Best New York Comedy

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John Flynn continues to star as a shark looking for love in Jaws: The Musical

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 weekly open-mic stand-up show (“starts late enough to sleep off that hangover but ends just in time to begin a new one”) at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City hosted by Jhoel Walkowski & Evan Davis: The Amateur Hour

[TOP PICK] 6:00 pm ($10 plus 1 drink min.): “Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the theater, a shark swims right into your heart.” Beloved storyteller/stand-up/sketch comic John Flynn stars as a singing shark, along with Laura Daniel, Brett Douglas, Wayne Henry, Jason Salmon, and Suzanne Stein in this 40-minute musical written & composed by Wayne Henry at the Broadway Comedy Club (318 West 53rd Street, between 8th & 9th Avenues), running tonight, Saturday, and next weekend: Jaws: The Musical

6:00 pm ($5): Improv troupes The Heathers, Sad Kids, and Swagu at The Magnet kicking off your Saturday evening: The Rundown

[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm ($5): “Stories of all sizes that define our place in the universe,” hosted at UCB East by Adam Wade (two-time Moth GrandSlam Storytelling Champion (2006 & 2009) and record-breaking 18-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), and featuring tonight’s guest storytellers Seaton Smith, Diana Spechler, Aaron Wolfe, and Frank Gauthier: Tales of the Cosmos

7:00 pm ($5): All-gal improv at The PIT downstairs lounge from troupe Goldie and the Hawns (Jennifer Bild, Christine DeNoon, Julianne Dunn, and Brandy Mitchell), plus guest stand-up and sketch gal comics: Boneless! A Night of Women in Comedy

[FREE] 7:00 pm: Comedic solo performances—storytelling, sketch, and whatever else isn’t stand-up or improv—at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City with hosts Bill Stiteler & Adam Schwartz: Wank

7:30 pm ($10): Talented improvisors at UCB Chelsea interview an audience member about where he or she grew up and then “turn that town’s tourist attractions, landmarks, hangouts, local celebrities, urban legends, and more into a hilarious show made up on the spot:” The Curfew: Not From Around Here

7:30 pm ($7): Andrew Yurman-Glaser and Dustin Drury first go solo and then join forces at The Magnet as improv duo Upstate

[$] 8:00 pm & 10:00 pm & 11:45 pm ($25 & 2-drink min.) A cast member on FOX’s new In Living Color who’s also performed on Jay Leno and Last Comic Standing headlining tonight and Saturday at the Gotham Comedy Club: Maronzio Vance

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($8): Nick Vatterott (Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central’s The Half Hour, MTV, Second City), Mike Dobbins (unique stream-of-consciousness stand-up), Sheng Wang (Comedy Central Presents), Seaton Smith (Opie & Anthony Virus Tour), and Leah Bonnema (Huffington Post) performing stand-up —plus music from the Jesse Scheinn Band—at The PITdownstairs lounge hosted by Tyler Fischer: Fresh Fisch

8:00 pm ($10): Two of the most respected PIT improv troupes performing on this weekly double-bill—and occasionally with comedy giants Kristen Schaal and/or Kurt Braunohler participating: Big Black Car and The Baldwins

[FREE] 8:00 pm: “Want to see your favorite stand-up comics get slapped by Satan himself? He only hosts bringer shows, but join Matt Wayne and Doug Smith as they step into the Big Man’s shoes and put NYC’s finest through comedy purgatory. Hula-hoops, celebrity impressions, unwanted audience participation, all incorporated into each performance! Will they triumph or will the nether world eat their souls? Come see for yourself in this monthly showcase” at Queens LIC’sThe Creek upstairs theatre: See You in Hell

8:30 pm ($10): Nick Vatterott (Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central’s The Half Hour, MTV, Second City), Gabe Liedman (co-host of Big Terrific), Janine Brito, Ryan Conner, Chesley Calloway, and Bryson Turner performing stand-up at UCB East hosted by Kara Klenk: If You Build It

