NYC Comedy Picks for Monday 5/3/10
Iron Man (Premiere Party at Avengers Mansion) and Todd Barry (It Is It)
6:30 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 John Morrison's Ochi's Motel
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[FREE] 7:30 pm: NYC stand-ups Bobby Miyamoto, Mike Recine, Crystal Burritt, Dave Rosinsky, Lamont Price, and Tom Werther performing at a free weekly show in the Manchester Pub hosted by Phoebe Robinson: Case of the Mondays Comedy
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 8:00 pm: Todd Barry (one of the finest stand-ups in the country; HBO, David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central Presents, The Sarah Silverman Program, Adult Swim, feature filmsThe Wrestler and Pete Smalls is Dead), Kurt Braunohler (master sketch comic; Comedy Central; co-creator & co-star of UK TV series Penelope: Princess of Pets), Max Silverstri (co-host of Big Terrific), and more performing at a free weekly LES show at Pianos hosted by Daily Show producer Adam Lowitt: It Is It
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Greg Giraldo, plus the writers & editors of The Onion—Joe Randazzo, Joe Garden, Baratunde Thurston, and John Harris—and more performing in the Lolita Bar at Liam McEneaney's Tell Your Friends
8:00 pm ($5): Two of UCBT's finest house sketch comedy troupes, Stone Cold Fox and Gorilla Gorilla, trying out new bits at Maude Night
[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): "Iron Man and Stan 'The Man' Lee invite you to the premiere of their new movie, Iron Man 2, partying at Avengers Mansion with celebrities, superheroes, and other surprise guests; Excelsior!:" Iron Man 2 Premiere Party at Avengers Mansion!
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 11:00 pm: Some of the finest stand-up comics in the country—tonight including comedy genius Andy Blitz, the hilarious Eric Andre, Michael O'Brien, and Calise Hawkins—hosted by the wonderful Leo Allen (Saturday Night Live, Conan O'Brien, HBO, Comedy Central) at Whiplash
NYC Comedy Picks for Tuesday 5/4/10
World-class storytellers Ophira Eisenberg, Faye Lane, Adam Wade, and more tell hard-to-believe tales at Comix for The Liar Show...
...and TV stars Zach Woods and Lennon Parham perform genius improv as Skinny Business
Recommendations for the best in New York City comedy tonight
(in chronological order, with top picks noted and shows over $10 marked with $) include:
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[TOP PICK] [$] 7:30 pm ($19.25 online using code VIPMAY, plus two-drink minimum): Eight world-class writer/performers tell personal stories. Six of them are true...but two are a pack of lies. Then the audience asks questions to try to figure out who's fibbing...and the ones who guess right get a free t-shirt! Tonight's yarn-spinners are among the finest in the country—Adam Wade, Ophira Eisenberg, Faye Lane, Martin Dockery, Tracy Rowland, Ryan Britt, Ed Gavagan, and Carter Edwards—joining wonderful host Andy Christie (The New York Times, Moth GrandSlam Champion) at the elegant Comix Comedy Club for The Liar Show
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Witty writers offering delightfully silly lectures about "Success Stories" (e.g., Mullets, Mormons, and Maniacs, in which Jonah Peretti explains "how to succeed on the Web at all costs") at Charles Star's Brooklyn comedic show Adult Education
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): Legendary comics artist John Romita, Jr. (Avengers, Thor, and virtually every other major Marvel Comics hero ) joins 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: NYC stand-ups Leah Dubie, Vidur Kapur, Stephanie Holmes, Danny Solomon, and Nick Vatterott—plus Jackie Silvestri singing "Spicify My Love"—all performing at Cellar 58 (58 Second Avenue) alongside delightful host Abbi Crutchfield and comedic rapster Andrew Singer: Positively Awesome
