NYC Comedy Picks for Week of August 17, 2009

NYC Comedy Picks for Monday 8/17/09-Thursday 8/20/09

Comedy giants David Cross and Ted Alexandro perform on the best free stand-up show in NYC: Whiplash

[TOP PICK] Monday 8/17 at 6:30 pm ($5): Two of the sharpest & most respected comics in NYC, Kristen Schaal & Kurt Braunohler, putting the final polish on a show they'll be performing later this week at the Edinburgh Festival: Double Down Hearts

[TOP PICK] Monday 8/17 at 8:00 pm ($5): The editors and writers of The Onion—Joe Randazzo (Editor), Joe Garden (Features Editor), John Harris (staff writer), and Baratunde Thurston (Web Editor)—performing at Lolita Bar in Liam McEneaney's Tell Your Friends

[TOP PICK] [FREE] Monday 8/17 11:00 pm: A blowout gathering of some of the finest comics in the country—tonight including comedy superstar David Cross, brilliant stand-up Ted Alexandro, and adorable Aparna Nancherla—hosted by the wonderful Leo Allen (Saturday Night Live, HBO, Comedy Central) at Whiplash

[TOP PICK] Tuesday 8/18 at 8:00 pm ($5): Comics writer Arvid Nelson (Zero Killer, Rex Mundi), comedian & writer John Marshall (The Electric Company, Bazooka Joe comics), and musical guest Fall On Your Sword joining in on a lively & hilarious discussion about four-color pop culture at Comic Book Club

Tuesday 8/18 from 8:00 pm to midnight ($5): Four full hours of improv for only five bucks—tonight featuring UCBT house troupes DeCoster, Bastian, Robber Baron, Ragnaröck, and The Scam—followed by UCBT students at the top 600 level performing improv as citizens of Tiny Town, all at Harold Night

[FREE] Wednesday 8/19 from 6:00 pm to midnight: six free hours of improvisation in The PIT's Super Free Wednesday

[TOP PICK] Wednesday 8/19 at 8:00 pm ($5): Eliza Skinner and Glennis McMurray proving they're a genius musical improv duo by making up musicals on the spot based on an audience suggestion at I Eat Pandas

[TOP PICK] [$] Wednesday 8/19 at 8:00 pm ($15 online if you order before day of show, plus 2-item min.): Brilliant Daily Show correspondents, producers, and audience warm-ups—who often include such stars as John Oliver, John Hodgman, Wyatt Cenac, Pete Holmes, and Executive Producer Rory Albanese—performing stand-up at this monthly event: The Daily Show and Friends

[FREE] 8:00 pm: sharp NYC stand-ups at a free weekly stand-up comedy show at Rodeo Bar hosted by the luminous Margie Kment & Matt Maragno: Now We're Talking

[FREE] 8:00 pm: NYC stand-ups Jamie Lee, Dan St. Germain, Allison Castillo, Michael McMonagle, Brian Longwell, and Fariaz at a free weekly show hosted by Sharon "Mama" Spell: Shrink

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 8:30 pm: typically superb stand-ups at a free weekly comedy show at Brooklyn's Cameo (behind Lovin' Cup) hosted by Gabe Liedman & Max Silvestri: Big Terrific

Wednesday 8/19 at 9:00 pm (no cover, 1-item min.): superb comedic storytellers Charlie Sanders, Andrew Rosen, Catie Lazarus, and Micah Sherman telling dark tales of NYC at Eliot & Ilana Glazer's Ochi's Lounge show New York Sh*tty

[TOP PICK] Wednesday 8/19 at 9:30 pm ($5): Four of the most talented comedic storytellers in NYC—Elna Baker, Tom Shillue, Adam Wade, and David Rees—tell true tales of how stories they loved were turned down at a special edition of Jon Friedman's The Rejection Show

[TOP PICK] [FREE] Wednesday 8/19 at 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

