NYC Top Comedy Choices for Saturday 6/25/11

June 25, 2011

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.

Tracy Morgan

Tonight and Sunday, 30 Rock & movie star Tracy Morgan headlines at Carolines

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 ($8; includes free cookies): NYC stand-ups & storytellers Elon James White, David Cope, Ben Kissel, and Asie Mohtarez telling funny, poignant, and at times unforgettable tales about their relatives for a show tonight guest-hosted by Nick Turner (Monsters, Too Cool for School) while usual host Sara Benincasa is busy in LA: Family Hour

[FREE] 7:00 pm: Comedic storytelling at The Creek in Queens’ Long Island City with host Eugene Ashton-Gonzalez: 1001 Nights

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm-10:30 pm ($12): Last night five improv troupes competed for a prize of $10,00 to fund the making of a stellar comedy short film. The winners were comedy geniuses Jason Mantzoukas & Ed Herbstman as The Mantzoukas Brothers—and they totally earned the ten grand. (Can hardly wait to see their mini-movie…) Tonight is a similar competition for five sketch troupes—albeit ones not always quite as famous or stellar as Friday’s improv groups—hosted by Jon Friedman at The Friars Club Sketch Competition

7:30 pm ($7): Improv veterans Mark Grenier, Louis Kornfeld, and Charlie Whitcroft making up a play on the spot in Theory of Everything

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm & 10:30 pm tonight, 8:00 pm on Sunday ($60 & 2-drink min.): A co-star of 30 Rock who’s one of the most hilarious guys in the biz headlines for two nights only at Carolines:Tracy Morgan

[$] 8:00 pm & 10:00 pm & 11:45 pm ($25 & 2-drink min.): A stand-up who’s appeared on NBC, MTV, Showtime, and a Comedy Central Presents special, and performed an award-winning one man show at last year’s FringeNYC, headlining tonight at the Gotham Comedy Club: Jim David

[FREE—plus FREE BEER!] 8:00 pm: A variety show of stand-up, storytelling, and sketch that’s not only free, but promises to give each of the first 25 audience members who arrive a free beer! Unfortunately, the lineup hasn’t been announced; but if you’d care to take a chance, join hosts Ray Combs Jr., Evan Jacobs, and Aalap Patel as they provide you a drink On the House

9:00 pm ($7): Organic & energetic improv by the four guys of 4 Track!

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): Arden Myrin (Conan O’Brien, Mad TV, numerous other TV shows & films; for Mad TV samples, please click here and here and here) and Lisa deLarios (Comedy Central) host this delightful monthly mix of stand-up and sketch, with tonight’s guests Adira Amram (fresh, hilarious rising star singer/songwriter; winner of the 2011 ECNY Award for Best Musical Act), SNL’sJason Sudeikis, Sara Schaefer (inventive, luminous comic; Emmy-nominated staff writer for Jimmy Fallon; VH1’s Best Week Ever), Jon Glaser (long-time writer for Conan O’Brien, star of Adult Swim’sDelocated), and Nikki Glaser performing at Brooklyn’s Union Hall: The Party Machine: Michael Jackson Edition

[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

10:00 pm ($5): “We’ve all been drunk on something—love, power, money, alcohol, the heat of the moment. This storytelling show examines how far we’ll go when we find ourselves under the influence. Each month hosts Megan Lohne and Ruby Marez cover a new aspect of being consumed by factors outside your control. Oh yeah, we’ll play some drinking games too. Before each show a list of drinking rules will be handed out to the audience based on that month’s theme. Yeah. We’ll have fun:” Reckless and Loaded

[TOP PICK] 10:30 pm ($10): An all-star improv troupe led by brilliant UCBT artistic director Anthony King interviews an audience member about where he or she grew up and then creates an entire show based on the mini-bio: The Curfew: Not From Around Here

10:30 pm ($7): Gay improvisors at The Magnet gather to celebrate New York’s historic marriage legislation and more: Pride Week Extravaganza

[FREE] 11:00 pm: Comedic storytelling and more at The Creek in Queens’ Long Island City hosted by the superb John Flynn: Variety Amour