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm to midnight ($5): Four full hours of improv for only five bucks—tonight featuring UCBT house troupes Ragnaröck, Badman, Sandino, DeCoster, and Monstro; and at 11:00 pm a double-bill blast of improv duo geniuses as Lennon Parham (CBS' Accidentally on Purpose) and Zach Woods (NBC's The Office) perform as Skinny Business, and The Two-Man Movie (Neil Casey & Anthony Atamanuik make up an entire feature film)—all at Harold Night
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 8:30 pm (reservations required by emailing ditchcomedybond@gmail.com): Superb stand-ups Ali Wong, Rachel Feinstein, Mark Normand, and Jonathan Spang performing at Brooklyn's Building on Bond for this free monthly event hosted by Yannis Pappas: A Very Good Comedy Show
[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($5): Lightning-fast & thoroughly hilarious Pete Holmes (one of the very best stand-ups in the country; Comedy Central Presents, The Daily Show, John Oliver's NY Stand-Up, VH1's Best Week Ever, The New Yorker, host of hit shows Punch Up Your Life and Gutbucket), Ted Alexandro (also one of the finest stand-ups in the country; David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, two Comedy Central Presents half-hour specials), Matt Goldich (writer for David Letterman), Casey Jost & Jay Miller (writers for JImmy Fallon), and "a very special DJ/co-host" performing at The Slipper Room for the LES weekly show hosted by the wonderful Seth Herzog (Jimmy Fallon, VH1): Sweet
9:00 pm (no cover, 1-item min.): Sharp NYC comics telling their funniest one-liners at host Matt Goldich's 25 Words or Less
[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 5/5/10
One of the finest stand-ups ever records his first comedy CD tonight and tomorrow night at UCBT: Anthony Jeselnik
Recommendations for the best in New York City comedy tonight
(in chronological order, with top picks noted and shows over $10 marked with $) include:
[FREE] 7:00 pm to midnight: Five free hours of improvisation in The PIT's Super Free Wednesday
[MEGA-TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): One of the finest stand-ups ever performs his comedy CD tonight and tomorrow night at UCBT. Don't miss Anthony Jeselnik: CD Recording
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($7): Superb stand-up Todd Barry, Joe Derosa, Greg Walloch, Rob Paravonian, and "a special guest" at Dan Allen's & Ray Devito's monthly comedy event ¡Sacapuntas!
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 8:30: Superb NYC storytellers John Flynn and Leslie Goshko, plus stand-ups Sue Funke, Kristeen von Hagen, Nicole Shabtai, and Carrie Gravenson, all performing at this free weekly show hosted by Sharon Spell: Shrink
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 8:30 pm: Baron Vaughn, Jon Friedman, Edith Zimmerman, and Noah Garfinkel performing at this free weekly comedy show at Brooklyn's Cameo (behind Lovin' Cup) hosted by Gabe Liedman and Max Silvestri: Big Terrific
[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): Theatrical scenes made up on the spot with breathtaking skill by brilliant and passionate improvisors who have become one of the best comedy duos in the biz—Scott Adsit (30 Rock, Moral Orel) and Christina Gausas (Conan O'Brien, The Colbert Report), a.k.a. Adsit & Gausas
[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 5/6/10
Comedy genius Kate McKinnon joins fellow breathtaking actors Kaipo Schwab, Meredith Zinner and more for free screenplay readings...
