NYC Comedy Picks for Monday 8/10/09
Matt Walsh (Whiplash), Doug Benson (The Benson Interruption), and Nick Kroll (Tell Your Friends and Whiplash)
6:30 pm ($5): A one-man show and a comedic hip-hop musical, all for a mere five bucks, in the double-bill Brent Sullivan: Fag Life and 2Pac: The Musical
[MEGA-TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($12): One of the very finest troupes in improv history, visiting NYC for just this week, Chicago's awesomely inventive and hilarious Improvised Shakespeare Company
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): One of the funniest men in the world, Doug Benson, inviting his stellar comedy friends to perform stand-up and then periodically interrupting them with razor-sharp comments at The Benson Interruption
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Nick Kroll (genius character comic; HBO, ABC), John Fugelsang (former VH1 VJ and host of America's Funniest Home VIdeos), Hannibal Buress (Jimmy Kimmel, Comedy Central), Vanessa Hollingshead (HBO, Comedy Central Presents), and tonight's guest host Jamie Lee (Diamonds in the Fluff) performing at Lolita Bar in Liam McEneaney's stand-up comedy show Tell Your Friends
[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($12): The gold standard for musical improv troupes, visiting both this weekend for the Del Close Marathon and next week for FringeNYC, Chicago's spectacular Baby Wants Candy
9:30 pm ($5): Improv veterans Peter Grosz (The Colbert Report) and John Lutz (SNL) making stuff up as comedy duo 2 Square
[MEGA-TOP PICK] [FREE] 11:00 pm: A blowout gathering of some of the finest comics in the country—Matt Walsh, Nick Kroll, Todd Barry, and Jim Norton—hosted by the wonderful Leo Allen (Saturday Night Live, HBO, Comedy Central) at Whiplash
NYC Comedy Picks for Tuesday 8/11/09
Kumail Nanjiani (Headlining at Comix), and awesomely skilled & hilarious improv troupes Improved Shakespeare Co. & Baby Wants Candy
7:00 pm ($5): NYC's fearless and darkly disturbing heavy metal version of a sketch comedy troupe: Murderfist: Christ is Alive!
7:30 pm (no cover, 1-item min.): Hilary Schwartz and Rachael Parenta hosting a stand-up show at Ochi's Lounge described as "emotionally inappropriate comedy:" Please, Someone Kill Me
[MEGA-TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($12): One of the very finest troupes in improv history, visiting NYC for just this week, Chicago's awesomely inventive and hilarious Improvised Shakespeare Company
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm-11:00 pm ($5): Three full hours of improv for only five bucks; and in this extra-special Time Machine edition in preparation for the Del Close Marathon, four fabled improv teams that seldom perform anymore are reunited this one evening only—Creep, Arsenal, Dillinger, and fwand—all at Harold Night Time Machine
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Marvel Comics artist Dennis Calero (X-Men Noir: The Mark of Cain) joining in on a lively & hilarious discussion about four-color pop culture at Comic Book Club
[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): The reunion of a legendary improv troupe acclaimed for its uniformly brilliant members' lightning-quick verbal reflexes and wit: The Swarm
9:00 pm (no cover, 1-item min.): Sharp NYC stand-ups joining delightful hosts Jackie Monahan, Leah Dubie, Amy Beckerman, and Gloria Bigelow in Ochi's Lounge for Dykes on Mics
[TOP PICK] [$] 9:30 pm ($15 online with code EWKN, plus 2-item min.): A red-hot rising stand-up star who's a writer & performer on Comedy Central's Michael & Michael Have Issues; appeared on SNL and The Colbert Report; and won the 2009 ECNY Awards for both Best Male Stand-Up and Best One-Person Show (Unpronounceable; for my review, please click here; to get a feel for his style, please click here) performing for the first time at the top of the bill of an acclaimed NYC comedy club: Kumail Nanjiani Headlining at Comix
[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($12): The gold standard for musical improv troupes, visiting both this weekend for the Del Close Marathon and next week for FringeNYC, Chicago's spectacular Baby Wants Candy
[TOP PICK] 11:00 pm ($5): Your opportunity to perform on the UCBT stage with legendary improvisors in NYC this week for the Del Close Marathon...but only if your name gets selected by The Lottery
NYC Comedy Picks for Wednesday 8/12/09
Typical guest at Adam Wade's Real Tales of College, awesomely hilarious Improved Shakespeare Co., and Matt Walsh (Live Green or Die!)
[FREE] 6:00 pm-midnight: six free hours of improvisation in The PIT's Super Free Wednesday
[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm (no cover, 1-item min.): top writers and comedians—who tonight are Cyndi Freeman, Andy Christie, Dan Allen, and a surprise guest—join world-class storyteller 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) in Ochi's Lounge to share their favorite true campus anecdotes at Real Tales of College
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): The wonderful Matt Walsh, a founding member of the world-renowned and enormously influential Upright Citizens Brigade, returns to his NYC theatre this week to perform a parody of a talk show, whose host is described as follows: "You know those annoying, part hippy, mostly slacker people who act like they're better than you but they're really kind of uninformed and lazy? Sebastian Wydell is one of those people. A professional house-sitter and self-proclaimed "Earth Steward," Sebastian invites progressive thinkers and celebrity guests (former house-sitting clients) on stage to learn how they can be more green and to see if he can crash at their place." It all happens on the odd talk show Live Green or Die!
