NYC Comedy Picks for Week of July 26, 2010

NYC Comedy Picks for Monday 7/26/10

An improvisor/actress famed for films ranging from American Pie to Legally Blonde to Best in Show
demonstrates she's also one of the finest stand-ups in the biz tonight at Comix: Jennifer Coolidge...

...and the smartest & funniest comedy improv troupe in the world, which tonight begins a spectacular week-long run
in NYC to help pave the way for this weekend's legendary Del Close Marathon: The Improvised Shakespeare Company...

...and genius comics John Mulaney, Chris Gethard, and Matt Besser mix stand-up, storytelling, and improv at Whiplash

Recommendations for the best in New York City comedy tonight

(in chronological order, with top picks noted and shows over $12 marked with $) include:

[FREE] 6:00 pm: Kevin Allison (legendary MTV sketch series The State, HBO, Comedy Central, VH1, host of award-winning storytelling show Risk!) hosts this free open mic show for storytellers, in which you can put your name in a hat for the chance to tell a five-minute true story...and if it's a good one, possibly be included in Kevin's popular podcasts on the Web: Risk! Storyslam

[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 7:00 pm ($17.50 online with discount code NIFF): My #1 pick for the 2007 FringeNYC Festival, this wonderful group of actresses/improvisors portray characters as if they were in a play, but improvise everything they say and do. The luminous performers include Katharine Heller, Brenna Palughi, Lynne Rosenberg, and Lauren Seikaly, each of whom is immensely appealing and quick-witted. Further, they have an intimate, lovely chemistry with each other; and they've all committed to baring their personal lives, thinly disguised via their characters (hence the title's Naked). As a result, this is one of the most honest and nuanced improvised shows you'll ever see. Check out some videos of previous episodes here; and then nab tickets for tonight's eighth installment at the Soho Playhouse of a 10-week Monday night run: Naked in a Fishbowl

[FREE] 7:30 pm: NYC stand-ups Nore Davis, Trey Galyon, Amanda Baramki, Larry Bailey, Dino Vigo, and Dan Carroll performing at a free weekly show in the Manchester Pub hosted by Phoebe Robinson: Case of the Mondays Comedy

7:30 pm (no cover, 1-item min.): The perfect show for short attention spans—open mic stand-up with 4½ minutes per set and 25 comics crammed into 2½ hours at the Luca Lounge (222 Avenue B off 14th Street)—at John Morrison's Motel Luca

[MEGA-TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($12.90 online, $12 at the door—but buy in advance, because every performance will sell out): Genius improvisors from Chicago delivering one of the funniest shows you'll ever see by making up a play on the spot using the language and themes of the Bard. This is the finest improv troupe in the world, and one of the best comedy shows of any kind, anywhere. Tonight begins a week-long NYC run, with every evening utterly different from the last. Try to catch every single performance of the breathtakingly skilled Improvised Shakespeare Company

[MEGA-TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 8:00 pm ($24.78 online if you use code VIPJULY, plus 2-item minimum): Last night, at a sold-out event at the Comix Comedy Club, an improvisor/actress best known as Stifler's mom in the American Pie movies and a variety of oddball characters in Christopher Guest's mockumentary films—and who once candidly observed "I like going back and doing a sequel; it's the only chance to really ask for some money"—demonstrated that in addition to being great on film, she's one of most razor-sharp, charming, and flat-out hilarious stand-ups in the biz. Don't miss this extra chance to experience an extraordinary comic that—who knew?—was born to perform on a live stage and can do anything comedic: Jennifer Coolidge

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Some of the best improvisors in the world—Tara Copeland (Mother, Ms. Jackson), Michael Delaney (Conan O'Brien, The Other Guys, The Stepfathers), Peter Gwinn (The Colbert Report, Baby Wants Candy), Arden Myrin (Mad TV, Chelsea Lately), and Michael Patrick O'Brien (writer for Saturday Night Live)—mixing it up with Broadway & off-Broadway stars Kevin Kelly (Shakespeare in the Park: Twelfth Night, The Brother/Sister Plays), Sandy Rustin (Neil Simon's Hotel Suite, The Scariest Show on TV), Julie Sharbutt (Shakespeare in the Park: Twelfth Night, Little Cecily), and Amy Warren (August: Osage County, The Adding Machine) as they crash improv into classic theatre scenes at actor/director Stephen Ruddy's Gravid Water