...and Kevin Allison, Lizz Winstead, and Margot Leitman perform hilarious tales at Tom Shillue's Tell
Recommendations for the best in New York City comedy tonight
(in chronological order, with top picks noted and shows over $10 marked with $) include:
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[TOP PICK] 6:00 pm ($5): Performers with upcoming UCBT shows provide sneak previews of the laughs they'll be providing in this talent-packed show with Steve & Jordan, John Roberts, Political Subversities, John Phillips, and New Exc!tement: The UCBT Summer Showcase
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 7:00 pm: Four of the finest actors & cold readers in New York—Kate McKinnon (Big Gay Sketch Show, UCBT & Web star), Meredith Zinner (Conan O'Brien, Law & Order, Erin Brockovich), Kaipo Schwab (Law & Order, Rescue Me, The Royal Tenenbaums, Fair Game), and Andy Danish (voiceover artist for Disney, MSNBC, GoDaddy.com)—performing nine screenplay scenes (from such works as Dead Andy and Fuck Up of the Year) with no rehearsal tonight at The New School's Wollman Hall (65 West 11th Street, 5th floor) in a show hosted by screenwriting guru William Pace that's free and open to all: First Annual New School Screenplay Reading Series
[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 7:30 pm ($12.44 online if you use code VIPMAY, plus 2-item minimum): Wonderful comics Kevin Allison, Margot Leitman, Liz Winstead, and Arden Myrin join host Tom Shillue for a show that brings together stand-ups, improvisors, and storytellers for an evening of world-class yarn-spinning at the elegant Comix Comedy Club: Tom Shillue's TELL
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
[MEGA-TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($5): One of the finest stand-ups ever performing his comedy CD at UCBT at a not-to-be-missed event: Anthony Jeselnik: CD Recording
[$] 8:00 pm ($46.50 & 2-drink min.) A TV and movie star who first earned fame on Chappelle's Show headlining through Sunday at Carolines: Charlie Murphy
[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($5): Movie & TV comedy star Michael Showalter, beloved comedy veteran Bobby Tisdale (Invite Them Up), and musical group Strega joining the fresh, sexy, and razor-sharp gals of comedy group Variety SHAC
[TOP PICK] 11:00 pm ($5): Vibrant improv troupes Reuben Williams and Thank You Robot compete for audience laughs and votes at the raucous Cage Match
NYC Comedy Picks for Friday 5/7/10
Victor Varnado, Chris "Shockwave" Sullivan, Eliza Skinner, Sara Schaefer, and more perform comedic rap at The BEATdown
Recommendations for the best in New York City comedy tonight
(in chronological order, with top picks noted and shows over $10 marked with $) include:
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[TOP PICK] [FREE] 6:00 pm: Some of the finest sketch troupes in NYC, including The Harvard Sailing Team and Murderfist, audition for a prestigious comedy festival: The Just for Laughs Showcase
[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm ($5): In this fun show, 16 musical performers turn an audience member's suggestion into two musical fairy tales that tell what happened from the viewpoint of first the hero and then the villain, with "all the music and magic of a Disney flick...plus the darkness of the Brothers Grimm:" Once Upon a Time
[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10): A groundbreaking and surreal improv/sketch troupe performing with new guests each Friday and making a valid complaint: The Secret Donald Glover Show
[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 8:00 pm & 10:30 pm ($24.78 online with code VIPMAY, plus 2-drink min.) A YouTube star & Mad TV star headlining tonight and Saturday at the elegant Comix Comedy Club: Anjelah Johnson
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 8:00 pm: Wonderful comics Kumail Nanjiani, Ben Lerman, Rob Cantrell, Louis Katz, Jason Weems, and more performing at Brooklyn's Coco 66 for hosts Nick Turner's & Jason Saenz's Too Cool for School
[$] 8:00 pm ($49 & 2-drink min.) A TV and movie star who first earned fame on Chappelle's Show headlining through Sunday at Carolines: Charlie Murphy
[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): The Harvard Sailing Team
10:00 pm ($7): Singing improvisors who use an interview with an audience member to craft The Made-Up Musical
[TOP PICK] 10:30 pm ($10): In this new show, Thomas Middleditch, Jonathan Gabrus, Sue Galloway, and other superb improvisors make up scenes about an audience member's legal dispute at The Law Firm: Law & Disorder
11:00 pm ($5): Dan Hodapp & Natasha Rothwell, champions of the Magnet Theater's 2009 Improv Duo Tournament, bring nearly five years of improv collaboration to stage "for an evening of bold, committed characters and truthful, grounded scenework" at Hodapp & Rothwell