[TOP PICK] Midnight ($5): From the fearless, dynamic, and always innovative Shannon O’Neill, who won the 2011 ECNY Award for Best One-Person Show: “I seem to have made a big ole mistake. I wrote a script, I purchased the props, but I forgot to rehearse it. And on top of that I HAVE NO CAST!!!! So… I am going to cast YOU, moments before the show starts. I will hand you a script, give you some props and instruct you to just listen and get ready to perform. Oh man this is going to be a fucking mess of BEAUTY!! If you want a chance to be cast, make reservations and get in line by 11:15pm. I, Shannon O’Neill will personally come out and hand pick the best damn group of Thespians this play has ever seen and will ever see because this play will only be performed ONCE, never to be seen again! What do I look for in a cast? I love fatties, I love skinnies, I love sober people, I love drunk people. I love you all. Every shape, size, and ethnicity. Let’s hold hands and spin the world! What is this play about? Something real fucking weird and TBA. Thanks for helping me fix my mistake. I’ll see you soon friends!:” The Unrehearsed, Historically Inaccurate Story of…

[FREE] Midnight: A weekly chance for you to shine, 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

[$] 12:30 am ($31.25 & 2-drink min.) A provocative comedy star who’s written for Richard Pryor, Red Foxx, and Saturday Night Live, and performed on Chappelle’s Show and David Letterman, headlining through Sunday at Carolines: Paul Mooney

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.

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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Saturday 12/4/10

December 4, 2010

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

Judah Friedlander and Jim Gaffigan

Tonight Judah Friedlander headlines at Comix, Jim Gaffigan headlines at the Best Buy Theater...

Tracy Morgan and Melanie Hamlett

...Tracy Morgan headlines at Carolines, and Melanie Hamlett bids adieu to NYC at The Going Away Show

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] [$] 6:00 pm ($15, which includes 1 drink): Four funny people tell amazing stories. Three of the tales are absolutely true…but one of them is a pack of lies. The audience then asks questions to try and identify the fibber—and everyone who does gets a free t-shirt! This evening’s yarn-spinners are Ophira Eisenberg (brilliant storyteller and host of The Liar Show TV pilot; Comedy Central, VH1, Showtime), Jim O’Grady (NPR’s This American Life), Peter Lubell (IFC writer/producer), and Martin Dockery (Best of Fest winner at Winnipeg Fringe Festival). Come let host Andy Christie (The New York Times, Moth GrandSlam Champion) attempt to mislead you at The Liar Show

[TOP PICK] [$] 7:00 pm & 9:30 pm ($40-$50): A comedy superstar who delights in observational humor about food (his Hot Pockets routine is a classic) and mundane things we take for granted (“I like escalators because they can never break, only become stairs”). As accessible as any mainstream performer alive, while simultaneously a sharp deconstructionist who can work any alternative comedy room with ease, his appeal is deep and universal. He’s appeared over a dozen times on David Letterman, over two dozen times on Conan O’Brien (for which he created the animated series Pale Force), performed his own Comedy Central Presents special, and created aBeyond the Pale comedy album that’s been certified Platinum (the CD and DVD versions have each sold over 150,000 copies). And he’s headlining one more night at the Best Buy Theater (1515 Broadway at 44th Street): Jim Gaffigan

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10): Genius improvisors Anthony King, Christina Gausas, Becky Drysdale, and more—including writers & performers from 30 Rock, The Colbert Report, andThe Daily Show—plus a rotating cast of stellar visitors, all joyously declaring Let’s Have a Ball

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm & 10:30 pm ($60 & 2-drink min.): A co-star of 30 Rock who’s one of the most hilarious guys in the biz headlining tonight through Sunday at Carolines: Tracy Morgan

[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 8:00 pm & 10:30 pm ($31.22 online if you use code PLAYBILL, plus 2-item minimum): A cast member of 30 Rock, and a performer on VH1’s Best Week Ever, HBO’sCurb Your Enthusiasm, MTV’s Wonder Showzen, NBC’s The Tonight Show, and over 20 films headlining for one night only at the elegant Comix Comedy Club: Judah Friedlander

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 8:00 pm: One of the finest storytellers in the country, the unique, brilliant, and hilarious Melanie Hamlett (Moth GrandSlam Champion), is heading off to the New Mexico desert for several months to focus on her first book. But before she goes, she’s having a blowout show, party, and auction for comedy services. Don’t miss Kevin Allison (sketch comic of legendary The State, host of Risk!), John Flynn (The Nights of Our LIves), Daisy Rosario (NPR), Shannon O’Neill (The Stepfathers), and more performing at The Creek in Queens’ Long Island City for Melanie Hamlett’s Going-Away Party and Show