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 8:00 pm: Adam Wade (two-time Moth GrandSlam Storytelling Champion (2006 & 2009) and record-breaking 15-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), Jon Friedman (Jimmy Fallon, host of wonderful The Rejection Show), Greg Barris (Comedy Death Ray), and more performing stand-up at a free weekly LES show at Pianos hosted by Willy Appelman: It Is It

8:00 pm ($5): NYC stand-ups Sara Schaefer (brilliant, inventive, luminous comic; Emmy-nominated staff writer for Jimmy Fallon; VH1's Best Week Ever), TV star Caroline Rhea, Costaki Economopoulos, Giulia Rozzi, Ryan Hamilton, and Jo Romero performing in the Lolita Bar at Liam McEneaney's Tell Your Friends

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($12.90 online, $12 at the door): A Chicago-based troupe that's wowed audiences around the world with their skill at creating a completely improvised hour-long musical. The plot and characters, the musical accompaniment; even the song lyrics and the "choreography" are made up on the spot, with no pre-planned structure. Come see why BWC won a FringeNYC Award last August for Outstanding Unique Theatrical Event at the magical Baby Wants Candy

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): Michael Patrick O'Brien (staff writer for Saturday Night Live) performs a one-man show that begins with his trying to break a randomly selected Guinness World Record "using only a small bag of props and the advice of audience members," followed by "an inspired sort of looniness,"at Shatter

[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 finale of their four-evening run at The Barrow Street Theatre: TJ & Dave

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 11:00 pm: Some of the finest comics in the country—tonight including legendary improvisor Matt Besser (co-founder of the Upright Citizens Brigade), Chris Gethard (brilliant improvisor and comedic storyteller; star of upcoming Comedy Central sitcom Big Lake; Magic Box of Stories, The Stepfathers, The Nights of Our Lives, author of book Weird New York), John Mulaney (writer/performer for Saturday Night Live; Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central Presents, VH1's Best Week Ever; for John's great bit on Weekend Update, please click here), Brendon Walsh (stand-up visiting from LA), and Chris Locke (stand-up visiting from Toronto)—hosted by the wonderful Leo Allen (Saturday Night Live, Conan O'Brien, HBO, Comedy Central) at Whiplash

NYC Comedy Picks for Tuesday 7/27/10

Comedy genius Blaine Swen and his Chicago-based Improvised Shakespeare Company

Recommendations for the best in New York City comedy tonight

(in chronological order, with top picks noted and shows over $12 marked with $) include:

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Two of the finest improv troupes in NYC performing back to back: The Stepfathers and The Law Firm

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 8:00 pm: Some of the finest stand-ups in the country—Ted Alexandro (David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, two Comedy Central Presents half-hour specials), Myq Kaplan (kicking ass on this season's Last Comic Standing), 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), Tom Shillue (Comedy Central Presents; host of Tell), and DC Benny (Comedy Central Presents)—performing at Cellar 58 (58 Second Avenue) alongside delightful host Abbi Crutchfield and comedic rapster Andrew Singer: Positively Awesome

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Comics industry pros join super-hosts Alex Zalben, Justin Tyler, and Pete LePage in a lively & hilarious discussion about four-color pop culture at Comic Book Club

[FREE] 8:00 pm: Rory Scovel (Comedy Central), Lisa Delarios (Comedy Central), Greg Stone (Opie & Anthony), Liam McEneaney (host of Tell Your Friends), and Andy Haynes performing at Brooklyn's Bell House Front Lounge guest-hosted by the gorgeous Brooke Van Poppelen: Get Off Your Knees

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): Two of the finest improv troupes in NYC performing back to back: Death by Roo Roo and Reuben Williams

[FREE] 11:00 pm: Improv veterans welcome UCBT students at all levels to perform with them at The Lottery

