Best New York Comedy

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Adam Wade gathers top yarn-spinners for "Super Stories"...

...and Abbi Jacobson concludes her run of "Welcome to Camp"

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 show on a lottery system (sign-ups start at 5:30 pm) at The Creekupstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City with hosts Mike Recine and Annie Lederman: The Shinebox

[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm: “What if the two worst actors on the planet taught a workshop? And what if they were totally fucking crazy? Join Livia Scott as Collette Priester, ‘The Empress Of Dinner Theater,’ and Sean Crespo as Rodney DeGiles, ‘A younger, sexier Gary Oldman with more range,’ as they take you through a free audit of The Gold Star Acting Workshop. Prepare to be traumatized and like it:” Raging Triumph

7:00 pm ($5): A comedic narcissist does a show about how awesome he is: An Evening with Neil Michaels

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($7): Ace 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 hilarious monthly storytelling extravaganzas Real Tales of College and The Adam Wade show; for Adam’s award-winning tale of being an NBC page on Conan O’Brien, please click here) hosts this new show gathering together other top storytellers, who tonight are Jim O’Grady, Ed Gavagan, Brad Lawrence, and Peter Aguero performing at The Magnet: Super Stories

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10): Young Abbi Jacobson (Broad City) has the makings of a new UCBT star performing a one-woman show in which she engagingly plays a variety of oddball characters you might encounter at summer camp—and if you haven’t seen this yet, don’t miss it, because this performance concludes Abbi’s run: Welcome to Camp!; plus in the other half of this double-bill, the appealing Veronica Osorio makes her first attempt to fly solo by performing as five gals who win a chance to be The First Woman on the Moon

[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 8:00 pm ($20 online using discount code BBOX1): One of the very best shows at FringeNYC 2010 was an award-winning comedy from NYC’s own Faye Lane, a luminous storyteller and singer who will charm your socks off—and possibly give you a moon pie to boot—at the Soho Playhouse’s downstairs Huron Club. This marvelous event recently received a 2011 Bistro Award for Musical Comedy and 2011 MAC Award for Special Production. Please read my review by clicking here, watch Faye make a pecan pie by clicking here, and then take advantage of this revival running Friday nights to experience the hilarious and unforgettable Faye Lane’s Beauty Shop Stories

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 8:00 pm: Gary Gulman (Last Comic Standing, Tourgasm, Comedy Central hour-long special), Calise Hawkins (Last Comic Standing), Matt Ruby (SandPaper Suit, co-host of We’re All Friends Here), Jason Saenz (co-host of Too Cool for School and Free Comedy), Seaton Smith (Opie & Anthony Virus Tour), and Andy Hendrickson (Sirius XM Radio) performing stand-up atO’Hanlon’s (14th Street off 1st Avenue) hosted by Mark Normand: Hot Soup

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Comedic storytelling from Ophira Eisenberg, Bradford Jordan, and Rob Shapiro at The PIT’s basement lounge on the topic of The Trials and Tribulations of Trying to be Cool

8:00 pm ($10): An improv troupe making up a musical on the spot after a friendly greeting: Hello

[$] 8:00 pm ($27.25 & 2-drink min.) A comic who’s performed on HBO’s Def Comedy Jam and Bad Boys of Comedy, Showtime at Harlem, BET’s ComicView, and the feature film Next Fridayheadlining tonight at the Carolines Comedy Club: Michael Blackson

[FREE] 8:00 pm: An open-mic show that’s first come, first serve (sign-ups start at 7:30 pm), with each comic getting five minutes on stage at The Creek downstairs lounge in Queens’ Long Island City: Mic and Cheese

[$] 8:30 pm & 10:30 pm ($25 & 2-drink min.): A stand-up who’s performed on 30 Rock, VH1, and his own Comedy Central Presents special headlining tonight and Saturday at the Gotham Comedy Club: Godfrey

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): Some of the finest improv in NYC from the comedy genius members of The Stepfathers

9:00 pm ($7): “In March of 2009 a gaggle of performers were born. Some died, some wandered off into the woods, others went to work in the private sector. Those that remained grew strong by feeding on the nectar of specific choices and the gruel of strong character work. The 2-year-old terror that exists today is akin to watching a Tsunami of hair and teeth attack a baby Blue Whale and destroy it with the will of a thousand hungry Burnese Mountain Dogs. What does it all mean? We don’t know.” In other words, improv from Chet Watkins

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($10): Sketch duo Chris O’Neill and Paul Valenti describe themselves as “vaudeville gold for a 2011 crowd.” Whatever. They’re funny. Especially the bit with the nose. Come catch their latest material tonight at The Chris and Paul Show

[TOP PICK] 10:00 pm ($7): Singing improvisors, including such world-class performers as the breathtakingly talented Tara Copeland, using an interview with an audience member to craft The Made-Up Musical

[TOP PICK] 10:30 pm ($10): Comedy genius Thomas Middleditch (when he’s not in LA), Nate Lang, Craig Rowin, Matt Fisher, Fran Gillespie Sue Galloway, and other superb improvisors make up scenes about an audience member’s legal dispute at The Law Firm: Law & Disorder

[$] 10:30 pm ($27.25 & 2-drink min.) A comic who’s performed a Comedy Central Presents special and is a cast member of Ugly Americans, and has also appeared on Last Comic Standing, Showtime, and VH1, headlining tonight and Saturday at the Carolines Comedy Club: Kurt Metzger

11:00 pm ($5): “Where there is a stage and a piano, she will be there. Where there are strangers with embarrassing stories, she will be there. Where there is a group of people willing to sit and watch someone make up songs, she will be there. A one-woman musical improv journey through the lives of the audience. You tell the story, Rebecca Vigil sings the soundtrack:” The Vigilante

11:30 pm ($5): An unusual mix of burlesque dancing and improv “in the daring and campy world of three struggling burlesque beauties on the stage and in the dressing room of Larry Lazlo’s Lamplighter Lounge, where “silly, sexy, and titillating fun awaits you:” Go Kitty: A Burlesque Improv Revue

Midnight ($5): Sketch comedy troupes Hammerkatz NYU and The Wickedest compete for audience laughs and votes, with troupe Sidecar hosting, in Backyard Brawl

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.