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 8:00 pm: 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 NYC stand-ups Nick Turner, Matt Ruby, Dan HIrshon, Doug Smith, Damien Lemon, and John Szeluga, performing at The Triple Crown Alehouse & Restaurant (330 7th Aveue, between 28th and 29th Streets) at Sean Donnelly’s Lil’ Seany Boy

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

9:00 pm ($7): Organic & energetic improv by the four guys of 4 Track!

9:30 pm ($10): “A cabaret of darkly funny songs and topical sketch comedy about culture and politics,” following sold out shows at Joe’s Pub: 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] 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 ($8): NYC’s heavy metal version of a sketch troupe, which doesn’t always ht the mark but provides odd, unsettling, and fearless dark comedy—and won this year’s ECNY Award for Best Sketch Group: Murderfist: Late and Dirty

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Friday 12/3/10

December 3, 2010

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

Tracy Morgan

Tracy Morgan continues his headlining run tonight at Carolines...

Jim Gaffigan

...and Jim Gafffigan headlines tonight and Saturday at the Best Buy Theater

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 & 9:30 pm ($40-$50): A comedy superstar who delights in observational humor about food (his Hot Pockets routine is a classic) and mundane things we take for granted (“I like escalators because they can never break, only become stairs”). As accessible as any mainstream performer alive, while simultaneously a sharp deconstructionist who can work any alternative comedy room with ease, his appeal is deep and universal. He’s appeared over a dozen times on David Letterman, over two dozen times on Conan O’Brien (for which he created the animated series Pale Force), performed his own Comedy Central Presents special, and created aBeyond the Pale comedy album that’s been certified Platinum (the CD and DVD versions have each sold over 150,000 copies). And he’s headlining tonight and Saturday at the Best Buy Theater (1515 Broadway at 44th Street): Jim Gaffigan

[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm ($7): Comedy veterans Laura Krafft (former writer for The Colbert Report), Jodi Lennon (Exit 57), and Miriam Tolan (The Daily Show) perform an improvised play in What a Year!

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10): A delightful tale of heartbreak by Leslie Meisel—who manages the impressive feat of being adorable, sexy, and hilarious all at the same time, and is a sharp comedic talent very much worth keeping an eye on—quite ably abetted by co-writer Megan Neuringer in one of the smartest theatrical shows to grace UCBT this year: Love Can Suck a Dick…and So Can I

…and for the other half of this double-bill, a musical sketch comedy show revolving around Broadway in Sing Out, Louise!

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm & 10:30 pm ($60 & 2-drink min.): A co-star of 30 Rock who’s one of the most hilarious guys in the biz headlining tonight through Sunday at Carolines: Tracy Morgan

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

[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) delivering a brand new collection of sketches titled Ms. Larsen’s Class: The Harvard Sailing Team

10:00 pm ($7): Singing improvisors who use an interview with an audience member to craft The Made-Up Musical

10:30 pm ($10): Jonathan Gabrus, Sue Galloway, and other fine improvisors make up scenes about an audience member’s legal dispute at The Law Firm: Law & Disorder

[TOP PICK] Midnight ($5): A comedic freestyle rap contest featuring some of the funniest & sharpest comics in NYC—who tonight include Adira Amram (fresh, sexy, hilarious rising star singer/songwriter), Utkarsh Ambudkar (Freestyle Love Supreme), Adam Newman (College Humor), and more—plus a volunteer from the audience!, hosted by genius comedic musical performers Chris “Shockwave” Sullivan (The Daily Show, The Electric Company, Freestyle Love Supreme) and Victor Varnado (Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, Comedy Central) all at one of my favorite monthly shows: The BEATdown

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Thursday 12/2/10

December 2, 2010

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

Tracy Morgan

Tracy Morgan headlines tonight through Sunday at Carolines

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:

6:30 pm ($5): Jena Friedman boils down her dark musical comedic parody of the American Girl Dolls to a 30-minute UCBT format, starring such brilliant talents from the NYC comedy community as Jessica Delfino, Ben Lerman, and Jena herself, in The Refugee Girls Revue; plus troupe Bleak debuts a “best-of” sketch show, all at tonight’s installment of the audition series Spank