[FREE] 11:00 pm: Free open mic stand-up show that's seldom much fun for audience members but is a nice opportunity if you want 4-5 minutes to test out your comedy material on stage: Bring It

NYC Comedy Picks for Wednesday 7/28/10

The legendary Upright Citizens Brigade—Matt Walsh, Matt Besser, and Ian Roberts—perform tonight at Radio Underground

Recommendations for the best in New York City comedy tonight

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

6:30 pm & 9:00 pm (no cover, 1-item min.): The perfect show for short attention spans—open mic stand-up with 4½ minutes per set and 25 comics crammed into 2½ hours—with two installments running back to back every Wednesday at John Morrison's Ochi's Motel

[FREE] 6:00 pm to midnight: Six free hours of improvisation in The PIT's Super Free Wednesday

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($12.90 online, $12 at the door): A Chicago-based troupe that's wowed audiences around the world with their skill at creating a completely improvised hour-long musical. The plot and characters, the musical accompaniment; even the song lyrics and the "choreography" are made up on the spot, with no pre-planned structure. Come see why BWC won a FringeNYC Award last August for Outstanding Unique Theatrical Event at the magical Baby Wants Candy

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): A one-man show from Michael Hartney about an obsession (which, given my comic book background, I consider utterly reasonable); and a tale of heartbreak by Leslie Meisel and Megan Neuringer, in the double-bill : So I Like Superman: A One-Nerd Show and Love Can Suck a Dick...and So Can I

[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 8:00 pm ($19.33 online if you use code VIPJULY, plus 2-item minimum): John Oliver (star correspondent of The Daily Show and genius stand-up comic) and assorted other stand-ups performing at a show hosted by Daily Show Executive Producer Rory Albanese at the elegant Comix Comedy Club: The Daily Show and Friends with John Oliver

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 8:30 pm: Myq Kaplan (kicking ass on this season of Last Comic Standing), Erin Judge (Comedy Central; for hilarious stand-up bit about being bisexual, please click here), Jesse Popp (co-host of Beauty Bar Comedy), and Alex Koll performing at this free weekly comedy show at Brooklyn's Cameo (behind Lovin' Cup) hosted by Gabe Liedman and Max Silvestri: Big Terrific

[FREE] 8:30: Brilliant comedic chameleon Livia Scott, and NYC stand-ups Johanna Clearfield, Dan Wilbur, Mick Diflo, Andy Hendrickson, and Subhah Agarwal, performing at this free weekly show hosted by Sharon Spell: Shrink

[MEGA-TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($12.90 online, $12 at the door—but buy in advance, because every performance will sell out): Genius improvisors from Chicago delivering one of the funniest shows you'll ever see by making up a play on the spot using the language and themes of the Bard. This is the finest improv troupe in the world, and one of the best comedy shows of any kind, anywhere. There are three NYC performances left—tonight and Thursday at the Hudson Guild Theatre, and Friday at FIT—with each evening utterly different from the last. Try to catch every single performance of the breathtakingly skilled Improvised Shakespeare Company

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): Comedy legends Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, and Matt Walsh (co-founders of the Upright Citizens Brigade) are joined by UCBT stars for a live Sirius/XM Satellite Radio broadcast: Radio Underground

[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 10:00 pm ($19.33 online if you use code VIPJULY, plus 2-item minimum): Red-hot rising star stand-ups Sean Patton (red-hot rising star; killer set on Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central, VH1), 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), Dan St. Germain (hilarious, quick-witted stand-up who'll be garnering credits soon), and more performing for a show hosted by Greg Barris at the elegant Comix Comedy Club: Heart of Darkness

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 11:00 pm: Host Justin Purnell (The Colbert Report) providing as many as a dozen guests packed into 75 minutes performing 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; and this is often one of the most amazing comedy shows in town. Come support the experimentation, and periodic magical surprises, that this uniquely organic rollercoaster of a show makes possible—and don't forget to toss $1 in the bucket on your way out: School Night

NYC Comedy Picks for Thursday 7/29/10

Matt Walsh (UCBT Podcast) and Blaine Swen (The Improvised Shakespeare Company)

