’re a comic who couldn’t get booked on Leo’s show, though, you can opt to instead practice your skills on this new stand-up open-mic hosted by Michelle Wolf and Erin Lennox: Fresh

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.