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm ($60 & 2-drink min.): A co-star of 30 Rock who’s one of the most hilarious guys in the biz headlining tonight through Sunday at Carolines: Tracy Morgan

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($8): Master sketch comic Kurt Braunohler “relates how he destroyed a 13-year relationship in the dumbest, most complicated way possible, with bar fights, naked men, walruses, and an audition for Sasha Baron Cohen” in the one-man show The Amish Guide to F*cking

8:00 pm ($8): The Magnet’s co-owner Armando Diaz performs monologues on the spot and improvisors then act out scenes based on them at The Armando Diaz Experience

[FREE] 9:00ish pm: Typically terrific NYC stand-ups performing stand-up on this weekly show at the Kabin Bar and Lounge hosted by Chesley Calloway and comedy genius Sean Patton (red-hot rising star; killerset on Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central, VH1): Comedy as a Second Language

9:00 pm (no cover, 1-item min.): Pioneering UK comedy star Andy de la Tour (The Young Ones), Michael Che, Alex Grubarb, and David Cope performing at the Luca Lounge (222 Avenue B off 14th Street) for a show hosted & produced by just-engaged couple Sean Crespo & Carol Hartsell:Lasers in the Jungle

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): Aasif Mandvi (correspondent for The Daily Show), John Flynn (stellar storyteller; The Nights of Our Lives), Julian McCullough (Comedy Central Presents), and Ann Carr (Louie) joining hosts Andrea Rosen and Shonali Bhowmik for Variety SHAC

[TOP PICK] 11:00 pm ($5): Genius improv troupe Outlook of the Poet (Gavin Speiller, Ben Rodgers, and Jonathan Gabrus) and surprise breakout hit Doppelganger (Nicole Byer, Sasheer Zamata, and Keisha Zollar) compete for audience laughs and votes in what’s likely to be one of the most exciting editions of the raucous Cage Match

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Saturday 7/24/10

July 24, 2010

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

Tracy Morgan

Tracy Morgan continues his headlining NYC run tonight and Sunday at Carolines

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] [$] 6:00 pm ($15 including one drink; reservations via calling Cornelia Street Cafe at 212.989.9319 highly recommended): Four world-class writer/performers tell personal stories. Three of them are true…but one is a pack of lies. Then the audience asks questions to try to figure out who’s fibbing. Tonight’s yarn-spinners are Faye Lane (thoroughly delightful storyteller who’s about to perform her acclaimed show Beauty Shop Stories at this year’s FringeNYC), Cormac Barrett (Last Comic Standing), Robert Hurst (Moth Champion), and Ryan Britt (Nerve.com), plus wonderful host Andy Christie (The New York Times, Moth GrandSlam Champion) at The Liar Show

[TOP PICK] [$] 7:30 pm & 10:00 pm & Midnight ($60 & 2-drink min.): A co-star of 30 Rock who’s one of the most hilarious guys in the biz headlining tonight and Sunday at Carolines: Tracy Morgan

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm (no cover, 1-item min.): Blow-out Second Anniversary show, with some of the finest stand-ups in the country—Hannibal Buress (Variety’s 2010 Top 10 Comics to Watch; staff writer for Saturday Night Live; Comedy Central, Jimmy Fallon, Craig Ferguson, George Lopez; 2010 ECNY Award for Best Male Stand-Up), Christian Finnegan (three Comedy Central specials, commentator on MNBC’s Countdown with Keith Oberman and VH1’s Best Week Ever; Chappelle’s Show, The Today Show), Leo Allen (former writer for Saturday Night Live; Comedy Central Presents, Conan O’Brien, HBO’s Funny or Die, host of top NYC comedy show Whiplash), Pat Stango (co-host of Don’t Touch Me There), Nate Bargatze (Conan O’Brien), and Mike Recine; plus brilliant comedic singer/songwriter Shayna Ferm—all 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 ($5): True tales of being a losing contestant on a TV game show, from sharp comics Margot Leitman (The Price is Right), Eliot Glazer (Wheel of Fortune), Andy Ross (Who Wants to be a Millionaire), Glennis McMurray (Chain Reaction), and Rob Lathan (America’s Got Talent), all performing at Brooklyn’s Union Hall for a show devoted to stories of being turned down—Jon Friedman’s wonderful The Rejection Show