Recommendations for the best in New York City comedy tonight

(in chronological order, with top picks noted and shows over $12 marked with $) include:

[TOP PICK] 6:00 pm ($5): Hosts John Frusciante and Will Hines tape their podcast live on stage, with tonight's guest a living legend: UCBT Podcast with Matt Walsh

[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm ($12): A news-based show with comedy games and funny conversation hosted by by Faith Salie (CBS Sunday Morning) with writer/producer Gideon Evans (The Daily Show), writer/commentator Alison Rosen (McSweeney's, podcast Alison Rosen Is Your New Best Friend), and more: The News Distillery

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): UCBT-LA's late night sketch/music variety show performing for one evening only here in NYC. Come catch a small army of young talent at The Midnight Show

[$] 8:00 pm ($35 & 2-drink min.): One of the cast members of the seminal In Living Color headlining tonight through Sunday at Carolines: Tommy Davidson

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($12): Top stand-ups Todd Barry and Myq Kaplan (it's more than worth the price of admission if Todd spends even a minute dissecting Myq's current starring role on Last Comic Standing), and more performing at 92Y Tribeca's Comedy Below Canal

[MEGA-TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($12.90 online, $12 at the door—but buy in advance, because every performance will sell out): Genius improvisors from Chicago delivering one of the funniest shows you'll ever see by making up a play on the spot using the language and themes of the Bard. This is the finest improv troupe in the world, and one of the best comedy shows of any kind, anywhere. There are three NYC performances left—tonight at the Hudson Guild Theatre, Friday at 7:00 pm at FIT, and Saturday at 7:15 pm as part of the spectacular Del Close Improv Marathon—with each evening utterly different from the last. Try to catch every single performance of the breathtakingly skilled Improvised Shakespeare Company

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): The wonderful Matt Besser, who's a founding member of the world-renowned and enormously influential Upright Citizens Brigade, is joined by such equally brilliant comics as Horatio Sanz (SNL, ABC) and Chris Gethard (star of Comedy Central's upcoming Big Lake) for a very special annual show in which top comics live out their roadie fantasies by impersonating favorite musicians and performing their songs at The Greatest Concert Ever

[FREE] 11:00 pm: Your opportunity to perform on the UCBT stage with improv veterans, hosted by troupe Badman: Jammin' with Ralph

NYC Comedy Picks for Friday 7/30/10

The spectacular annual Del Close Improv Marathon, running continuously this entire weekend and hosting
over 150 shows, will attract most of the finest improv talent in the county—and should not be missed

Recommendations for the best in New York City comedy tonight

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

[MEGA-TOP PICK] [$] 4:30 pm Friday - Midnight Sunday ($25): One of the most magical events in NYC, the annual Del Close Improv Marathon runs continuously from 4:30 pm today until after midnight on Sunday, August 1st. Groups from all around the US and Canada—New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington DC, Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Austin, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Montreal, and more—will perform over 150 shows, typically in 30 minute blocks, for 55+ hours. Tickets are a mere $25 for the entire weekend—an incredible bargain. Paul Scheer said several years ago the appropriate charge would be around $600, and he mostly wasn't kidding. As in past years, the only down side will be way more patrons than available space, causing long waits to get into the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre at 307 West 26th Street, which seats about 150. However, the congestion will be somewhat eased by three additional venues just a couple of blocks from UCBT: The Hudson Guild Theatre at 441 West 26th Street (between 9th and 10th Avenues), which seats 99; Urban Stages at 259 West 30th Street (between 7th and 8th Avenues), which seats 74; and the Fashion Institute of Technology Kate Murphy Amphitheatre at corner West 27th Street & 7th Avenue, which seats 280. This is one of the finest comedy events in the country, always magical, and flat-out should not be missed. (I'm listing other comedy events happening tonight, but almost grudgingly...) Come experience the awe, mystery, and hilarity of The 12 Annual Del Close Marathon

7:00 pm ($8): Corinne Fisher performing a one-woman show that details how to keep tabs on someone with whom you're obsessed: I Stalk You