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): One of the gutsiest and most hilarious troupes in comedy history—with honors including being Cage Match Champion for three years in a row, and winning the 2011 ECNY Award for Best Improv Group—UCB Chelsea’s genius improvisors Death by Roo Roo

[$] [DISCOUNTED] 9:00 pm & 11:00 pm (FREE TICKETS if you reserve in advance by calling (212) 260-2445 and mention HyReviews.com, but there’s still a 2-drink min. per person): Mike Britt, Maddog Mattern, and more performing at the only comedy club in the East Village: Eastville Comedy Club

9:00 pm ($7): Magnet improvisors team up with poets at Kiss*Punch*Poem

9:30 pm ($15): “A cabaret of darkly funny songs and topical sketch comedy about culture and politics,” following sold out shows at Joe’s Pub and now enjoying a long run at The PIT upstairs theatre: Political Subversities

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

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 10:00 pm: Sharp stand-ups Nick Vatterott (Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central’s The Half Hour, MTV, Second City), Joe Pera (very funny deadpan comic; for reasons to hire Joe, please click here), Erik Bergstrom (cartoonist/author of Grimmer Tales, The New Yorker, Comedy Central’s Indecision 2012), Amber Nelson (sketch troupe Thunder Gulch, co-host of Late Night Stand and Mustache Party), and more performing anything except stand-up—e.g., sketch, storytelling, improv, songs, dance, puppetry, and things we can’t even imagine—at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City produced by Kelly Fastuca, Reid Faylor, and Andrew Short, and tonight celebrating its One Year Anniversary (“We’re gonna fill this show with so much stupidity and awesomeness it will make life outside of the show seem worthless“): Underbelly

[TOP PICK] 10:30 pm ($10): Improv troupe Grandma’s Ashes—which includes stellar talents Ryan Karels, Morgan Grace Jarrett, Brandon Scott Jones, and more—promises to “take your stories of the tragic and depraved and scatter them into laughter” at this newest UCB Chelsea show to be honored with a weekend time slot—and which is currently kicking ass at Cage Match: Grandma’s Ashes Gets Dark

[TOP PICK] 10:30 pm ($10): UCBT Harold Night improv troupe Airwolf—which in a phenomenal run has crushed 12 improv troupes in a row so far at Cage Match—makes stuff up at UCB East for an entire hour: Airwolf: Let’s Go Back to Your Place

10:30 pm ($7): Nick Kanellis & Peter McNerney perform at The Magnet as comedy duo Trike

11:00 pm ($8): A young new all-guy improv troupe making stuff up at The PIT upstairs theatre: Gentlemen Party

[TOP PICK] [FREE] Midnight: The delightful Amber Nelson (sketch troupe Thunder Gulch, co-host of Late Night Stand and Mustache Party) debuts with Kat Toledo in a sketch show Amber mostly wrote (with help from Jill Morris, Kat Toledo, and Jeff Seal) that “explores the moment before a breakdown, the breakdown, and what happens after” at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City: Snapped

[TOP PICK] Midnight ($5): Storytellling from star Tom Shillue (Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, The Daily Show, Comedy Central Presents, 2011 ECNY Award for Best Storyteller), sketch/improv from Anthony Atamanuik (30 Rock, Conan O’Brien, Huffington Post, Death by Roo Roo, The Nights of Our Lives, The Tony and Johnny Show), stand-up from Annie Lederman (Comedy Central, co-host of Pirate Party), music from Summer and Eve, and more at UCB Chelsea with host Andy Rocco celebrating the Two Year Anniversary of Underground Americana

[TOP PICK] Midnight ($5): A freestyle rap contest at UCB East that includes typically includes superb NYC comics—plus a volunteer from the audience!, hosted by genius human beatbox Chris “Shockwave” Sullivan (The Daily Show, The Electric Company, Freestyle Love Supreme) and Victor Varnado (Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, Comedy Central) at one of my favorite monthly shows: The BEATdown

[FREE] Midnight: A weekly chance for you to shine at The Magnet, as students and veteran improvisors share the stage to form “rare and wonderful one-night-only teams,” with sign-up starting at 11:30 pm: Magnet Mixer

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