[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 8:00 pm & 10:30 pm ($36.66 online if you use code VIPJULY, plus 2-item minimum): A star from In Living Color who Comedy Central named one of the 100 greatest stand-ups headlining tonight and Saturday at the elegant Comix Comedy Club: David Alan Grier

[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 8:00 pm Tuesday-Saturday ($29.50 online or at the box office using discount code PPBBOX through July 24th): This is a show for which I have enormous affection; although my joy came from not just watching what occurred on stage, but the faces of the women in the audience turning stonier and stonier as they visibly projected the thought, “Dick tricks? This entire show really consists of dick tricks? All my suspicions about men have just been confirmed…” If you cherish bravery in performers, go forth to the 45 Bleecker Theatre (right next to the #6 subway’s Bleecker Street stop) and experience Puppetry of The Penis

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): One of the gutsiest and most hilarious troupes in comedy history—and the Cage Match Champion 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 ($10): “A cabaret of darkly funny songs and topical sketch comedy about culture and politics,” following sold out shows at Joe’s Pub: Political Subversities

[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 10:00 pm ($15 online using discount code IMPROV): Chicago-based TJ Jagodowski and Dave Pasquesi are widely considered among the finest long-form improvisors alive. Just by feeling their way through moment by moment, they create one-hour tales that most authors couldn’t match with months of labored writing. Tonight is the second of their four-evening run—through this Monday—at The Barrow Street Theatre: TJ & Dave

[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

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Thursday 7/22/10

July 22, 2010

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

For Hy’s take on Last Comic Standing, please click here.

Tracy Morgan

Comedy superstar Tracy Morgan headlines tonight through Sunday at Carolines

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 ($15): Top comics and comedic storytellers—Rachel Dratch (cast member of Saturday Night Live), Christian Finnegan (three Comedy Central specials, commentator on MNBC’s Countdown with Keith Oberman and VH1’s Best Week Ever; Chappelle’s Show, The Today Show), James Braly (The Moth), Fiona Walsh (Galway Comedy Festival), and Jessica Grose (Slate)—joining brilliant sketch comic and storyteller Kevin Allison (The State) to share tales on tonight’s theme “Heroism: Saving the Day” at one of the finest storytelling shows in the country: Risk!

[TOP PICK] [$] 7:30 pm ($60 & 2-drink min.): A co-star of 30 Rock who’s one of the most hilarious guys in the biz headlining tonight through Sunday at Carolines: Tracy Morgan

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm (no cover, 1-item min.): Adam Wade (two-time Moth GrandSlam Storytelling Champion and record-breaking 10-time StorySlam Champion; for Adam’s award-winning tale of being an NBC page on Conan O’Brien, please click here) hosts other superb yarn-spinners inOchi’s Lounge sharing their favorite real-life campus anecdotes at True Tales of College

7:30 pm ($5): Sharp improvisors directed by James Eason “take an audience suggestion and break it into a million funny pieces,” and veteran improvisors play with “elements of monoscene, deconstruction, and La Ronde,” in the double-bill The Deconstruction and Sleepover

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Hilarious stand-ups Andrea Rosen, Sara Schaefer, and Michelle Collins, and raunchy storyteller Giulia Rozzi, perform along with wonderful hosts Brooke Van Poppelen (TLC’s American Chopper, Maxim and Cosmo Radio, So-Low Show; popular blogsNYisretarded.blogspot.com and RockBottom; for stand-up videos about overindulging at 30 and impersonating Morrisey, please click here and here) and Arden Myrin (Conan O’Brien, Mad TV, numerous other TV shows & films; for Mad TV samples, please click here and here and here):Power Suit

[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 8:00 pm Tuesday-Saturday ($29.50 online or at the box office using discount code PPBBOX through July 24th): This is a show for which I have enormous affection; although my joy came from not just watching what occurred on stage, but the faces of the women in the audience turning stonier and stonier as they visibly projected the thought, “Dick tricks? This entire show really consists of dick tricks? All my suspicions about men have just been confirmed…” If you cherish bravery in performers, go forth to the 45 Bleecker Theatre (right next to the #6 subway’s Bleecker Street stop) and experience Puppetry of The Penis