[TOP PICK] Midnight ($5): A comedic freestyle rap contest featuring some of the funniest & sharpest comics in NYC...who tonight are Sara Schaefer (Jimmy Fallon), Victor Varnado (Comedy Central's The Awkward Comedy Show), Mara Herron (That Chick Mara Herron), Tom McCaffrey (VH1's Best Week Ever), and Sara Jo Allocco (Dream Role)—hosted by genius comedic musical performers Chris "Shockwave" Sullivan (Freestyle Love Supreme) and Eliza Skinner (Baby Wants Candy) at The BEATdown
NYC Comedy Picks for Saturday 5/8/10
Leo Allen, Seth Herzog, and a slew of sketch troupes explore Bruce Springsteen, while Anjelah Johnson headlines at Comix
Recommendations for the best in New York City comedy tonight
(in chronological order, with top picks noted and shows over $10 marked with $) include:
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[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm ($10): A musical about "a pious Pope framed for a crime he didn't commit...betrayal, Holy War, foot-stompin' musical numbers" and everything else it takes "to entertain the Hell right out of you" in Pope: The Musical
[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10): Genius improvisor Christina Gausas and friends she originally made in Chicago—which include writers & performers from 30 Rock, The Colbert Report, and The Daily Show—plus a rotating cast of stellar visitors, all joyously declaring Let's Have a Ball
7:30 pm (no cover, 1-item min.): NYC stand-ups Jared Logan, Charles Star, Julia Segal, Mike Ennis, Neal Stastny, and Dave McDonough performing in Ochi's Lounge at Lil' Seany Boy
[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 8:00 pm & 10:30 pm ($24.78 online with code VIPMAY, plus 2-drink min.) A YouTube star & Mad TV star headlining tonight and Saturday at the elegant Comix Comedy Club: Anjelah Johnson
8:00 pm ($5): Will Nunziata and Jerry Miller performing a two-man sketch show designed as a love letter to the dystopian films of the 70s, 80s, and 90s:" Dystopia Gardens
[$] 8:00 pm & 10:30 ($49 & 2-drink min.) A TV and movie star who first earned fame on Chappelle's Show headlining through Sunday at Carolines: Charlie Murphy
[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!
[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($10): A "heart-stopping, pants-dropping, house-rocking, earth-shaking, booty-quaking, love-making show," with sketches inspired by The Boss from Leo Allen, Seth Herzog, Dan St. Germain, BOF, The Upset Triangle, Rue Brutalia, and Escape Pod Films:" The Bruce Springsteen Show: Boss-Inspired Sketch Comedy
[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 10:30 pm ($15 both online and at the door using discount code PISANO, otherwise $20): A Chicago-based troupe that's wowed audiences around the world with their skill at creating a completely improvised hour-long musical. The plot and characters, the musical accompaniment; even the song lyrics and the "choreography" are made up on the spot, with no pre-planned structure. Come see why BWC won a FringeNYC Award last August for Outstanding Unique Theatrical Event at the magical Baby Wants Candy
[TOP PICK] [$] 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
[TOP PICK] 11:00 ($8): NYC's heavy metal version of a comedy troupe—and which won this year's ECNY Award for Best Sketch Group—doesn't always hit the mark but provides odd, unsettling, and fearless dark comedy: Murderfist: Late and Dirty
Midnight ($5): Young comics exploring religion at the debut of World F.I.R.E Teen Ministries Lock-In
NYC Comedy Picks for Sunday 5/9/10
TV & movie star Donald Glover (Tearing the Veil of Maya) and TV star Eric Andre (Sunday Night Stand-Up)
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] 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
[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($7): Donald Glover (co-star of NBC's Community and feature film Mystery Team and Derrick) practices his upcoming headlining set at Comix, plus Adam Cayton-Holland, performing at Brooklyn's Union Hall with comedy giant Eugene Mirman: Tearing the Veil of Maya
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 8:00 pm: Eric Andre (HBO, Comedy Central, TBS), Jon Fisch, Mark Normand, Scott Moran, Sarah Tollemache, and Jay Miller performing at RG Daniels' free weekly show at the Three of Cups East Village lounge: Sunday Night Stand-Up
[FREE] 9:00 pm: Unannounced stand-ups performing at Brooklyn's Knitting Factory (361 Metropolitan) who may or may not be hosted by the wonderful Hannibal Buress: Comedy Night
[FREE] 9:00 pm: Ross Hyzer, Dan Enfield, David Cope, and John F. O'Donnell performing in the East Village's Beauty Bar at Vince Averill's & Jesse Popp's free weekly show Beauty Bar Comedy
[TOP PICK] [FREE] 10:00 pm: Ali Wong (human dynamo; MTV, VH1), Emily Epstein, and Scott Ryan performing at a free weekly gay-themed show at Therapy hosted by Brad Loekle: Electro Shock Therapy Comedy Hour
Copyright © 2010 Hy Bender
Email: hy@hyreviews.com