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($12): The gold standard for musical improv troupes, visiting NYC both this weekend for the Del Close Marathon and next week for FringeNYC, Chicago's spectacular Baby Wants Candy
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 8:00 pm: NYC stand-ups Bruce Cherry, Sean Crespo, Sean O’Connor, Alec Sobel, Edison Apple, Rachael Parenta...and a special guest who I'm not allowed to name, but is a star who seldom performs downtown comedy gigs—at a free show hosted by Sharon "Mama" Spell: Shrink
[FREE] 8:00 pm: NYC stand-ups Dan St. Germain, Luke Cunningham, Joe Wengert, Phil Murphy, and Jordan Ferber at a free weekly stand-up comedy show at Rodeo Bar hosted by the luminous Margie Kment & Matt Maragno: Now We're Talking
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 8:30 pm: superb stand-ups Baron Vaughn, Sean Patton, Rob Cantrell, and Julian McCullough at a free weekly comedy show at Brooklyn's Cameo (behind Lovin' Cup) hosted by Gabe Liedman & Max Silvestri: Big Terrific
[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): The reunion of a legendary improv troupe acclaimed for its uniformly brilliant members' lightning-quick verbal reflexes and wit: The Swarm
[MEGA-TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($12): One of the very finest troupes in improv history, visiting NYC for just this week, Chicago's awesomely inventive and hilarious Improvised Shakespeare Company
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 11:00 pm: Host Justin Purnell (The Colbert Report) provides a mix of guests who perform stand-up, improv, sketch, and occasionally acts that defy categorization. The level of talent can vary wildly—but for some (like me), that's part of the laid-back fun. Come support the experimentation, and periodic magical surprises, that this uniquely organic rollercoaster of a show makes possible: School Night
NYC Comedy Picks for Thursday 8/13/09
Gilbert Gottfried (Headlining at Carolines), legendary improv troupe The Swarm, and Matt Besser (The Greatest Concert Ever)
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): The wonderful Matt Besser, who's a founding member of the world-renowned and enormously influential Upright Citizens Brigade, and equally brilliant improvisor Horatio Sanz (SNL, ABC), return to UCBT this week to host top comics living out their roadie fantasies by impersonating favorite musicians and performing their songs at The Greatest Concert Ever
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($12): The gold standard for musical improv troupes, visiting NYC both this weekend for the Del Close Marathon and next week for FringeNYC, Chicago's spectacular Baby Wants Candy
[$] 8:00 pm ($24.50 & 2-drink min.) A unique comedy star headlining at Carolines for one night only: Gilbert Gottfried
8:00 pm ($5): Sharp improvisors directed by James Eason "take an audience suggestion and break it into a million funny pieces" in The Deconstruction
8:00 pm ($8): Clever wordplay, conceptual comedy, and relentless silliness—applied to a parody of the already-goofy film Con Air—from sketch troupe Elephant Larry (8:00 pm),
[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): The reunion of a legendary improv troupe acclaimed for its uniformly brilliant members' lightning-quick verbal reflexes and wit: The Swarm
[MEGA-TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($12): One of the very finest troupes in improv history, visiting NYC for just this week, Chicago's awesomely inventive and hilarious Improvised Shakespeare Company
[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): Comedy legend Matt Walsh, a founding member of the Upright Citizens Brigade, hosts this sketch comedy show that runs regularly late at night in the UCB theatre at LA. Enjoy this rare opportunity to experience some of the best young UCBT talent on the West Coast at The Midnight Show
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 11:00 pm: A free opportunity for you to perform improv with UCBT veterans—tonight probably including improv stars in town for this weekend's Del Close Marathon—at Jammin' with Ralph
NYC Comedy Picks for Friday 8/14/09
[MEGA-TOP PICK] Friday August 14 - Sunday August 17: One of the most magical events in comedy, the annual Del Close Improv Marathon runs continuously from Friday July 14th at 4:30 pm until well after midnight on Sunday, August 17. Groups from all around the US and Canada—New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Cambridge, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Baltimore, Raleigh, Phoenix, Austin, Wailuku, Toronto, Calgary—will be performing in more than 150 shows, typically in 30 minute blocks, for over 50 hours.
The Marathon will include most of the finest improv troupes in the country—Improvised Shakespeare Co., Baby Wants Candy, The Swarm, Scheer-McBrayer, Horatio Sanz & The Kings of Improv, Code Duello: Hamilton & Burr, and many more—as well as performers from 30 Rock, Saturday Night Live, The Colbert Report, Human Giant, and the Upright Citizens Brigade.
There are other comedy shows happening this weekend.
But honestly, they're just not the Marathon.
I couldn't cover Del Close last year, and can't again this year, because it's been scheduled directly opposite the opening weekend of the equally magical FringeNYC; but to get a feel for this thoroughly wonderful and unforgettable event, please read my report on the 2007 Del Close Improv Marathon by clicking here.
If you like to laugh, go to the Del Close Improv Marathon this weekend. There's simply nothing else like it.
Copyright © 2009 Hy Bender
Email: hy@hyreviews.com