8:00 pm ($10): A fun sketch troupe (for video samples, please click here) present its latest work atInside Joke Films

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($12): Top stand-ups Rich Vos, David Alan Grier, Morgan Murphy, Amy Schumer, Bonnie McFarlane, and Joe DeRosa performing at 92Y Tribeca’s Comedy Below Canal

9:00 pm (no cover, 1-item min.): Delightful stand-ups Leah Dubie and Amy Beckerman performing and hosting other gal stand-ups in Ochi’s Lounge at Dykes on Mics

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): A one-man show from Michael Hartney about an obsession (which, given my comic book background, I consider utterly reasonable), and improv trio Charlie Todd (Reuben Williams), Chuck Dauble (Chuck D. & Jawnee Show), and Eric Scott (Reuben Williams), in the double-bill : So I Like Superman: A One-Nerd Show and C, C, & E Improv Factory

[TOP PICK] 11:00 pm ($5): Two vibrant troupe troupes, Doppelganger and Sandino, competing for audience laughs and votes at the raucous Cage Match

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

For Hy’s take on Last Comic Standing, please click here.

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NYC Top Comedy Choices for Friday 11/6/09

November 6, 2009

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

Bill Burr 4

As part of The New York Comedy Festival, phenomenal stand-up Bill Burr performs tonight at Town Hall...

Tracy Morgan

...and 30 Rock's Tracy Morgan performs at Carnegie Hall

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 – midnight ($10, $15, and $15): An entire night of comedic musical improvisation in 90-minute slots, with the highlight being the 8:30-11:00 show (for $15) starring world-class troupes Baby Wants Candy and I Eat Pandas: The Magnet’s Musical Improv Festival

[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm ($10): Time Out New York’s Comedy Editor Jane Borden, who is herself a rare treasure, presents NYC comics who she feels are among our most precious comedy resources: Tom Shillue, Donald Glover, Marina Franklin, Morgan Murphy, Adam Lustick & Billy Scafuri (as rap duo Snakes), and Paul Downs, all performing at a show that’s sold out of seats (but if you don’t mind standing, come and enjoy): Time Out New York Approved

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm ($30-$39.50): One of the finest stand-ups alive (to view some choice videos, please click here) performing at Town Hall as part of The New York Comedy Festival: Bill Burr

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm ($32.50-$59.50): A hilarious co-star of 30 Rock performing stand-up at Carnegie Hall as part of The New York Comedy Festival: Tracy Morgan: Hard Knock Life

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm & 10:30 pm ($32 & 2-item min.): A stand-up acclaimed for shocking comments who’s hosted Comedy Central’s The Man Show, performed a Comedy Central Presents half-hour special, and performed the Showtime special No Refunds headlining tonight and Saturday at the elegant Comix Comedy Club: Doug Stanhope

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm ($25 & 2-drink min.) A comedy icon who’s performed on David Letterman over 40 times and The Tonight Show over 10 times, and did the acclaimed HBO comedy special This’ll Take About An Hour, headlining at the Gotham Comedy Club: Jake Johannsen

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($10): A new sketch show from highly talented husband & wife comedy team Tim Girrbach & Alicia Levy about “The journey of two unlikely hip-hop stars to the top of the charts told through the people who made them—managers, stylists, choreographers, optometrists. Written and preformed by Alicia & Tim, and directed and choreographed by Wendy Seyb: Paired Up and Pumpin’

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 8:00 pm: Superb stand-ups Sara Schaefer, Baron Vaughn, Jon Friedman, Dan Allen, Claire Titelman, and Sean Gabbert at Brooklyn’s Coco 66 for Nick Turner’s Too Cool for School

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($10): Some of the finest improv in NYC from the comedy genius members of The Stepfathers

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($10): A groundbreaking and surreal improv/sketch troupe focusing on our favorite city: Centralia: The New York Show

11:00 pm ($5): Three sharp NYC sketch troupes—Free Love Forum, Adam & Trevor, and Party Central USA—each performing one of their most popular bits and one of their personal favorites in a fun sketch revue hosted by James Eason & Aaron Kheifets: A-Side/B-Side

[FREE] 12:20ish am: A free opportunity for you to perform sketch on the UCBT stage at Liquid Courage

For full details, please visit HyReviews.com.

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