Thursday 8/20 at 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

Thursday 8/20 at 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] Thursday 8/20 at 9:30 pm ($5): Dave Hill demonstrating how smart, funny, and irresistibly loveable he is by telling stories about his musical tour in a land distinctly unlike our own: Dave Hill: Big in Japan

[TOP PICK] Thursday 8/20 at 11:00 pm ($5): Death by Roo Roo seeking to break its own historic record
from last season of 17 wins in a row, tonight battling Dreadnought at improv competition Cage Match

NYC Comedy Picks for Friday 8/21/09

John Mulaney tries out a new stand-up set tonight

Recommendations for the best in New York City comedy tonight

(in chronological order, with top picks noted and shows over $10 marked with $) include:

[TOP PICK] 6:30 pm ($5): Two stellar talents try out material in John Mulaney and Joe Mande Do Stand-Up

[FREE] 9:00 pm: Razor-sharp and gorgeous Brooke Van Poppelen hosts a free stand-up show at Brooklyn's Bar 4, with guests Jordan Carlos (Colbert Report, Michael & Michael Have Issues), Giulia Rozzi (VH1, Stripped Stories), Danny Leary, and more: BVP & BAR 4 Comedy

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

10:00 pm ($5): Singing improvisors who use an interview with an audience member to craft The Made-Up Musical

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 12:20ish am: My favorite open mic stand-up show, hosted by brilliant & lightning-quick Pete Holmes: Gutbucket

[$] 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

NYC Comedy Picks for Saturday 8/22/09

The Daily Show correspondents Wyatt Cenac and Larry Wilmore headline tonight at Comix

7:00 pm (no cover, 1-item min.): Sharp NYC stand-up comics—Margie Kment, Jared Logan, Nick Cobb, Luke Cunningham, Phoebe Robinson, Pat Stango & Blaine Perry, and more—in Ochi's Lounge performing at Lil' Seany Boy

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10): Improvisation from writers & performers at 30 Rock, The Colbert Report, and The Daily Show joyously declaring Let's Have a Ball

[$] 8:00 pm & 10:30 pm ($30 & 2-item min.): Two Daily Show stars headlining at the elegant Comix Comedy Club: Wyatt Cenac and Larry Wilmore

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): The gutsiest improv troupe in NYC, Death by Roo Roo

[$] 9:00 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

9:30 pm ($10): Sara Benincasa performing her one-woman show AGORAFABULOUS

[TOP PICK] 10:30 pm ($10): All-star improv troupe Reuben Williams

12:00 am ($5): A small mob of superb NYC sketch & musical comics have fun pretending to be teens performing at High School Talent Show

NYC Comedy Picks for Sunday 8/23/09

Kate McKinnon (Electro Shock Therapy) and Sean Patton (The Comedians)

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10) and 9:30 pm [FREE]: UCBT's signature improv comedy extravaganza, which typically includes stars in the improv world, and sometimes even TV & movie stars such as Amy Poehler and Horatio Sanz —ASSSCAT 3000

7:30 pm ($5): Superb stand-ups Sean Patton, Jesse Pop, and more at a weekly LES show at Pianos hosted by Greg Johnson: The Comedians

[FREE] 8:00 pm: Sharp NYC comics at RG Daniels' free weekly show at the Three of Cups East Village lounge: Sunday Night Stand-Up

[FREE] 9:00 pm: Sharp NYC stand-ups at Vince Averill's & Jesse Popp's free weekly East Village stand-up show Beauty Bar Comedy

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 10:00 pm: An all-lesbian stand-up night, with stellar comics Kate McKinnon (co-star of Logo's Big Gay Sketch Show), Amy Beckerman (Dykes on Mics), Gloria Bigalow (Logo's Laughing Matters), and more at a free weekly gay-themed show at Therapy hosted by Brad Loekle: Electro Shock Therapy Comedy Hour

[$] 10:00 pm ($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

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