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($10): A groundbreaking and surreal improv/sketch troupe performing with new guests each Friday and making a valid complaint: Centralia: We Were Supposed To Have Flying Cars By Now

[$] [DISCOUNTED] 8:00 pm & 10:30 pm ($21.51 online if you use code VIPJULY, plus 2-item minimum): An Emmy award-winning prankster famed for his work on Crank Yankers and The Howard Stern Show headlining tonight and Saturday at the elegant Comix Comedy Club: Jim Florentine

[$] 8:00 pm & 10:30 pm ($35 & 2-drink min.): One of the cast members of the seminal In Living Color headlining tonight through Sunday at Carolines: Tommy Davidson

[FREE] 8:00: NYC stand-ups performing at O'Hanlon's (14th Street off 1st Avenue), hosted by Matt Ruby: Hot Soup

[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): The Harvard Sailing Team

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

NYC Comedy Picks for Saturday 7/31/10

Day 2 of the magical Del Close Improv Marathon includes performances from the legendary Upright Citizens Brigade, The Improvised Shakespeare Company, Adsit & Gausas, and much more

The recommendation for the best in New York City comedy tonight is:

[MEGA-TOP PICK] [$] All Day Today and Sunday ($25): One of the most magical events in NYC, the annual Del Close Improv Marathon runs continuously from 4:30 pm yesterday until after midnight on Sunday, August 1st. Groups from all around the US and Canada—New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington DC, Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Austin, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Montreal, and more—will perform over 150 shows, typically in 30 minute blocks, for 55+ hours. Tickets are a mere $25 for the entire weekend—an incredible bargain. Paul Scheer said several years ago the appropriate charge would be around $600, and he mostly wasn't kidding. As in past years, the only down side will be way more patrons than available space, causing long waits to get into the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre at 307 West 26th Street, which seats about 150. However, the congestion will be somewhat eased by three additional venues just a couple of blocks from UCBT: The Hudson Guild Theatre at 441 West 26th Street (between 9th and 10th Avenues), which seats 99; Urban Stages at 259 West 30th Street (between 7th and 8th Avenues), which seats 74; and the Fashion Institute of Technology Kate Murphy Amphitheatre at corner West 27th Street & 7th Avenue, which seats 280. This is one of the finest comedy events in the country, always magical, and flat-out should not be missed.

Highlights from the 12 hours I spent at the festival yesterday included:

The Improvised Shakespeare Company taking the suggestion "hope" to craft a play about royal serial killing, unending senseless war, and the highest body count of the Marathon...for which the audience rewarded the troupe with a standing ovation.

ISC's founder Blaine Swen demonstrating he can do anything by performing a one-man improvised musical with an inventiveness, skillfulness, and depth that was breathtaking...and garnered the only other standing ovation of the Marathon.

The wonderful Bobby Moynihan (cast member of Saturday Night Live) tap-dancing on a talk show hosted by the also wonderful Horatio Sanz.

Many of the finest improvisors at UCBT—led by rising star John Gemberling—wearing nothing but diapers to perform as whiny babies.

Another group of top NYC improvisors pretending to be Bostonians who continually cursed the Yankees, drank beer, and sprayed copious amounts of beer on the audience.

Several shows that didn't pan out but tickled us with their concepts, including Jane Austen-era improvisors, hillbilly improvisors, and a small army of Jay Leno impersonator improvisors.

The guys of the Upright Citizens Brigade—Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, and Matt Walsh—announcing that they and Artistic Director Anthony King will be opening a new NYC theatre in January 2011 named UCB-EAST—on 3rd Street off Avenue A (where the Two Boots indie film theater used to be)—and that its focus will be on stand-up to complement the Chelsea theatre's focus on improv.

There are other comedy events happening tonight; but they pale in comparison.

Come experience the awe, mystery, and hilarity of The 12th Annual Del Close Marathon

NYC Comedy Picks for Sunday 8/1/10

The final day of the unforgettable Del Close Improv Marathon includes Matt Walsh & Ian Roberts cooking for the audience, plus performances from such top troupes as Baby Wants Candy, Outlook of the Poet, Let's Have a Ball, and Michael Delaney & Andy Secunda of The Swarm

The recommendation for the best in New York City comedy tonight is:

[MEGA-TOP PICK] [$] All Day Today Through 7:15 pm ($25): One of the most magical events in NYC, the annual Del Close Improv Marathon runs continuously from 4:30 pm this past Friday until 7:15 pm today (following by a show from the Upright Citizens Brigade at 8:00 pm for an additional $15—except the latter's already sold out). Groups from all around the US and Canada—New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington DC, Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Austin, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Montreal, and more—will perform over 150 shows, typically in 30 minute blocks, for 55+ hours. Tickets are a mere $25 for the entire weekend—an incredible bargain. Paul Scheer said several years ago the appropriate charge would be around $600, and he mostly wasn't kidding. As in past years, the only down side will be way more patrons than available space, causing long waits to get into the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre at 307 West 26th Street, which seats about 150. However, the congestion will be somewhat eased by three additional venues just a couple of blocks from UCBT: The Hudson Guild Theatre at 441 West 26th Street (between 9th and 10th Avenues), which seats 99; Urban Stages at 259 West 30th Street (between 7th and 8th Avenues), which seats 74; and the Fashion Institute of Technology Kate Murphy Amphitheatre at corner West 27th Street & 7th Avenue, which seats 280. This is one of the finest comedy events in the country, always magical, and flat-out should not be missed.

Highlights from the 12 hours I spent at the festival on Saturday included:

The legendary guys of the Upright Citizens Brigade—Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, and Matt Walsh—challenging their young audience to test the trio's knowledge of hip modern terms...and culminating in their persuading a young woman to make a bet with them she was bound to lose and then forcing her to "lip synch" to a song via her belly button.

The Improvised Shakespeare Company turning a rather innocent suggestion about "horse flies in the river" into a tale of multiple drowned babies, filicide, and dual regicide...and as on Friday, garnering an impassioned standing ovation.

Death by Roo Roo making a strong argument for being the finest improv troupe based in NYC, as its genius members showed us what it might be like to work for a haunted house—complete with recruiting zombies, ghouls, ravens, and guys with Atkinson's Disease.

Paul Scheer dazzling audiences with his brilliance and charm, first in an improv about a dad with uncanny powers, and then as host of a raucous 1970s game show.

The aforementioned Match Game '76, which featured a small army of celebrities including Chris Gethard as an inbred deviant from Deliverance, Matt Besser as the Indian crying over littering, Eugene Cordero as a very gay George Takei, John Gemberling as Larry Flynt tossing his colostomy bag at people to express displeasure, Michael Delaney neatly evoking Truman Capote, and Ben Rodgers perfect as Lt. Columbo...culminating in them all repeatedly raping the male contestant.

Matt Besser hosting a "panel of experts" including Rob Lathan as an unrepentant Mel Gibson, Kate McKinnon as an emotionally disconnected hooker, and Jon Daly as a drunken green tree named Sappity Tappity.

Comedy dynamo Shannon O'Neill as a serial killer/baby eater interviewing audience members and then drawing deeply disturbing profiles of them (e.g., "Here, this is you shitting in your own mouth").

One of the quickest & funniest comics alive, Doug Benson, hosting his stand-up/improv show The Benson Interruption with guests Todd Barry, Paul Scheer, and Morgan Murphy...and consistently killing. Look for Doug's show in the Fall on Comedy Central (six episodes, hopefully with many more to come).

Eugene Cordero hilariously narrating a show by calling out every improv device as it occurred: "Aw shit, we got the location set up!" "Delivered the premise in one line, goddamn!" "Oh, there it is homies, we know the game!" "Good object work, that looked like a real dick!" "Swinging door, that's Level 2 shit!" "Sweep edit! Next scene, motherfuckers!!"

There are other comedy events happening tonight; but they pale in comparison.

Come experience the awe, mystery, and hilarity of the final day of The 12th Annual Del Close Marathon

NYC Comedy Picks for Tonight

Previous NYC Comedy Picks

Home Page

Email: hy@hyreviews.com